The serpent spoke about eating the fruit: You will be like God (Gen 3:5).
The Lord spoke of the law he gave his people: You will be like me (Lev 11:45).
So similar sounding, yet one was hate-filled and the other perfectly loving.
The serpent hated God so much that he sought to dethrone God. His ‘be like God’ was a putsch, a revolution to overthrow the rightful ruler. This antipathy for God resulted not in divine downfall, but the overthrow of humanity. To hate the Creator is also to hate his creatures.
The Lord’s ‘be like me’ is loving gift and invitation. He saved and provided for his people. He was taking them to a place to live – the Lord himself would live among them. The Lord’s good gift was to raise humanity to share with him in holiness.
The same destination was on offer – likeness to God.
The pathways to this end-point diverged completely.
Be careful! When you are offered a good thing, check out if that good comes in a good way. Because the same ‘end’ is offered by Satan and God, we know that end does not justify the means.