Genesis Chapter Three
Read Genesis 3:1-5
– Eve’s Temptation
v. 1 “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?”
Mankind faces his first
temptation. In this account we also see the
beginning of the workings of our arch-enemy, Satan, who would claim our
souls. He is subtle, he woos, he
romances, he makes sin look so pleasant, so much fun, so enticing to our wants
and desires. If these tactics don’t
produce the desired result, then he turns and appeals to our ego, our freedom
to chose, perhaps a tendency to resist authority. All men and women seem to have a little bit
of that rebellious spirit in us that we must control. Paul was concerned about the Corinthian
brethren being lead away from Christ by the same kind of subtlety:
II Corinthians
11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Satan appears to Eve in
the form of a serpent. We do not know
what a serpent looked like at this point in time as God’s curse placed on that
particular animal placed him on his belly in the dust has not happened yet. That was not his normal position at this
point in his appearance to Eve.
There was only one opportunity
for sin in the garden, that single, simple command given by God for them not to
eat of this certain tree. Satan had only
one way that he could corrupt and claim the souls of mankind, cause them to
disobey that one law that God had given.
So he asks the question of Eve.
Has God really said that you should not eat of the fruit of this
tree? How had Eve heard about God’s
command? If the sequence of verses in Genesis
v.2-3 “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may
eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But 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.”
As an obedient child of
God and faithful wife, Eve repeats the commandment recorded in Genesis
Revelation
But Eve had already made the biggest mistake that we can make. What might that mistake be? She had allowed Satan to engage her in
conversation; she had placed herself in danger.
She was apparently separated from Adam by some distance and without
their mutual support and strength that could have helped her. We can be sure today that temptation will
find us when we are weakest and most vulnerable. What did Jesus tell Satan when he was
tempted?
Luke 4:8 “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee
behind me, Satan: for it is written…”
v.4 “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall
not surely die:”
Satan changes tactics,
his first attempt at Eve has failed, she knows the commandment and at this
point isn’t willing to rebel against it.
So Satan attacks the idea that there is any real danger if the
commandment is disobeyed. This is much
like what we hear today when someone says that God is so loving that he
couldn’t possibly condemn man to hell.
Satan sees that this is Eve’s weakest point; she is wavering in her
belief that eating of the tree would bring punishment so drastic.
So he tells her a
deliberate lie. Satan knows better. He knows that God will punish those who
disobey Him. He knows by experience that
disobedience and rebellion against God will have its consequences. Yet he works to draw mankind into the same
misery that he endures because of his sin against God.
v.5 “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.”
Satan appeals to Eve’s
ego and her perception of her position in God’s order of authority. By commanding you not to eat of this tree,
God has restricted your knowledge, restricted your freedom; He is keeping you
from being more like he is. He tells Eve
that God is not treating her right.
By eating of the tree
he tells Eve that she will immediately change for the better. She will gain knowledge that God does not want
her to have; she will be as a mighty god, no longer subject to God’s authority,
no longer dependent upon God for her knowledge.
Satan tells her that God has kept you in intellectual darkness, not
allowed you to enjoy a full complement of knowledge and eating of this tree will
remove those restrictions.
Read Genesis 3:6-13 – The
Fall of Man
v.6 “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.”
Satan appeals to Eve
through the three senses that the Apostle John tells us are in the world and
therefore the foundation of sin.
I John 2:15-16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
Satan appealed to each
of these three. The lust of the flesh,
the fruit of the tree was good for food; the lust of the eye, it was a
beautiful, appealing fruit, just as much of sin appears good and appealing
today; the pride of life, Eve’s ego, she would gain wisdom, knowledge that she
did not have, become as wise as God.
Isn’t this the same way that sin works on us today?
Ephesians 5:6 “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for
because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of
disobedience.”
Satan’s efforts were
even more successful. Eve gave the fruit
to Adam and he joined her in her sin.
Was Adam deceived or was his actions deliberate, knowing better, knowing
the consequences of his sin? The Holy
Spirit through the pen of Paul tells us that Adam sinned with his eyes wide
open, knowing that he was in rebellion to God, he was not deceived.
I Timothy
v.7 “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.”
Up until this point in
time man was completely innocent. They
were naked and didn’t even know it because it had no significance; there was no
shame in nakedness, no embarrassment.
Genesis
But now Adam and Eve understand evil, they know that their nakedness,
their physical appearance was not morally acceptable. So they sew or plat themselves garments that
are translated as aprons to cover their bodies.
And as we all know from the experience of life, some day, some way, if
not now, then in eternity:
Numbers 32:23 “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have
sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.”
v.8 “And they
heard the voice of the LORD God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD
God amongst the trees of the garden.”
What is the result of
the sin of Adam and Eve? They not only
now understand evil and sin but also understood that there would be
consequences. They had the presence of
mind to be fearful, just as the Holy Spirit reminds us:
“For if we sin wilfully after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” Hebrews 10:26-27
So mankind now also understands the meaning of fear.
God walked in the
garden with man on a regular basis, in the cool of the day, in the evening God
came and walked and communed with man.
In the early history of man this was not unusual, God spoke to Job from
a whirlwind:
Job 38:1 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said.”
God spoke to Moses from a bush that appeared to be burning (Exodus 3:2-4), and to the prophets in
various ways.
“God, who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,” Hebrews 1:1
v.9-10 “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said
unto him, Where art thou? 10And he said, I heard thy
voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid
myself.”
God already knows what
happened. He knows where and why Adam is hiding. For God knows all things:
“For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things.” I John 3:20
But just like a mother or father looking for a lost child, God calls to
Adam, asking him “Where are you?” And
Adam is just like Moses, he knows that he is not worthy to be in the presence
of God:
“Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was
afraid to look upon God.” Exodus
3:6
Moreover, Adam now knew that he was naked and that being naked had some
significance, something that he did not know before. And God asks him:
v.11 “And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that
thou shouldest not eat?”
God, just like my
mother many times, knows exactly what his wayward child has done but wants him
to understand and confess his wrong.
Adam has transgressed God’s law, Adam has sinned. Sin has entered God’s perfect creation:
Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned:”
Adam, just as I did as
a child; and men the world over try to do today, Adam tries to pass the
responsibility for his sin on to someone else.
In this case God himself.
v.12 “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”
God, this woman that
you gave to be with me, she made me do it.
Job said that “IF I COVERED MY TRANSGRESSIONS AS ADAM, BY HIDING MINE
INIQUITY IN MY BOSOM. (Job 31:33),
then he would have had reason to fear.
We are responsible for our own sins, so we need to be especially careful
that we don’t let others entice or cause us to transgress God’s law.
Proverbs
When we do sin we need to confess those sins and clear our conscience
and our souls, not hide them:
Proverbs 28:13 “HE THAT COVERETH
HIS SINS SHALL NOT PROSPER: BUT WHOSO CONFESSETH AND
FORSAKETH them SHALL HAVE MERCY.”
We probably don’t think of this kind of situation is this manner but
Jesus puts those who give excuses for not accepting God’s invitation to be his
child in the same category:
Luke 14:16-18 “…A certain man made a great supper, and bade
many: 17And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were
bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. 18And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a
piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I
pray thee have me excused…”
v.13 “And
the LORD God said unto the woman,
What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”
Mother Eve tells the truth. The serpent beguiled or fooled, enticed and
trapped her. Are we any different
today? In the mass media we are
bombarded constantly with the enticements of sin. To escape the temptations of this world we
would have to be hermits living in a cave, never seeing the light of day, other
people or any of the things that delight the people of this world. Even in the church, clinging closely to God’s
word, helping and supporting one another in our daily walk of life we have to
be vigilant to keep from being lead astray.
Paul wrote about his concern to the church at
“But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” I Corinthians 11:3
v.14 “And the LORD
God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon
thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:”
What did a serpent look
like before God cursed him? We don’t
know but the Holy Spirit tells us that he didn’t crawl on his belly in the dirt
as serpents do today. God continues his
curse of Satan to tell him that the day will come when his power over mankind
will be totally destroyed.
v.15 “And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
We have the very first
seed promise, the very first prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ as a
prophecy from God directly. He will
bruise Satan’s head, symbolizing limiting his authority, limiting and
eventually destroying his power over men.
We find one of the earliest accounts of the fulfillment of this prophecy
in:
Matthew
v.16 “Unto
the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
The introduction of sin
into the world caused God to change the roles and positions of both men and
women in the world. Woman’s role in the
lives of mankind conducted in the time we’re here on earth was established
originally in the giving of Adam a help meet.
Now, because of sin entering into the world that role is modified. Every woman, though most don’t understand the
reason, who bears a child will remember and be plagued
with the consequence of Eve’s sin. The
prophets and Jesus himself use it as an example to describe the fear of the
Lord, an example:
Isaiah 13:8 “And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows
shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they
shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.”
Jesus uses the same example but at the same time to teach his disciples
that their troubles will not need to be endured very long and that their travail
would be worth the result that it would bring. Their problems would be as:
“A woman when she is in travail
hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the
child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the
world.” John 16:21
In addition a woman
would be under the authority of her husband and her desire, purpose and work
would be to support him. This is similar
to the role given woman as man’s help but places more emphasis on her subordinate
role. A God given role that the
feminists of this world not only deny but stand ready to flog anyone who
teaches God’s will in these matters.
I Timothy 2:11-15 “Let the woman learn
in silence with all subjection. 12But I suffer not a woman to teach,
nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13For
Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15Notwithstanding
she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and
holiness with sobriety.”
The consequence of
Adam’s sin is a greater burden, probably because while Eve was deceived, Adam
was not.
v.17 “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I
commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;”
Adam did something that
he knew he had been commanded not to do.
He was much like King Saul of
I Samuel
Consequently mankind would eat of the fruit of the earth, the production
of the herbs, trees and various plants that God had provided:
Psalms 104:14 “HE CAUSETH THE
GRASS TO GROW FOR THE CATTLE, AND HERB FOR THE SERVICE OF MAN: THAT HE MAY
BRING FORTH FOOD OUT OF THE EARTH.”
But it wouldn’t be easy.
v.18 “18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou
shalt eat the herb of the field;”
This is a curse that I
understand completely. Sometimes, when
my excess energy as a boy got me in trouble, I was given a mattock and the job
of removing the Canadian thistles from the barn lot and surrounding areas. Did thorns and thistles exist prior to the
curse that God places on mankind here?
The scripture implies that they did not and in Genesis
v.19 “In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground;
for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return.”
So the earth would not
only bring forth thorns and thistles to plague man in his endeavor to gain his
living from its soil but his bread would need to be gained by the sweat of his
brow. Previously man had enjoyed the
abundance of the garden that was provided by God. But now, man would have to work at getting
what God would provide to sustain him.
In addition physical
death has been brought into the world. Genesis 2:7 tells us that God made man
from the dust of the earth. Now God
tells man that he will return to dust again, he will endure physical
death. The Holy Spirit tells us the
disposition of man through the Soloman and the writer of the Hebrew letter:
Ecclesiastes 12:7 “THEN SHALL THE
DUST RETURN TO THE EARTH AS IT WAS: AND THE SPIRIT SHALL RETURN UNTO GOD WHO
GAVE IT.”
Hebrews
v.20-21 “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because
she was the mother of all living. Unto
Adam also and to his wife did the LORD
God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”
We’re told that the meaning of the
name Adam in the original language is “red earth” signifying the source of
man’s body. The name Eve or Evah means “life”.
Each tells us that God places significance in the names of certain
people even before he changes the names of Abraham, Sari and Jacob and gives us
the names for John the Baptizer and Jesus the Christ.
In addition God, even though he is
totally displeased with Adam and Eve; even though he is punishing them he
provides for them. They will gain their
sustenance from the earth, now he provides clothing for them as well. Do you think these were fancy fur coats that
some pay thousands of dollars for today?
No, these clothes were not made of silk and satin or rich fabric, but
the through implication of scripture, plain skins, not trimmed, nor
embroidered, they carried none of the ornaments that man and women have learned
to add to their clothing. Consequently,
if we have sufficient food to live and common clothing to wear we are blessed
as well as God blessed Adam and Eve.
Anything beyond that would make us rich, greatly blessed, would it not?
Read Genesis 3:22-24 – Man’s Removal from
v.22 “And
the LORD God said, Behold, the man
is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his
hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:”
Man’s knowledge and position in this
world has changed. Now, God says, that
man now has the knowledge of good and evil.
Since man now knows evil as well as good what is God implying would be
the result? That man would follow
evil. One of the curses placed against
him was that he should die and return to the dust of the earth. So he must also be prevented from eating of
the tree of life and living forever. God
had placed this tree in the garden:
Genesis 2:9 “And
out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the
sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and
the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
Eating of it was
not part of the prohibition or commandment that God had given in Genesis 2:16-17. So now something must be done to keep man
from this source of life.
v.23-24 “Therefore
the LORD God sent him forth from the
garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he
drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims,
and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
God banned Adam, Eve and all of
their future generations from the garden and made provisions for man to be kept
from that source of eternal life here on earth.