“but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” – Genesis 3:3 NASB1995

This is something that always catches my attention, because God did not tell Adam he couldn’t touch the tree or its fruit. Only not to eat its fruit (Genesis 2:16-17). This leaves me with the impression that Adam is the one who told Eve this rule. I can envision Adam, probably not having any understanding of death at this point, jerking Eve’s hand back as she reaches for a fruit from that fated tree, shouting, “No! God said to not eat from this tree. Don’t even touch it or you’ll die!” Eve, repeating what she was told, hints to the probability that she did not ask the Father about it for herself.

If Adam is the one who told Eve, and not God, I can see where that might have made her the easier prey for the serpent to approach. Seeing her with the fruit, having even eaten of it with no obvious consequences, would then have broken down Adam’s defenses.

When we embellish God’s word with incorrect emphasis, we open ourselves up to false understanding and become false teachers in the sharing of it. And when we fail to confirm what someone else tells us by going to God and His word for ourselves, we fall to sin in the practice of falsehood.

“So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.” – ‭‭Luke‬ ‭8‬:‭18‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬