Genesis chapter 3
Satan tempts them to sin. They fall into sin. The effects of sin.
SATAN TEMPTS THEM TO SIN
VERSE 1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”
He said to the woman. The snake was able to talk. And Eve was not surprised that an animal could speak.
Maybe animals could talk, prior to the Fall. Or maybe humans could understand what animals were saying, prior to the Fall.
VERSE 2. The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden,
VERSE 3. but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’ ”
VERSE 4. The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die,
VERSE 5. for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
knowing. The Hebrew word is יָדַע (“yada”). It implies experiential knowing, as compared with merely intellectual knowing.
THEY FALL INTO SIN
VERSE 6. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.
she took some of its fruit, and ate .. he ate it, too. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, and ate the forbidden fruit.
This moment is called the Fall. It is when humanity fell into sin. The result was our having to leave the beautiful Garden of Eden.
Most people view these events in a very negative way. It ruined everything.
But there is another way to see these events. These tragic events led to the Mission of the Redeemer. These events had to take place for the Messiah to come to our world.
There is a very curious sentence that’s said once a year in the Catholic church. It is a reference to the fall of Adam and Eve into sin:
O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!
THE EFFECTS OF SIN
VERSE 7. Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves.
VERSE 8. They heard the LORD God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
VERSE 9. The LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
VERSE 10. The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
VERSE 11. God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
VERSE 12. The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
The woman. Adam blames Eve for his own action. This is the beginning of men blaming women for their own actions.
Adam should have accepted responsibility for his own actions. But instead he does a very cowardly thing and blames the woman.
Male cowardice continues to this day. It happens is whenever a man blames a woman for what he did.
whom you gave to be with me. Adam is implicitly blaming the LORD God for his own problems.
VERSE 13. The LORD God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
VERSE 14. The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
VERSE 15. I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
He will bruise your head. This can be interpreted as promise of the Redeemer. In the fullness of time, Jesus Christ will defeat Satan.
VERSE 16. To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. You will bear children in pain. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
In pain you will bear children. Some Catholics speculate that Mary did not experience pain during the birth of Jesus.
Their rationale is that both Jesus and Mary were untouched by sin, and hence the “curse” described in this verse did not apply.
he will rule over you. Many Christians see this as a sort of command that a husband is to be in charge of his wife. He is to make the decisions and micro-manage her life and dominate. She is to “submit” to him.
However, we see no such domination in the Holy Family. Joseph did not dominate Mary.
Perhaps this verse is simply describing the sad reality of fallen human existence. Most men are more bossy and domineering than most women.
However, bossy and domineering behavior is not a part of God’s plan.
VERSE 17. To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.
VERSE 18. It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field.
thorns and thistles:
John 19:2. The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown, and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment.
you will eat the herb of the field. In the beginning, when we humans walked in the Garden of Eden, what did the LORD God command us to eat? The Bible’s answer may surprise you. Read more »
VERSE 19. You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”
You will eat bread. In the beginning, when we humans walked in the Garden of Eden, what did the LORD God command us to eat? The Bible’s answer may surprise you. Read more »
VERSE 20. The man called his wife Havah because she would be the mother of all the living.
she would be the mother of all the living. Scientists speak of a particular woman from history. The genetic lineage of every human alive traces back to her.
She is referred to as Mitochondrial Eve. The mitochondrial DNA of every living person is directly descended from her.
VERSE 21 The LORD God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife. This is the first time humans wore clothing.
VERSE 22. The LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—”
the man has become like one of us. In the Book of Genesis, God refers to Self as a Plurality. This is surprising, given the Bible’s focus on the oneness of God. We find this also in The Qur’an. Read more »
VERSE 23. Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
VERSE 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.
cherubim. They are powerful angelic creatures, messengers of the Most High God with wings.
GENESIS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.