Notes on Genesis 3
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle 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?
The first incident of bringing doubt to the word of God. Did God really
say that? Did God really mean that? Could that really be literally
true?
Now we see why there is a natural fear of snakes among most of us. There are
always exceptions of course. Among women especially snakes are very repulsive
and something we avoid. Men have a natural instinct to kill a serpent when they
happen upon one. A woman's natural instinct is to scream or run from one. There
are special gifted people who have no fear of serpents of course and that is
commendable but for the most part most of us avoid them.
Eve didn't realize the danger of this animal. Perhaps all animals could talk at
one time and because Satan used this method to tempt the new human beings,
communication with humans was changed. That is only speculation on my part here
though. Perhaps it was the spirit of Satan that spoke and the animal itself did
not speak. However, we will notice that the serpent did at one time walk but
after this incident, he lost his ability to walk but had to crawl.
It was sort of fitting. As he crept into the garden to deceive mankind into
disobeying God, he was cursed to have to creep upon the earth afterward. Talk
about a creep!. Here we have the very first thing we can call a real creep.
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 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.
Some question God for allowing this but we must realize that God gave us a free
will to choose. He wants us to get to know who He is and serve Him because we
love Him and choose to serve Him. What good is a puppet? We can make choices. Do
we desire to live in sin, seek only the things in this life and ignore God and
live according to our own will, or do we desire to turn our lives over to God
believing in His goodness and believing that He knows what is best for us? God
never makes commandments to harm any one of us. All things were made for us and
all commandments are for our good, not our evil. It is good to desire knowledge
but we need to desire the right kind of knowledge and the knowledge that leads
us in the right direction. There are some things that need to be left in the
care of God.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Here we see the very first example of twisting scripture or twisting the word of
God to mean something different that the original intent. This goes on today and
has been going on since the beginning. Satan doesn't care if we have religion
just as long as we miss the way of truth and life eternal. That is why we need
to keep our eyes on Jesus and trust Him alone for our salvation for many
religious leaders who actually represent Satan will even use the name of Jesus
to draw followers after themselves. No man or woman must place themselves as an
intercessor between an individual and God. This is only given to Jesus Christ.
We can listen to leaders, support them, and show kindness but we pray to and
follow Jesus who is actually God the Son that is our Lord and savior from sin.
God said that they would die, and the devil said that they would not die but
gain the knowledge that God had hidden from them.
They didn't die physically right away but the body started to die just as soon
as they disobeyed God. Yet God did not lie. The spiritual death happened the
very day they sinned. They were spiritually on their way to being lost and apart
from God forever. The seed of sin had begun which would destroy their bodies
eventually. They lived a long life but as soon as the seed of death brought
inherited disease as mankind multiplied, the years of natural life began to be
shorter. Actually we can be thankful for physical death in a way because if
these bodies didn't die physically, evil would continue without any relief.
Spiritual separation from God occurred at the same moment and immediately God
was making plans to send a savior to redeem their lost souls and bring them back
into fellowship with Him.
Gen 3:5 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.
The thing that made Satan rebel against God was used to tempt Eve. Satan desired
to rob God of His glory and make himself to be the chief. Satan promised Eve
that they could also be as gods. We must beware of any religion that makes one
person exalted higher than other persons as God is. A true pastor is really a
servant, not a lord. At the same time we must avoid any religion that makes a
certain group of people less than other groups. For instance if we esteem a poor
person lower than the rich and give the rich a greater position in the church
than the poor because of their situation in life and not because of their
spiritual qualifications, we are having "respect of persons."
Self-exaltation is dangerous. That is what caused Satan's sin and it will cause
us to sin today. Mankind began to set up kings, judges, rulers, false
gods, idols, heroes and other things because of the sin of pride and wanting to
be like God. We must desire to be like God in character but we must desire
Him alone to be in control. Even in praying for the sick and believing God
for miracles, we must always remember that it is God that does the healing and
miracles. We are only vessels, not the source.
Gen 3:6 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.
The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
We still have these same type of temptations today. We choose to give into lust,
desire, greed, selfishness and we think of what we want instead of what is good
for us. After sin entered the world men began to steal, kill, cause some to be
servants and slaves to those who didn't want to work, women were abused, false
religious systems were started to try to get rid of guilt man's way instead of
waiting on God. Serving the devil instead of God comes at a great cost both in
this life and in the life to come.
Gen 3:7 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.
They were trying to cover their sin, man's way instead of seeking forgiveness
and finding out God's way back to a right relationship with Him. This is the
first example of manmade religion.
Gen 3:8 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.
When we sin, the last thing we want to do is be in God's presence. People will
desire to seek God when they get to the place where they want to repent of sin
and get rid of it. A religion that lets you think you can have God and eternal
life and still live in sin, is a false religion. On the other hand, a religion
of harsh strict works or outward show without repenting and believing in God is
also wrong. Mankind fell and only God can save them. Our religious rituals,
ceremonies, sacrifices, sacraments, baptisms etc. can't get rid of any sin.
God has to bring the sacrifice, God has to show mercy, God has to make a way for
men and women to be saved.
And He did: Now we have a thing called faith in the one sacrifice that was done
2000 years ago by God who came into the flesh of man, born of woman. This was
Jesus. Jesus came to save us from sin. He came to baptize us in the Holy Spirit
so that we have God living within us to teach us, help us not to return to sin
and show us who God is, and that we can personally know God and walk with God.
We can't get to heaven ourselves or by religious acts. We have to have God
within us. A change has to take place. We pass from eternal death into eternal
life. Jesus shed His blood to give us this life.
Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because
I was naked; and I hid myself.
This must have been the most horrible time in the history of mankind. Adam had
previously had a close fellowship with the Lord and there was no fear nor shame
to walk in His presence. Now, fear came upon Adam and they were ashamed of their
nakedness. Their innocence was gone and they were guilty before God. Now mankind
which God created needed to find the way back to Him. God did provide that way.
Gen 3:11 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?
Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me
of the tree, and I did eat.
The way to genuine repentance and becoming clean before God is to admit our sin
and forsake that sin. Adam passed the buck of blame to his wife. God knew what
they had done but He asked most probably so they could repent and admit their
sin. Instead they passed the buck.
Gen 3:13 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.
Eve in turn took no blame herself but passed the buck to the serpent. The
serpent was not blameless either so judgment came first to the serpent.
Gen 3:14 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:
Gen 3:15 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.
There has always been (with a few exceptions) a natural enmity between the seed
of the woman and serpents. When a man kills a serpent with his heel, it would
bruise the heel and of course the head of the serpent is crushed. However,
God was not just talking to the serpent but also to Satan.
This verse is the first messianic prophecy in the bible. We can rejoice in this
verse because it tells us that God already has provided mankind with the
solution to sin and the way to be reconciled to God. He was going to send
someone born of woman to crush the head of Satan. In doing so this Messiah would
be bruised. He suffered by crucifixion. When Jesus was crucified this fulfilled
this prophecy and made the way for mankind to be brought back to God.
I've read of many false religions laying claim to the messiah. Some say Nimrod
may have claimed to be this savior. I've read also that the reason for so many
child sacrifices in the old religious systems may have been man's way to try to
fulfill this prophecy by themselves. It could also have been the devil's way to
keep the Messiah from being able to fulfill the prophecy by making sure any
perfect child born of woman was sacrificed or killed.
The killing of many babies in Egypt may have been an act of Satan to keep the
line which Christ was to come from coming. We see the repeat of Pharaoh's order
by Herod in the New Testament to kill all male children under the age of 2.
Yet no man in heaven and earth could stop the word from being fulfilled neither
could a man born of man and woman be that perfect sacrifice. It had to be God
Himself. God sent His Son to be that seed of woman to bruise the head of the
serpent. Sending His Son was the same as sending Himself. Jesus was that perfect
sacrifice that fulfilled Genesis 3:15. Notice that Jesus was born of woman not
of man. He was the first one born of the spirit. He had to be man to
reverse the curse upon man but He also had to be God because only God could be
born of woman and be perfect without sin. The sacrifice had to be perfect
and sinless to pay for the sins of man.
Gen 3:16 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.
The husband has been given the right to be head of the household. Now it would
be painful to give birth to babies. I imagine that before the fall, childbirth
would not have been painful. The labor pains women feel in childbirth can be
traced to this time of God's judgment.
To rebel against the authority given by God to the husband, is a sin equal to
witchcraft. This does not mean that women have to obey a husband who desires
that she commit a sin against God. I believe God has the ultimate authority. I
believe God gives us common sense to understand that a husband having authority
does not mean authority or control without reason. If a husband desires that his
wife help him rob a bank, she is under no law of God to obey in that case
because it would break God's other law of "Thou shalt not steal." He is to have
a gentle type of authority similar to that which a pastor has over a local
congregation. He does not have authority over the conscience of his flock of
believers. He does not have authority to control them. He does have authority to
preside over the meetings to make sure His flock is protected from predators and
charlatans. A husband has been given a serious responsibility before God to
protect his wife and children in the same manner. Never is he to dominate,
control and terrorize his wife into some cruel type of submission. A wife is to
submit to her husband as he submits to the Lord. If he doesn't submit to the
Lord then her submission to him is limited to what does not violate the
commandments of God.
The 13th chapter of Corinthians is a good chapter to read so that our service to
one another and to God is done in love rather than force.
I think modern day charlatans who emphasize prosperity and money has robbed us
of the right kind of giving also. It is much better to give because we love our
pastors, we love the work of God and we love to help all we can. I hate to see
congregations constantly urged to give because a curse is upon them if they do
not give. Equally I hate to hear so much urging to give so that we can prosper
in this life and become wealthy.
Tithing a tenth is a good guideline to go by but it isn't a law in the New
Testament. Now we can give because we love to give. Our reward will be spiritual
blessings. We may or may not prosper financially but that part should not be our
concern. We need to seek spiritual blessings not material. If financial
prosperity was a sign of God's blessing then He is sure blessing Microsoft and
other rich men, some of which do not believe in God not serve Him in any way.
I personally believe any business whether Christian or secular will prosper if
they are fair and honest to their employees and their customers. There is
a natural law of reaping and sowing that will affect business and finance but as
Christians who give for the work of the Lord and to support their pastors, it is
better to give, not to prosper materially but because we love God, love His work
and love those that minister in the word. There should be no other motive
of giving if we belong to the Lord. Our giving should never be with the
motive to prosper in the things of this life or out of fear of some curse if we
fail to give.
Gen 3:17 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;
Every time we have a crop failure, a battle with weeds, and a plague of locusts,
we can remember this verse.
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou
shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19 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.
Our bodies do literally die and return to the dust it was made out of but the
soul does not die. This is the part that has to be saved from the consequences
of sin.
Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of
all living.
Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins,
and clothed them.
Gen 3:22 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 forever:
God made the proper clothing. Blood had to be shed to cover their
nakedness. This is a good representation of our need of a covering for
sin. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and
without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Who is God talking to when He said that man is become one of us? There was
always someone with God whom I believe to be Jesus although we do not know Him
as Jesus at this time in history.
Here is the mercy of God. He did not allow man to continue living in a sinful
state. Imagine a slave having to be a slave for eternity with no relief, a
wicked king living forever with cruelty or a crippled person never being able to
walk for eternity. He had to limit our lives so that sin would not become worse.
When the body dies the soul and spirit also cease to sin. It can't sin without a
body.
Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to
till the ground from whence he was taken.
Gen 3:24 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.
God is without fault. The tree of life will be given back to man but many things
have to be fulfilled first.
Here is a verse in Revelation concerning this tree.
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which
is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to
the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.