Genesis, chapter 2 ends with a statement that men and women were naked and were not ashamed. Human beings were plainly visible, nothing was hidden, and there was nothing about which they needed to be ashamed. There was no reason to hide from God’s eyes. In chapter 3 that all changes very quickly so that by verse 10 the man says to God, “I was afraid [of God] because I was naked; and I hid myself.” So, what happened in those intervening verses? Sin happened. Rebellion happened. The Fall happened.
Verse
1 the craftiest of all God’s creatures was the serpent and the serpent engaged Eve in a conversation about God; specifically the question posed revolves around the command God gave to Adam and Eve. The serpent wants to know if God commanded them to ‘not eat’ from a tree in the garden.
2 And the woman responded by answering the serpent’s question. On the positive side, God gave them permission to eat from every tree in the garden but one. (Interesting to note that among the trees that they could have eaten was the tree of [eternal] life; but they never chose to eat from it.)
3 But God said, “you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree in the center of the Garden,” that is, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And God assigned a consequence to disobedience. He said, “if you eat of it you will die.”
4 The serpent contradicts God’s word and he has been contradicting God’s word ever since. He says,” you will not die.” He lied. In fact he is the Father of lies.
5 The serpent makes the claim that if the man and the woman betray God and eat of the tree they will become wise, like God is wise. They will no longer need God’s direction. They will be able to choose for themselves.
6 The woman comes to believe that the fruit is not poison, that it is beautiful and that it was desirable to eat because it would make them wise. And so, she eats, but only after she has decided to betray God’s command and to ignore God’s warning. And not only did she eat but the man ate as well. We want to believe that sin is not sin. We want to believe that what God has commanded us to avoid will actually be good for us. There is a beauty to forbidden fruit and we really do desire it. We are all too ready to ignore the warning signs.
7 Having eaten their eyes were, indeed, opened. They see themselves in the light of not only good—as God intended and as God created them to be—but also as evil. They are ashamed of their nakedness. The unvarnished truth is that they are now good AND evil. And the sight is so repugnant to them that they fashion clothing to cover themselves. In our day we clothe ourselves in denial, justification, and transference.
8 God walked in the Garden and up until now they had been happy to see him. They had been completely open about who they were. Now that they have disobeyed God and they see that they are not only good but evil as well, now they hide from God. They fear their Creator. They are ashamed of what they have become and recognize that punishment is deserved.
9 God calls out to his people. Even as he discovers their sins and rebellion God seeks a conversation with them. God wants to be in relationship with them still.
10 Adam says, ‘I heard you coming and was afraid of you.’ He says he was afraid because he recognized he was naked before God. He hid rather than allow God to see his naked self. How often do we hide from God rather than let him see the reality of our lives?
11 God does not need to be told what happened. He asks Adam because his people need to rehearse the cause of their demise. The acted out in a way God had commanded them not to act.
12 The man blames the woman. The blame game is still the number one defense for men and women alike.
13 The woman, in turn, blames the serpent. She claims that her virtue was overcome by the deceptive acts of others. She was misled. This too is a commonly exercised defense.
14 God curses the serpent and an explanation is given for serpents having no appendages.
15 Here is the Proto-evagelion: Note that God foretells the birth of a child who will be at odds with the serpent’s offspring and that child will crush the serpent’s head even as the serpent strikes the child. A child of Eve will crush evil but not without cost. The child will be felled by evil, if only temporarily.
16 The consequences of rebellion fall on the woman as well: painful childbirth; a desire for her husband that will assure more painful childbirths; and her husband ruling over her.
17 18 and 19 The consequences of rebellion fall on the man as well: the ground, from which the man grows his food and finds his living will be cursed. It will require great effort and pain (toil) to bring forth the food required to sustain him. Hard work, exertion shall be required all his life long, and at the end of his time he will return to the cursed ground—he will die. The warning God had given was true. They ate of the forbidden fruit. They must die.
20 Eve resembles the Hebrew word living. She is the mother of all living.
21 God does not want his people to live in shame. He fashions suitable clothing for them.
22 God does not allow fallen humanity to eat from the tree of eternal life. This is an act of mercy. God does not want to condemn us to an eternity of sin and separation from God.
23 God banishes man from the Garden where the tree of eternal life is found. The man will have to toil and sweat but he will return to the ground from which he was taken.
24 Adam and Eve did not want to go and they had to be driven out and to prevent their return God placed angels at the gate, not little chubby babes with wings but soldier angels, armed and dangerous angels to prevent their approaching the tree of life. There is no hope of eternal life unless the promise God made to the serpent comes true. If the child crushes the serpent’s head and mankind is released from their sins, then the gate to eternal life can once again be opened and mankind can, at last, eat from the tree of eternal life.
Sunday November 14th Prize Question:
What was the weapon God chose to protect the entrance to the Garden?
Study Questions:
Do you believe in sin? If so, how would you define it? Is that different than the way most people you know define sin?
Does sin have consequences? If so, what are they?
Why do you think Adam and Eve made excuses for their disobedience? What sorts of excuses do we make?
Have you ever considered the possibility that God’s punishment might actually be merciful? Can you name a situation where you or someone you know had to suffer consequences for a bad choice but they found a blessing in the consequences?
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