Genesis Lessons 3: 1-7, 14-19 - Fallen
LAST WEEK: In Gen. 2:1-9, 15-28, we continued to study the mind-boggling story of creation. We saw God rest on the Seventh Day and set it aside as a holy day. We went back and learned how God created man from the dust of the earth, making him His own image with the purpose of maintaining and protecting the creation. As provision for man, we saw God plant a garden in a place named Eden. He placed many trees there but two with a specific purpose: a tree of life that would give man immortality and as long as he ate from it and a tree of knowledge of good and evil from which man was forbidden to eat. Man was explicitly warned that if he ate the forbidden fruit, he was certain to die physically (of old age) and spiritually (separated from God.) Finally, God deemed that the creation was incomplete because it was 'not good' for man to be alone. Therefore, God made him a 'helper,' a woman to become his partner in life to carry out God's plan to 'fill the earth.'
THIS WEEK: In Gen. 3:1-7, 15-19, we will cover the tragic story of the fall of man. Humanity had originally been given virtually everything they would ever need with only one readily identifiable boundary-to never eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The first seven verses of Chapter 7 reveal the account of Satan's (appearing in the form of a serpent) temptation of mankind, the first human sin, and the immediate consequences that followed it. From this, we learn that even though they were placed in a perfect environment by a loving Creator, that Adam and Eve 'choose' to sin anyway. Verses 14-19 will describe the consequences of man's rebellion against God.
Read Gen. 3:1-5 - YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" 4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
v. 1a: "Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." - In this verse, we're introduced to a new character, "the serpent." While there has been much scholarly argument over its identity, a majority of conservative Bible scholars understand this speaking serpent to be Satan himself; specifically, that Satan took on the form of a serpent for the purpose of deceiving the woman. The word for "crafty" (Heb. 'ā-rūm) means sly or devious. And we should bear in mind that Satan is a fallen spiritual being having great power to tempt humans.
v. 1b: "And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" - Satan's intent was to plant a seed of doubt in the woman's mind about God's perfect and holy nature-to convince her that God was unjustly holding something back from them that was in fact good. The phrase, "Indeed, has God said," could be paraphrased as "did God truly mean to say that...," and he adds "from any," implying the all the trees in the garden are good to eat from.
v. 2: "The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;" - The first part of Eve's response is correct; however, just getting her to talk about the trees was major part of Satan's strategy. She should have seen a talking serpent as a red flag, something to flee from. Now, having engaged her attention, Satan can lay the rest of the trap. Commentators suggest that the woman was more vulnerable to temptation because she did not receive the command 'not to eat' from the forbidden tree directly from God but through Adam.
v. 3: "but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" - Eve's first mistake was allowing herself to be led into a conversation with the serpent. We can rebuke Satan, but we aren't permitted to converse with him. Eve's reply shows that her knowledge is partly correct, but what she doesn't seem to know-e.g., "a tree in the middle of the garden," versus the tree of knowledge of good and evil, makes her more vulnerable to suggestion. Then she misquoted God's command by adding "or touch it," thereby overstating God's prohibitions. By doing this, Eve was, in effect, mocking God by putting words into His mouth that misquoted His original command.
v. 4: "The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!" - Here, Satan springs the trap with a direct challenge to God's Word: In the allegation, "You surely will not die!," Satan basically calls God a liar; that God had intentionally given Adam and Eve wrong information about the fruit of the forbidden tree. Eve, who by now, was having doubts about the truth of God's Word, was ready to accept a complete denial. This conversation stands as a prototype for the temptation to sin. Every temptation to sin brings God's righteousness and truthfulness into question, and as the temptation continues, we convince ourselves that God must be wrong about it; and that it will be reasonable for us to choose our own path in this circumstance. It's about making choices, whether right or wrong.
v. 5: "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." - Having led to woman into temptation, Satan now pushes her into the next step: disobedience. Satan tells her, that eating the fruit will "open" her "eyes," make her "like God." We need to see the irony, the fatal error here. Satan told her a half-truth, in reality, a lie: Yes, like God, she could obtain a greater knowledge of good and evil, but in truth, when she sinned, she in fact would become less like God; become an imperfect sinner. Here, the first doctrine that Satan denied was that sin results in death (i.e., that God wouldn't punish sin), when in fact, that the consequent separation from God is the essence of death (Gen. 2:17).
Read Gen 3:6-7 - SHE TOOK FROM ITS FRUIT AND ATE
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
v. 6a: "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate;" - Giving-in to Satan's temptation, Eve now moves to disobey God's Word. While Satan initiated the first two steps, he stood back and allowed Eve's natural desires-her flesh-to take over and carry her all the way into the trap. Look at the three elements of fleshly temptation: (1) "good for food": the fruit could satisfy her bodily appetites; (2) "delight to the eyes": the fruit attracted her, she coveted it; and (3) "desirable to make one wise": it appealed to the pride of her intellect, to be wise. So, she looked at the fruit, coveted it, took it, then ate it. Its how temptation works when unchecked by God's Word.
v. 6b: "and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." - The fact that Adam, "her husband," was "with her," and that he knowingly "ate" what God had expressly forbidden, indicates that Adam's sin was both (1) an act of conscious rebellion against God and (2) a clear failure to carry out his God-given responsibilities to keep the Garden and protect the woman as his helper.
NOTE: The foundation of all human sin lies in man's desire to be independent from God. Adam and Eve chafed under the restriction placed on them by God's command, and in direct opposition to it, they disobeyed and fell. From this point forward in history, the relationship that God had established with man was broken. Adam and Eve's behavior recorded here has been repeated down through the ages by every one of their descendants, except Jesus Christ (Luke 3:23-38).
v. 7: "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings." - The separation from God that sin produces is clearly evident here: the new 'wisdom' that would make them 'like God' in fact showed them they were different-male and female-from one other, and it makes them ashamed of being naked. This is a new barrier between them, and they hastily make clothing to 'cover' their sin.
Read Gen. 3:14-19 - THE CONSEQUENCES OF MAN'S FALL
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." 16 To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you." 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."
v. 14: "The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life;" - Starting here, God pronounces a series of curses, beginning with the serpent (which included Satan and all snakes in general). And the curse is both figurative and general: (1) figurative as a reminder to all future human generations of who the Devil is and God's power over him and (2) in general, that for all time, snakes would be uniquely despised in comparison to other animals. The term "dust you will eat" later became a Heb. expression for contempt.
v. 15: "And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." - This is God's final curse on the serpent. As to the "enmity...between your seed and her seed," many Bible scholars interpret this as a reference to Christ, the Son of God and also the ultimate offspring of Eve: Satan, through evil men, would wound Christ initially, but Christ would prevail and bring the ultimate victory on behalf of humanity. The bottom line is that even though Satan continues to prey upon humanity up to this very day, we know for certain that he will be destroyed at the end of time (Rev. 20:7-9).
v. 16: "To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you." - God now turns to the woman who allowed herself to be deceived. His curse on her pertains mainly to her family life and relationships. While having children would bring her joy, the process bearing them and giving birth would bring severe pain. And her marriage relationship would now bring stress instead of simply being a source of love and companionship. The term "desire" for her husband is generally interpreted as the desire to be in control of her husband. But notice that male headship in the marriage is not part of the curse. The NT makes it clear that God's design for marriage is for the husband to be the self-sacrificing head as a picture of Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:22-33).
v. 17: "Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life." - God now turns His attention to Adam, whose curse is longer and more detailed than that of the serpent and Eve.
v. 18: "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;" - Making it worse, the ground he's given to work is infested with thorns and thistles (i.e., weeds that bite back). He will have to fight them every day in order to simply survive. This pictures a wild and uncontrolled landscape, a hostile environment in the extreme.
v. 19a: "By the sweat of your face You will eat bread," - The statement, "You will eat bread," confirms the prohibition against killing animals and eating meat. (This will not be lifted until the Noahic Covenant in Gen. 9:8-17.) Whatever Adam manages to grow "By the sweat of [his] face," he will have to grind it up and make into some kind of edible bread.
v. 19b: "Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return." - Though Adam didn't stop breathing on the day he ate the forbidden fruit, death entered his life with this curse. His heart continued to beat for many more years, but the poison that entered his life-aging-confirmed that he would one day die (930 years later according to Gen. 5:5), and his dead body would be returned to the "dust" from whence it came.
APPLICATION-Broken:
