"And the serpent said unto the woman, 'Ye shall not surely die.'"-Genesis 3:4
Eve wanted to know all about the LORD and the beautiful garden he had prepared for her and Adam. There were so many things she wanted to know about! Why was there one kind of tree from which they could not eat? Why did the beautiful intelligent serpent eat of the fruit of that tree and not die?
Satan was very cunning in his attempt to win this perfect pair. If he had said to Eve, "Come and worship me instead of God," she would have been shocked and turned away from him. But Satan watched Eve and studied her ways: she was happy, she loved Adam, she loved God. What was there in her character to which he could appeal? Her great desire for knowledge!
Knowledge is good. God gives us as much knowledge as we can use wisely. He could have given Eve more knowledge as she continued to love and obey him. At that time the important thing in God's plan was to teach Adam and Eve that obedience to his laws would be the best for them.
To eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was forbidden for a while as a test of their loyalty and obedience to God. The penalty for disobedience was the death sentence. Death is the absence of life. One who is dead does not know anything, nor can he do anything (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 New International Version).
Instead of trusting God, Adam disobeyed him and ate of the fruit just as Eve had done. The death penalty came upon him and Eve and all their children.
And so the first lie-"You shall not surely die" (Genesis 3:4, Lamsa Translation)-caused mankind to start on a downward course of sin and death. We know what the terrible results have been!
Satan studied Eve to see how he could tempt her!
Adam willfully chose to follow Eve into death!