Step Away From The Forbidden Fruit

Genesis 3

New Living Translation (NLT)

The Man and Woman Sin

3 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?”

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.’”

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.”

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. 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.

⁸ When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man^[a] 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.”

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^[b] your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶ Then he said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
    and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
    but he will rule over you.^[c]”

¹⁷ And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
    whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
    All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
¹⁸ It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
    though you will eat of its grains.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
    from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
    and to dust you will return.”

Paradise Lost: God’s Judgment

²⁰ Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.^[d] 21 And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings^[e] 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, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. ²⁴ After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

           

I try not to go to bed before midnight because it never fails that I wake up in the middle of the night wide awake if I go to bed too early. Last night I feel asleep waiting for one of my favorite shows, Melissa and Joey to load. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning with this Word from God, “Stop looking at, reaching for, touching, and/or partaking of the forbidden fruit!” Step away from the forbidden fruit! What is the forbidden fruit you may ask? Let’s start with the word forbid.

Forbid = to command (a person) not to do something, have something, etc., or not to enter some place. It means to prohibit something or make a rule or law against. It also means to exclude.

The forbidden fruit is anything God has said in His Word or specifically told you not to do. It’s something that could never be associated with God, the forbidden fruit is sin. For example, God has commanded us not to awaken love before its time; He has commanded us not to fornicate. Fornication is a forbidden fruit.

Many of us have the Eve syndrome. We want the one thing God is withholding from us, He’s given us everything else, but we want that one thing we've been forbidden from having. Psalm 84 :11 says this, "For the Lord is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right." God is not withholding something good from you, he's keeping you from evil, bad things. What we need to do is recognize that God is our Heavenly Father, and what do fathers do? They protect their children from danger. God is like you father or mother telling you when you were younger, “Don’t touch the stove it’s hot,” except He’s saying, “Don’t touch the forbidden fruit it only leads to bad things.” God is omniscient. He knows the hurt and pain that comes with that forbidden fruit. Don’t be that child of God that has to learn the hard way and experience the sensation of being burned so they know Ohhh God was right, I will get burned, hurt, experience pain if I do this. Realize that thing is forbidden for a reason and not just for kicks. God is trying to protect you. Get it out of your head that Daddy doesn't want you to have any fun…Daddy is keeping me from something beautiful and good. Again I say God is omniscient! He is all knowing and all seeing. That forbidden fruit only looks good, but looks can be deceiving and God is very much so aware of this which is why He has commanded you not to partake of that thing.

We also need to recognize that often looking at the forbidden fruit is the first step to destruction and all the unforeseen attachments. And looking too hard and too long at something leads to lust (1 John 2:16, “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.”). This is where lust of the eyes comes in. When you lust after something you have an intense desire, appetite, craving or yearning for something or someone. Eve and King David both made that mistake, they looked too long and hard and in David’s case, he also inquired about the forbidden fruit. The devil got them with their eyes. This is why we must guard our eye gates! The eyes are a gateway to the heart. Wondering why you have lust in your heart, what are you allowing your eyes to see?!? God checked me on this awhile back. Guard your eyes, just looking too long leads to lust.

Another thing we have to realize is that while most forbidden fruit is always going to be forbidden, some forbidden fruit is seasonal, like for instance sex. It’s just not the season for you to partake of it. God has simply said, “No, not yet, wait.” In due time, the fruit will be available to you, when you’re in the right season of course, that right season for sex being when you are married. You know how you don’t eat particular fruits in certain seasons because they’re out of season. You don’t buy watermelon in the winter time because it’s out of season. It’s just never as good as when you buy it in the summer months. The same can be said for some forbidden fruits. It will just never be as good if you partake out of season. The conditions aren't right for it to really ripen well. The conditions have to be right for you to engage in sex. You have to be married, they needs to be a marriage license. You must be legally married in the sight of God. Vows need to be taken. The conditions need to be right for the right aftereffects to take place. If you partake of the fruit in the wrong season you won’t get the aftereffects you desire.

There are many forbidden fruits, some are easier to resist than others and some you simply need to flee/run from to get them out of sight and don’t look back. Sometimes you can’t just stand there and resist, sometimes you have to pull and Joseph (Genesis 39:6-12), make like a track star and run! II Timothy 2:22 tells us to, "Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts." Also some forbidden fruits are more difficult for different individuals and some are easier, it all depends on you.

The last thing I wanna talk about is the ramifications for partaking of the forbidden fruit.

1.      Separation From God – Genesis 3:23, “So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.” Sin separates us from God. That forbidden fruit is sin and it will stand in the way of your relationship with the Father. You see it with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They used to walk with God and commune with Him, but the both ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of good and evil and they lost that close, intimate relationship with God. They were kicked out of the Garden. That forbidden fruit literally separated them from God. The last thing you want to be is separated from the Father. God cannot abide in the presence of sin, He is holy. So if you’re looking for a reason not to partake of that forbidden fruit, this is a big one!

FORBIDDEN FRUIT = SEPARATION ANXIETY. Don’t mess around and partake of the forbidden fruit then wonder why you can’t find God. Sin separates us from God. Thank God we have Jesus who died for our sins, we can repent and be reunited with the Father, but there will still be consequences. Save yourself from what is hopefully only temporary separation (make sure you repent) and the consequences.

2.      Unwanted attachments – God wants you to know, there is no such thing as no strings attached! Sorry Honey, there’s strings all up and down that thing. That forbidden fruit is more like a ball of yarn. There is bondage wrapped up in that forbidden fruit. You gotta grasp this, that forbidden fruit appeals to your flesh, it’s presented by Satan in a way to make you desire it. Beautiful presentation is one of the things the devil is a master (you've got to know your enemy/opponent when you’re in spiritual warfare, but I’ll save that for another blog) of. But remember the devil is really good at making sin look good because he only shows you the appealing/good parts. {**ADDED BONUS** The good part is short lived, then you get all the hell and high water. And you thought the forbidden fruit was harmless…the devil is laughing somewhere saying Gotcha!} He doesn't show you all the unwanted strings that are attached to that forbidden fruit because he’s not stupid, he knows if he showed you that then you wouldn't want it anymore, it would no longer appeal to you. For example with the forbidden fruit of sex, the devil shows us the pleasure, the fun, all the parts that appear beautiful. He doesn't show you the consequences of partaking of that forbidden fruit. He doesn't show you the potential STDs, unwanted/you’re not prepared for it pregnancy, soul ties, heartbreak, the emotion ramifications, the ungodly spirits, single parenthood, etc.  But God, sees all these strings that are attached to that thing and He tries to protect you from it. What needs to happen is that we need to stop looking at that forbidden fruit with our physical eyes and being deceived by the devil and see that forbidden fruit for what it really is with your spiritual eyes (Ask God to give you discernment.). Recognize all the negative, unwanted, you’re not ready for this things that are attached to that forbidden fruit. See that forbidden fruit for what it is and see all the unwanted attachments.

3.      Once YOU'VE partaken it’s hard to stop - Many forbidden fruits are addictive, controlling, and clingy.  It’s hard to just stop having sex once you've had sex…it’s hard to stop doing drugs once you've started…it’s hard to stop watching pornography once your eyes have seen it, etc. You can’t undo the pleasure you felt, you can’t unexperience the high you felt, you can’t forget the images you've seen. Once you've eaten the forbidden fruit, it’s difficult to let it go. So make your life easier and don’t partake.

STEP AWAY FROM THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT. FORBIDDEN = WARNING THIS LEADS TO DESTRUCTION. The forbidden fruit can ultimately lead to death (spiritual death). You are no longer in tune with God because He’s been clouded out by the forbidden fruit. There is an immediate disconnect. The forbidden fruit is forbidden to protect you.  Refuse to entertain thoughts of the forbidden fruit. Stay away from and refuse to entertain those trying to convince you to partake of the forbidden fruit, don’t you know misery loves company. Stop looking at, reaching for and/or partaking of the forbidden fruit. If you have eaten of the forbidden fruit or down the road you end up doing so, know that Jesus died for that, God’s grace is sufficient for that, God is a forgiving God, so repent and turn away from that thing and move on. God loves you so much! Know that and know that I love you too!

Mariah