The first man and woman are at the center of our study today. In this scripture, they disobey a command directly given to them by God – they sin.
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“He Did Eat”
Genesis 3:1-19
- The first man and woman are at the center of our study today
- In this scripture, they disobey a command directly given to them by God
- Adam and Eve sin
- And as the New Testament says in Romans 5 “For as by one man’s disobedience [Adam] many were made sinners…[that’s us]”
- We’ll take a closer look at this account
- With the theme “He Did Eat”
- From Genesis 3:1-19 today
- God has just formed man “of the dust of the ground”
- And He has made woman from one of Adam’s ribs
- He has just created marriage
- And said that a man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife
- And that they would be one flesh
- But He’s also given Adam and his wife a certain commandment
- That is the key detail in this account…
Genesis 3:1
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
- Satan questions God
- He does so with unique subtlety
- While he clearly knows what God said
- He casts some level of doubt
- The Genesis account reveals the answer in Genesis 2:15-18…
“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. “
- God told Adam not to eat of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”
- And He gave the consequence
- If you do, you will surely die
- And this is when Eve comes along
- She knows what God said to…
Genesis 3:2-3
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of 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 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
- She answers correctly, for the most part
- Adding the portion about not touching it
- We don’t have account of that instruction
- But she knows both the commandment and the consequence
- This is important as we go on…
Genesis 3:4
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
- This is blatantly false
- That old serpent, Satan, is a liar
- And he was a liar from the beginning
- And we know from the text this is not true
- Eve knows it is not true
- The serpent continues…
Genesis 3:5
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
- At least a portion of this is true
- To disobey God (to sin) will mean that Adam and Eve will know evil
- But this will not be to their advantage
- It will not be a help or an elevation in their status or any sort of upgrade
- To the contrary, it will destroy them
- It will cause their death and lead to our death
- Resulting in a curse to the whole world
- Like every temptation to sin, it promises one thing and delivers exactly the opposite
- It appears to be a good idea at the time, but in time always becomes the worst idea
- And this is Satan’s pattern
- To question God’s word
- To lie
- And to twist reality in an effort to deceive
- So Eve takes action…
Genesis 3:6
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
- In perfect accord with what we are told in the New Testament
- The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are apparent in Eve
- She is not considering God’s command, not reminding herself of the consequences, and not concerned with what is true and what is false
- Her own desires and her own thoughts, prompted by that old serpent
- Are front and center in her thinking
- And so she takes
- And she gives to her husband – who was the receiver of the original command
- And they both eat
- This is wrong
- It is a violation of God’s command
- It is sin
Genesis 3:7
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
- This refers us back to the end of chapter two
- Which says…
“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
- So, sin has opened their eyes in a certain way, but not in a beneficial way
- God wanted what was best for them
- But they chose to go their own way, encouraged by the serpent
- Knowing the right way all along
Genesis 3:8-10
8 And they heard the voice 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 amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
- The break in their relationship with God is apparent immediately
- Instead of close fellowship with Him, they flee His presence
- They hide themselves
- And His voice makes them afraid
- Despite the promise of the serpent, that some better thing would come to them
- Calamity has been the result
- All is worse – and much worse at that
Genesis 3:11
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
- God knows all that has happened
- He sees and knows all
- But still He asks
- They have the opportunity to confess, to take responsibility, to fall upon His mercy
- But this is Adam’s response…
Genesis 3:12-13
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
- Far from taking responsibility, there is the shifting of blame
- And certainly all did wrong
- But all were responsible for every wrong
- And further consequences, beyond spiritual death – and the start of their physical death were pronounced
- Starting with the serpent…
Gensis 3:14-15
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
- The bright glowing light of salvation shines forth even now
- Even during the midst of this cursing
- We see that the serpent, Satan, will be crushed by One born of woman
- Even the Messiah, Jesus himself
- Who would have his heel bruised in dying for our sins
- But would have ultimate victory
- He would raise from the dead and offer the free gift of salvation to all who believe
- This is the good news
- And it is the highlight of the account
- But God goes on…
Genesis 3:16-19
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
- Life becomes harder and more complex at every turn for the sinner
- That which was good becomes corrupted
- And at the end, comes death
- We need to know all of this
- It should be a reminder to us
- Turn to God’s commands
- Trust what He says
- Do His will
- Believe in His son – and live!