GENESIS 3:
IN OUR YOUTH…WE LOOKED AROUND US AND BELIEVED NOTHING WOULD OR COULD CHANGE.
WE ALL WERE ONCE INNOCENT OF THIS WORLD.
WE WERE ALL ONCE NAÏVE.
WE ALL AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER POSSESSED THE IMMORTALITY MINDSET.
I WILL LIVE FOREVER.
NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN TO ME.
OR THE BELIEF THAT WHAT WAS HAPPENING AROUND US OUT IN THE BIG WIDE WORLD…EVEN WHAT COULD SNEAK…OR THREATEN….OR MIGHT COME INTO OUR LITTLE PIECE OF THE WORLD COULD NOT TOUCH US BECAUSE WE WERE EXCLUDED FROM HARM, EVIL, UGLINESS….WE WERE UNTOUCHABLE…PURE…AND WOULD REMAIN THE SAME.
WE WERE NOT PREPARED FOR CHANGE…EVIL…DISRUPTION…OR THE REALITIES AND POSSIBILITIES IN THIS WORLD…ANY MORE THAN ADAM AND EVE WERE.
BUT COME EVIL DID…AND DOES.
BUT COME REALITIES & CONSEQUENCES DID…AND DO COME.
AND THAT NAIVETE AND INNOCENCE WAS AND STILL TODAY IS INSTANTLY SHATTERED….BECAUSE LIKE ADAM WHO DID NOT PROTECT…AND EVE WHO WAS NAÏVE & BELIEVED HERSELF UNTOUCHABLE…PARADISE WAS LOST.
TURN WITH ME NOW TO Genesis 3
Man’s Temptation and Fall…And Paradise was lost!
The temptation from the serpent. The serpent begins his temptation in Verse 1...
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
We KNOW WHO THE SERPENT IS…THE SERPENT IS SATAN HIMSELF…
Ezekiel 28:13-19 TELLS US that Satan was in Eden. Many other passages associate a serpent or a snake-like creature with Satan (such as Job 26:13 and Isaiah 51:9). Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 speak of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan.
THE TRIUNE GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO BE DECEIVED.
HE WANTS US TO KNOW ALWAYS…WHO AND WHAT SATAN IS.
The representation of Satan as a serpent makes the idea of Moses saving Israel by lifting up a bronze serpent all the more provocative (Numbers 21:8-9), especially when Jesus identifies Himself with that very serpent (John 3:14). This is because in this picture, the serpent (a personification of sin and rebellion) is made of bronze (a metal associated with judgment, since it is made with fire). The lifting of a bronze serpent is the lifting up of sin judged, in the form of a cross.
AND Ezekiel 28 tells us Satan, before his fall, was an angel of the highest rank and prominence, even the “worship leader” in heaven. Isaiah 14 tells us Satan’s fall had to do with his desire to be equal to or greater than God, to set his will against God’s will.
The serpent was more cunning than any beast: Satan’s effectiveness is often found in His cunning, crafty ways. We can’t outsmart Satan, but we can overcome him with the power of Jesus.
PAUL CONFIRMS THIS DECEPTIVE, CUNNING, AND CRAFTINESS OF SATAN THAT MADE HIM SUCCESSFUL AGAINST EVE IN 2 CORINTHIANS 11:3, which says, “As the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness.”
And he said to the woman…this tells us BEFORE the curse pronounced in Genesis 3:14-15, the serpent was different than what we know today as a serpent. This creature didn’t start as a slippery, slithering, hissing snake as we know it, it became one.
Jesus WARNS us of who, what, and how deceptive, illusionary, and superficially Satan and his demons CAN be.
RIGHT HERE IN GENESIS….JESUS IS SHOWING US that demonic spirits HAVE the ability, under certain circumstances, to indwell human or animal bodies, as it is CONFIRMED IN Luke 8:33).
IN PARADISE….THIS TIME…Satan CHOSE to indwell the body of a pre-curse serpent.
EVE WAS NOT AFRAID…WORRIED…OR CAUTIOUS AT ALL.
BUT TODAY…EVEN THE BRAVEST OF HEARTS…KNOW INSTINCTIVELY TO BEWARE AND RUNNNNNNNN from snakes.
REGARDLESS HOW SATAN APPEARED TO EVE… it is FAR more important WHAT HE SAID & HOW HE SAID IT.
Satan CHOSE TO BRING his temptation against the woman because he perceived she was more vulnerable to attack.
WHY?
BECAUSE SATAN KNEW EVE HAD NOT RECEIVED the command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil DIRECTLY from God but through Adam.
THIS TELLS US THAT SATAN AND HIS DEMONS ARE EVER WATCHFUL…THEY KEEP RECORDS.
Perhaps Satan knew by observation Adam didn’t do an effective job in communicating to Eve THE ABSOLUTE DO NOT the Lord told him. This failure on Adam’s part made Eve MORE vulnerable to temptation.
BUT THIS ALSO SHOWS US THAT Satan will often attack a chain at its WEAKEST link, so he gets at Adam by tempting Eve. The stronger ones in a “chain” must expect attack against weaker links and support them against those attacks.
ADAM FAILED TO BE ALERT…ADAM FOR ALL HIS BRILLIANCE…NEVER CONSIDERED EVE WOULD BE APPROACHED…ATTACKED. SORRY GUYS…BUT MALE ARROGANCE AND PRIDE IN SELF…was the weak link.
But remember this always….THE TRIUNE GOD KNEW ALL THIS…AND HE HAD ALREADY PLANNED FOR THIS AND HE ALLOWED SATAN TO TEMPT EVE.
WHY?
BECAUSE IF Adam would have sinned FIRST, and if he had given the fruit to Eve, she WOULD HAVE HAD A VIABLE excuse..DEFENSE before God: “I was simply obeying the head of our home. When he gave me the fruit, I ate of it.”
“Has God indeed said”…..Satan’s FIRST attack is leveled against the Word of God. If he can get Eve confused about what God said, or to doubt what God said, to doubt what ALMIGHTY GOD REALLY MEANT…then his battle is partially won.
GENESIS 3 TELLS US AND SHOWS US…that from the VERY beginning, Satan has TRIED to undermine God’s people by undermining God’s Word. He can undermine just as effectively by getting us to NEGLECT God’s Word as by getting us to DOUBT & QUESTION it.
“Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Satan took God’s positive command (Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat [ Genesis 2:16-17]) and rephrased it in a negative way: “God won’t let you eat of every tree????”
Verses 2-3 tells us Eve’s reply to the serpent.
“And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
We read this NOW….and our first thought is….goooooood grief Eve WHY would you even SPEAK TO….MUCH LESS CARRY on a discussion with the serpent????
JUDE 1:9 confirms our thoughts with Jesus Words & teachings. We ARE called to SPEAK OUT to the devil, but NEVER to have a discussion with him. We simply and strongly tell him, “The Lord rebuke you!”
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: Eve’s knowledge of what she should not do is partially correct, but what she doesn’t seem to know makes her all the more vulnerable to deception.
Eve does not seem to know the name of this tree; she only calls it the tree in the midst of the garden, instead of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17).
THIS ONLY CONFIRMS THAT ADAM DID NOT POST SIGNS, STROBBING DANGER RED LIGHTS, around this tree…much less TELL EVE THE INHERENT CURSE AND DANGER OF IT EITHER.
IN OTHER WORDS THE ARROGANCE SAYING….”WHAT THE LITTLE WOMAN…DOESN’T KNOW CAN’T HURT HER” …IS A LIE STRAIGHT FROM THE PIT OF HELL.
Eve misquoted God’s command to Adam. Her words, “you shall not eat it” and “lest you die” are close enough, but she added to the command and put words in God’s mouth when she said, “nor shall you touch it.” Of course, it was a good idea to completely avoid the temptation; no good could come from massaging the fruit you’re not supposed to eat.
But THEN AND NOW it is a dangerous thing to TEACH the doctrines of man as if they ARE commandments from Jesus Christ himself…as Matthew confirms and warns us in Matthew 15:9.
THEN AND NOW…SOME OF THE MOST BRILLIANT MINDS TO BE FOUND…LACK ANY SHRED OF COMMON SENSE.
We can almost picture Adam telling Eve, “See that tree in the middle of the garden? Don’t touch it or God says we’ll die!” While this is better than saying nothing, what Adam didn’t explain made a vulnerable place where Satan could attack.
“Lest you die”….may seem like a small thing to hinge the destiny of the human race and all creation on. But the tree was nothing more than a RESTRAINT on Adam and Eve. It reminded them they were NOT God, that God had a legitimate claim on their obedience, and that they were responsible to Him.
Verses 4-5 tells us Satan’s direct challenge to God’s Word.
“Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
RIGHT HERE….Satan effectively laid the groundwork. He drew Eve into a discussion with him and planted the seed of doubt about God’s Word, and he exposed Eve’s incomplete understanding of God’s Word. Now he moves in for the kill, with an outright contradiction of what God said.
THIS SHOWS US THAT SATAN NEEDS A FOOTHOLD IN US…BEFORE HE CAN EFFECTIVELY HARM & TRIP US UP! No one falls like Adam and Eve will fall, “all of a sudden.” A foundation has been laid FIRST.
THIS IS WHY PAUL REMINDS US IN EPHESIANS 4:27.…we are called to never give place to the devil. This shows how remarkable it is that Jesus could say in John 14:30, “Satan has nothing in Me.”
Satan first NEEDED Eve to forget all about what God said about the CONSEQUENCES of sin.
JUST AS HEBREWS 11:25 confirms, when we know and remember the consequences of sin, we are more likely to give up the passing pleasures of sin.
ALSO Satan’s direct challenge, SERVES to get Eve to DOUBT the GOODNESS of God. If God lies to her, how can He be good?
ALSO Satan TRIES to get Eve to doubt the BADNESS of sin. If this fruit is something good for her, why doesn’t God want her to have it?
FROM THE BEGINNING….Satan SEEKS TO TWIST AND DISTORT…he wants us to see sin as something good, fine, no big deal…that a BAD, BOSSY, BUMMER God doesn’t want us to have. His main lie then and now is this…..“Sin is really NOT bad and God is really NOT good.”
“In the day you eat of it your eyes WILL BE opened”… Satan’s temptation was all the MORE POWERFUL, SNEAKY, & CUNNING…BECAUSE THERE WAS A GRAIN OF TRUTH IN IT. It was true your eyes will be opened, and this was fulfilled (Genesis 3:7). But their eyes were instantly opened to their OWN sin, arrogance, and rebellion.
HERE WE LEARN SOMETHING IMPORTANT…JESUS CHRIST IS PURE TRUTH…ALL TRUTH…a pinch of truth does NOT MAKE IT JESUS’ TRUTH.
You will be like God, knowing good and evil: The final enticement is the most powerful, because it was how Satan himself fell, wanting to be EQUAL WITH GOD. Eve tried to become a god herself by her rebellion against God.
The goal of becoming God is the center of so many non-Christian religions. But in our desire to be gods, we become like Satan (who said, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God . . . I will be like the Most High” written in Isaiah 14:13-14. INSTEAD of being like Jesus, who came as a servant in Matthew 20:28.
The New Age movement and the desire to be “god” are just as strong as ever. According to a recent survey, as many as 20 million Americans can be considered active participants in the New Age movement, and another 30 million are avidly interested. If all these people were brought together in a church-like organization, it would be the third largest religious denomination in America. More than 90% of the subscribers to New Age Magazine are college graduates, compared to half the general population.
In 1995, New Age influence made it all the way to the White House. New Age author Marianne Williamson (writer of A Course In Miracles), guru to many of Hollywood’s spiritual seekers, spent a night at the White House as the personal guest of Hillary Clinton. And Anthony Robbins, motivational guru and king of late-night infomercials, consulted with President Clinton at Camp David. Robbins is also recognized as a leader in the New Age movement.
L. RON HUBBARD OF SCIENTOLOGY & other gurus today call themselves “spiritualists”…when what they REALLY ARE is people who believe themselves to BE GODS AND RULERS AND CONTROLLERS OF ALL THINGS.
Verse 6 tells us the sin of Adam and Eve is their disobedience and their consequences…the fall of the human race.
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”
Eve surrendered to this temptation in exactly the way John describes in 1 John 2:16. First, she gave in to the lust of the flesh (saw that it was good for food), then she gave in to the lust of the eyes (pleasant to the eyes), then she gave in to the pride of life (desirable to make one wise).
Jesus was tempted in the same three-fold way: an appeal to the physical appetites, an appeal to covetous and emotional desires, and an appeal to pride confirmed in Matthew 4:1-11.
The woman saw that the tree was good for food: Eve’s perceptions were partially true and partially false. The tree was not really good for food, though Eve was deceived into thinking it was so. The fruit probably was pleasant to the eyes, though that shouldn’t mean much. And it was only true in Eve’s mind that the tree was desirable to make one wise.
We can see the total truth of Paul’s statement in 1 Timothy 2:14, that Eve was DECEIVED INTO SINNING. In her mind, she thought she was doing something good for herself.
She took of its fruit and ate: Satan could tempt Eve, but she didn’t have to take it. The taking was all her doing. Satan couldn’t cram the fruit down her throat. Eve was responsible. She couldn’t rightly say, “the devil made me do it.”
FREEWILL….MEANS CHOICE.
EVE HAD TO CHOOSE TO SIN.
As with every temptation, God had made for Eve a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). She could have simply run from Satan and the tree, but Eve didn’t take God’s way of escape.
She also gave to her husband with her: Not only did Eve sin, but she became the agent of temptation for Adam. But when Adam ate, he was not deceived as Eve was. Adam sinned with his eyes wide open, in open rebellion against God.
Therefore, it is Adam, not Eve, who bears the responsibility for the fall of the human race and for the introduction of death into the created order & that truth is confirmed in Romans 5:12 & 1 Corinthians 15:22. Eve was tricked into sinning; Adam knew exactly what he was doing we are reminded in 1 Timothy 2:14.
Many have speculated that Adam sinned because he didn’t want Eve to be alone in the fall, and he ate of the fruit out of a romantic impulse. This may well be true, but it makes Adam’s sin not one bit less rebellious. Rebellion against God is not “better” when motivated by a romantic impulse.
BUT THINK ABOUT THIS….AND REMEMBER IT….JESUS HAD MADE A PLAN….EVEN IN THE GARDEN ON EDEN. ONE SWEET DAY….THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER….“Take and eat” will one day become verbs of salvation, but only after Jesus had lived in the world of Adam’s curse and surrendered to death.
Verse 7 tells us The nakedness of Adam and Eve.
“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 coverings.”
Seemingly, it was only after the sin of Adam that they knew of their sinful state. They knew they were naked, in the sense of having their shame exposed to all creation.
They KNEW that they were naked: Psalm 104:2 and Matthew 17:2 suggest that light can be a garment for the righteous. It may be that Adam and Eve were previously clothed in God’s glorious light, and the immediate loss of this covering of light left them feeling exposed and naked.
The way they saw themselves changed, but also the way they saw the entire world was now different. After the fall, everything looked worse.
Was it good or bad that Adam and Eve saw their nakedness and felt terrible about it? It was good, because it is good to feel guilty when you have done something wrong.
Their own attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves took much ingenuity, but not much wisdom. Fig leaves are said to have a prickly quality, which would make for some pretty itchy coverings.
THIS TEACHES US that every attempt to cover our own nakedness before God is just as foolish. We need to let Jesus cover us as He promises in Revelation 3:5; 3:18), and put on Jesus Himself as our covering garment as reminded to us in Galatians 3:27.
The exhortation from Jesus himself tells us in Revelation 16:15, “ Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
THEN AND NOW…they covered their genital areas. In virtually all cultures, adults cover their genital areas, even though other parts of the human body may be more or less exposed from culture to culture.
This is not because there is something intrinsically “dirty” in our sexuality, but because we have both received our fallenness and pass it on genetically through sexual reproduction. Because of this, God has implanted it in the minds of men that more modesty is appropriate for these areas of our body.
Verses 8-9 tells us Adam and Eve hide from God; God calls out to them.
“And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: Adam and Eve knew that when they heard the Lord coming, He would want to be with them. This was how the Lord had fellowship with Adam and Eve, in a very natural, close, intimate way.
Who is the human physical form of the TRIUNE GOD? Yes, it was Jesus Christ himself who walked, talked, ate, fellowshipped, & talked with Adam and Eve.
Adam and his wife hid themselves: This shows that Adam and Eve knew that their attempt to cover themselves failed. They didn’t proudly show off their fig-leaf outfits; they knew their own covering was completely inadequate, and they were embarrassed.
“Where are you?”…is NOT the interrogation of an angry commanding officer, but the heartfelt cry of an anguished father. God obviously knew where they were but He also knew a gulf had been made between Himself and man, a gulf that He Himself would have to bridge.
Verses 10-12 tells us Adam tries to explain his sin.
“So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
Sin made Adam afraid of God’s presence and afraid of God’s voice. Ever since Adam, men run from God’s presence and don’t want to listen to His Word.
Don’t we STILL TO THIS DAY…avoid, delay, facing and meeting people we have hurt? Grieved? Sinned against? Been unfair too?
Who told you that you were naked? God knew the answer to this question. He asked it because He allowed Adam to make the best of a bad situation by repenting right then and there, but Adam didn’t come clean and repent before God.
We learn right here…to keep short accounts with Jesus. When we sin, fail, falter…do not hide it, do not ignore it, do not blame others…claim it ourselves and repent….QUICKLY.
Joshua 7:19-20 confirms this… “We all sin, but when we sin, we can still give glory to God by openly confessing without shifting the blame onto others.”
There is often nothing you can do about yesterday’s sin (though in some cases you may be able to make restitution). Yet you can do what is right before God right now by confessing and repenting.
Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat? God confronted Adam’s problem squarely. This wasn’t primarily a wardrobe problem or a fear problem or a self-esteem problem. This was a sin problem and Adam’s wardrobe, fear, or self-understanding could not be addressed until the sin problem was addressed.
Then the man said: Notice that to this point, God has not addressed Eve at all. Adam, being the head, is the problem here.
The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate: Adam’s attempt to blame Eve is completely consistent with human nature, isn‘t it.
7000 years later mankind is STILL SEEKING TO CAST THE BLAME ON ANYONE AND EVERYONE ELSE…and not own up to their sin. Few of us are willing to simply say as David did in 2 Samuel 12:13, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Significantly, in the eyes of THE TRIUNE GOD, if there is any blame, it is on Adam, not Eve. Not only does Adam unjustly accuse Eve, but also he refuses to accept proper responsibility for his part in her sin.
TALK ABOUT ARROGANCE…ADAM WAS FULL OF IT. By daring to say to our TRIUNE GOD…“You gave me the woman, and she is the problem.” Adam wasn’t content to blame Eve; he had to blame God also.
Verse 13 tells us Eve’s reply to God.
“And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
When confronted by God, Eve doesn’t necessarily shift the blame when she admits the serpent deceived her and then she ate. This much was true, she had been deceived, and she did eat.
Deceived me…the REAL PROBLEM IS…when we fail to see that being deceived is sin in itself. Romans 1:25 confirms this, “It is sin to exchange the truth of God for the lie.”
Verses 14-15 tells us The curse and its aftermath. God curses the SERPENT FIRST.
“So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
DO YOU NOTICE WHEN God spoke to Adam and to Eve, He asked them each questions. God DOESN’T ASK Satan (the being animating the serpent) any questions, because there was nothing to teach him.
You are cursed more than all cattle: The first part of the curse is directed at the animal that Satan used to bring the temptation. God commanded the serpent to slither on the ground instead of walking on legs like any other animal.
Adam and Eve must have been terrified as this once-beautiful creature called a serpent was transformed into the creeping, slithering, hissing snake we know today.
WHY?
BECAUSE they must have thought, “It’s our turn next!”
I will put enmity between you and the woman: In addition, there is a natural aversion between mankind and serpents, especially on the part of women. AND THAT CURSE REMAINS TODAY.
You shall eat dust all the days of your life: This was true of the serpent as an animal, but it is also true of Satan. To eat dust has the idea of total defeat SPOKEN OF IN Isaiah 65:25 & Micah 7:17.
God’s judgment on Satan is for him to always know defeat. He will always reach for victory, but always fall short of it.
SATAN WAS PRONOUNCED DEFEATED BEFORE JESUS CHRIST EVER WALKED THE EARTH.
Satan was, in his own thinking, majestic and triumphant over Jesus on the cross, but he failed. In attacking Jesus, Satan made his own doom certain.
In Jesus, we share in the victory over Satan: And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly as promised us in Romans 16:20.
Enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed: The second part of the curse is directed against Satan himself. God placed a natural animosity between Satan and mankind. Enmity has the idea of ill will, hatred, and a mutual antagonism. Satan’s hatred of Eve was nothing new; it was already present - but now man will, generally speaking, have antagonism towards Satan.
The “friendship” Eve and the serpent seemed to enjoy earlier in the chapter is finished. There is now a natural fear of Satan in the heart of man.
If we are born naturally rebellious against God, we are also born cautious and afraid of Satan. One must be hardened to willingly and knowingly serve Satan. Instinctively, we don’t serve God or Satan; we serve ourselves (which is fine with Satan).
He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel: In this, God prophesies the doom of Satan, showing that the real battle is between Satan and the Seed of the Woman.
There is no doubt this is a prophecy of Jesus’ ultimate defeat of Satan. God announced that Satan would wound the Messiah (you shall bruise His heel), but the Messiah would crush Satan with a mortal wound (He shall bruise your head).
The heel is the part within the serpent’s reach. Jesus, in taking on humanity, brought Himself near to Satan’s domain so Satan could strike Him.
DID YOU CATCH THIS?
This prophecy also gives the FIRST hint of the virgin birth, declaring the Messiah - the Deliverer - would be the Seed of the Woman, but not of the man.
That is why Genesis 3:15 has been called the protoevangelium, the first gospel of the coming of Jesus Christ.
He shall bruise your head: For God to see the defeat of Satan at Satan’s first flush of victory shows God knew what He was doing all along. God’s plan wasn’t “set back” when Adam and Eve sinned, because God’s plan was to bring forth something greater than man in the innocence of Eden. God wanted more than innocent man; His plan is to bring forth redeemed man.
Redeemed man - this being who is greater than innocent man - is only possible because man had something to be redeemed from.
Verse 16 tell us God’s curse upon the woman.
“To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
God first cursed the woman with multiplied sorrow. Men and women have each known sorrow throughout history, yet the unique sorrow of women is well known.
Under Jesus, some of the effects of the curse are relieved, and it WAS JESUS WHO BEGAN THE Christianizing of society that brought rights and dignity to women.
Your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children: The first curse upon women is a broad one. It has the idea that women would experience pain in regard to their children in general, not just in the act of giving birth. God ordained that the pain with which women bring children into this world be an example of the pain they experience more generally in life.
It has been observed that women bring forth children with more pain than just about any other creature.
Your desire shall be for your husband: This is true of women in a way that it is not true for men. “This verse will be understood better when it is realized that the desire of man toward his wife alone is solely by God’s grace and not by nature.
Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you: The idea is to contrast the woman’s desire and the husband’s rule over her. This speaks of an inherent challenge in embracing the husband’s role as leader of the home and family.
This same word for desire is used in Genesis 4:7 of the desire of sin to master over Cain. Because of the curse, Eve would have to fight a desire to master her husband, a desire that works against God’s ordained order for the home.
The principle of Adam’s headship as a husband was established before the fall (see Genesis 2:18 and 2:22). Now the curse on Eve makes it much harder for her to submit and flow with God’s institution of male headship in the home.
Verses 17-19 tells us God’s curse upon the man.
“Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
Because you have heeded the voice of your wife: It wasn’t just as if Adam took Eve’s advice. He chose to be with Eve instead of obeying God. There is a sense in which idolatry of Eve was an aspect of Adam’s disobedience against God.
Cursed is the ground: Because of Adam, there is a curse upon all creation. Before the curse on man, the ground only produced good. After the curse, it will still produce good, but thorns and thistles will come faster and easier than good fruit.
In toil you shall eat of it: Adam worked before the curse, but it was all joy. Now work has a cursed element to it, with pain and weariness a part of work. Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hired man? Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade, and like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages as confirmed in Job 7:1-2.
Dust you are, and to dust you shall return: The final curse upon man promised there would be an end of his toil and labor on the earth - but it was an end of death, not not an end of deliverance.
The curse of death shows that the result of Adam’s sin extended to the entire human race. Because of Adam, sin entered the world (Romans 5:12), death came to all mankind (Romans 5:15 & 1 Corinthians 15:22), death reigned over man and creation (Romans 5:17), all men were condemned (Romans 5:18), and all men were made sinners (Romans 5:19).
The principle of Galatians 3:13 is established as we consider that Jesus bore each aspect of the curse upon Adam and Eve in its totality: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.
Sin brought pain to childbirth, and no one knew more pain than Jesus did when He, through His suffering, brought many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10)
Sin brought conflict, and Jesus endured great conflict to bring our salvation (Hebrews 12:3)
Thorns came with sin and the fall, and Jesus endured a crown of thorns to bring our salvation (John 19:2)
Sin brought sweat, and Jesus sweat, as it were, great drops of blood to win our salvation (Luke 22:44)
Sin brought sorrow, and Jesus became a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, to save us (Isaiah 53:3)
Sin brought death, and Jesus tasted death for everyone that we might be saved (Hebrews 2:9)
Verse 20 tells us the naming of Eve.
“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”
Adam called his wife’s name Eve: Up to Genesis 3:20, the woman has never been called Eve. We are so used to saying “Adam and Eve” that we assume she already had her name. But to this point, she was called a female (Genesis 1:27), a helper comparable (Genesis 2:18), a woman (Genesis 2:22-23, and a wife (Genesis 2:24-25; 3:8). This does not mean God did not have a name for Eve, but we are told what the name is in Genesis 5:2: He called them Mankind.
The idea that the woman takes her name from the husband, and the idea that both genders are encompassed in terms like mankind, humanity, and chairman. Our use of these terms is not merely cultural, it is Biblical.
A woman gains more of her identity from her husband than the man does from the wife. For this reason, women should take special care in which man they marry.
Because she was the mother of all living: Adam named her Eve, even though she was not a mother at all at the time. She was not even pregnant yet. Adam named her IN FAITH, trusting God would bring forth a deliverer from the woman, because God said He would defeat Satan through the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15).
Verse 21 tells us God clothes Adam and Eve in the skins of animals.
“Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”
The Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them: God wanted Adam and Eve clothed, not naked.
The world’s oldest profession is not prostitution, but the clothing business (Genesis 3:7).
Tunics of skin: In order for Adam and Eve to be clothed, a SACRIFICE had to be made. An animal had to die. Without shedding of blood there is no remission reminded to us in Hebrews 9:22.
SO NOW YOU KNOW HOW MANY RELIGIONS THERE WERE IN THE BEGINNING….There are only TWO.
There is the religion of fig leaves and there is the religion of God’s perfect provision through Jesus.
Covering ourselves with our good works is like Adam and Eve trying to cover themselves with fig leaves. Our good works are like monopoly money - great for monopoly, but not legal tender. Your good works are essential to what it takes to live out your life, but they are not legal tender before God.
AND HERE IS ANOTHER REVELATION….Adam and Eve were clothed in a garment that was purchased with the life of another. We are clothed with a garment of righteousness that was purchased with the life of another, Jesus Christ.
“And GOD clothed them“… This indicates that Adam and Eve were saved. Adam had faith in God’s promise of a Savior, and God provided a covering for them through a sacrifice. We will see Adam and Eve in heaven.
Verses 22-24 tells us God sets cherubim to guard the Tree of Life.
“Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”; therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Behold, the man has become like one of us, to know good and evil: The idea behind this phrase is difficult to understand. Perhaps there is a note of sarcasm by God here (as Elijah used in 1 Kings 18:27), regarding Satan’s empty promise to become like gods. Or, perhaps the idea focuses on man’s greater knowledge (though in a bad sense) now that he has the experiential knowledge of evil.
And take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: In mercy, God protected Adam and Eve from the horrible fate of having to live forever as sinners by preventing them from eating from the tree of life.
The Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden: We don’t know if Adam and Eve wanted to stay in the garden of Eden. Perhaps they felt if they left the garden, they might never see God again because it was the only place where they met Him.
He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden: Cherubim are always associated with the presence and glory of God (Ezekiel 10, Isaiah 6, Revelation 4). When cherubim are represented on earth (such as in the tabernacle, Exodus 25:10-22), they mark a meeting place with God. Though Adam and Eve and their descendants were prevented from eating the fruit of the tree of life (by God’s mercy), they could still come there to meet God. This was their “holy of holies.” Therefore it was important to send a cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
This is the last historical mention of the garden of Eden in the Bible. We can speculate that God did not destroy it, but left it to the effects of the curse and suppose that it generally deteriorated from its original condition, blending into the surrounding geography.
THE GARDEN OF EDEN….PARADISE WAS LOST…BUT IT WAS LOST WITH A PROMISE & A FUTURE HOPE TO YOU AND I.
GOD KNOWS WE ARE GOING TO SIN…SO BE QUICK TO OWN IT…CONFESS IT…AND THEN RISE UP AGAIN.
GOD PROMISED A VIRGIN BIRTH…IT HAPPENED.
GOD PROMISED SATAN WOULD BRUISE JESUS…IT HAPPENED.
GOD PROMISED SATAN WAS A DEFEATED FOE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN….JESUS RESURRECTION PROVED IT.
GOD SHOWED AND PROMISED GRACE AND MERCY TO THE HEART OF FAITH…THAT STILL REMAINED IN ADAM AND EVE’S HEART.
GOD SACRIFICED BLOOD…AN INNOCENT TO CLOTHE ADAM AND EVE…ON A PROMISE OF FUTURE SALVATION.
THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER….JESUS CHRIST WOULD PAY THE PRICE FOR ADAM AND EVE….JUST AS HE PAID THE PRICE FOR YOU AND I, 2 THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE YOU AND I WOULD EVER NEED A SAVIOR.
THE TRIUNE GOD…HAD/HAS A PLAN.
THE TRIUNE GOD IS FAITHFUL.
OUR TRIUNE GOD SPEAKS NOTHING BUT TRUTH.
WHAT IS SAID IN THE REST OF THE BIBLE CAN BE TRUSTED…
WE WERE LOVED BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND PROVIDED FOR…BEFORE MAN FELL…AND PARADISE WAS LOST.
TRUST IN OUR JESUS.
HE HAS A WONDROUS PLAN FOR YOU AND I.
ADAM AND EVE WERE GIVEN A PROPHESY…A PROMISE…A FUTURE HOPE OF REDEMPTION AND SALVATION BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH IN GOD AND HIS GOODNESS.
WE HAVE THE PROMISE…BETTER YET THE PROMISE LIVES WITHIN EACH OF US AS FOLLOWERS AND BELIEVERS OF JESUS.
TRUST IN OUR JESUS…OUR BLESSED HOPE.
GENESIS 3:IN OUR YOUTH…WE LOOKED AROUND US AND BELIEVED NOTHING WOULD OR COULD CHANGE.WE ALL WERE ONCE INNOCENT OF THIS WORLD.WE WERE ALL ONCE NAÏVE.WE ALL AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER POSSESSED THE IMMORTALITY MINDSET.I WILL LIVE FOREVER.NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN TO ME.OR THE BELIEF THAT WHAT WAS HAPPENING AROUND US OUT IN THE BIG WIDE WORLD…EVEN WHAT COULD SNEAK…OR THREATEN….OR MIGHT COME INTO OUR LITTLE PIECE OF THE WORLD COULD NOT TOUCH US BECAUSE WE WERE EXCLUDED FROM HARM, EVIL, UGLINESS….WE WERE UNTOUCHABLE…PURE…AND WOULD REMAIN THE SAME.WE WERE NOT PREPARED FOR CHANGE…EVIL…DISRUPTION…OR THE REALITIES AND POSSIBILITIES IN THIS WORLD…ANY MORE THAN ADAM AND EVE WERE.BUT COME EVIL DID…AND DOES.BUT COME REALITIES & CONSEQUENCES DID…AND DO COME.AND THAT NAIVETE AND INNOCENCE WAS AND STILL TODAY IS INSTANTLY SHATTERED….BECAUSE LIKE ADAM WHO DID NOT PROTECT…AND EVE WHO WAS NAÏVE & BELIEVED HERSELF UNTOUCHABLE…PARADISE WAS LOST.TURN WITH ME NOW TO Genesis 3Man’s Temptation and Fall…And Paradise was lost!The temptation from the serpent. The serpent begins his temptation in Verse 1...“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”We KNOW WHO THE SERPENT IS…THE SERPENT IS SATAN HIMSELF…Ezekiel 28:13-19 TELLS US that Satan was in Eden. Many other passages associate a serpent or a snake-like creature with Satan (such as Job 26:13 and Isaiah 51:9). Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 speak of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan.THE TRIUNE GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO BE DECEIVED.HE WANTS US TO KNOW ALWAYS…WHO AND WHAT SATAN IS.The representation of Satan as a serpent makes the idea of Moses saving Israel by lifting up a bronze serpent all the more provocative (Numbers 21:8-9), especially when Jesus identifies Himself with that very serpent (John 3:14). This is because in this picture, the serpent (a personification of sin and rebellion) is made of bronze (a metal associated with judgment, since it is made with fire). The lifting of a bronze serpent is the lifting up of sin judged, in the form of a cross.AND Ezekiel 28 tells us Satan, before his fall, was an angel of the highest rank and prominence, even the “worship leader” in heaven. Isaiah 14 tells us Satan’s fall had to do with his desire to be equal to or greater than God, to set his will against God’s will.The serpent was more cunning than any beast: Satan’s effectiveness is often found in His cunning, crafty ways. We can’t outsmart Satan, but we can overcome him with the power of Jesus.PAUL CONFIRMS THIS DECEPTIVE, CUNNING, AND CRAFTINESS OF SATAN THAT MADE HIM SUCCESSFUL AGAINST EVE IN 2 CORINTHIANS 11:3, which says, “As the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness.”And he said to the woman…this tells us BEFORE the curse pronounced in Genesis 3:14-15, the serpent was different than what we know today as a serpent. This creature didn’t start as a slippery, slithering, hissing snake as we know it, it became one.Jesus WARNS us of who, what, and how deceptive, illusionary, and superficially Satan and his demons CAN be.RIGHT HERE IN GENESIS….JESUS IS SHOWING US that demonic spirits HAVE the ability, under certain circumstances, to indwell human or animal bodies, as it is CONFIRMED IN Luke 8:33).IN PARADISE….THIS TIME…Satan CHOSE to indwell the body of a pre-curse serpent.EVE WAS NOT AFRAID…WORRIED…OR CAUTIOUS AT ALL.BUT TODAY…EVEN THE BRAVEST OF HEARTS…KNOW INSTINCTIVELY TO BEWARE AND RUNNNNNNNN from snakes.REGARDLESS HOW SATAN APPEARED TO EVE… it is FAR more important WHAT HE SAID & HOW HE SAID IT.Satan CHOSE TO BRING his temptation against the woman because he perceived she was more vulnerable to attack.WHY?BECAUSE SATAN KNEW EVE HAD NOT RECEIVED the command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil DIRECTLY from God but through Adam.THIS TELLS US THAT SATAN AND HIS DEMONS ARE EVER WATCHFUL…THEY KEEP RECORDS.Perhaps Satan knew by observation Adam didn’t do an effective job in communicating to Eve THE ABSOLUTE DO NOT the Lord told him. This failure on Adam’s part made Eve MORE vulnerable to temptation.BUT THIS ALSO SHOWS US THAT Satan will often attack a chain at its WEAKEST link, so he gets at Adam by tempting Eve. The stronger ones in a “chain” must expect attack against weaker links and support them against those attacks.ADAM FAILED TO BE ALERT…ADAM FOR ALL HIS BRILLIANCE…NEVER CONSIDERED EVE WOULD BE APPROACHED…ATTACKED. SORRY GUYS…BUT MALE ARROGANCE AND PRIDE IN SELF…was the weak link.But remember this always….THE TRIUNE GOD KNEW ALL THIS…AND HE HAD ALREADY PLANNED FOR THIS AND HE ALLOWED SATAN TO TEMPT EVE.WHY?BECAUSE IF Adam would have sinned FIRST, and if he had given the fruit to Eve, she WOULD HAVE HAD A VIABLE excuse..DEFENSE before God: “I was simply obeying the head of our home. When he gave me the fruit, I ate of it.”“Has God indeed said”…..Satan’s FIRST attack is leveled against the Word of God. If he can get Eve confused about what God said, or to doubt what God said, to doubt what ALMIGHTY GOD REALLY MEANT…then his battle is partially won.GENESIS 3 TELLS US AND SHOWS US…that from the VERY beginning, Satan has TRIED to undermine God’s people by undermining God’s Word. He can undermine just as effectively by getting us to NEGLECT God’s Word as by getting us to DOUBT & QUESTION it.“Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Satan took God’s positive command (Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat [ Genesis 2:16-17]) and rephrased it in a negative way: “God won’t let you eat of every tree????”Verses 2-3 tells us Eve’s reply to the serpent.“And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”We read this NOW….and our first thought is….goooooood grief Eve WHY would you even SPEAK TO….MUCH LESS CARRY on a discussion with the serpent????JUDE 1:9 confirms our thoughts with Jesus Words & teachings. We ARE called to SPEAK OUT to the devil, but NEVER to have a discussion with him. We simply and strongly tell him, “The Lord rebuke you!”We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: Eve’s knowledge of what she should not do is partially correct, but what she doesn’t seem to know makes her all the more vulnerable to deception.Eve does not seem to know the name of this tree; she only calls it the tree in the midst of the garden, instead of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17).THIS ONLY CONFIRMS THAT ADAM DID NOT POST SIGNS, STROBBING DANGER RED LIGHTS, around this tree…much less TELL EVE THE INHERENT CURSE AND DANGER OF IT EITHER.IN OTHER WORDS THE ARROGANCE SAYING….”WHAT THE LITTLE WOMAN…DOESN’T KNOW CAN’T HURT HER” …IS A LIE STRAIGHT FROM THE PIT OF HELL.Eve misquoted God’s command to Adam. Her words, “you shall not eat it” and “lest you die” are close enough, but she added to the command and put words in God’s mouth when she said, “nor shall you touch it.” Of course, it was a good idea to completely avoid the temptation; no good could come from massaging the fruit you’re not supposed to eat.But THEN AND NOW it is a dangerous thing to TEACH the doctrines of man as if they ARE commandments from Jesus Christ himself…as Matthew confirms and warns us in Matthew 15:9.THEN AND NOW…SOME OF THE MOST BRILLIANT MINDS TO BE FOUND…LACK ANY SHRED OF COMMON SENSE.We can almost picture Adam telling Eve, “See that tree in the middle of the garden? Don’t touch it or God says we’ll die!” While this is better than saying nothing, what Adam didn’t explain made a vulnerable place where Satan could attack.“Lest you die”….may seem like a small thing to hinge the destiny of the human race and all creation on. But the tree was nothing more than a RESTRAINT on Adam and Eve. It reminded them they were NOT God, that God had a legitimate claim on their obedience, and that they were responsible to Him.Verses 4-5 tells us Satan’s direct challenge to God’s Word.“Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”RIGHT HERE….Satan effectively laid the groundwork. He drew Eve into a discussion with him and planted the seed of doubt about God’s Word, and he exposed Eve’s incomplete understanding of God’s Word. Now he moves in for the kill, with an outright contradiction of what God said.THIS SHOWS US THAT SATAN NEEDS A FOOTHOLD IN US…BEFORE HE CAN EFFECTIVELY HARM & TRIP US UP! No one falls like Adam and Eve will fall, “all of a sudden.” A foundation has been laid FIRST.THIS IS WHY PAUL REMINDS US IN EPHESIANS 4:27.…we are called to never give place to the devil. This shows how remarkable it is that Jesus could say in John 14:30, “Satan has nothing in Me.”Satan first NEEDED Eve to forget all about what God said about the CONSEQUENCES of sin.JUST AS HEBREWS 11:25 confirms, when we know and remember the consequences of sin, we are more likely to give up the passing pleasures of sin.ALSO Satan’s direct challenge, SERVES to get Eve to DOUBT the GOODNESS of God. If God lies to her, how can He be good?ALSO Satan TRIES to get Eve to doubt the BADNESS of sin. If this fruit is something good for her, why doesn’t God want her to have it?FROM THE BEGINNING….Satan SEEKS TO TWIST AND DISTORT…he wants us to see sin as something good, fine, no big deal…that a BAD, BOSSY, BUMMER God doesn’t want us to have. His main lie then and now is this…..“Sin is really NOT bad and God is really NOT good.”“In the day you eat of it your eyes WILL BE opened”… Satan’s temptation was all the MORE POWERFUL, SNEAKY, & CUNNING…BECAUSE THERE WAS A GRAIN OF TRUTH IN IT. It was true your eyes will be opened, and this was fulfilled (Genesis 3:7). But their eyes were instantly opened to their OWN sin, arrogance, and rebellion.HERE WE LEARN SOMETHING IMPORTANT…JESUS CHRIST IS PURE TRUTH…ALL TRUTH…a pinch of truth does NOT MAKE IT JESUS’ TRUTH.You will be like God, knowing good and evil: The final enticement is the most powerful, because it was how Satan himself fell, wanting to be EQUAL WITH GOD. Eve tried to become a god herself by her rebellion against God.The goal of becoming God is the center of so many non-Christian religions. But in our desire to be gods, we become like Satan (who said, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God . . . I will be like the Most High” written in Isaiah 14:13-14. INSTEAD of being like Jesus, who came as a servant in Matthew 20:28.The New Age movement and the desire to be “god” are just as strong as ever. According to a recent survey, as many as 20 million Americans can be considered active participants in the New Age movement, and another 30 million are avidly interested. If all these people were brought together in a church-like organization, it would be the third largest religious denomination in America. More than 90% of the subscribers to New Age Magazine are college graduates, compared to half the general population.In 1995, New Age influence made it all the way to the White House. New Age author Marianne Williamson (writer of A Course In Miracles), guru to many of Hollywood’s spiritual seekers, spent a night at the White House as the personal guest of Hillary Clinton. And Anthony Robbins, motivational guru and king of late-night infomercials, consulted with President Clinton at Camp David. Robbins is also recognized as a leader in the New Age movement.L. RON HUBBARD OF SCIENTOLOGY & other gurus today call themselves “spiritualists”…when what they REALLY ARE is people who believe themselves to BE GODS AND RULERS AND CONTROLLERS OF ALL THINGS.Verse 6 tells us the sin of Adam and Eve is their disobedience and their consequences…the fall of the human race.“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”Eve surrendered to this temptation in exactly the way John describes in 1 John 2:16. First, she gave in to the lust of the flesh (saw that it was good for food), then she gave in to the lust of the eyes (pleasant to the eyes), then she gave in to the pride of life (desirable to make one wise).Jesus was tempted in the same three-fold way: an appeal to the physical appetites, an appeal to covetous and emotional desires, and an appeal to pride confirmed in Matthew 4:1-11.The woman saw that the tree was good for food: Eve’s perceptions were partially true and partially false. The tree was not really good for food, though Eve was deceived into thinking it was so. The fruit probably was pleasant to the eyes, though that shouldn’t mean much. And it was only true in Eve’s mind that the tree was desirable to make one wise.We can see the total truth of Paul’s statement in 1 Timothy 2:14, that Eve was DECEIVED INTO SINNING. In her mind, she thought she was doing something good for herself.She took of its fruit and ate: Satan could tempt Eve, but she didn’t have to take it. The taking was all her doing. Satan couldn’t cram the fruit down her throat. Eve was responsible. She couldn’t rightly say, “the devil made me do it.”FREEWILL….MEANS CHOICE.EVE HAD TO CHOOSE TO SIN.As with every temptation, God had made for Eve a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). She could have simply run from Satan and the tree, but Eve didn’t take God’s way of escape.She also gave to her husband with her: Not only did Eve sin, but she became the agent of temptation for Adam. But when Adam ate, he was not deceived as Eve was. Adam sinned with his eyes wide open, in open rebellion against God.Therefore, it is Adam, not Eve, who bears the responsibility for the fall of the human race and for the introduction of death into the created order & that truth is confirmed in Romans 5:12 & 1 Corinthians 15:22. Eve was tricked into sinning; Adam knew exactly what he was doing we are reminded in 1 Timothy 2:14.Many have speculated that Adam sinned because he didn’t want Eve to be alone in the fall, and he ate of the fruit out of a romantic impulse. This may well be true, but it makes Adam’s sin not one bit less rebellious. Rebellion against God is not “better” when motivated by a romantic impulse.BUT THINK ABOUT THIS….AND REMEMBER IT….JESUS HAD MADE A PLAN….EVEN IN THE GARDEN ON EDEN. ONE SWEET DAY….THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER….“Take and eat” will one day become verbs of salvation, but only after Jesus had lived in the world of Adam’s curse and surrendered to death.Verse 7 tells us The nakedness of Adam and Eve.“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 coverings.”Seemingly, it was only after the sin of Adam that they knew of their sinful state. They knew they were naked, in the sense of having their shame exposed to all creation.They KNEW that they were naked: Psalm 104:2 and Matthew 17:2 suggest that light can be a garment for the righteous. It may be that Adam and Eve were previously clothed in God’s glorious light, and the immediate loss of this covering of light left them feeling exposed and naked.The way they saw themselves changed, but also the way they saw the entire world was now different. After the fall, everything looked worse.Was it good or bad that Adam and Eve saw their nakedness and felt terrible about it? It was good, because it is good to feel guilty when you have done something wrong.Their own attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves took much ingenuity, but not much wisdom. Fig leaves are said to have a prickly quality, which would make for some pretty itchy coverings.THIS TEACHES US that every attempt to cover our own nakedness before God is just as foolish. We need to let Jesus cover us as He promises in Revelation 3:5; 3:18), and put on Jesus Himself as our covering garment as reminded to us in Galatians 3:27.The exhortation from Jesus himself tells us in Revelation 16:15, “ Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”THEN AND NOW…they covered their genital areas. In virtually all cultures, adults cover their genital areas, even though other parts of the human body may be more or less exposed from culture to culture.This is not because there is something intrinsically “dirty” in our sexuality, but because we have both received our fallenness and pass it on genetically through sexual reproduction. Because of this, God has implanted it in the minds of men that more modesty is appropriate for these areas of our body.Verses 8-9 tells us Adam and Eve hide from God; God calls out to them.“And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: Adam and Eve knew that when they heard the Lord coming, He would want to be with them. This was how the Lord had fellowship with Adam and Eve, in a very natural, close, intimate way.Who is the human physical form of the TRIUNE GOD? Yes, it was Jesus Christ himself who walked, talked, ate, fellowshipped, & talked with Adam and Eve.Adam and his wife hid themselves: This shows that Adam and Eve knew that their attempt to cover themselves failed. They didn’t proudly show off their fig-leaf outfits; they knew their own covering was completely inadequate, and they were embarrassed.“Where are you?”…is NOT the interrogation of an angry commanding officer, but the heartfelt cry of an anguished father. God obviously knew where they were but He also knew a gulf had been made between Himself and man, a gulf that He Himself would have to bridge.Verses 10-12 tells us Adam tries to explain his sin.“So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”Sin made Adam afraid of God’s presence and afraid of God’s voice. Ever since Adam, men run from God’s presence and don’t want to listen to His Word.Don’t we STILL TO THIS DAY…avoid, delay, facing and meeting people we have hurt? Grieved? Sinned against? Been unfair too?Who told you that you were naked? God knew the answer to this question. He asked it because He allowed Adam to make the best of a bad situation by repenting right then and there, but Adam didn’t come clean and repent before God.We learn right here…to keep short accounts with Jesus. When we sin, fail, falter…do not hide it, do not ignore it, do not blame others…claim it ourselves and repent….QUICKLY.Joshua 7:19-20 confirms this… “We all sin, but when we sin, we can still give glory to God by openly confessing without shifting the blame onto others.”There is often nothing you can do about yesterday’s sin (though in some cases you may be able to make restitution). Yet you can do what is right before God right now by confessing and repenting.Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat? God confronted Adam’s problem squarely. This wasn’t primarily a wardrobe problem or a fear problem or a self-esteem problem. This was a sin problem and Adam’s wardrobe, fear, or self-understanding could not be addressed until the sin problem was addressed.Then the man said: Notice that to this point, God has not addressed Eve at all. Adam, being the head, is the problem here.The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate: Adam’s attempt to blame Eve is completely consistent with human nature, isn‘t it.7000 years later mankind is STILL SEEKING TO CAST THE BLAME ON ANYONE AND EVERYONE ELSE…and not own up to their sin. Few of us are willing to simply say as David did in 2 Samuel 12:13, “I have sinned against the Lord.”Significantly, in the eyes of THE TRIUNE GOD, if there is any blame, it is on Adam, not Eve. Not only does Adam unjustly accuse Eve, but also he refuses to accept proper responsibility for his part in her sin.TALK ABOUT ARROGANCE…ADAM WAS FULL OF IT. By daring to say to our TRIUNE GOD…“You gave me the woman, and she is the problem.” Adam wasn’t content to blame Eve; he had to blame God also.Verse 13 tells us Eve’s reply to God.“And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”When confronted by God, Eve doesn’t necessarily shift the blame when she admits the serpent deceived her and then she ate. This much was true, she had been deceived, and she did eat.Deceived me…the REAL PROBLEM IS…when we fail to see that being deceived is sin in itself. Romans 1:25 confirms this, “It is sin to exchange the truth of God for the lie.”Verses 14-15 tells us The curse and its aftermath. God curses the SERPENT FIRST.“So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”DO YOU NOTICE WHEN God spoke to Adam and to Eve, He asked them each questions. God DOESN’T ASK Satan (the being animating the serpent) any questions, because there was nothing to teach him.You are cursed more than all cattle: The first part of the curse is directed at the animal that Satan used to bring the temptation. God commanded the serpent to slither on the ground instead of walking on legs like any other animal.Adam and Eve must have been terrified as this once-beautiful creature called a serpent was transformed into the creeping, slithering, hissing snake we know today.WHY?BECAUSE they must have thought, “It’s our turn next!”I will put enmity between you and the woman: In addition, there is a natural aversion between mankind and serpents, especially on the part of women. AND THAT CURSE REMAINS TODAY.You shall eat dust all the days of your life: This was true of the serpent as an animal, but it is also true of Satan. To eat dust has the idea of total defeat SPOKEN OF IN Isaiah 65:25 & Micah 7:17.God’s judgment on Satan is for him to always know defeat. He will always reach for victory, but always fall short of it.SATAN WAS PRONOUNCED DEFEATED BEFORE JESUS CHRIST EVER WALKED THE EARTH.Satan was, in his own thinking, majestic and triumphant over Jesus on the cross, but he failed. In attacking Jesus, Satan made his own doom certain.In Jesus, we share in the victory over Satan: And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly as promised us in Romans 16:20.Enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed: The second part of the curse is directed against Satan himself. God placed a natural animosity between Satan and mankind. Enmity has the idea of ill will, hatred, and a mutual antagonism. Satan’s hatred of Eve was nothing new; it was already present - but now man will, generally speaking, have antagonism towards Satan.The “friendship” Eve and the serpent seemed to enjoy earlier in the chapter is finished. There is now a natural fear of Satan in the heart of man.If we are born naturally rebellious against God, we are also born cautious and afraid of Satan. One must be hardened to willingly and knowingly serve Satan. Instinctively, we don’t serve God or Satan; we serve ourselves (which is fine with Satan).He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel: In this, God prophesies the doom of Satan, showing that the real battle is between Satan and the Seed of the Woman.There is no doubt this is a prophecy of Jesus’ ultimate defeat of Satan. God announced that Satan would wound the Messiah (you shall bruise His heel), but the Messiah would crush Satan with a mortal wound (He shall bruise your head).The heel is the part within the serpent’s reach. Jesus, in taking on humanity, brought Himself near to Satan’s domain so Satan could strike Him.DID YOU CATCH THIS?This prophecy also gives the FIRST hint of the virgin birth, declaring the Messiah - the Deliverer - would be the Seed of the Woman, but not of the man.That is why Genesis 3:15 has been called the protoevangelium, the first gospel of the coming of Jesus Christ.He shall bruise your head: For God to see the defeat of Satan at Satan’s first flush of victory shows God knew what He was doing all along. God’s plan wasn’t “set back” when Adam and Eve sinned, because God’s plan was to bring forth something greater than man in the innocence of Eden. God wanted more than innocent man; His plan is to bring forth redeemed man.Redeemed man - this being who is greater than innocent man - is only possible because man had something to be redeemed from.Verse 16 tell us God’s curse upon the woman.“To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”God first cursed the woman with multiplied sorrow. Men and women have each known sorrow throughout history, yet the unique sorrow of women is well known.Under Jesus, some of the effects of the curse are relieved, and it WAS JESUS WHO BEGAN THE Christianizing of society that brought rights and dignity to women.Your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children: The first curse upon women is a broad one. It has the idea that women would experience pain in regard to their children in general, not just in the act of giving birth. God ordained that the pain with which women bring children into this world be an example of the pain they experience more generally in life.It has been observed that women bring forth children with more pain than just about any other creature.Your desire shall be for your husband: This is true of women in a way that it is not true for men. “This verse will be understood better when it is realized that the desire of man toward his wife alone is solely by God’s grace and not by nature.Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you: The idea is to contrast the woman’s desire and the husband’s rule over her. This speaks of an inherent challenge in embracing the husband’s role as leader of the home and family.This same word for desire is used in Genesis 4:7 of the desire of sin to master over Cain. Because of the curse, Eve would have to fight a desire to master her husband, a desire that works against God’s ordained order for the home.The principle of Adam’s headship as a husband was established before the fall (see Genesis 2:18 and 2:22). Now the curse on Eve makes it much harder for her to submit and flow with God’s institution of male headship in the home.Verses 17-19 tells us God’s curse upon the man.“Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”Because you have heeded the voice of your wife: It wasn’t just as if Adam took Eve’s advice. He chose to be with Eve instead of obeying God. There is a sense in which idolatry of Eve was an aspect of Adam’s disobedience against God.Cursed is the ground: Because of Adam, there is a curse upon all creation. Before the curse on man, the ground only produced good. After the curse, it will still produce good, but thorns and thistles will come faster and easier than good fruit.In toil you shall eat of it: Adam worked before the curse, but it was all joy. Now work has a cursed element to it, with pain and weariness a part of work. Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hired man? Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade, and like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages as confirmed in Job 7:1-2.Dust you are, and to dust you shall return: The final curse upon man promised there would be an end of his toil and labor on the earth - but it was an end of death, not not an end of deliverance.The curse of death shows that the result of Adam’s sin extended to the entire human race. Because of Adam, sin entered the world (Romans 5:12), death came to all mankind (Romans 5:15 & 1 Corinthians 15:22), death reigned over man and creation (Romans 5:17), all men were condemned (Romans 5:18), and all men were made sinners (Romans 5:19).The principle of Galatians 3:13 is established as we consider that Jesus bore each aspect of the curse upon Adam and Eve in its totality: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.Sin brought pain to childbirth, and no one knew more pain than Jesus did when He, through His suffering, brought many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10)Sin brought conflict, and Jesus endured great conflict to bring our salvation (Hebrews 12:3)Thorns came with sin and the fall, and Jesus endured a crown of thorns to bring our salvation (John 19:2)Sin brought sweat, and Jesus sweat, as it were, great drops of blood to win our salvation (Luke 22:44)Sin brought sorrow, and Jesus became a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, to save us (Isaiah 53:3)Sin brought death, and Jesus tasted death for everyone that we might be saved (Hebrews 2:9)Verse 20 tells us the naming of Eve.“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”Adam called his wife’s name Eve: Up to Genesis 3:20, the woman has never been called Eve. We are so used to saying “Adam and Eve” that we assume she already had her name. But to this point, she was called a female (Genesis 1:27), a helper comparable (Genesis 2:18), a woman (Genesis 2:22-23, and a wife (Genesis 2:24-25; 3:8). This does not mean God did not have a name for Eve, but we are told what the name is in Genesis 5:2: He called them Mankind.The idea that the woman takes her name from the husband, and the idea that both genders are encompassed in terms like mankind, humanity, and chairman. Our use of these terms is not merely cultural, it is Biblical.A woman gains more of her identity from her husband than the man does from the wife. For this reason, women should take special care in which man they marry.Because she was the mother of all living: Adam named her Eve, even though she was not a mother at all at the time. She was not even pregnant yet. Adam named her IN FAITH, trusting God would bring forth a deliverer from the woman, because God said He would defeat Satan through the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15).Verse 21 tells us God clothes Adam and Eve in the skins of animals.“Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”The Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them: God wanted Adam and Eve clothed, not naked.The world’s oldest profession is not prostitution, but the clothing business (Genesis 3:7).Tunics of skin: In order for Adam and Eve to be clothed, a SACRIFICE had to be made. An animal had to die. Without shedding of blood there is no remission reminded to us in Hebrews 9:22.SO NOW YOU KNOW HOW MANY RELIGIONS THERE WERE IN THE BEGINNING….There are only TWO.There is the religion of fig leaves and there is the religion of God’s perfect provision through Jesus.Covering ourselves with our good works is like Adam and Eve trying to cover themselves with fig leaves. Our good works are like monopoly money - great for monopoly, but not legal tender. Your good works are essential to what it takes to live out your life, but they are not legal tender before God.AND HERE IS ANOTHER REVELATION….Adam and Eve were clothed in a garment that was purchased with the life of another. We are clothed with a garment of righteousness that was purchased with the life of another, Jesus Christ.“And GOD clothed them“… This indicates that Adam and Eve were saved. Adam had faith in God’s promise of a Savior, and God provided a covering for them through a sacrifice. We will see Adam and Eve in heaven.Verses 22-24 tells us God sets cherubim to guard the Tree of Life.“Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”; therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.Behold, the man has become like one of us, to know good and evil: The idea behind this phrase is difficult to understand. Perhaps there is a note of sarcasm by God here (as Elijah used in 1 Kings 18:27), regarding Satan’s empty promise to become like gods. Or, perhaps the idea focuses on man’s greater knowledge (though in a bad sense) now that he has the experiential knowledge of evil.And take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: In mercy, God protected Adam and Eve from the horrible fate of having to live forever as sinners by preventing them from eating from the tree of life.The Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden: We don’t know if Adam and Eve wanted to stay in the garden of Eden. Perhaps they felt if they left the garden, they might never see God again because it was the only place where they met Him.He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden: Cherubim are always associated with the presence and glory of God (Ezekiel 10, Isaiah 6, Revelation 4). When cherubim are represented on earth (such as in the tabernacle, Exodus 25:10-22), they mark a meeting place with God. Though Adam and Eve and their descendants were prevented from eating the fruit of the tree of life (by God’s mercy), they could still come there to meet God. This was their “holy of holies.” Therefore it was important to send a cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life.This is the last historical mention of the garden of Eden in the Bible. We can speculate that God did not destroy it, but left it to the effects of the curse and suppose that it generally deteriorated from its original condition, blending into the surrounding geography.THE GARDEN OF EDEN….PARADISE WAS LOST…BUT IT WAS LOST WITH A PROMISE & A FUTURE HOPE TO YOU AND I.GOD KNOWS WE ARE GOING TO SIN…SO BE QUICK TO OWN IT…CONFESS IT…AND THEN RISE UP AGAIN.GOD PROMISED A VIRGIN BIRTH…IT HAPPENED.GOD PROMISED SATAN WOULD BRUISE JESUS…IT HAPPENED.GOD PROMISED SATAN WAS A DEFEATED FOE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN….JESUS RESURRECTION PROVED IT.GOD SHOWED AND PROMISED GRACE AND MERCY TO THE HEART OF FAITH…THAT STILL REMAINED IN ADAM AND EVE’S HEART.GOD SACRIFICED BLOOD…AN INNOCENT TO CLOTHE ADAM AND EVE…ON A PROMISE OF FUTURE SALVATION.THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER….JESUS CHRIST WOULD PAY THE PRICE FOR ADAM AND EVE….JUST AS HE PAID THE PRICE FOR YOU AND I, 2 THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE YOU AND I WOULD EVER NEED A SAVIOR.THE TRIUNE GOD…HAD/HAS A PLAN.THE TRIUNE GOD IS FAITHFUL.OUR TRIUNE GOD SPEAKS NOTHING BUT TRUTH.WHAT IS SAID IN THE REST OF THE BIBLE CAN BE TRUSTED…WE WERE LOVED BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND PROVIDED FOR…BEFORE MAN FELL…AND PARADISE WAS LOST.TRUST IN OUR JESUS.HE HAS A WONDROUS PLAN FOR YOU AND I.ADAM AND EVE WERE GIVEN A PROPHESY…A PROMISE…A FUTURE HOPE OF REDEMPTION AND SALVATION BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH IN GOD AND HIS GOODNESS.WE HAVE THE PROMISE…BETTER YET THE PROMISE LIVES WITHIN EACH OF US AS FOLLOWERS AND BELIEVERS OF JESUS.TRUST IN OUR JESUS…OUR BLESSED HOPE.