August 24, 2024
The Prologue concluded last week by telling us that Adam and Eve were naked, yet not ashamed.
How long did this beautiful, peaceful, perfect situation last? We don’t know. God did not see fit to tell us the time span between the end of the Prologue and the beginning of the Big Story. Why? Again, it is not important to the story and I believe that God is challenging us right at the beginning to choose faith in what he does tell us. There will always be conflict between the “Evidence of Men” and the “Word of God.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) We get to decide which one we are going to put our faith in.
Of course, a blank space on a page always causes a great stir in the force….. We want dates, but ancient dates are moving targets:
• In the 1650’s, Bishop James Ussher published a work entitled, “Annals of the Old and New Testament.” In it he confidently stated that Creation began on the morning of October 23, 4004 BC. Christians still use Ussher’s Chronology to argue for a young earth.
Jewish calculations say Creation occurred in 3761 BC.
Byzantine (330AD-1453AD) calculations say Creation occurred in 5509 BC.
So, which is it? Well, here is a fine example of well-intentioned speculation. The Bible is silent, so we came up with something to fill in the blank.
I’m not arguing in favor of a young earth (6000 – 10,000 years old) or an old earth (millions of years old) interpretation.
My argument is that the Bible is silent – thus ends the conversation.
Okay, so we don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, but at some point in time we are introduced to the Villain in the Big Story.
Genesis 3:1a - Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made…..
1st, we need to establish who this “serpent” is:
• Revelation 12:9 - And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
• Revelation 20:2-3 - And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.
The “serpent” is non-other than Satan.
This is where Ellen White proves helpful (PP 52.1):
No longer free to stir up rebellion in heaven, Satan's enmity against God found a new field in plotting the ruin of the human race. In the happiness and peace of the holy pair in Eden he beheld a vision of the bliss that to him was forever lost. Moved by envy, he determined to incite them to disobedience, and bring upon them the guilt and penalty of sin. He would change their love to distrust and their songs of praise to reproaches against their Maker. Thus he would not only plunge these innocent beings into the same misery which he was himself enduring, but would cast dishonor upon God, and cause grief in heaven.
While the name of our Villain is referenced only 46 times in Scripture, his work is evident on nearly every page.
Ellen White (PP 53.3) - The tree of knowledge had been made a test of their obedience and their love to God. The Lord had seen fit to lay upon them but one prohibition as to the use of all that was in the garden; but if they should disregard His will in this particular, they would incur the guilt of transgression. Satan was not to follow them with continual temptations; he could have access to them only at the forbidden tree. Should they attempt to investigate its nature, they would be exposed to his wiles. They were admonished to give careful heed to the warning which God had sent them and to be content with the instruction which He had seen fit to impart.
Mistake #1 – One day, Eve found herself in front of the tree:
Genesis 3:1b-5 - And he (the crafty serpent) said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
Mistake #2 – Eve engages with the serpent in conversation.
Mistake #3 – Eve misquotes God (He did not say don’t touch the fruit – 2:16-17):
"We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"
The serpent was quick to take advantage:
"You will not die! 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."
It is important for us to understand the role The Villain plays in the story. He is not a Halloween caricature - a guy in red pajamas carrying a pitchfork. He is the very worst of enemies and life can be very confusing if we don’t take into account that there is a Villain in the story. WE have an ENEMY. And that is exactly what the Villain is hoping – that we won’t take him seriously – that somehow, through some sort of mental gymnastics we will conclude that everything bad that happens on planet earth is God’s fault.
No! No! No! This Villain is active and he’s out to get you:
• 1 Peter 5:8 - Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
He hates me and he hates you, but he hates God more. He will do everything in his power to wound and destroy us because in doing so, he wounds the heart of God.
The Villain planted the seeds of distrust and rebellion through the power of an idea – You cannot trust God’s heart. He is holding out on you. His motives are not pure.
Mistake #4 – Eve chose to believe the serpents argument:
Genesis 3:6 - When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Immediately everything changed. The perfect world God had created was gone and sin entered the story – beginning with shame.
Genesis 3:7 - Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they realized they were naked; so, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Right at the very beginning of the Big Story we witness man’s feeble attempt at “righteous by me,” better known as “righteousness by works.”
They tried to cover their sin through their OWN efforts – “Hey! You’re naked! So are you! Let’s just sew a few fig leaves together and pretend nothing happened.”
It was God’s custom to join Adam and Eve in the cool of the day for fellowship and communion. But today was different.
Genesis 3:8-10 - Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
Fear and shame replaced the intimate relationship with God they had enjoyed. God had warned them of the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit. He had every right to stay away, but He didn’t. He came back anyway! He went searching for them anyway! He called out to them anyway!
Genesis 3:11-13 - And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me -- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
See how quickly sin puts down roots! First, fear and shame followed quickly by the blame game, “It’s not my fault.”
Were there consequences? Yes……. However, and I think this is something that we miss; God could have just started over. If He could speak the world into existence, He could certainly speak it out of existence. After all, He had specifically said that on the day they ate of the fruit of THAT tree, they would most certainly die. That was the ultimate consequence = DEATH = non-existence = eternal separation.
While there would be consequences:
• Slithering (3:14)
• Pain in childbirth (3:16)
• Marriage inequality (3:16) I just want to point out that the subservient nature of the marriage relationship is a consequence of sin and NOT the reality of God’s original plan. Therefore, Christians should aim for God’s original plan = equality.
• Working really hard to eke out a living and then eventually returning to dust (3:17)
The most significant of the consequences – eternal death – God would take on Himself.
Genesis 3:15 – “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
This statement is both a promise and a death sentence:
• To Adam and Eve it is a promise. The consequences of their choice, while absolutely devastating, would not be the end of the story. One day sin would be destroyed and relationship restored – not through their own effort, but through the effort and sacrifice of Another.
• To the Villain it is a death sentence. His days are numbered. There would be a fight to the death. Blood would be shed but his destruction is guaranteed.
Finally, at the end of this encounter 2 things happened:
• God provided Adam and Eve with clothing made of skin. They had attempted to cover their own sin (righteousness by works) now God would cover them through the sacrifice of an innocent animal (righteousness by faith).
For the first time in history, suffering, sacrifice and innocent blood were shed so that sin would be covered and community with God restored. Can you imagine what Adam and Eve felt as they witnessed the death of an innocent animal, slaughtered because of what they had done? In that moment, no doubt they realized the enormity of what they had chosen and what sin would really cost.
• Sin must not be allowed an eternal existence, so Adam and Eve must be prevented from having access to the Tree of Life. They were removed from their garden home and an angel, with a flaming sword, was stationed at the gate.
Unfortunately, things will go from bad to worse as sin takes root in the human heart.
