Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
[2] And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of 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 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
[4] And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
[5] For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
[6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
[7] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
[8] And they heard the voice 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 amongst the trees of the garden.
[9] And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
[10] And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
[11] And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
[12] And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
[13] And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
[14] And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
[15] And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
[16] Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
[17] And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
[18] Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
[19] In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
[20] And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
[21] Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
[22] And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
[23] Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
[24] So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Commentary on Genesis Chapter Three
Set before us here is what many believe to be the most pivotal chapter in the entirety of the sixty-six books of The Bible. Upon this account of man’s fall from the grace of God, which we are about to examine, rests the understanding of all which follows. Consider the effect upon the understanding of the history of humanity, as well as most certainly the remainder of Scripture, if one were to attempt to make sense of it all by reading Genesis chapter two and then immediately Genesis chapter four as you lay the foundation for all which follows.
In Genesis two mankind stood in the most blessed, peaceful, and uninhibited state, which the race would ever experience upon this earth. There is peace and harmony between all of the creation of God. Omitting chapter three causes the reader to make a mental leap from such a world unto a world filled with murder, greed, avarice, and all manner of evil which spills forth to stain the pages of history without having any idea how such a radical and degrading status was brought about.
To deny the onslaught and consistent advance of evil upon the earth is to deny the reality of our very existence as creatures capable of these things while ignoring the evidence which is all around us on a daily basis.
Let us be careful to note what we are given to know here … as well as what we are not given to see. Ignoring the latter will lead to undue speculation and error which will compound itself as we continue forward. This is foundational in nature and therefore we must get this right to build correctly upon it moving forward. Let us begin. It is written.
” Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
(Genesis 3:1)
Immediately we are confronted here with a creature which demonstrates uncharacteristic actions and abilities which are deployed in order to cause mankind to rebel against God, the creator of all things. This was not the slithering, deadly serpent with which we are familiar today. This is an entity which appears unto the woman in shimmering, alluring beauty. The linguistics of this passage indicate that in Hebrew this creature was indeed known as the “shining one”.
The act of this creature approaching humanity as it engages in this type of discourse with Eve indicates that there is something unnatural and unholy transpiring before us. Note that prior to this we have no record of any other creature engaging mankind in this manner. I would point out that it was man which was given a superior status over all other creatures and therefore one should immediately find a lesser creature initiating such a discussion to be suspect. This is the first recorded instance of probable possession of another entity by Satan himself for the purpose of causing the downfall of mankind. How can such a conclusion be reached? The record of Scripture going forward speaks to this for it is written.
“But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works”
(II Corinthians 11:12-14)
Again we find written.
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,”
(II Thessalonians 2:7-9)
There are numerous Scriptures which clearly indicate that this technique of possession for deception, in order to cause the downfall of one, is directly attributable to the working of Satan. One such formidable example is that of the coming Antichrist who will be possessed by Satan himself as a tool to deceive the nations into worshipping him.
Note the design of the attack as set forth here in Genesis three. It is written.
“And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”
(Genesis 3:2-7)
The first thing to notice is that doubt concerning the words of God was introduced. The second thing to note here is that this doubt was introduced to the woman, not the man. This is important to understand in order that the technique be correctly identified, for Satan will use this tactic upon all of us if he gets opportunity. God had established an order, a hierarchy if you will, whereby it was the man, not the woman who held responsibility for the proper conveyance of His spoken truth unto the woman.
This is not a popular concept in our world of today and some would immediately decry that statement as being misogynistic. Yet it stands according to the word of God found in Genesis chapter three. The purpose for this observation is to note that Adam failed in his responsibility to his wife to convey God’s words accurately. Adam failed to protect his wife from the approach of evil. Adam failed to intercede and stop this conversation and all that resulted from it. It was Adam who bore the greater responsibility for what happened here. It is written.
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law). Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”
(Romans 5:12-14)
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
(I Corinthians 15:22)
“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”
(I Timothy 2:11-14)
Eve responded to the query of the serpent by misquoting the words of God. She added to the prohibition against eating the fruit the prohibition against touching it and thereby opened the door to identify God as a liar. The next step in this assault was to directly attack the good intentions of God toward man. Note carefully that man had no need to eat of this fruit. Mankind was given the fruit of every other tree for his enjoyment and sustenance.
He was not prohibited from partaking of a far more beneficial fruit, that of the Tree of Life, and yet the pride of humanity drove Eve to reject God’s grace and demand equality with God upon her own terms. Those terms were in reality a lie which had been spewed forth by Satan. There are only three basic avenues of attack seen here. These are the following.
- 1. The lust of the flesh. We are told that Eve saw the fruit was good to eat. It was desirable to satisfy her hunger.
- 2. The lust of the eyes. Eve saw that this fruit was pleasant to look upon. It thus was desirable to satiate the inner man through producing a spiritual hunger within which ought not to have been allowed to become intensely fixated upon this as the answer to her desire.
- 3. The Pride of Life. This was the inordinate thinking that Eve deserved to be equal with God and that God had withheld the means to attain what was rightfully hers all along.
In all of this discourse concerning the misrepresentation of God’s intent there is only the disavowal of The Serpent concerning the consequences which would be swift and certain should one partake of what God has forbidden that is causative in nature.This was a direct denial of God’s intent and God’s power.
Having bought into the lie, Eve reached out to touch the fruit which was forbidden to eat. The moment that she did not experience “death” in some fashion God became one who lied unto her, for if He had indeed stated that the mere touch of this forbidden entity would bring death and it did not occur at that moment the view of God which Satan had put forth, was seen as true. Look carefully at the events unfolding next. The question of Adams presence throughout this entire proceeding is settled when we read the following.
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
(Genesis 3: 6)
There can be no denying that Adam was there all along. Now it is evident that Eve was trapped in a deception and chose to act upon bad information. However, she is not to be excused for her sin. the essence of sin in every case is that God has set a standard and you and I cross over it to choose our way in opposition to God’s way. Yes, Eve was deceived. Adam however knew exactly what he was doing. Neither of these is to be excused from either the immediate consequences of their actions, or the judgement of God which was attached unto the commission of them.
The unintended consequence resulting from their actions were as follows.
- 1.The realization of shame.
- 2.The first understanding of fear.
- 3.The first efforts at concealment of both their shame and their presence very presence from God Himself with whom they had enjoyed unadulterated joy and fellowship.
- The need for confession and repentance.
It is written..
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice 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 amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”
(Genesis 3:7-11)
Adam and Eve suddenly were aware of that entity which humanity possesses known as conscience. They knew right from wrong alright, but they did not know how to reverse what they had done. Learn this great truth my friend. There is no way back into fellowship with God which originates from the efforts of humanity. Every attempt to rectify the problem of sin which is manmade will fail. Every form of religion, no matter who originates it cannot provide a clear path back into the lost graces of God. Remember that was the religious people who are to be held accountable for the crucifixion of The Son of God.
The sewing of fig leaves together is indicative of man’s efforts to cover themselves and it was in vain. This is the first glimpse of a religious activity which would demand God accept one due to their own works. God never did so. God never even acknowledged the fig leaves in His exchange with Adam and Eve. The appearance of God upon the scene was an opportunity for Adam and Eve to confess their wrongdoing and repent of it, but they did neither. It is written.
“And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:”
(Genesis 3:12-14)
The tendency to accuse someone else for our own actions in an effort to justify ourselves is on full display here. Adam blamed God ultimately, for if you look carefully at his response, he states it was the woman which God had given him who caused this evil to transpire. The woman blamed her actions upon the serpent, who did indeed beguile her, but she consented unto the actions which she took and was not to be relieved of the consequence because of the actions of another. There is a great truth in this which will be repeatedly set forth in Scripture. Every person will be held accountable for their own actions when they stand before God. You will not account for me. nor I for you when The Creator of Heaven and Earth demands an account of our actions be given.
The consequences of their sin that God handed out were just, for He had warned them, and God cannot lie in spite of what they had been told. The judicial consequences which were handed out on the scene are as follows.
- 1. The Serpent was consigned to crawling upon its belly and its shimmering beauty was degraded.
- 2. Enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
- 3. Sorrow for the woman in childbearing will be greatly multiplied
- 4.The very ground of the earth was cursed for man’s actions.
- 1. It would bring forth thistles.
- 2. It would not yield freely as it had before.
- 3. It would no longer bear fruit without hard labor of mankind.
- 5. Physical death was to be introduced unto God’s creation.
- The requirement of hard labor upon the part of humanity to garner what had been freely bestowed in the way of sustenance before hand.
- 6. The degradation of man’s physical body resulting in the ultimate return into the ground from which he had been taken.
It is written.
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
(Genesis 3:15-19)
It is to be noted that in all of this there is also a great demonstration of God’s grace and His desire to redeem mankind unto Himself. Here begins two great truths which shall be demonstrated throughout all of Scripture. The doctrine of God’s redemption plan which flows throughout the Bible has its beginnings in this chapter of the Scriptures. The acceptable methodology whereby this is to be achieved is set out in this chapter.
Here in Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen we find the first proclamation that there would come one who would be born of a virgin, and who would indeed, crush the serpent’s head. Note the phrase found there, “… The seed of the woman …”. There is a distinct revelation here that man upon the earth will be in one of two great families. One will be at war with the other throughout the entire existence of humanity upon the earth as we know it. While we are all the creation of God, made in His image, we are not all the children of God. On the day of judgement in Eden, The Garden of God, the nature of all humanity changed due to the spiritual death which Adam and Eve immediately experienced as a result of the sin which they committed.
it is therefore necessary for humanity to experience the new birth in order to be reconciled unto a Holy God who cannot tolerate sin in His presence.
It is for this reason that God sent His Son to be crucified, buried, and arise from the dead in order to make such a new birth possible. Without the placement of one’s faith in the work of Jesus, The Messiah of God, as the only acceptable offering unto God to attain reconciliation there will be no transformation from being a son or daughter of the serpent unto being a son or daughter of The Living God!
The difficulty that most people have is that they refuse to accept the truth that one stands before God as a sinner without any merit whereby they can be justified by their own efforts. Just as Adam and Eve attempted to set the conditions that would result in justification through their own efforts, most people begin looking for someone else to blame for their sinful standing before a Holy God. Just as surely as they failed, so will others who do this. It is only by the grace of God that we have any means of access unto Him. He was not bound by any demand humanity would ever make to provide such a means of justification.
To reject His offering is to accept the lie from Satan that there is some other way to be justified, and to incur the wrath of God when ultimately facing Him in an unrighteous state. We have no righteousness of our own when we view ourselves from God’s perspective. It is written.
” But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
(Isiah 64:6-8)
And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”
In closing the study of this chapter, we must note that God Himself reveals the basic concept that justification must be achieved through blood offerings which are acceptable unto Him. Note that God provided skins as a covering for Adam and Eve. This will play a vital role in understanding the remainder of the Scriptures for this magnificent theme of redemption through blood plays a massive part in all that we shall find therein. It is written.
“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
(Genesis 3:20-24)
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore, the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
I have found that it is nearly impossible to obtain the skin of any animal without two things happening. The first thing is that there will be bloodshed. The other thing is that there is death involved. Therefore, it can be clearly seen here that death began to be rampant in the animal kingdom as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. There is no previous record of any such experience upon the face of the earth in Scripture. This is what God required to temporarily provide an atonement for the sin of Adam and Eve.
As an act of grace and mercy, God drove man and woman from Eden where they had lived in Paradise upon this earth. There was still in that place another tree from which fruit could have been partaken. That would have been a great tragedy for mankind, for had they eaten of that fruit in their now unrighteous and guilty state, they would have forfeited the ability to obtain redemption by God’s design. The curse of sin was now upon them. To eat of that tree would have caused humanity to live forever in that cursed state. It is for that reason God placed an angel in front of the entrance of Eden to prohibit them from ever returning.
In closing let it be noted that we are here introduced to the existence of a sentient being called Cherubims. These are a particular type of being which is always connected with the Holiness of God. This establishes the truth that mankind is not alone in God’s universe. There are Angels among us who cohabit the vastness of the universe of God. This concept will be developed more fully as we move through The Scriptures but for the moment hold onto this concept.
It is a sad ending that we observe in this chapter, for mankind has now become a tiller of the ground and an exile from his first home upon the earth. He is no longer in the state of innocence which he possessed before. There is no longer the full and free communion with God for which he was in fact created. Evil in the universe has been established to exist and man has sided with that evil against God, his creator.
Take heart my friend, for as we leave Eden we have the hope, the assurance, that God will provide a way back into His fellowship. That is the grand proclamation to be found here. God knows our need. He also has the remedy for that need. Despite the now putrid, decaying, condition which humanity finds itself in at the moment, God is willing to receive us unto Himself.
This, then, is the reasoning which causes our understanding to be enlightened. This chapter is the bridge between what we as a race lost through Adam’s sin and what God desires to bring about throughout the remainder of The Scriptures. This chapter answers the question, ” What happened to us?”. Let us ponder what God desires for us as opposed to what we do unto ourselves and in so pondering find God who stands ready and able to redeem us of we will but come unto Him in the appointed manner.