Season 1/Episode 3 - Genesis 3:1-24 The Last Sinless Day for Man

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Seeking guidance from the only source that knows.

Legend:

Reference to God

God speaking

Devil speaking

Adam speaking

Eve speaking

Genesis 3 (NASB95)

1Now 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’?”

2The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;

3but 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.’ ”

4The 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.”

6When 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.

7Then 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.

8They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

10He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

11And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

12The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”

13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14The 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;

15And 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.”

16To 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.”

17Then 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;

19By 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.”

20Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

21The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

22Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

23therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

24So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

TRIP PLANNING

Considering where we are going by knowing first, where we are.

Survey Question:

Do you believe God punished actual snakes for what the devil did?

• Yes
• No
• I am not sure

POINTS OF INTEREST

Some considerations from the text.

"If You are the Son of God"

This podcast episode considered the similarities between the temptation of Eve and the three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness. I want to consider how the devil began each temptation. He used the phrase, "If You are the Son of God..." Jesus was baptized just before these 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. At His baptism, the Father proclaimed from heaven, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."(Matthew 3:17). The devil knew exactly who Jesus was, just as the demons readily recognized Jesus as God's Son. When the devil began with "If You are the Son of God...", he was literally saying, "Since you are the Son of God..." This was a part of the temptations. It was a call for Jesus to act from pride and prove that He was the Son of God. Yet, such an action was unnecessary because the devil already knew this. Jesus did not perform miracles for frivolous things like pride. Jesus did not perform miracles in His own hometown because of their unwillingness to see the truth of who He was. He was not here to prove who He was, He was here upon this earth because of who He is and that was easy to see for anyone with an open heart to the truth. Pride was the downfall of Eve as she pridefully sought to be as wise as God. Yet, Jesus used scripture and humility to avoid the trap of pride to prove who He was and what He could do.

The Decrees of God Remain

God cannot lie according to Hebrews 6:18 and Titus 1:2. His promises and decrees will stand. We could consider numerous examples of this, yet I believe a powerful example is found in Genesis 3. As with this podcast episode, Genesis 3 tends to focus on the sin of Adam and Eve when they listened to the devil and ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. At the end of that account though, God considers the other very special tree that existed within the garden. It was the Tree of Life. God established that there was a law that He had obviously connected to this tree. Genesis 3:22 stated, "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever..." To prevent this from happening, God removed Adam and Eve from the garden. God then placed cherubim (plural for cherub - means there were more than one cherub (class of angel)) around the Tree of Life and a flaming sword that protected the tree in all directions. This prevented man from living forever. Now, as God told Adam in verse 19, man would return to the dust.

I find this account interesting because God placed angels to guard this tree from man's hands. This tree, for whatever reason, was not something that God would just do away with. He left it, but denied it to man. God's laws remain even when God does not allow the product of those laws to be accessed by men.

ALTERNATE ROUTES

Other places to learn more about the Biblical text.

Apologetics Press -- Eric Lyons examines the means by which Jesus was tempted.. See more video lessons by Apologetics Press at apologeticspress.org.

World Video Bible School -- Jim Lloyd examines the Biblical concept of sin. See more video lessons by World Video Bible School at www.wvbs.org.