Today’s bible study is all about “the fall of man” and woman. In short, the fall of mankind. This is where sin and its consequences entered into the history of mankind when the man and woman sold their birthrights to satan.
I encourage you to get your bibles ready and turn on to Chapter 3 of Genesis. Kindly invite the Holy Spirit to guide you through your bible as you read this chapter with me. I am using the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, just in case you are interested in knowing. All the scripture references that you find in this post are also taken from the NKJV.
Without much talk, let us delve into the word of God.
The Serpent’s Question
Verse 1 of Genesis 3 says that the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
Notice how the serpent/satan questions what God told the woman. Isn’t this how he tries to deceive us too through the questioning of what God had already told us? This, in turn, sows a seed of doubt and you start doubting God.
The Woman’s Reply
Verse 2 -3 describes the woman’s reply to the serpent. “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 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.’ ”
From reading verses 2-3 we can easily comprehend that the woman clearly understood God’s instruction which was simple and straightforward. It was not a riddle that one had to boggle their brains with. God couldn’t have made it any simpler by saying that they (the man and the woman) are not to eat of the forbidden tree nor touch it for their own sake, otherwise they would die. The wages of sin is death and their sin would bring about death into mankind.
Revelation: God did not create man with a definite end or death in mind. It is the sin of Adam and his woman that brought death into mankind.
Verse 1 of Genesis 3 already tells that the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field. So, surely the woman knew it too. If only she would have resisted by not even engaging with satan he would have fled.
The Serpent’s False Assurance/Promise
Verses 4 and 5 describe the serpent’s false promise to the woman, “You will not surely die. 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.”
There was “some truth” in what the serpent said but it was not “TheTruth”. However, there is a clear difference. There was truth in the fact that she wouldn’t die immediately a-la snow white when she bit the poisoned apple. But it was only the partial truth. In reality, the woman who had no death in her life brought about the spiritual and physical death of mankind (including hers) because of the sin that she was about to engage in.
When she sinned, she was spiritually dead immediately but did not have an immediate physical death. She basically sold her soul (mind, will and emotions by obeying and believing what the serpent said) and birthright (God’s original design of man – a life without death freedom to live freely and happily and have authority over all beings on earth).
Furthermore, the serpent said that God knows that the eyes of the woman will be opened and she will be like God knowing good and evil. What the sly serpent said was true but he twisted it in a way to convince the woman to “disobey” God.
It All Began With A Question To Create Doubt About God’s Word
Satan tried to imply that God did not want the man and the woman to be like God. Man and Woman cannot be God anyways no matter how hard they tried. Because, first of all, they have a creator, second they cannot raise themselves from their death at their own will. Man was created in God’s image. Hence, man has a resemblance to God but he is not God. God has no need to be jealous of His creation that He created from mere dust. Whereas, for God, He was not created. He just exists because He is God and that is what God means. He has no creator for He is the Creator. Period!
Question to ponder: Why did the serpent choose to talk to the woman and convince her of eating the fruit and why didn’t he talk to the man – Adam, directly?
Revelation: Didn’t the serpent question the Pharisees and Sadducees in order to create doubt about Jesus who is not only the son of God but also God’s word – John 1: 1-5. In short, satan made the Pharisees and Sadducees to question God’s word. You see, there is nothing new in satan’s tactics. It is exactly the same as he did with Adam and Eve, the Pharisees and Sadducees and it is the same that he is doing today too in the lives of all men.
The Woman And The Man Sinned
Verse 6 says that 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.
Qualities Of The Forbidden Tree And Its Fruits
Notice the qualities of the forbidden tree here. To the woman’s eyes, the tree was good for food, pleasant to her eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise. The serpent had convinced the woman that she was not wise because she hadn’t eaten the fruit of the tree and she coveted wisdom. Often the things that make us sin, seem harmless and yes, they seem and appear to be good and pleasant to our eyes and we end up desiring it. This is the perfect example of the nature and quality of the sinful/forbidden things in our day-to-day lives.
Verse 7 says that after the man and woman sinned, 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 Lord God’s Entrance
Verse 8 says that 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.
Obviously, God did not have to walk into the garden to know that Adam and his woman had sinned. It is because He knew about their sin already, He entered the garden.
Sin Seeks Cover From Holiness
Notice how Adam and his wife hid from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. God is Holy and sin cannot stay in the presence of God. Therefore sin and people who sinned always try to hide from God.
The Lord God Questions Adam And The Woman
Verse 9-13 describes the conversation between the Lord God and Adam and his wife.
9The 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.” 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.”
Adam’s And The Woman’s Deflection Of Sin
It was enough the man and the woman confessed their sin to God and God would have forgiven them. But they cast the blame on the other. The man blamed the woman and the woman blamed the serpent. The man could have straight up told God that he was deceived. The woman didn’t force the fruit of the forbidden tree into the man’s mouth. He decided to listen to the woman just as the woman decided to listen to the serpent. He didn’t bring to his mind the commandment of the Lord God regarding the forbidden tree and its fruits.
Revelation: Disobeying God’s words whether in spoken or written form is disobeying God Himself. Even if we have to base it on scripture, John 1: 1-5 describes how the Word was with God and the Word was God.
The Lord God curses The Serpent
So the Lord God said to the serpent in Verse 14:
“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.
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.”
The Lord God rightfully cursed the serpent for the serpent’s sin and put enmity between mankind and the serpent.
The Cost Of The Woman’s Sin
In Verse 16 the Lord God said to the woman:
“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.”
It was not God’s design for women to suffer during childbirth. However, God is a just God. He cannot violate His own law. There is a price for sin and it was inevitable for the woman to suffer the consequences of her sin for she valued the serpent’s word more than the Lord’s order. There is a price for disobedience. We obey God not only to please God but also for our own benefit. For God sees the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning.
Moreover, the husband shall rule over the woman. Most men/husbands try to rule over women in many parts of the world even to this day. Why is this? It all started when the woman lost her value in Adam’s eye when she deceived Adam too by trusting the serpent.
The Cost Of Adam’s Sin
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’:
17“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.”
Adam committed a sin by listening to his wife and doing what his wife said instead of listening to God’s words. As a result, the ground became cursed. He had to toil to eat of it all the days of his life until he died and returned to the ground. For man was taken from the ground and to it he shall return. And this is where God said for the first time that man shall return to dust – that is, he would die and not live forever on earth.
Adam Names His Wife Eve
Verse 20 describes how Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Till this point of time in scripture, the woman had no name.
Revelation: Adam was the only man not born of a woman’s womb. Eve was created from Adam’s flesh and bone. Every other human being after them was born from Eve and hence she was the mother of all living.
The Lord God Drove Adam And Eve Out Of Eden
Verse 21 tells that even though Adam and Eve had disobeyed God he still made tunics of skin and clothed them. The Lord God is kind and gracious and merciful to clothe his human creation even after they disobeyed Him. Talk about the love of the Father!
Verse 22 says that 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”
Verse 23 says that therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground.
If you look carefully at verse 22, when God said Behold the man has become like one of Us – the Us refers to The Lord God, Jesus And The Holy Spirit. Before the sinning of Adam and Eve, only God knew good and evil and it was for a purpose. When you don’t know what is good and evil there will be nothing to tempt you to sin because you wouldn’t know that whatever is tempting you is actually evil.
Moreover, God had to intervene before Adam and Eve made any further damage. The ones that were tempted once to eat of the forbidden tree could very easily be tempted again to eat also of the tree of life and live forever without any consequences of sin. Man was originally created to eat and live forever. Once sin entered, he couldn’t live forever you see. Adam had to pay his wages. God couldn’t trust Adam anymore to obey His words. God had already put laws in place before the foundation of the earth. For Him to violate His own law is to violate His Sovereignty and Justice.
The Lord God Places Cherubim At The East Of The Garden Of Eden
Genesis Chapter 3 ends with verse 24 which tells us that 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.
Since the man did not do his job well of keeping and tending the garden, God had to drive Adam out and put the cherubim in the garden. The cherubim is not a man. We know this because the only mankind at that point was Adam and Eve. It doesn’t mention that cherubim were angels too at this point in scripture. All we know is that the cherubim was made to guard the garden with a flaming sword.
God couldn’t trust man nor his wife or their offspring anymore to obey His word. Surely, if Adam sinned once he could sin again, his offspring could also sin (because sin passes through generations – generational sin) and eat from the tree of life and live off of it forever thereby violating God’s perfect law.
In Conclusion
Adam And Eve led the way to the fall of mankind and fallout with God and broke their covenant with God. They were deceived not by chance but by choice. They allowed themselves to be deceived instead of not having any conversation with the most cunning creature in the garden.
This chapter on Genesis 3 also explains God’s Just nature. He is Sovereign and so are His laws. The Lord God is the Righteous Judge and He is Just and He is also ever so loving. He wouldn’t be a good Father if he didn’t correct His children when they did wrong, would He?
Until Next Time!