Genesis 3 - It all crashes down
Updated: Jul 26, 2022
God responds to our rebellion with both justice and mercy.
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Genesis 3 (ESV)
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman,
“Did God actually say,
‘You shall not eat
of any tree
in the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent,
“We may eat
of the fruit of the trees
in the garden,
3 but God said,
‘You shall not eat
of the fruit of the tree
that is in the midst of the garden,
neither shall you touch it,
lest you die.’ ”
4 But the serpent said to the woman,
“You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it
your eyes will be opened,
and you will be
like God,
knowing good and evil.”
6 So
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 of its fruit and ate,
and she also gave some
to her husband
who was with her,
and he ate.
7 Then
the eyes of both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked.
And they
sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God
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.
9 But the Lord God
called to the man
and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said,
“I heard the sound of you in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked,
and I hid myself.”
11 He said,
“Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man said,
“The woman
whom you gave to be with me,
she gave me fruit of the tree,
and I ate.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman,
“What is this that you have done?”
The woman said,
“The serpent deceived me,
and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said
to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you
above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly
you shall go,
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between
you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire
shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you
have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken; for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man
called his wife’s name Eve,
because she was the mother of all living.
21 And the Lord God made
for Adam and for his wife
garments of skins and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said,
“Behold, the man
has become like one of us
in knowing good and evil.
Now,
lest he reach out his hand and
take also of the tree of life
and eat, and live forever—”
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out
from the garden of Eden
to work the ground from which he was taken.
24 He drove out the man,
and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way
to guard the way to the tree of life.
Watch / Listen to the DIG DEEPER video:
Genesis 3 Summary
v1-5 - The serpent simply puts an idea into the woman's head by twisting the truth.
v6-7 - The man and woman succumb to the newly planted temptation and eat the forbidden fruit.
Ironically, the text says "their eyes were opened." The rest of the Bible will go on to refer to this phenomenon as spiritual blindness.
The first thing their newly 'opened' eyes see is their own shame.
v8-13 - God confronts His rebellious image bearers, and the blame game commences.
v14-19 - God curses everyone involved, but in doing so He also introduces the gospel (v15).
v20 - Before God punishes Adam and Eve further, He provides for their immediate needs.
v22-24 - God expels Adam and Eve from the garden, but this is for their own good, so that they don't end up gaining immortality by eating from the tree of Life and eternally cementing themselves in the curse.
Dig Deeper
We properly attribute the fall to Adam, even though it seems Eve (who doesn't get her name till after the fall) is the most complicit in succumbing to the serpent's temptation.
God gave the command not to eat of this fruit before the woman was even created (Gen. 2:17).
Remember that although the man & woman are equal in status, they have differing roles, and Adam was to lead and teach his wife what God had said.
Eve did not understand God's command as she should of, instead she added to it the provision not to touch (v3). Properly understanding God's Word is important!
Adam was to care for the garden, so he should have evicted the evil serpent immediately.
Adam complicity stood by while Eve disobeyed and then immediately joined her in disobedience.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The God of justice who loves and cares for His image bearers even as He righteously punishes us;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will properly fulfill your role in knowing and teaching God's Word;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
