Genesis Chapter 3

Sin Brings Death

3:1

The Serpent is identified as being more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field. Since an ‘animal’ snake cannot scheme and reason on how to deceive, we know that Satan had entered the snake and spoke to Eve through the serpent. Did animals somehow communicate with man? Wouldn’t Eve be very suspicious of an animal of the field suddenly speaking to her? Obviously Satan must have been communicating with Eve enough to win her trust. Maybe, because all that God created was good; Eve had never experienced anything ‘not good’ and was unaware of the possibility of anything but ‘goodness’. In any case, Satan questions and challenges God’s Words, by saying ‘can it really be..’ or ‘did God say…’ these phrases insert an element of doubt as to what is True. This is why Satan is called ‘The father of lies’ as he introduced lies and doubt about God’s Words being True, into the world. The Hebrew word for the serpent is Nachash; the shining one; root word is “hiss, mutter, whisper, enchanter.”

3:2-3

Eve replies to the serpents doubting question, by stating her interpretation of God’s command. She correctly states they were not to eat of the fruit of the tree; then she adds that they were not to even touch it, or they would die. We must never add to or subtract from what God has spoken. What else could she have done, or said? Remember, we do not have to defend God’s Word to liars; we can simply go to God for His Truth.

3:4-5

Now the serpent immediately says “You shall not surely die.” This is an outright lie designed to cause Eve to disbelieve and distrust God. Satan is calling God a liar! (5.) The serpent continues his deception by trying to make the eating of the forbidden fruit seem to be a good thing, rather than evil; by stating that her eyes would be opened, meaning she would gain additional knowledge and understanding, and she would be as God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessings and calamity. Satan’s lies were designed to make it sound like God was withholding some valuable and important knowledge and understanding from Eve that would make her like God. What was Satan appealing to with Eve? Something possibly attractive? Now what should Eve have done? Does Satan do this to us? What seemingly attractive idea or thing has the evil one dangled before your eyes, or spoken into your thoughts? We fall prey to the same type of lie from the evil one. Why not? … fill in the blank … even when we suspect the ‘why not’ might not be a good idea, why do we still do the wrong thing? Did self pride have anything to do with the first sin of mankind? Does pride have anything to do with our sins? Try to name a sin that does NOT have anything to do with your self pride? Any ideas on how to avoid these types of mistakes which then lead to sin? Is it time for some deep soul searching?

3:6

Now, rather than consult Adam, or better yet, God; Eve looks at the tree with her eyes and sees that it appears good for food and was delightful to look at, and then she assumes it would make her wise and she desires what she assumes God was withholding from her. We see self pride welling up inside Eve as she begins to desire things she wants now and thinks she can get without God. See the progression of looking at forbidden fruit, then making fleshly assumptions – it appeared good for food and was attractive to look at; then the final failure, believing the lie that it would make her wise like God. She eats the fruit on her own; then she gives some to her husband and he eats. Where was Adam when she first ate the fruit? Notice that we are told she took the fruit to Adam for him to eat. Why did he eat? The Bible clearly tells us that Adam was not deceived as Eve was. See 1 Timothy 2:14.

3:7

By the phrase ‘the eyes of both of them were opened’ means they now realized they had disobeyed God’s command. They had experienced evil in their lives by willingly disobeying God. Their spiritual covering was gone as was their spiritual bond to God. They now saw themselves as naked and exposed before each other, and worse, before God. They immediately tried to cover themselves to hide their disobedience. Down through the ages man tries to ‘cover their own sins’ by using their own methods and ignoring God’s only provision for sin, which is God Himself in the person of Jesus. Oh, what a lesson for us! We must immediately seek God when faced with temptation ~ The LIE ~ and ask for His guidance, protection, wisdom, strength; whatever is needed to avoid sin. Yet, when we do fall into sin, (all of us do), then we must immediately confess and repent of the sin and seek God’s forgiveness through Jesus.

3:8

Upon hearing God calling them, since they knew they had committed evil by disobeying God’s commandment, they tried to ‘hide’ from God among the trees. You are probably thinking, “that’s pretty stupid, you can’t hide from an all knowing, all seeing God!” Yet, how do we try to ‘hide from God’ when we do something we know is wrong? What should Adam and Eve have done? What should we do? How many times do we try to hide our evil sins from God? Sounds pretty foolish, doesn’t it? So why do we do it?

3:9

We know that God knew what had already happened. Still, God called Adam and said “Where are you?” Why did God ask Adam where he was, when God knew where he was? Did he want Adam to come forward and admit and confess what he had done? Was God seeking a lost sinner and trying to get Adam to see, hear and understand that He cared for him, even after he had disobeyed God? Why didn’t God call Eve? Could it be that perhaps the term ‘Adam’ meant both Adam and Eve?

3:10

Now the consequences of sin are shown as reasons for trying to avoid responsibility for the sin. Do we do this? Can we see why it is so important to immediately confess and admit that we caused the suffering and hurt of sin? None of us wants to admit that pain and suffering are the result of our own sin. Yet, we are told repeatedly that ALL pain, suffering and death are the result of sin. Sometimes our sin causes others to suffer as well. We are ashamed and embarrassed to admit what we have done. So were our first parents. Ever hear the phrase we need to ‘swallow our pride’ and admit our wrongdoing? Can you see how the issue of ‘pride’ comes into play with all sin?

3:11-12

God continues to ask questions to get Adam to admit he disobeyed God. After asking who told you you were naked? Adam probably said nothing; so God asked the key question: “Have you disobeyed my command?” (12.) Instead of confessing his responsibility for disobedience and sin, Adam blames Eve; “The woman…”, then Adam blames God, “You gave me…” “She gave me the fruit…” Finally, Adam says, “I ate.” Do we try to blame someone or something for our sins? If only…? Think about it, how often do we try to justify or excuse our own sins?

3:13

Now the Lord God speaks to Eve: “What have you done!” Eve doesn’t learn from Adams pitiful excuses, instead she immediately blames the serpent, saying “he beguiled me, and I ate.” Today, we still blame Satan saying “The devil made me do it!” This is just another lie, Satan cannot make us do anything! Do we see any confession on Eve’s part? Does she take any responsibility for her actions? Does she repent? The horrible consequence of sin is that it always separates us from God. How about you?

3:14

Now we see God’s curse upon the serpent. Crawling on one’s belly forever is the ultimate humiliation. Eating dirt and what it contains sounds more than disgusting. Yet the full meaning of this curse goes beyond the physical into the spiritual realm. We know that this curse pertains to Satan and all the demons who followed him in disobeying and challenging God. We think, How foolish; yet, don’t we do the same thing every time we act outside God’s perfect will? Something to think about, and certainly to pray about. What can we do to avoid falling into this same foolish trap? See Psalm 119:10-11. This is a great verse to memorize and pray into your life.

3:15

Now God gives the Prophecy that pertains to all mankind for all Eternity. This is the central theme of the entire Bible ~ God’s Eternal Plan of Salvation for all mankind and the destruction of all evil. God’s plan for Redemption of mankind and ultimate destruction of Satan is partly revealed in this passage. God actually speaks a declaration of war to the enemy of mankind, Satan; and also gives a promise of victory. See Romans 5:18, 19. So, here we see the first glimpse of the promise of the Messiah, the Savior of mankind to redeem us from the punishment, power and presence of sin. God Himself puts enmity between Satan and the woman, between Satan’s seed (who or what are Satan’s seed?) and her seed. This seems strange, as the ‘seed’ of reproduction comes from the man, not the woman. So what is meant here? Declaration of war between Satan and the only seed of the woman; Mary’s child Jesus, the Messiah. This seed shall bruise Satan’s head, meaning a death blow; and Satan shall bruise his heel. See Revelation 12:1-10.

3:16

We are given a hint that Eve must be displaying great sorrow at what she had done. We are not told she was crying, but I can imagine she was probably sobbing uncontrollably. Notice that God said He will multiply her sorrow. He also proclaims that her husband shall now rule over her. We women like to think we are ‘in charge’. Yet, when the Truth is revealed, we need our husbands to ‘take charge’ in marriage matters. This does not mean that the husband makes all the decisions without consulting his wife and considering her needs and opinions. Notice that throughout the Bible the husband is given the responsibility of caring for his wife, loving his wife, treating her with tenderness and gentleness. In fact, it even states he should ‘die’ for her. See Ephesians 6:22-33. Is it possible that Adam believed that was what he was doing for Eve? Did he choose to join her in sin and die with her? Some commentators think this is a possibility.

3:17-19

Now we are given information about more of the terrible consequences of sin. Adam also is told he will eat of the ground all the days of his life. He must now eat the herbs and vegetation, not just the wonderful fruit from the trees. Notice that God said the ground is cursed for Adams sake. What is meant by this? Why would the ground need to be cursed to benefit Adam? All creation is now subjected to the curse of sin. The spiritual and physical are ‘fractured’ and Entropy begins. Redemption will be needed for all the universe. All of Creation is groaning for the final Redemption. In Revelation we are told there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth. We assume there were no thorns or thistles until now. Planting and growing crops would be a chore that caused sweat to pour from Adam and Eve. Remember, the tending of the Garden was a pleasant and easy job, bringing great satisfaction and joy. Now, Adam and Eve are faced with sorrow, struggles, pain and eventually physical death. Can you identify?

3:20

God’s Word tells us that Adam also named his wife. Eve meant the mother of all future living humans.

3:21

Only by the shedding of ‘innocent blood’ would Adam and Eve by covered. See Leviticus 17:11. Notice that it is by Faith, rather than by man’s works that we are saved. Man’s first works were the ‘fig leaf covering’ How did that work? Man’s works today don’t work any better than it did in Genesis 3:7. We need to understand the contrasts between ‘works of man’ and God’s perfect work. There were two trees that were significant in the Garden. The Cross is identified as a ‘tree’ See acts 5:30; 1 Peter 2:24. Both trees were in a Garden John 19;41. The curse is linked to the tree. Galatians 3:13, 17. Notice that the cursed were hanged, presumably on a ‘tree’. Genesis 40:19 (The Baker was hanged) Esther 3:23, Haman is hanged. Judas hanged himself. Matthew 27:3-10. The Tree of Life was planted by God in the Garden. The tree upon which Jesus was crucified, was ‘planted’ by man, or placed at Golgotha for the purposes of crucifixion. The Tree in the Garden brought sin and death to mankind. The Tree at Calvary brought Life and Salvation.

3:22-23

Man was turned out of paradise so they would not eat of the tree of life and live forever separated from God. The Tree of Life will again be found in Paradise for all Believers. This was necessary or mankind would never be able to be redeemed. Remember, that the angels live forever. Those angles who chose to disobey God will forever be separated from Him. We humans are all given the opportunity of accepting God’s Mercy and Grace through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the tree (cross).

3:24

Not only does God drive mankind out of the Garden, but He placed the super Angels known as Cherubim, to guard the Tree of Life. Cherubim were guardians of God’s Glory and majesty. See Exodus 9, 10:1-22, Isaiah 6; Revelation 4:6-8; Psalm18:10;81:1;99:1, etc. Remember, Satan was once the Anointed Cherub, see Ezekiel 28:14. What a sorrowful and sad beginning of our fallen world. Yet, if we are truly honest with ourselves, we know, deep down, we also are sinners, in desperate need of our Savior and Lord Jesus. Each day we should begin by seeking God in our lives, confessing our sinfulness, and speaking and praying God’s Words to gain spiritual strength for the battle against evil.

Psalm 119:30 I have chosen the way of Truth and Faithfulness; Your commandments have I set before me. Psalm 119:10-11 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh let me not wander from your commandments. Your Word I have hidden in my heart that I might NOT sin against You. John 14:15-17 (Jesus speaking) If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

You are encouraged to find other Scriptures that speak to your heart and soul and whatever special need you have. God is faithful, trust Him.