Experience God Series

Genesis 3:1-9. [3:1] 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?" (ESV)

Yesterday, thousands of truckers and supporters from across Canada and the United States, descended upon Ottawa. Describing themselves as Freedom Convoy 2022, they explicitly demand an end to government COVID mandates. “No more lockdowns. No forced vaccination,” In Ontario, tomorrow ends what most likely will be the final lockdown of the province. But conflicts and disagreements on mandates continues. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/first-reading-this-trucker-thing-probably-isnt-going-to-end-well

What causes conflict between people? People can function together for a time, but when a situation of external doubt arises, and trust is not existing between them, communication breaks down, and bad intentions become assumed. The result is separation.

To experience God in a meaningful relationship, there needs to be trust of Him and His word. When difficult external situations stir up internal doubt, we must guard against a desire for autonomy, thereby becoming a law unto ourselves. This rebellion means separation from God. Unchecked, the separation becomes eternal.

Genesis presents a picture of warning showing the threats to a harmonious experience of fellowship with God. In Genesis 3:1-9 we see the ultimate source of rebellion to the true Experience of God. Believers must realize four things: 1) The Tempter (Genesis 3:1a), 2) The Target (Genesis 3:1b-3), 3) The Tactic (Genesis 3:4-5), and finally 4) The Tragedy (Genesis 1:6-9).

In order to have the eternal joy to Experience God, we must avoid:

1)The Tempter (Genesis 3:1a),

Genesis 3:1a. [3:1] 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'?") (ESV)

The word serpent means “snake.” The apostle John identified this creature as Satan (cf. Rev. 12:9; 20:2) as did Paul (2 Cor. 11:3). The rebellion of Satan had occurred sometime after Genesis 1:31 (when everything in creation was good), but before Genesis 3:1. He was a beautiful angel originally, rejoicing at God’s Creation (Job 38:4–7), but he sinned and was judged by God (Isa. 14:12–17; Ezek. 28:11–19) God is not the author of sin, nor does He tempt people to sin; this is the work of the devil (James 1:13). (Wiersbe, W. W. (1993). Wiersbe's expository outlines on the Old Testament (Ge 3:1–6). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.).

The serpent is indicated as "more crafty than any other beast of the field/wild animal that the LORD God had made,”. Explicit characterization of actors in the story is rare in Hebrew narrative, so it seems likely that in noting the snake’s shrewdness the narrator is hinting that his remarks should be examined very carefully. He may not be saying what he seems to be saying. Perhaps we should not take his words at their face value as the woman did. The author wanted to draw a (parallel) between the Fall and man’s quest for wisdom. Man’s disobedience is not so much depicted as an act of great wickedness or a great transgression as much as it is an act of great folly. He had all the “good” (tô?) he would have needed, but he wanted more—he wanted to be like God. The forbidden tree is the tree of the knowledge of “good and evil” (?ô? wara?, Gen. 2:9). When the woman and the man took of the tree and ate, it was because she “saw that the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom [lehaskîl]” (v.6). Thus even the serpent is represented as a paragon of wisdom, an archetypical wiseman (?arûm). However, the serpent and his wisdom (?arûm) lead ultimately to the curse (?arûr v.14) (Sailhamer, J. H. (1990). Genesis. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume 2: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers (F. E. Gaebelein, Ed.) (50). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.).