Genesis 3:1-23

Genesis 3:1-23 Part 5

Genesis 3 is the account of the fall of man and as such it provides numerous lessons for us.

3:1 The serpent or Satan as we discover has numerous names, each depicting a portion of his persona. He is called serpent, liar, father of lies, deceiver, Satan, destroyer, thief, arch angel, murderer, Lucifer, tempter, devil, and a host of other names.

He is a created being of the angelic realm, Ezekiel 28:11-19. He was found to be in Eden, the garden of God vs. 14; on the holy mountain vs.15; was perfect from the day he was created until iniquity [lawlessness] was found in him. His heart was lifted up [pride] because of his beauty, and was very wise vs.17.

By all accounts he is a treacherous and worthy adversary; worthy in the sense of one not to be taken lightly or for granted.  It was of this adversary by whom Eve was deceived and persuaded to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and giving to Adam to eat also. As with the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we are not told the physical characteristics, he is only described as a serpent, which, once again, is descriptive of his persona. Hence Satan is most often portrayed as a snake. Snakes are very cunning, and subtle, deceiving even the best of his prey.

Notice how he, Satan, starts with the woman with his evil subtlety. The term subtil depicts his cunningness, deceitfulness, ruthlessness, and craftiness; and will stop at nothing to achieve his self-centered ambitions as depicted in Isaiah 14:12-20.

Satan’s 5 ambitions [I wills] Isaiah 14:13-14:

·         I will ascend into heaven

·         I will exalt my throne above the stars of God

·         I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north

·         I will ascend above the heights of the clouds

·         I will be like the most high

To this day Satan is still attempting to satisfy his vile contemptuousness. He just doesn’t get it. Everything he tempts you and me with is a ploy to accomplish his diabolical plot. In reality his ploys have nothing to do with exalting you and me-it’s all about him Satan; and his diabolical plan to ascend to God’s throne Isa.14:13-14. In the process his plots will ultimately destroy us. However, as Ezekiel 28: 11-19 states, he will eventually receive his dues.

            The later part of 3:1 does not imply that Satan was made a beast of the field rather it is a comparison to the beast of the field. As we have already established Satan to be created as an angelic being, serpent being the description of his persona.

The dialog between the serpent and the woman

Next we are to understand that he first attacks the woman instead of the man, as a result a dialog occurs between the serpent and the woman.[vs.1-6] There are several speculations as to why he does this:

·         One such speculation is that she was not present when God told Adam not to eat of the forbidden fruit. However, in her dialog with Satan she indicates that she knew of God’s edict.

·         Another is because of her weakness as a female. I dismiss this because nowhere in the text is I there any indication of her weakness.

No matter the reason we are told the serpent approached her first. She gave argument that the serpent was incorrect in his statement, to which the serpent countered that partaking would make them as gods who knew good and evil [the difference from right or wrong]. Satan’s ploy was to convince the woman that God was trying to withhold a really good thing from them.

Vs.7 Enlightenment: their eyes being opened for the first time does not imply that they were physically blind; rather that their eyes on understanding were opened Eph. 1:18; Lu. 24:45; Mk.8; 18; Eph. 1:18. It is one things to read the words off the page and quite another to understand that which you have read. Many can read and quote Scripture but haven’t a clue as to what it means. those are they that can be easily duped and swayed by heresey. They knew of the consequences, but now they truly understood the fullness of their evil deed. They had been duped! Have you ever been duped? It was not of God.

            When God tells you or I something, we need to be extra careful not to allow the adversary to read something else into it. There was a prophet who was instructed to travel a specific route home, but got sidetracked by another prophet who instructed him in a shortcut, which ended by the man being slain by a lion. Again, Samuel, the prophet, instructed King Saul to slay all the inhabitants including the king and animals, however, Saul disobeyed, taking the king captive, and keeping alive certain livestock as an offering to God. As a result the kingdom was taken from him, he and his sons were slain, and the kingdom was given to David. Samuel’s profound statement—“We ought to obey God rather than men”.

Vs.7 Cover-up: as a direct result of their sin they attempted to cover up their nakedness. Before the sin they had no concept of awareness of their nakedness and accepted one another’s bodies without problem. However, their meager cover-up attempts fell short.

Aprons and fig leaves typify man’s futile attempts to cover his own misdeeds. Only God’s remedy is sufficient. It is interesting that God allowed them to stand in His presence for an unspecified period of time, experiencing their nakedness, before He clothed them (vs.21). For what purpose I ask myself? Perhaps for the express reason of allowing the fullness of their sinfulness to sink in, in other words to experience due guilt.  I think sometimes I experience the nakedness of my sin that I might fully grasp the seriousness of disobedience.

Vs8. This is the first biblical reference to man’s relationship to his Creator God. Man walks and communes with God in a very close relationship, one that God seeks to restore with every man through the shed blood of Jesus.  It is not the same kind of relationship the animal kingdom shares with their Master. Human relationship with God is on an intimate level. Relationship and communion with God is severed: our original parents had a unique relationship with their creator God; they walked and talked with God in the cool of the garden. That is what God desires of each of us. He desires our fellowship, companionship, and communion. It is restored only through the blood of Jesus on Calvary’s cruel cross.

            As the direct result of disobedience they hid from their intimate Creator God.

Dialog with God

Vs.9-13 Records man’s dialog with God. When we sin the first thing we have a tendency to do is to:

·         Cover our sin

·         Hide from God

·         Attempt to blame someone else, even a loved one, instead of taking ownership.

·         Though the blaming is truth, yet know one confesses their own guilt.

Pronouncement of Judgment and Curse

Vs.14-19 God pronounces sin’s penalty:

·         First to the serpent. Cursed more than all cattle and beast of the field. [cattle and beast are cursed, but the serpent has a greater curse.]

·         To crawl on the belly and eat of the dust of the earth; many use this to prove that the serpent is a snake as a result Satan is most often depicted as such.

·         There is to be enmity [hostility, hatred] between the serpent and the woman, and the serpent’s offspring and the woman’s offspring. Matthew Henry states that the serpent often bruises man’s heel but can go no higher, whereas man will eventually bruise to serpent’s head (paraphrased). This, of course, is referring to Christ’s ultimate victory over Satan at Calvary, whereas Satan reveled in the fact that Jesus was crucified, but the victory came when Jesus arose from the grave thus defeating the death penalty forever, for you and me.

Vs.16 The woman is cursed with pain and suffering in childbirth, and she is relegated to be under submission to her husband. 1Tim. 2:15 Amp. “Nevertheless (the sentence put upon women [of pain in motherhood] does not hinder their [souls’] salvation), and they will be saved [eternally] if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control; [saved indeed] through the Child-bearing, that is by the birth of the [divine] Child”.

                  There is a reprieve to the curse placed on women in Gen. 3:16, under condition of continued faith, love, holiness, and sobriety. Many are they [mane and female] who follow Christ only in good times but forsake Him when times are bad.

Vs.17-19 Adam’s turn for God’s chastisement: because he listened to his wife and ate of the forbidden fruit. She was deceived, but Adam was not. Adam is cursed or sentenced, not because he was deceived, but because he knew what he was doing and did it anyway. Remember the serpent attacked the woman not the man.

       Now the ground is cursed and now thorns, weeds and thistles are introduced for the first time. God also apparently changes Adam’s diet to eat the herbs of the field. [Speculation, as animals are not mentioned as part of his diet.

       Now, for the first time he is to experience sweat and is sentenced a lifetime of hard labor. By the way all this is passed upon you and I today. That’s why women suffer in childbirth and we all labor so hard to make ends meet and why we hate work so. We do so until the day we die. Even so called retirement is a struggle for most of us.

Vs.20. Adam named his wife Eve because she is the mother of all living [human beings]. Some would call “mother earth” as if “she” was the mother of all living, but it is a misnomer.

God’s sacrifice

Vs.21 This is first record on God reaching out to fallen mankind to restore him to fellowship. The coats of skins is a type of Christ shedding His innocent blood for sinful man. This also is a temporary covering which, as the sacrifices in the Law of Moses served only as a covering for sin until the Messiah would come. Heb. 9:11-15010:1-10. The coats of skins is a clear indicator of something innocent dying for the guilty; therefore a picture of the pre-incarnate Christ.

Vs.22 The serpent speaks only half truth. Here God declares that man is become as one of us. This statement has often been misinterpreted as being three Gods; however it refers to the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Refer back to 1:26 Let us make man in our image, is once again referring to the unity of the triune God and not to plural Gods or gods as some assert. 1John: 7-8 “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.” These passages refer not to three gods, but One with three distinct functions, yet As One.

          Because on man’s disobedience he is cast out of God’s garden that the opportunity to also eat of the tree of life come upon him that he may live forever in wickedness without hope of redemption, thus forever sealing man’s fate and fulfilling Satan’s vain imagination of succeeding to the throne of God.

What a mighty God we serve!

Vs.23-24 The sentence passed is not executed and man is exiled from paradise. Cherubims [angels of war or guardian angels] are placed at the East of the garden with a flaming sword. Its mandate is to keep anyone from eating of the tree of life and living forever. Notice in later chapters that no man has ever lived 1000 years or more.. The longest man to live was Methuselah who lived 969 years. The longer man inhabits earth the shorter his days become, due to sickness and disease brought in by the curse on man’s sin. none of us are immune to sin’s curse of sickness and disease, though many may escape some physically deadly illness.

Faith Building Practice and Review

1.    List 5 names of the serpent.

2.    What do they represent?

3.    Why is Satan referred to as a worthy adversary?

4.    What are his 5 ambitions?

5.    How were they thwarted?

6.    Why did the serpent attack the woman instead of the man?

7.    Why is it so important to obey God’s commands?

8.    Why was Adam included in the curse?

9.    What was his curse?

10. What is the significance of the coats of skins?

11. How much truth does Satan need to speak to subvert us?

12. Why was it so important to guard Eden with angels?

13. Why has no man lived past 1000 years?

14. Who lived the longest?

15. How long did he or she live?