Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

Before creating Adam and Eve, God had created a host of angels to praise and serve Him. However, one of these creatures, Satan, who had been given an exalted position, became discontent and proud. Wanting to be God, he refused to worship and obey God, and he persuaded some other angels to rebel with him. Thus losing their glory, they desired to usurp God’s glory and receive the worship of His creatures, especially His most exalted creatures, the man and the woman. Employing the serpent, the “wisest of the animals,” Satan attacked Adam and Eve, tempting them to trust him instead of God. Although Adam and Eve were together, Satan directed his attack at Eve. Adam’s responsibility was to protect his wife, yet he failed to intervene (Genesis 3:6).

The attack was not complex. God had said that eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would bring death, and Satan simply contradicted God’s word, saying that it would not bring death. In fact, he said, it would make the man and the woman like God, knowing good and evil. On the surface, the temptation was to trust Satan rather than God, to worship and serve a creature rather than the Creator. At a deeper level, it was to worship and serve themselves. By trusting their own ability to judge between God’s word and Satan’s word, they would be setting themselves above God.

To protect Eve, Adam should have led her away from the serpent and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and over to the tree of life. Eve’s life was on the line, yet Adam, her guardian, stood by and watched as Satan tempted her. He let her eat the fruit and then ate it himself. God’s image-bearers were now broken images.

You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified. Daniel 5:23

Great Daibutsu, Kamakura, Japan — Buddha’s Eyes, Thikse Gompa, Ladakh, India

The figure of Buddha, depicted in statues and paintings worldwide, was created by blending Greek and Indian art forms during the Kushan Dynasty (second century A.D.) in what is present day Afghanistan. For more than five hundred years prior to this, Buddha was depicted with symbols such as a wheel or footprint, but King Kanishka, wanting to emphasize the personality of the Buddha, called for a representative figure that combined the look of Greek statuary with Indian philosophical ideals.

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1:25 esv

Rainbow over Ahu Akivi, Easter Island — Chavin de Huantar, Peru

A dramatic storm was clearing over the Pacific as I photographed the mysterious Moais of Easter Island. Setting up behind the statues to silhouette them against the sky and sea, I was unaware of the rainbow behind me until I turned to load a roll of film. Now totally focused on the rainbow, it took me several minutes to realize that if I ran to the other side of the Moais, the rainbow would be over their heads. It is a lesson I’ve never forgotten.

Chavín de Huántar, in the Andean highlands north of Lima, was home to one of Peru’s oldest and least studied cultures. Evidence suggests it was a major religious pilgrimage site, where numerous animal-like deities were worshiped and ritual human sacrifice and cannibalism took place.

Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” Judges 10:14

University of Washington, Seattle — American Flag — Los Angeles, California

How wonderful are the blessings of education, prosperity, and just government, which God has bestowed upon so many people in the world today. Yet how easy it is to trust in these gifts rather than the Giver Himself, and even to believe we are independent of Him. When trials come, however, these riches cannot comfort or deliver. God alone is able.