vs 1-5
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
There is SO much to unpack in this chapter of the Bible. Everything from the first foreshadowing of Christ's death on the cross, to husbands being good Bible teachers for their wives. Here in this first section I find several interesting things. First we are introduced to Satan. He approaches Eve, manipulates God's word and fools her into disobeying God. It is of the utmost importance that Christians know their Bible!(One of the main reasons why I started this blog, as a pastor and teacher of God's word I want to be as sharp as I can for my people!) The Bible says that God's word is liked unto a Sword, and if we do not know how to handle our swords properly, Satan, who is extremely crafty and calculated, will actually take God's word and "run us through with our own weapon". Lets look at a couple of examples.
1.Satan comes to Eve and says, Did God really tell you that you could not eat of ANY of the fruit in the garden? God NEVER said that! So Eve(as her cowardly husband just sits there) begins to talk with Satan and says that we can eat of any fruit of the garden, except for the one in the midst. And we can't even touch that tree. Now either Adam was a bad bible teacher, or Eve just flat out adds to Gods word. Either way Adam was never forbidden to "touch" anything, only not to eat. Guys I dont mean to over state my case, but as the men of your house you NEED to be good Bible teachers. You are the pastor of your wife and children. This can be intimidating for many men, but it is your God given duty as the head of your home to be students and teachers of Gods word.
2.The oldest lie in the history of mankind is the lie that Satan tells to Eve. "You can be just like God Eve! Liberate yourself, you dont have to be under God, or any man, if you eat this tree, why God just doesnt want you to be informed." Oddly enough this lie is basically at the heart of every human souls all throughout history and even still today. Without a doubt there would be many more followers of Jesus if he was one way to God. Or if he just gave us great suggestions instead of great commandments and commissions. God gives us rules, commands because he loves us. As a human father or mother who sees their little child heading for danger, God sees what sin does to a person. Do not see God as some lofty mean grumpy boss that is never happy or satisfied and lays down rules to show how much he cant stand us. Rather think of God as your father, who knows more than you, and his commandments are to protect us, and to bring us closer to Him!
vs 6-7
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Men this is very plain and simple, we need to be Godly husbands and fathers. It is so interesting to me here that Adam is letting Eve run the show, and he sits back and does nothing to guide or correct her. Many times in our day and age we see the same thing. Men are cowards and afraid to speak up if their wife is in error. Or they let their daughters do and wear things they should not. I in no way suggest that men be harsh or demeaning to their wives, but you are the head of your home. God lays a HUGE charge to us men that we are to lead, guide and provide for our families. Spiritually, financially and physically as well.
vs 8-13
8 And they 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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Again as Jesus walks through the garden in the cool of the day, who does he call for? Not eve, he calls for the man, Adam. Men hear me good, being the "head" of your home does not make you a mean nasty dictator to your wife, it means very simply, you have a great responsibility laid upon you. And as Christ is the head of the church and took upon Himself the responsibility of things he did not do, you as the head of your homes will be held accountable for the ongoings of your marriage. I also find this SO interesting, and profound. The difference between Christianity and every other religion is this: We cannot come to God, he comes to us in Jesus Christ. Here Adam and Eve seriously mess up. They have scarred all of creation with sin, and yet it is God who comes walking in the Garden looking for His people. Other religions teach that we need to clean up our own mess, be good enough, and pay God back. Jesus says that I love you, you can't clean yourself up, and you cannot come to God, I will come to you, looking for you, and we see this analogy in chapter 3. Lastly here we see the classic blame game. God asks Adam why he disobeyed him, and he says "God it really is your fault, this woman that YOU gave me made me do this". Again a coward and blaming everyone buy himself. Then God turns to Eve, and she turns and blames the serpent. The proverbial "the devil made me do it" argument. I think it is important to mention that Satan can tempt us, he tempted Christ, but it is our choice to give in to sin. Satan cannot make us sin, and we cannot blame him for our mistakes. Again, had Adam and Eve followed God's teaching closely, and had His word in their hearts, they could have resisted Satan, and he would have fled.
vs 14-15
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
I am going to throw a big word at you,“Protoevangelium,”which means- the first announcement of the gospel.
This is the first glimpse of God's overall plan for redemption will be. We read in the gospels that Jesus, who is the offspring of Mary, who ultimately is the offspring of Eve is bruised by Satan. He was brutally beaten and killed for all of our sins. But when Jesus rises from death, he crushes Satan's head. He destroys Satan and is given ALL authority from His Father. This verse here in Genesis is early foreshadowing of Christ, conquering Satan at the cross.
Revelation 12:9 says this:
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Rev 20:2
2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
So we read about Satan from beginning to end in the Bible, we see him finally crushed and defeated at the end, PRAISE GOD!
vs 16-19
16 To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
1.I you will bare children and I will increase the pain greatly.
2.You and your husband will contend for power in your relationship, but he will rule over you.
Women you need to know that God has given you a great honor, and responsibility to bare and raise children. Just as God has ordained men to pastor and lead His people, he has ordained women to bare our beautiful children. Such a high calling and one that you should take as seriously as any pastor does his church. But there is pain in this calling. Sin has messed everything up, and we will suffer with this until we see Jesus face to face. In addition there will always be strife in the relationship between a man and his wife as to who will have the authority and lead in the relationship. And it is God's will for the men to lovingly lead their families. This is why men are charged to love their wives as Christ loves the church, because we are to lead by
1.Teaching
2.Serving
3.Sacrificing
Women this is not easy, especially in our day and age when it is not politically correct for you to be told to submit to Christ, and to your husbands. But this is the will of God, and men you should take this as serious as anything in your life. You are the head, Teach, Serve, and Sacrifice for your wives
Men our consequence is very simple. You work hard, provide for your family, you will sweat, life may be very hard on you, but you are to provide for your wife and family. Work predates the fall, working is not a sin, or a result of sin. You will work for all eternity on the New Earth, but it will be work that you enjoy. This earth is cursed and you will work by the sweat of your brow.
vs 20-24
20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
In the last portion of Chapter 3 we see that God clothes Adam, and Eve with animal skins. I believe this implies some kind of animal being killed, and really the first animal sacrifice in the Bible. Another form of symbolism of Jesus covering His children, but there must be blood shed in order for that to happen. We also see God convening with himself, saying that man has become like US, another indication of God being one, yet more than one. The Trinity! In addition we read that God does not want His people to live in sin forever, so he removes Adam and Eve from the garden, forever so they do not eat of the tree of life. The tree of life reappears in the book of Revelation:
2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
22:2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
22:19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
God has always had a plan of redemption. God was not caught off guard when Adam and Eve disobeyed, His ways are higher than our ways. Someday we will be able to sit and ask Jesus how it all works, we may still never totally understand everything(I am sure we wont!) But God's desire is for His people to be reconciled unto Him. He takes Adam and Eve away from this Tree of Life so that a day in the future, thousands of years from then, His Son Jesus would die, and bring that restoration between sinful man, and God.
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