Genesis 3
Sunday Morning Bible Study
November 19, 2006
Introduction
The book of Genesis is the book of “beginnings”. It was the beginning of the universe. It was the beginning of mankind. It was the beginning of marriage.
It is also the beginning of sin and temptation.
Illustration
A woman was married to a miserly man. She had to fight for everything she got. One day, she told him she was going window shopping. He said, “Look, but don’t buy.” A few hours later she came home with a new dress. “What is this?” her husband fumed. “I thought I told you to look but not buy.” “Well,” she explained, “I saw this lovely dress and thought I’d try it on, and when I did the devil said, ‘It sure looks good on you.’” “Right then you should have told him, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan,’” her husband exclaimed. “I did,” she answered, “but when he got behind me he said, ‘It sure looks good from the back, too.’”
-- Bernard Brunsting, "The Lord’s Laughter,"
Sometimes we can find temptation amusing. Until it destroys us.
Illustration
The mighty Niagara River plummets some 180 feet at the American and Horseshoe Falls. Before the falls, there are violent, turbulent rapids. Farther upstream, however, where the river’s current flows more gently, boats are able to navigate. Just before the Welland River empties into the Niagara, a pedestrian walkway spans the river. Posted on this bridge’s pylons is a warning sign for all boaters: “Do you have an anchor?” followed by, “Do you know how to use it?”
Giving in to temptation is a little like going over Niagara Falls. You don’t really want to go over the falls do you? We’re going to look at the first time someone went over the falls, and perhaps we might learn better how to use our anchors.
Genesis 3
:1-6 The first sin
:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ’You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?"
the serpent – We don’t know if this creature looked similar to our snakes today. Some have suggested this might have been a creature that looked more like what we call a “dragon”. Also pay attention that Eve doesn’t seem surprised that this creature is speaking with her. She doesn’t respond with, “Eek, a snake that talks!”
The prophet Ezekiel speaks of Satan, the “king of Tyre”:
(Ezek 28:12b-13 NKJV) …"You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. {13} You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering …
When temptation comes, it doesn’t come in a form of ugliness. Otherwise it wouldn’t be tempting. Satan disguises himself as an “angel of light” (2Cor. 11:14).
As we look at the first temptation, we see a picture of how most temptation seems to work.
It starts with Satan questioning God’s Word.
The question was designed to suggest that God was not good and fair because He restricted the eating of the fruit of one of the trees.
When you have ideas or people suggesting to you that there is something wrong or unfair with God’s Word, be careful!
For example, there are folks in the world today who would tell you that there is nothing wrong with taking drugs, having sex before marriage, homosexuality, or even something “small” like cheating on a math test.
Danger Will Robinson!
:2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
:3 "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.’"
Eve’s response is close to what God said, but not quite accurate (Gen. 2:16-17)
God did not say anything about touching, only about eating.
Why was there a tree of forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden?
Why give man the ability to sin?
It’s all about love. Love demands a choice.
The greatest command is to love God.
(Mat 22:37-38 NKJV) Jesus said to him, " ’You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ {38} "This is the first and great commandment.
Love is demonstrated by obedience.
(John 14:15 NKJV) "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
How can we love God if we don’t have a choice not to love Him? How can we love God if there is no choice available to disobey God?
:4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
:5 "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."
What does it mean to “know good and evil”?
I’m not sure it’s anything magical or mystical in the fruit itself, except that it was the one thing that was “off limits” to man. Eating this particular fruit had been forbidden, and the eating of that fruit would be a sin, it would bring evil to man.
Before Adam and Eve sinned, they were “innocent”. They did not know evil. They had not experienced evil.
When man disobeyed God by eating of the fruit, man knew for the first time what evil was – rebellion against God’s commands. Man knew what evil was because man had done an evil thing.
:6 So 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.
Paul tells us that it was at this point that sin not only entered Adam and Eve, but that sin entered into the human race.
(Rom 5:12 NKJV) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned;
The anatomy of temptation
James writes,
(James 1:13-15 NKJV) Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. {14} But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. {15} Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
We have a part of us that just loves to sin and disobey God. That’s our “flesh”. When we are exposed to temptations, it’s our own sin nature gets carried away and if left unchecked will give way to full blown rebellion against God.
We see Eve being drawn away by her own desires. She thinks about the fruit long enough for the temptation to take root in her mind and it gave birth to sin.
We see the same thing in King David when he committed adultery with Bathsheba (2Sam. 11:2-4). He was out on the rooftop when he spotted a beautiful young woman taking a bath. Instead of turning his eyes, he enjoyed what he saw. And his own desires led him to sin.
It’s not wrong to be tempted. It’s what you do with the temptation that causes you trouble.
Martin Luther: “It’s not bad to let a bird fly over your head, but don’t let it build a nest in your hair!”
Lesson
Victory over sin
This is in no way intended to be an exhaustive list of what you can do to have victory over sin. This is simply a starting place.
1. God’s Word
(Psa 119:11 NKJV) Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!
The place that God’s Word has in your heart will be related to your ability to recognize and flee temptation.
Jesus handled temptation with the Word of God. He knew what the Word said and He stood on what the Word said.
In contrast, Eve got a little sloppy with what God had said.
2. Prayer
Jesus seemed to feel that prayer was an important element in handling temptation.
(Mat 26:41 NKJV) "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Part of the Lord’s prayer had to do with temptation.
(Mat 6:13 NKJV) And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
It should be a part of our daily discipline to recognize that we will be tempted and to be asking God for help.
Eve could have called out to God for help, but instead she tried to handle it on her own.
3. Location
Don’t hang around tempting places or tempting people.
In Proverbs 7, Solomon tells us the story of a young man who wasn’t very wise. The young man found himself wandering the streets one night, and just happened to go down the street where an adulterous woman lived. The woman grabs the young man, whispers things in his ear, and the young man ends up committing adultery.
(Prov 7:22-23 NLT) He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter or like a trapped stag, {23} awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life.
A Danish Proverb says, “No one can be caught in a place he does not visit.”
(Prov 6:27-28 NKJV) Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? {28} Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?
If you hang around places filled with temptation, you are only making it more difficult for yourself.
Have you ever noticed that temptation is much more difficult when you’ve been feeding your flesh? If I’ve been looking at sexy pictures or watching movies filled with immorality, why am I surprised when I start having sexual fantasies in my head?
If you shut off the pipe from the sewer going into your head, you will have a cleaner mind.
4. Flee
(1 Cor 10:13 NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
God will always provide a way of escape. An “escape” implies that you’re going to walk away from the temptation. Take the exit.
When Joseph was working for Potiphar in Egypt (Gen. 39), Potiphar’s wife began to hit on Joseph. A day came when he was in the house alone and she came up and grabbed him by the coat. Joseph left his coat and ran away. He took the exit.
:7 The consequences of sin
:7 Then 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.
Back in chapter 2, they were both naked and unashamed.
Now something has changed and they need to cover their nakedness. They experience guilt.
fig leaves – man tries to cover his guilt with his own creation.
:8 And 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.
hid themselves – Instead of enjoying close fellowship with God, Adam and Eve are now trying to hide from God. This is what sin does – it separates us from God.
Hiding is part of the problem.
When David committed adultery with Bathsheba, he tried to cover his sin.
(Psa 32:3-5 NKJV) When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. {4} For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah {5} I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
It’s when we acknowledge our sin that we find forgiveness and help.
Those who go through alcoholic recovery learn that they won’t be able to get anywhere with their problem until they acknowledge their problem.
:9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
Does this mean that God really didn’t know where Adam was? I think God was asking Adam if he realized where he was.
: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."
The first excuse. Blame the woman. Actually, it sounds as if Adam is blaming God as well, “whom YOU gave to be with me”
: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."
:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: "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.
Sin has consequences. All sin has consequences. The wages of sin …
: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."
Another first. The first hint at Jesus.
This isn’t just talking about mankind liking to stomp on snakes and snakes liking to bite men in the heel.
It speaks of a bigger battle, a battle between the woman’s offspring and the snake’s offspring.
It’s interesting that it isn’t between the man’s offspring and the snake’s offspring – but the woman.
Jesus had an earthly mother, but not an earthly father.
When Jesus was on the cross, Satan bruised His heel. But when Jesus died on the cross, He bruised the head of Satan.
:16 To the woman He said: "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."
Several consequences came to the woman from her sin.
1. Pain in childbirth
(Gen 3:16 NLT) … "You will bear children with intense pain and suffering
Blame it on Eve.
2. Desire for husband
The usual idea is that it is talking about a woman’s attraction to her husband, which would be needed to counteract the pain in childbirth – if the human race was to survive.
Another suggestion is that this is talking about a woman’s desire to rule over her husband. The same two words (desire, rule) are found in Gen. 4:7, where God is warning Cain about sin having a desire to rule over him, but he must rule over it. Notice how close it sounds to Gen. 3:16
(Gen 4:7b NKJV) …its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."
3. Husband rules over wife
Eve was the one making choices for the couple when they ate the forbidden fruit.
I find it fascinating how the New Testament commands for a husband and wife compare with this curse.
(Eph 5:22 NKJV) Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
The curse has man ruling over his wife. Jesus wants women to learn to handle the curse by submitting.
I know this is difficult. And yet if I understand what Peter teaches in 1Pet. 3, submission is what teaches a man to follow God.
(Eph 5:25 NKJV) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
The curse involved a desire of the woman for her husband. Jesus matches the curse by commanding the husbands to love their wives like He loves the church.
The wife is supposed to have a built in desire for her husband. To make the marriage complete, the husband needs to work at loving his wife like Jesus loves the church. The husband needs to learn to sacrifice himself for his wife. The husband needs to learn to nurture and build up his wife.
:17 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’: "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.
Note: Thorns came into being as a result of Adam’s sin. Isn’t it bizarre (or ironic) that Jesus would be crowned with thorns at his death?
: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."
The big issue with Adam was not that he “heeded” or listened to his wife as much as that he disobeyed God.
Adam brings two curses.
1. Hard work. Don’t like work? Blame Adam.
2. Death. Adam would die. He would return to the dust after death.
:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Eve – Chavvah – “life”, “living”, “life producer”
:21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Where did God get the animal skins to make tunics with?
The implication is that God performed a sacrifice. God’s sacrifice brought a covering for man’s sin. Another first.
:22-24 Removal from Eden
:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.
This sounds as if Satan’s temptation was correct (Gen. 3:5), that man DID become like God. But it’s only correct in a twisted sense.
God doesn’t know evil because He’s evil or because He’s sinned. God knows good and evil because He’s seen it all. He knew evil when Satan rebelled against God.
In comparison, man now knows evil because he has done evil.
:22 And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever";
:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
: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 – angels
At first it sounds like God has a cruel streak in Him. It sounds as if God doesn’t want man to be too much like Him. It sounds as if God doesn’t want man to live forever.
Actually, this is beginning of salvation.
Man has now become a sinner.
And God does not want man to live forever in his sin.
But God does want you to live forever with Him.
This is why God sent His only Son to die on a cross.
Jesus’ death on the cross has paid the price for our sin.
If we will accept the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins, we will live forever with God, and WITHOUT sin.
