Creation might be seen in three parts. The first would that which gives location such as the heavens and the earth. The second, the inhabitants of the heavens, the angelic realm. The third the inhabitants of the earth, the human realm. We do not have much information about when and how the angels fell, but we do know that their fall would have to be prior to the temptation of Adam and Eve.

Since Satan seems unable to create, it may be that he attempts to take over creation through his machinations of humans. We can see with the temptation of Eve that Satan has a pretty good understanding of how to manipulate us.

The question Satan posited was crafted to be toxic to Eve. By being phrased as a question it was designed to engage Eve and position her to make an evaluative response. By couching an error in his 'question' he entices Eve to make a correction. His 'question' is also an attempt to express doubt about God, get Eve to take a critical look at God, and even speak for God.

If Eve had responded, 'Let's ask my husband' or 'Let's ask God', things might have gone differently. Instead her response (assuming it was an attempt at correcting the error inserted by Satan) contained its own error;

Here we have demonstrated a major problem for humans. Enticed to step out in our own understanding, we are disconnected from God and prone to error. We also become more vulnerable to deception;

Here we see the Satanic big guns, calling God a liar. In order to get Eve to take a rebellious act against God he had to first soften her up with doubts and questioning, then get her to step out from under God's protection in her own strength, then he hits her with declarations to bully her into taking action.

The phrase 'with her' indicates that Adam was not the leader he perhaps should have been. We are also told that Adam was not deceived by Satan. While this illustrates the greater vulnerability of women to deception and their proportional greater need of protection, it also shows what can go wrong when men fail in providing that protection.

It can be useful to take a closer look at this first sin because contains many of the elements Satan has used over the centuries to lure us into working to advance his plans.

1. Leaving the protection of God.

2. Questioning or judging God.

3. Leaning on our own understanding.

4. Accepting false information.

5. Applying inadequate measurement criteria.

6. Forming erroneous conclusions.

7. Acting to accomplish our own objectives.

We might surmise that the Satanic and demonic influence over humans goes beyond just the manipulative and reflects a component of maliciousness. Many tribal people with traditions of contacting 'spirits' report information that is obtained that misleads and deceives with no apparent purpose other than to torment.

Those who are held captive by Satan are bound to his will;

We see with the example of Samson that even those who desire to serve the Lord can be drawn into relying on their own understanding and become chumps to be used by Satan. However, they also have the opportunity to 'repent';

Samson is an interesting character to consider. It is easy to read about him and dismiss him as foolish. However, we should learn from his example how easily we all can be seduced into similar foolishness. Samson does give us a picture of the mercy of God that responds to our repentance when the light of truth breaks through our foolishness.

Satan's first encounter with humanity demonstrates what happens to people individually when they are manipulated to serve his purposes. We do not know if Satan was working to manipulate the children of Adam and Eve directly. We do know that God dealt directly with Cain and that by the time of Seth's son, people were beginning to call on the name of the Lord.