When Satan approached Eve he was very crafty, pretending to be what he was not and appearing in an incarnational way. When the Lord Jesus was incarnated He was God become man. Although everyone could see the man, few realized that this man was God. Before God Himself was incarnated Satan acted first to incarnate himself. God was incarnated in John 1; Satan was incarnated in Genesis 3. With regard to many of the things which God intended to do, Satan acted first and in a similar manner. Thus, before God was incarnated Satan was incarnated as a serpent which was crafty ("subtle," KJV).
The serpent was crafty. That means he was clever, cunning, and subtle. He was pretending to be what he was not in order to deceive Eve. We need to beware of anything that is crafty. We should be cautious of anyone who is clever, for it is easy for clever people to be taken over by the serpent. Satan did not assume the form of a turtle, because a turtle is stupid. We must remember to be careful of anything that is clever and crafty, because Satan may be hidden in such a thing.
Therefore, outwardly speaking, the cause of man's first fall was Satan. As we shall see later, the inward cause of the fall was man himself.
I hope that especially the young people will take these points seriously. These points are basic principles.
The way Satan tempts is firstly to make a proposal to man (vv. 1, 4), a proposal which invariably questions God's Word. Satan will always try to tempt you, induce you, and trap you by making a proposal which raises questions about God's Word. Any time you doubt the Word of God you must realize that that doubt does not originate with you; it comes from the serpent. Years ago I read an article by a Baptist minister in the United States in which he said, "The question mark is shaped like a serpent standing up and asking, `Has God said?'" We should not question any of the words in the Bible, but should say "Amen" to every word. It is safe to say, "Amen"; it is dangerous to raise questions. A question mark on the Word of God is a suggestion that originates from the tempter.
Satan's proposal always causes man to doubt God's Word and God's heart. The subtle one is like a scorpion, and his questions are like the poison in the scorpion's sting. The serpent told Eve, "You shall not surely die." The serpent actually said to Eve, "Why has God prohibited you from eating the tree of knowledge? Because God knows that once you eat it you will be like Him. You will be as wise as God." These words were poison, the poison from the scorpion's sting. Eve was stung, and poison was injected into her. Thus, she looked at the tree of knowledge and found it good and pleasant (v. 6). That was Satan's way of tempting her.
Now we must see the inward cause of man's first fall. I am strong on this point. The inward cause of man's fall was the woman's assuming the headship (vv. 2-3, 6). Eve was ensnared by the serpent because she forgot her husband. The Devil was crafty, knowing that the woman was weaker than the man (1 Pet. 3:7), and he chose her as his target. Regardless of what the woman said to the serpent, as long as she stood there and spoke to him, she was wrong, for it indicated that she had assumed the headship. The safest way for her would have been not to talk to the evil one, but to turn to her husband and hide behind him. If Eve had done this, the subtle one would have been frustrated. Therefore, the basic cause of man's first fall was the assuming of the headship by the wife. Although she had a husband, she nonetheless stood on her own.