February 16, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Genesis? Here’s today’s reading:
Genesis 3 (NIV)
The Fall
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’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 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.’ ”……Continue Reading
So happy to be in Genesis. Read 1-3. How fitting to read about the fall after reading Leviticus. Feeling ever so grateful for salvation.
Chapter 3 verse 22 NIV “ and the Lord said the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. If God is saying “ like of us, who’s speaking to?
We can assume the “us” here is the same “us” in Genesis 1:26. It is the Godhead speaking to each other. Some might argue that the angels are the “us”, but they do not have God’s image nor do they have the authority to share in decisions God makes.
I love 6:3 “his days will be 120 years” when this was written some 2000 years ago, it was presumed that man would live 120 years, making it to 120 is no small feet but had happened
Genesis 3 and Acts 11.
God created a perfect environment for man without pain or death, and he gave Adam and Eve knowledge about how perfect it was and knowledge that living things including them could die but for God, complete autonomy for Adam and Eve, free will.
God shows mercy for Adam and Eve even though they spoiled the awsome relationship they had with God.
Frustrated about sin’s effect on everyday life, I wondered if Eve walked into this somehow not realizing what she was doing, until she had done it. I find myself wanting to blame her for everything. Yet, I both knowing and “unknowingly” walked into sin. I reasoned that she was given the command to not do it. It doesn’t matter if she thought it would be good to know things. It doesn’t matter if she thought she could impress God with her knowledge.
It’s similar to Uzzah. He was given a command. It doesn’t matter the reason. I sometimes ask God to quicken the spirit to close my mouth or stop me in my tracks or zonk me on the head before I am enticed to 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.”
”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.“
Genesis 3:12-13 KJV
This whole interchange made me think about our culpability for sin. Inaccurate knowledge, trickery, lying, and passing blame are no excuse for sin. Eve’s sin was direct rebellion, Adam’s was passive, but he received the knowledge before Eve was made. Interesting the curse for Eve’s rebellion is subjection to her husband (and pain in childbirth). Adam had an easy garden and he passively accepts the fruit from Eve, now he must toil and lead as his curse.
Sin enters creation.
The enemy comes and the first words from his mouth are deceptive, twisted, and false, intended to drive a wedge between God and Man, implying that God does not have our best interests in mind:
“Did God really say (questioning God), ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’? (Twisting what he knew God actually said).
Eve answers correctly, initially trusting God. But the enemy continues, moving now to direct lies:
“You will not surely die. (Lie. The enemy cares nothing for man, and indeed, desires his destruction). For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (More lies…presenting God as a fickle, weak, jealous individual who feels threatened by His creation, implying that God has given man rules to suppress man, to keep him from being all that he could be, rather than God having man’s best interest at heart, loving and protecting man, and giving him guidance to live by so that he might have peace.)
But that suggestion was all it took…once humanity considered that perhaps God did not have their best interest in mind…that God maybe did not actually love or care for them, but rather, that God was actively suppressing good things from them…well, the pride of man took over from that point. Rejecting the truth of God for a lie…we started to worship the creation (ourselves) rather than the Creator.
Once humanity ceased trusting and loving God through sin and disobedience, our eyes were opened to what it was to be less than or broken. The reality of sin became known to us. How is that knowledge initially recognized? Through seeing their nakedness. And yet now, in stark contrast to the last verse of Chapter 2 where we are told that Adam and Eve were “both naked and were not ashamed.” Now…they are ashamed, and so they seek to cover themselves. Shame has entered the world, and it is initially centered around the naked body as a foreshadowing of just how destructive sin would become in the world, particularly through the fallenness of human sexuality. One of God’s greatest gifts, human sexuality intended to be enjoyed between a man and a women in intimate marriage that represents Christ and His Church, would now become one of the greatest destructive forces in all humanity.
BUT GOD.
Man hides from God in our shame. We hide from others, and we hide from God. Shame tells us “we ARE bad”, rather than what guilt rightfully tells us “we HAVE DONE bad.” and we cease to believe that we can be with God. But God seeks us out, takes the initiative, and here, God calls to Adam.
Adam’s response reveals his shame. “I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” This is a true statement…Adam is full of shame, and he attempts to hide from God. But of course, none of us can actually hide from God.
Then comes the blame shifting, the justification, the squirming of Adam and Eve to desperately avoid taking responsibility for their own sin. It was the woman’s fault that I disobeyed. It was the serpent’s fault that I disobeyed. It had to be someone else’s fault that I did not trust or love you God.
This is pride. This is idolatry. This is the root of all our sin. We desperately seek to protect ourselves, to believe that we are not so bad, and that when we do bad, it is someone else’s fault. But the reality is that we have a choice. And in this instance, Eve and then Adam chose to disobey God, and sin entered the world.
All of humanity receives this sin nature in birth…in our natural state, we are rebels, enemies of God, dedicated to the cause of self-worship. This is why we must die. We must be born again.
BUT GOD.
Even after the fall, God shows his mercy and provision to His creation. While there is punishment for their disobedience, He allows them to live. He clothes them to protect them from the harsh environment they will now have to live in. Here is where death enters the world…to cloth them with skins, an animal had to die.
Genesis Chapter 3 is a tragic story…but it sets the stage for the greatest story of all eternity. God is sovereign and omniscient. Nothing takes God by surprise. And God already had a plan in place, devised before the foundations of time, to bring his special creation, humanity, back to the Garden.
“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor 15:22
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:18-19
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
Verse 15 of chapter 3 is known as the Protoevangelium which is the first sign or announcement of the gospel; Jesus’ conquering of sin and the gift of salvation to those who come to Him. It reads, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”(v15 ESV). The idea and true message of the Protoevangelium is now deemed necessary because sin was now in the world and it was in need of destruction. Thus, God sent his only Son(“her offspring”) to destroy and put an end to Satan(“your offspring”).
Sin enters the world and with it we learn tactics that satan uses to deceive and the implications that come from it. Satan always wants us to question God, and yet he first sees what the woman knows to see the best angle to approach her. So he first wants to corrupt God’s word and capitalize on any ignorance we might have in relation to it. Second he boldly defies the word and blinds us to the consequences that God has made clear. Third, he causes us to question God’s motives, making us think that God is keeping something from us as opposed to protecting us from something. Fourth, he just loves when our sin causes others to sin as well. We need to be in the word on a consistent basis to be able to ward off his deception and take the thoughts captive that his kingdom and our sin nature promote in our minds. It is a discipline to set aside the lie and affirm the truth when the temptation seems so appealing (just what Eve thought, yes?) and yet that is what God calls us to in the Christian life. But we are not alone in the battle, the word itself is powerful to transform our thinking, the new nature is a reference point within that desires righteousness, and the Holy Spirt is always available with His various ministries to us, and with every temptation God provides a way of escape. Because in the same way that sin brought separation between man and God and the woman and the man, and challenging consequences as well, it does so today. God gives us the means and the resources to be victorious. Our willingness to participate with God is the greatest barrier….
Genesis 3
Genesis 3
Satan is very sneaky and he knows our weaknesses very well. We need to always be aware with both eyes open to avoid his snares!
The reality of Satan in this chapter and still true today is that he is actively pursuing our destruction. He is trying to tempt us into sin as he did to Jesus himself when He was on earth. We need to be vigilant and aware of the slippery slope of sin, the reality of our own selfish and prideful state.
The interaction is almost comical, like a kid caught in the cookies jar….they eat, they hide, they deny, and then the punishment comes. Like Renee, I often feel frustrated by Eve’s choice and Adam’s willingness to follow but also know the reality of my own life and how often I know the best choice but let “feelings” cloud my judgement and end up reaping the consequence of a selfish choice. Eve’s just was the original bad decision!
Genesis 3
Well said all of you. I am a few days behind in making comments but still reading. I always enjoy the comments. God wants us to be critical thinkers and to know the scriptures but most of all to have that close walk with Him and fellow believers. I am not sure what I can add but I will say that the ” US” in Gen. 1:26, and Gen. 3: 22 is indeed the God Head or Trinity as Pastor has already said and not angels. If you were to do a study on the Trinity you may be surprised at how often the God Head is mentioned. Not the word Trinity but the actual names God the Father, God the Son { Jesus}, and God the Holy Spirit. And the other names they are given. Peace to you all.