The Rhythm and Rhyme of Genesis 3:6 and 1 John 2:16 and the Temptation of Jesus Christ
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” Genesis 3:6
“For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1 John 2:16
These two passages are a perfect rhyme. And I wish someone had taught me this. I have to own this to a degree, because most of my walk with Christ at this point has been outside of a church structure. Believe me when I tell you, that’s not because that’s not what I want. I am a person who thrives on community. But that’s a story for another time.
For today, I want to lift up the perfect rhyme of the word of the Lord. I will confess that I probably need to do more study into the background of 1 John 2:16. I don’t know, for instance, if he intended for this to rhyme as it does. But it does. I noticed it recently during the course of a study run. I recently spent a little bit of time in the Epistles and then following that have begun revisiting the law (Genesis through Numbers). So, 1 John 2:16 was reasonably fresh in my mind when I began studying Genesis again.
As I was reading about the Fall, I noticed that the process by which Eve evaluates the fruit matches exactly in structure the warning that John issues in 1 John. I’m sure it’s reasonably obvious at this point, but just to lay it out:
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food”->the lust of the flesh
“pleasing to the eye”->the lust of the eyes
“and also desirable for gaining wisdom”->The Pride of Life
This is pure poetry. And I really want to know if it’s what John intended. Did he think about this? I’m a retired rapper so I know what it’s like when you write something and think, “Yeah, that’s it right there!” Did he know how dope and powerful this was? Or was he just riffing in the Holy Spirit, putting to pen as he reflected on the lessons of the scriptures and guidance of his Heavenly father.
Structurally and spiritually, this is perfect. And it’s written hundreds of years apart. It’s such a detailed illustration of the dangers of temptation in six phrases consolidated into three concepts that it blows my mind. Granted, I’m a Bible nerd at this point, so at least a percentage of my fascination with this is grossly subjective. But it IS the kind of thing that leaves me enamored with the word. It IS the kind of thing that makes me understand when the author says, “Oh how I love your word, Lord. I meditate on it all day long.”
I’m still a Baby Christian in a lot of ways, and could very well remain so for the remainder of my life no matter how much I study, pray and meditate on the word. But I do know that this phrase in 1 John has fascinated me for as long as I’ve read it. What does it mean and why does it matter? Well, the answer to that question is given before the phrase is ever uttered in the Bible.
These three vulnerabilities are the same ones that Satan always uses to tempt us. The playbook never changes. And I fail them all the time. Literally all the time. It’s something I’m working on, and the word has certainly been helpful. But do you know what trips me out even more when I really look at it.
These three challenges are the EXACT three challenges that Satan presents to Jesus Christ during his temptation.
First temptation: Turn this stone into bread->Lust of the flesh
Second Temptation: Look at this cliff, isn’t it scary->Lust of the eyes
Third Temptation: Check out these Kingdoms, don’t you want to run them->Pride of life.
And Jesus handled them all with ease, citing not his own opinion but the VERY WORD that CONTINUES the rhyme and the rhythm of these three vulnerabilities! Amazing!
Like I said, I’m a Bible geek now, so I don’t expect anyone else to be that excited here. I don’t even expect anyone to read this long-winded overly excited post. But I am so enamored right now, and I really just want to share this with you all.
