Satan attacked Eve, and Adam did nothing.
Their divine rights included ruling planet earth. The words “subdue” and “dominion,” (Genesis 1:28) promised ongoing victory. Both possessed the right to command Satan to leave, and by divine order, Satan would have had to obey.
Satan’s conversation with Eve demonstrates his craftsmanship at subtlety and intrigue. Listen to the eerie voice of the devil.
“Did God actually say?”
The devil called into question Eve’s knowledge of God, and the purity of divine motive.
Then came his underhanded twist.
“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
“You shall not eat any” is a verbal trap with all the spiritual force of hell behind it, and Eve didn’t see the vile accusation against God entering her heart. Satan accused God of being weak with his creation.
Eve responded with confusion, unaware of what was happening to her. “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,” Eve said. And so far she is correct. God was not weak with them, but nonetheless, she is vulnerable and confused. Now Eve quotes God but stumbles, creating an epic drama of faith. “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden,” Eve said.
Eve is slipping.
The tree is no ordinary tree, it represents a deeper kind of knowledge that only the Trinity can manage, the issue does not belong to its location in the garden, but to its spirituality.
Eve goes on, “neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”
God’s original instruction had nothing to do with touching, the divine boundary related to consumption, a point she was not to miss, “you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
Eve fell for Satan’s trap but has not yet fallen. She erred in God’s word, then in her heart, and now the door is open, she walks right in.
