GENESIS CHAPTER THREE OVERVIEW
Overall what is happening in this chapter is Adam and Eve sin against God and it has repercussions that have affected the human race ever since.
The Cambridge Bible (1921) – Genesis 3
The Temptation – Genesis 3:1-5
The Fall – Genesis 3:6-8
The Enquire – Genesis 3:9-13
The Sentence – Genesis 3:14-19
Man’s Clothing – Genesis 3:20-21
The Expulsion from the Garden – Genesis 3:22-24
Adam Clarke (1826) – Genesis 3
Satan, by means of a creature here called the serpent, deceives Eve, Genesis 3:1-5.
Both she and Adam transgress the Divine command, and fall into sin and misery, Genesis 3:6-7.
They are summoned before God, and judged, Genesis 3:8-13.
The creature called the serpent is degraded and punished, Genesis 3:14.
The promise of redemption by the incarnation of Christ, Genesis 3:15.
Eve sentenced, Genesis 3:16.
Adam sentenced, Genesis 3:17.
The ground cursed, and death threatened, Genesis 3:18-19.
Why the woman was called Eve, Genesis 3:20.
Adam and Eve clothed with skins, Genesis 3:21.
The wretched state of our first parents after their fall, and their expulsion from the garden of Paradise, Genesis 3:22-24.
Thomas Coke (1801) – Genesis 3
The woman is deceived by the serpent; eats the forbidden fruit, and gives her husband to eat with her. God rebukes both him and her: curses the serpent, announces proper punishment on Adam and Eve, drives them from paradise, and places the cherubim at the gate.
Our first parents, in bliss and joy united, little suspected the dreadful storm which now was preparing for them by the great enemy of their souls. The devil, once an angel of light, but self-tempted, and now through sin become a fiend of darkness, hating God and his work, with envious jealousy beheld this happy pair, and instantly meditates their ruin. Having experienced the efficacy of his wiles on spirits like himself, drawn in his train from the bright spheres of glory, he with like fraud attempts, and but too fatally succeeds with man.
Matthew Henry (1714) – Genesis 3
The story of this chapter is perhaps as sad a story (all things considered) as any we have in all the Bible. In the foregoing chapters we have had the pleasant view of the holiness and happiness of our first parents, the grace and favor of God, and the peace and beauty of the whole creation, all good, very good; but here the scene is altered. We have here an account of the sin and misery of our first parents, the wrath and curse of God against them, the peace of the creation disturbed, and its beauty stained and sullied, all bad, very bad. “How has the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed!” O that our hearts were deeply affected with this record! For we are all nearly concerned in it; let it not be to us as a tale that is told.
The general contents of this chapter we have (Romans 5:12), “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
More particularly, we have here:
I. The innocent tempted (Genesis 3:1-5).
II. The tempted transgressing (Genesis 3:6-8).
III. The transgressors arraigned (Genesis 3:9-10).
IV. Upon their arraignment, convicted (Genesis 3:11-13).
V. Upon their conviction, sentenced, (Genesis 3:14-19).
VI. After sentence, reprieved (Genesis 3:20-21).
VII. Notwithstanding their reprieve, execution in part done
(Genesis 3:22-24).
And were it not for the gracious intimations here given of redemption by the promised seed, they, and all their degenerate guilty race, would have been left to endless despair.
KEY EVENT
The Fall
SPECIAL INSIGHTS
Satan did three things during the temptation:
1. Questioned God’s Intention (verse 1)
2. Denied the Danger (verse 4)
3. Suggested an Advantage in Sinning (verse 5)
(Let us remember that the restriction of eating from the tree was given before Eve was created, verses 16-17)
Four Actions of Eve – Verse 6
1. She Saw
2. She Took
3. She Ate
4. She Gave it to Adam
KEY THOUGHT
Verse 6 shows three aspects of temptation. Perhaps these are the three aspects that all humans are tempted in.
Genesis 3:6 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 desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Perhaps Jesus was tempted in these areas also: Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.'" (Lust of the Flesh)
And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" (Lust of the Eye)
And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written, 'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU TO GUARD YOU,' and, 'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'" And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is said, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'"
(Pride of Life)
When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
