Genesis 3
Ge 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
This chapter has attracted revisionist readings. For Harold Kushner (How Good Do we Have To Be?), writing from his background as a Rabbi, Gen 3 is not about rebellion, but evolution from animal to human existence. God’s prohibition against eating the fruit is a kindly warning about the difficulties ahead. Eve’s decision to eat is seen as a courageous step into the unknown. The latter part of the chapter is not so much about divine judgement as an indication of what it means to be human – that there is more to human life than eating and mating. After all, the Hebrew Bible never calls Eve’s act ‘sin’, and it is only in the hands of later thinkers such as Paul and Augustine that the story becomes an account of ‘original sin’. These later writers have misrepresented God as a cruel tyrant who makes people imperfect only to punishment as soon as their imperfection becomes apparent. In Kushner’s hands, then, Gen 3 becomes an account of a graduation ceremony. (See Richard Gibson’s review in The Briefing, 202, May 5 1998)
‘The serpent begins by overemphasizing the strictness of the law (God had put only one tree out of bounds) and questioning God’s goodwill towards human beings (something the narrative in ch. 2 had put beyond doubt). Eve rebuts his suggestion, though inexactly (‘you must not touch it’ was not part of the original prohibition. {Ge 2:17} The serpent then challenged God’s judgment by claiming ‘you will not surely die’ and promised instead sophistication (that their eyes will be opened) and spiritual advancement (that they will be like God).’ (NBC)
Crafty - ‘Sin came in through deception. Eve, the woman, was deceived. The narrative emphasises that the serpent was ‘more subtle’ than any other creature. {Ge 3:1} he sowed in Eve’s heart the suspicion that God was being very harsh: “Is it true that God has forbidden all the trees of the garden?” Her response reveals that she had caught the serpent’s spirit: ‘He said not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden, or to touch it.’ God had said nothing about not touching it. The serpent then eroded her confidence in God’s threat, ‘You will not die’ (verse 4). But above all he said to her, ‘Look, God is holding you down. He knows that if you take this fruit you will be like God and you will know good and evil’ (verse 5). He has sown the seed of suspicion: all the trees? He has sown the seed of doubt: you will not die. And he has sown the seed of ambition: you will be like God. Poor Eve violated God’s law in this great confidence that thereby she was going to be like God. You see the marvellous anti-climax in verse 7. She had Satan’s promise, you will know good and evil! After the Fall, what did she know? That she was naked! That, surely, is the greatest anti-climax in history.’ (McLeod, A Faith to Live By)
Ge 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,”
Ge 3:3 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.’”
Ge 3:4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.
We might see the attractive but pernicious belief in universalism as a modern version of this ancient lie: “You will not surely die.” (See Packer, ‘The Problems of Universalism’, Bib. Sac., Jan 1973)
Ge 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
“Like God” - What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could “be like gods” – could set up on their own as if they had created themselves – be their own masters – invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history – money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery – the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy. (C. S. Lewis)
Ge 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.
‘The three areas of Eve’s self-deception are in the same categories of temptation as those found in 1Jo 2:16. Eve was deceived; Adam ate knowingly. {cf. 1Ti 2:14} Their sin was more than merely eating forbidden fruit; it was disobeying the revealed word of God, believing the lie of Satan, and placing their own wills above God’s. Sin, with all its dreadful consequences, now entered the human race and the world in general.’ (Ryrie)
Her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she eat: Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat, Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe That all was lost.John Milton (1608-1674)
Ge 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
A keen sense of guilt immediately followed the act of sinning.
Sin leads to a fourfold alienation:-
- Alienation within man himself, v7 – “They realized they were naked”
- Alienation between person and person, v12 – “The woman you put here with me…”
- Alienation between man and the environment, v17 – “Cursed is the ground”
- Alienation between man and God, v8 – “They hid from God”
Here is one effect of sin: ‘there is alienation within man himself: ‘they knew that they were naked’. {Ge 3:7} They were overwhelmed with a sense of shame, with a sense of the vulnerability of their own lives. They had to hide themselves from God. They had to cover up before God. They were divided within themselves. In conviction of sin the Christian experiences the divided-self in a unique way as he endorses God’s judgement upon his life. But it is very important to remember that, for believers, this sense of shame and self-abhorrence is taken away, or should be taken away, in Christ. God has accepted us, and we must learn to accept ourselves. We are told that we are precious to him and that we matter to him, and every redeemed child of God can begin to build a legitimate and God-given self-esteem on that knowledge. It is important, of course, to experience conviction of sin. But if there is an above-average prevalence of neuroses within some believing communities it is due to the neglecting of this other aspect, this voice from God that says, ‘You are the salt of the earth.’ Certainly we are sinners and we know our own spiritual nakedness. But in redemption God has given us back ourselves, put together again and re-integrated. Who among us does not need, along with the motivation of criticism and denunciation, the word of encouragement which says, ‘Look, you really matter’? Love, God’s love, accepts us as we are.’ (McLeod, A Faith to Live By)
Ge 3:8 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.
They hid - Their intimate fellowship with God was broken. ‘Adam hides from God. He was made for God and yet now he is on the run from God. We have already seen that sin affects the intellect. This is brought out so clearly in the narrative in Genesis 3. This man who had been so clear-headed only moments before is now hiding from God under a tree! He thinks God cannot see him under a tree! His mind has gone, because of sin. Man is still in that same position: hiding from God behind fig-leaves and trees.’ (McLeod, A Faith to Live By)
Note: (a) it wasn’t man who was looking for God; (b) is wasn’t God who was hiding from man (Dick Lucas).
Ge 3:8 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.
“Where are you?” - ‘God’s questions were designed to elicit confessions, not information; he knew perfectly well what they had done.’ (NBC)
Ge 3:10 he answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Ge 3:11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”
Ge 3:12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
“The woman you put here with me” - Sin leads to alienation between person and person. ‘Adam and his wife fell into instant tension because of their sin: ‘The woman whom thou gavest to be with me…’ (verse 12). The whole relationship has fallen apart because sin has divided them. They thought they were going to be like God. They did this thing to make themselves ‘Godlike and divine’, and at once they showed how un-Godlike and un-divine they were by falling into discord and disharmony. But this is a mirror-image of redemption. God does not simply reconcile us to himself. He also reconciles us to one another. In Eph 2:14 the ‘middle wall of partition’ speaks of barriers between Jew and Gentile, between man and man, between group and group. God has taken those barriers down in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is of enormous importance that our churches should reflect this. If we want to evangelise the world effectively, we must ensure that our churches are places of reconciliation where people find acceptance and see harmony and accord.’ (McLeod, A Faith to Live By)
‘We glorify God by an ingenuous confession of sin. The thief on the cross had dishonoured God in his life, but at his death he brought glory to God by confession of sin. Lu 23:41. ‘We indeed suffer justly.’ He acknowledged he deserved not only crucifixion, but damnation. Jos 7:19. ‘My son, give, I pray thee, glory to God, and make confession unto him.’ A humble confession exalts God. How is God’s free grace magnified in crowning those who deserve to be condemned! The excusing and mincing of sin casts a reproach upon God. Adam denied not that he tasted the forbidden fruit, but, instead of a full confession, he taxed God. Ge 3:12. ‘The woman whom thou gavest me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat;’ if thou hadst not given me the woman to be a tempter, I had not sinned. Confession glorifies God, because it clears him; it acknowledges that he is holy and righteous, whatever he does. Nehemiah vindicates God’s righteousness; Ne 9:33. ‘Thou art just in all that is brought upon us.’ A confession is ingenuous when it is free, not forced. Lu 15:18. ‘I have sinned against heaven and before thee.’ The prodigal charged himself with sin before his father charged him with it.’ (Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity)
Ge 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Ge 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,”Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
‘The entire animal kingdom was affected by man’s fall, {cf. Jer 12:4 Ro 8:20} but the serpent’s very form and movements were altered, and he was humbled (you will eat dust is a symbol of humiliation, not an item of diet; cf. Mic 7:17 Isa 65:25).’ (Ryrie)
‘Three major opinions about these words have been expressed. 1. Some hold that a complete transformation of all biological serpents took place at this time. But if a snake was the innocent vehicle of Satan, why is the snake (and all his kind) punished? Do snakes literally eat dust, or is this a metaphor? If a metaphor, could it not apply as easily to Satan himself as to snakes? 2. Others say that a new significance was given to the original status of the snake. Thus what had formerly been the mere result of nature became through this curse a kind of punishment, a symbol of the effect of sin. 3. Still others take “crawl on your belly” and “eat dust” in a figurative sense. Like the modern expression “bite the dust” the Hebrew expression “eat dust” is equivalent to being reduced to a demeaning and contemptible position. {cf. Mic 7:17 Isa 65:25} This former angelic being was now debased in relation to man, and even to the lowliest creatures God ever made (3:14).’ (OT Survey)
Ge 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.”
‘Though this was a judgment on the snake, it was at the same time a promise to man. It has, therefore, traditionally been seen by Jews and Christians, as the first hint of a saviour for mankind, and Ge 3:15 is often called the ‘protevangelion’ the ‘first gospel’. Allusions to it in the NT include Ro 16:20 Heb 2:14 Re 12. Within Genesis the promise to Abraham that ‘through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed’ {Ge 22:18} starts to make the vague promise of 3:15 more specific. It is also notable that this first judgment on sin is tinged with hope, something that recurs throughout Scripture (cf. 6:5-8), as God’s mercy outweighs his wrath.’ {cf. Ex 20:5-6} (NBC)
There is possibly a reference to the unique circumstances of Christ’s birth here. As James Orr says, ‘the promise to Abraham was that in his seed the families of the earth would be blessed; there the male is emphasised, but here it is the woman – the woman distinctively.’ (The Fundamentals, Vol 1, p11) Cf Ga 4:4 1Ti 2:15.
‘What is the meaning of the first promise that the Seed of the woman is to crush the head of the Serpent, if not that Christ is to establish a triumphant in the earth? Would that promise and prophecy be fulfilled if the gospel were never even to make an approach to universality?’ (Lorimer, in The Revival of Religion, 189)
Ge 3:16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
“Your desire will be for your husband” - Presumably, these words do not express God’s will for the woman, but rather announce another aspect of the cursed existence of men and woman because of the Fall. If so, then a restricted place for women in society, and the domination of women by men, is not a divine purpose but an expression of human sin.
‘To be a joyful mother of children was the hope of every OT woman, {Ge 30:1 Ps 113:9} but the pain of childbirth was a constant reminder of the first mother’s sin. Furthermore, instead of marriage being a relationship of mutual care, tension was often to characterize it. Your desire may be a desire for sexual intercourse or for independence, but ultimately the husband’s headship will prevail. He will rule over you may indicate harsh domination, but it may simply be reaffirming the chain of authority (God-man-woman) established at creation but reversed at the fall (6).’ (NBC)
Ge 3:17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’”Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
Because of the Fall, work tends to become a hardship, Ge 3:17-19. The worker tends to become selfish, lazy, disobedient, dishonest, 2Th 3:6-12. Play tends to become perverted from its original purpose: (a) it may become commercialised and over-competitive; (a) it may become destructive of work, education, physical health, family life or spiritual well-being.
‘God then decreed that the man must suffer frustration in his work (gardeners and farmers face a running battle with weeds to produce food). Hard work would enable him to live, but eventually he would die. This is a hint that he was about to be expelled from Eden and deprived of access to the tree of life.’ (NBC)
‘Man is condemned to exhausting labor in order to make a living, because of a curse on the ground. (Adam worked before his fall.)’ (Ryrie)
Ge 3:18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
Ge 3:19 “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Ge 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
Ge 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Garments of skin - The ‘were God’s provision for restoring Adam’s and Eve’s fellowship with himself and imply slaying of an animal in order to provide them.’ (Ryrie)
Ge 3:22 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever.”
Ge 3:23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
The Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden - ‘Expulsion from the garden proved the hollowness of the serpent’s promise that they would not die (4). For though Adam and Eve continued some sort of life outside the garden, it was a shadow of the fulness of life inside Eden, where they had enjoyed intimate fellowship with God. Now the full cost of sin is apparent. It is not just an unquiet conscience (7-8), squabbles with one’s dearest spouse (12), pain (16) or the drudgery of daily toil (17-19) but separation from the presence of God and ultimately physical death. {Ro 6:23} Cherubim later decorated the ark, tabernacle and temple {Ex 25:18-22 26:31 1Ki 6:23-28} and were winged lions with human heads.’ {Eze 41:18} (NBC)
‘Satan gives Adam an apple, and takes away Paradise. Therefore in all temptations let us consider not what he offers, but what we shall lose.’ (Richard Sibbes)
Ge 3:24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Cherubim - these are represented as a class of winged angels who functioned primarily as guards {Ge 3:24} or attendants. {Eze 10:3-22}
The east side of the Garden of Eden - Adam and Eve had found themselves east of Eden. Cain moves further east, Ge 4:16. In Ge 11:2 people are moving still further east, to the plain of Shinar, where they erect the tower of Babel in defiance of God. ‘The geography of humanity’s early movements highlights their distance from God. In every sense, we are a long way from walking with God in the garden.’ See Tim Chester, The Message of Prayer, 27-38.
