5. Created in the Image of God: Genesis 1:26-31
6. The Garden of Eden: Genesis 2
8. Offspring of Adam and Eve: Genesis 4-5
7. The Fall of Creation: Genesis Chapter 3
Introduction Genesis Chapter 3
Genesis
Chapter 3 is pivotal chapter in scripture; through this chapter we
are able to answer the questions of life. Why is there evil in the
world? Why do people die? Why is life so hard? Is there any
hope? We learn the world that we occupy, was not the way it was
originally created. Today our world is a “fallen world”, separated
from God its creator. Chapter three tells us how this happened.
In Chapter 2 of Genesis, we last see man, along with woman given dominion over the creation of God. Adam had named the animals, God had given him woman as a companion and God commented on His creation, “it was very good”. This state continues in chapter 3, except there has been an interruption in the heavenly realms, Lucifer, now a fallen angel, has come to tempt, Woman, Adam’s companion, in the form of a Serpent.
Sometime between Chapter second and Chapter third chapter, the angelic world experienced its own fall. This fall in the angelic world, now intersects the physical world of the newly created earth. On earth, Adam and Eve are in fellowship with the Creator of the Universe, walking with Him in the Garden. Satan the fallen cherub angel is permitted to test Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He begins by questioning God’s command; He then proceeds to call God a “Liar”, challenging the woman to be “Like God”. Sadly Eve falls, then leads her husband Adam to also listen to the Serpent, indwelt by Satan. As a result Adam and Eve, loose fellowship with God and are expelled from the Garden, along with the skins of two animals, who died to cover their shame.
Before they are expelled, God spells out His plan of redemption, that one day through the “Seed” of the Woman, the head of the serpent would be crushed (Satan), even through the Serpent would wound the heel of the coming “Seed of the Woman”, the Serpent will be crushed.
Therefore, in this chapter we see why man is fallen and the beginning of God’s plan of redemption put in place.
The Serpent
In chapter 3, we meet this being called the “Serpent” who questions God’s command to Adam and Eve about not eating from the Tree in the midst of Garden. Only in later in scripture do we get a fuller understanding of the serpent and how he became an opponent to God. The books of Isaiah and Ezekiel describe the Fall of Lucifer, who appears in the Serpent to test Adam and Eve.
Isaiah tells us describes the descent of Lucifer, after his judgment and the cause of his judgment. Isaiah addresses him as the “King of Babylon”. From Isaiah we see Lucifer the created angel became jealous of God, and his pride caused him to rebel against his creator. Lucifer wanted to be like God.
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.'
12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the
Most High.'
Lucifer was self deceived, God created him as a powerful and glorious angelic being, he however let the glory of his creation deceive himself. Perhaps he surmised that God was just another being, who happened to have authority over him. Maybe Lucifer reasoned with himself and later the other angels, that God was not really the creator, but took charge of creation. Whatever his reasoning, it was powerful enough that one-third of the angles (Revelation 12) listened to him and rejected their creator. These angels became fallen angels.
Ezekiel also describes events before Lucifer’s fall, addressing him as the “King of Tyre”. From Ezekiel we learn that Lucifer was a covering cherub, who even was in the garden before his fall, and who might of accompanied God in his fellowship with man in the Garden. Later, his beauty and splendor caused him to “Corrupt” his wisdom.
12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God: "You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.
16 "By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.
17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted
your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.
Satan might not have liked the idea of being a servant to Adam and
Eve and their descendents. According to
In
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'?"
The
Serpent:
This is animal in the garden, who would host Lucifer, allowing him
to communicate with the Woman. Lucifer is a fallen being at this
point; he used the body of the serpent to question God’s command.
The ability of an animal to talk to people is often met with
skepticism today, but this was before the fall. The relationship
between man and the animal world was different, for example God
allows Balaam’s Donkey (Numbers 22;28) to speak to its master. We
read the Angel of the Lord opened its mouth.
Birds can speak and its been proven at times, they know what the words they say represent. This is in the fallen world; therefore it’s not hard to believe in that in the world before the fall animals could have been able to communicate with Adam and Eve. Eve for example is not shocked by the serpent speaking to her.
Cunning: The Hebrew word is ~wr[ `aruwm means subtle, shrewd, crafty, sly, sensible. This would have been the serpent before the fall. After fall, the serpent take the form of a snake as it is known today. Prior to its current form, the Serpent could have been an awesome looking animal, with a very sensible nature as described in verse one.
The serpent allowed itself to become possessed by Lucifer and used to tempt Adam and Eve. For example, the pigs whom the demons “Legion” requested entry ran down the hill and killed themselves in the lake (Matthew 8;32).
He said: The Serpent is speaking to the woman, but in reality its Lucifer, the fallen cherub-angel speaking through the Serpent. God is allowing him to question his commands, the choice is Adam and Eve’s if they will choose to obey or reject the challenge.
Has God indeed said... His first point of attack is to question God’s command. He challenges the woman’s understanding of God’s Word. Satan uses this same method today, challenging the veracity of God’s word. Just as the woman was asked, Satan challenges people today about the Word of God, could God really create this whole universe? Does God really care about you? Did Jesus really die on the cross for your sins? Would God really punish people in Hell?
The Woman replies
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 "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.' "
The Woman said: The discussion between the Woman and the Serpent has the woman trying to correct the Serpents understanding of God’s command. As a result, she adds to the words of God saying “nor shall you touch it”. God did not say touching the fruit lead to death only the eating of it. God gave Adam and Eve permission to eat freely of all the trees in the garden, except for this one tree in the midst of the Garden.
Satan accuses God
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
5 "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."
The Serpent said: Now that the Serpent has the woman questioning the command of God, he goes to the next step. He calls God a “Liar”, telling the woman you will not surely die. The serpent contradicted God’s command given to Adam and passed to Eve.
17 "but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of
it you shall surely die."
At this point, Eve could continue to listen to the Serpent, who was accusing God and calling both God and Adam liars or turn away and reject his challenge.
God knows: First the Serpent calls God a liar, then he challenges God’s motive. He accuses God of keeping Eve in the dark, preventing her from something that “Good” for her. God is being mean to her; God is hurting her from progressing by keeping her in the dark. Satan is accusing God of being “Evil”, and jealous of her progress.
You will be like God: Now the Serpent progresses to Eve’s pride, telling her that by disobeying God she will be “Like God”. This is the third device used in the fall, appeal to the pride of the person.
Knowing good and Evil: The Serpent told the woman she will know “Good” and “Evil”, an interesting concept since the woman only knew “Good”. This is a major philosophical point, what determines if something is “Good” or “Evil”. If there is no God, is there any “Good”? And if you can have “Good” without God, who determines what is “Good”?
If we say society “People” determine “Good” and “Evil” then we ask, which society? Should Hitler’s society, Stalin’s society, Roman society or Aztec society be the standard? If the dominant society can set the standard there is no standard.
Therefore, the disobedience caused Eve to have a sin nature, to know she violated “God’s” line of transgression. Adam and Eve would be in the same boat as Satan, fallen, but with different outcomes.
Satan, lured the 1/3 of the angels
with the same deceit, he Himself believed his own deceit. In
|
Satan’s Method |
Example |
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1. Question God’s Word |
Did God say? |
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2. Question God’s Integrity |
You shall not die |
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3. Question God’s motive |
God knows that.... |
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4. Appeal to pride |
you will be like God |
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5. Offer an illusion |
knowing good from evil |
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The fall
6 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.
Saw that the tree: From this verse, its questionable that Eve really had seen the tree at this point. Its almost as if the Serpent directed her to the tree, and she beheld it for the first time. The nature of temptation is revealed here in three aspects. First, she saw that the tree was “Good for food” something which appealed to the physical appetites. Secondly, it was “Pleasant to the eyes”, appealing to the emotions aesthetic senses. Thirdly, “Desirable to make one wise”, the mind, spirit or ones pride. This parallels what First John tells us.
16 For all that is in the
world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world. I
Satan when he tempted Jesus appealed to this three part method of temptation.
First he offered Him bread for his hunger (lust of flesh), second he shows him all the kingdom of the world (lust of the eyes) and thirdly, he offered to have him prove his person by having the angles rescue him (pride of life)
Gave to her husband: According to Paul (I Timothy 2:14), Adam was not deceived by the Serpent, but willingly sinned; some have argued he sinned for Eve, so she would not have to face God’s judgment alone.
The shame
7 Then the eyes of both of them were
opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves coverings.
The eyes of both...were opened: In what way were their eyes opened? Before they sinned, they only saw the “Good”. The nature of Adam and Eve was perfect and sinless, now their eyes were opened to see the sin, because they were fallen. They knew they had transgressed the “Standard” established by God, now they crossed it. Once they were fallen they saw themselves before and after the fall as two separate people, sinless and sinful.
They knew: The man and woman now saw themselves as sinners; they knew they had crossed God’s line. They were exposed to a world of transgression, before they only knew obedience and goodness because that was their perfect nature, now their “Worldview” had changed. They saw sin, and saw themselves as sinners.
Fig leaves: Their attempt at a remedy was to cover their nakedness with human effort. They took fig leaves as coverings, to hide their shame. In the same way, we try to cover our sin with “Self-righteous” effort, which God’s Word calls “Filthy Rags” (Isaiah 64:6). We need the garments of salvation, the robes or righteousness (Isaiah 61:10) which come from the Lord, as opposed to self effort. God later clothes Adam and Eve with garments he provides, to cover their nakedness.
Fellowship broken
8 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.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
10 So he said, "I heard Your voice in
the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."
The sound of...God walking: Here is the contrast between the two Adams, the one before the fall and the one after the fall, before the fall Adam walked with God in the Garden. After the fall Adam ran from God in the Garden. The picture in verse 8 is one of broken fellowship; we following creation on the sixth day, God would walk in the Garden with Adam and Eve in fellowship. They heard God walking, maybe God was singing as he walked, from this scripture its as if it was common for God to walk in the Garden in the “cool of the day”. This is a theophany of the pre-incarnate Christ, who would later be born into the world and die for humanity as the Second Adam.
Though God was the creator of the Universe, he appeared in Human form to his creation. He had fellowship us, in the Redemption this fellowship will be restored by the saving work of the Messiah.
Hid themselves: Adam and Eve were now afraid of God, God knew they sinned and they knew they sinned. Through their sin, they became aware of the presence of sin, they were fallen in the presence of a Holy God.
Presence: The Hebrew word is ~ynp Paniym, which means face. They hid themselves from the face of God. Its interesting to note, they hid themselves among the trees, later the Messiah would die on a tree to pay for their sins.
God called: God made the first cry, God called to Adam, the relationship was like father and son. Here is God calling out to his son, a son now alienated because of sin. God knew where Adam was, he wanted Adam to confess what had happened.
I was afraid: The relationship had changed, Adam was now afraid of God, fellowship was broken. How long this took place between the 6th day and the fall we don’t know. It could have been day, weeks or even months. We know Eve had not yet conceived, so it reasonable to presume maybe a week between the sixth day and the fall. It seemed at this point God had established a time when he came to the Garden, in the cool of the day.
The blame
11 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?"
12 Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."
13 And the Lord God said to the woman,
"What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived
me, and I ate."
Who told you: Adam was afraid because he was naked. Why was nakedness a sin? It wasn’t, it was Adam’s thought that turned it into sin. Prior to the fall, they knew only “Good”, now they knew “Transgression” or sin. They were in sin, so they because aware of the nakedness of the members of procreation. Their offspring had fallen with them, the parts of their body which would bring future generations into the world, were now naked in sin.
Have you eaten: There was only one command which man was given in the Garden, to not eat from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. God wanted Adam to confess to his sin.
The man said: Adam rather then confessing his role in the sin, blames Eve and God in the matter. The woman....you gave. Its almost as if Adam was innocent and he just took the fruit and ate it, this wasn’t the case. Adam took the fruit, knowing he was sinning against God.
The woman said: The woman blamed the Serpent, rather then confessing her choice. Both Adam and Eve blamed someone other then themselves. We do the same, its part of the fallen nature to look for someone to blame for sin.
One of the first steps of salvation is to understand our choice and guilt in sin. We choose to sin, we cannot blame others for our sins. Once we understand our bankrupt condition then, God’s solution can be made available. We need to take personal responsibility of our sin.
The Cursing
The result of the
fall did not only affect Adam and Eve but all creation. In
Serpent cursed
14 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.
The Serpent: The judgment here is on the animal Xxn Nachash, the serpent who allowed Lucifer to use its beauty and cunning to deceive Eve. The Serpent was transformed from one form to another form. The serpent could have been an animal of great beauty, but would become animal of dread.
Because: The implication here is the animal had something to say about Lucifer using it to tempt Eve. The animal complied with the temptation, therefore it was punished to eat dust in the sense that it would crawl on its belly along the ground.
The
promise of the SEED
15 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."
16 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."
I will: Whatever Satan’s goal, God was going to build bring hatred between the Serpent’s offspring and the woman’s. Now we can see this verse on three levels,
1. The obvious disdain people have for snakes, the offspring of the serpent and people are the offspring of the woman.
2. The spiritual offspring of the Serpent and the Spiritual offspring of the Seed of the Woman.
3. The singular offspring, the “SEED of the Serpent” the Antichrist and the “SEED of the Woman” the Messiah.
Enmity: Enmity means hatred between these two groups.
You: The Serpent/Satan is still being addressed here; the message is one of redemption and victory through the “Seed of the Woman”. God is announcing to Satan he will be defeated and crushed by the seed of the Woman.
Your Seed: This is the Serpent’s seed. The “Son of perdition”
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 2nd Thess. 2:3-4
The conflict between the Satan offspring and Messiah’s Offspring begins in the 4th Chapter as Cain kills Abel. The wicked pursue the righteous, from the fall until now, when Satan tempts humanity for the last time.
Her Seed: The Messiah, the offspring of the Woman would one day crush the head of the Serpent.
This is the picture of redemption; the Second Adam would restore and redeem what the First Adam lost. Revelation chapter 12 shows this Heavenly conflict played out in the last days before the return of Christ, when the “Seed of the Woman” crushes the head of the “Seed of the Serpent”.
1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars.
2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.
4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
To the Woman
He shall bruise your head: The Seed of the Woman will destroy Satan and his offspring. The word bruise in Hebrew means to crush. A crushed head is a fatal wound.
You shall bruise His heel:
The seed of the serpent would cause the “Seed of the woman” to
suffer. Here is the first picture of the suffering Messiah, who
would die for the sins of the world to atone for what Adam did.
To the woman: Pain and suffering including all the tragedies of childbirth are the result of the fall and the curse placed on humanity.
Adam’s
Curse
17 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.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 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."
To Adam: The curse was to male aspect of humanity, the punishment of was “hard work” as opposed to easy work. Before the fall, humanity was to till the ground, subdue the earth and rule over God’s creation. After the fall, things changed. Adam would have to do hard work, this curse would follow him and all humanity. Now and parts of the world, it does not seem like labor is hard, this is the result of modern technology, but this has not been the case for the majority of the people or the majority of time.
Heeded the voice: The “Cursed ground” is result of following Eve, rather then God.
Cursed is the ground: The ground would not produce as it did before the curse. The labor required to live would be intensified the result being death. Thons and thistles are the result of the fall. If we really think about it, how did plants know how to make a defensive system to keep mammals away?
20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Eve: hwwx Chavvah In Hebrew the name Eve = "life" or "living"
Adam and Eve Covered
21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
God made: God covered Adam and Eve. The significance of God doing the act of covering relates the word “atonement” which means to cover
rpk Kaphar. God covered the shame Adam and Eve had as a result of their sin. This act of God is a foreshadowing of the Messiah’s death who would cover the sin of humanity.
Tunics of skin: To cover Adam and Eve required the death of an animal to cover their shame. The life of the animal was a covering for the sin. This would be the case of the “Old Covenant”, animals were sacrificed as “atonement” for sin.
36 "And you shall offer a bull every
day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar
when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify
it.
Cast
out of the Garden
22 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"
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
24 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: Here the Father, Son and Holy Spirit agree to cast fallen man out of the Garden.
Know Good and Evil: Only God can know Good and Evil, since God is the standard of Good and Evil is where God is not. “godisnowhere”. Man now has the ability to establish his own standard, even though it is false.
Tree of life:
The tree of life is again
seen in
|
1 |
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. |
|
2 |
In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. |
Out of the Garden:
The process of redemption begins, from
Cherubim: The angels which guard the presence of God. Lucifer was a Cherub angel.