Perception Deception

Perception Deception: When comparison causes us to see as scarcity and as .

⁸ Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.  ⁹ The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground — trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:8-9)

¹⁵ The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.  ¹⁶ The Lord God told him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden —  ¹⁷ except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)

¹ The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1)

² “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied.  ³ “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” (Genesis 3:2-3)

⁴ “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman.  ⁵ “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)

⁶ The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. (Genesis 3:6)

⁷ At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. (Genesis 3:7)

⁸ When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  ¹⁰ He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”  ¹¹ “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”  ¹² The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”  ¹³ Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” (Genesis 3:8-13)

²² Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”  ²³ So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22-23)

¹⁴ Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. ¹⁵ And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)

Additional Notes