Previous Questions and Answers
Why does
the Bible say that the devil was a murderer from the beginning?
Good day. I was reading in the book of John chapter 8 where Jesus
is calling the children of Israel the seed of the devil and that the devil was a murderer
from the beginning. I did not read anywhere in the beginning where it said that the devil
was a murder, it says that Cain was the murderer. Can you help me to understand what Jesus
meant when he said that the devil was a murderer? Thank you very much.
John 8:42-44 says, "Jesus said unto them, If
God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither
came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye
cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your father ye will
do. HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it."
As the
above passage indicates, the devil was a murderer from the beginning because of his lies
to Eve. Notice what takes place in Genesis 3:1-7, which records the fall of mankind into
sin. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God
had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree
of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees
of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. AND THE SERPENT SAID
UNTO THE WOMAN, YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when
the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a
tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and
they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves
aprons."
The devil
told Eve that if she ate from the forbidden tree, "YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE." God
had told Adam that he would die if he ate of that tree. Genesis 2:16,17 says, "And
the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for IN
THE DAY THAT THOU EATEST THEREOF THOU SHALT SURELY DIE."
Despite
what God had clearly said, the devil lied and told Eve that she would not die if she ate
of the tree. Thus, the devil was responsible for the death of all mankind because of his
lie.
It is like
this, if a child was out in the kitchen, and you said to the child, "Did your parents
tell you that you could eat of everything in the kitchen?" And the child responded,
"My parents said that I could eat or drink of anything in the kitchen, but to never
get into the cupboard below the sink, because there are things down there that would kill
me if I ate or drank them."
Suppose
you said to the child, "You will not die if you drink of that drain opener under the
sink, or if you eat of that mouse poison under there. Your parents know that if you eat or
drink anything from under there, that you will have knowledge like adults do."
So suppose
the child goes ahead and eats some of the poison, and then washes it down with the drain
opener — all while you are standing there. The child would die, and if the court
could prove that you encouraged the child to eat of the poison and drink of it, the court
would undoubtedly accuse you of murdering the child.
Even so it
is with the devil. He stood right there telling Eve that she would not die if she ate of
the forbidden tree. By his encouraging her to do something which God said would kill
mankind, the devil thus became a murderer by his lies.
Previous Questions and Answers
Ask A Question