GENESIS CHAPTER 3:1-8

GENESIS CHAPTER 3

FALL OF MAN

Text: Eccl. 7:29 - God made man upright, they sought many inventions Gen. 3

V. 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?

I. Serpent - Why doesn't the devil himself appear?

A. Why doesn't the devil himself appear?

1. II Cor. 11:13-15 - Satan is transformed into an angel of light. Rev. 11:7 - in the last days, he will appear in person to kill the two witnesses.

2. Rev. 12:9 - God directed (allowed) Satan to fulfill prophecy because Satan is the serpent. (appears as a serpent at the beginning.)

3. Gen. 3:14 - Evidently the first case of demon possession because God pronounced judgment upon the serpent. Rev. 13:15 - the last case of demon possession.

B. Evidently the serpent went upright (erect, upon his feet and legs) before the deception, and judgment of God.

C. The pictures of the deception - snake wrapped around the branches of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil -- they are false.

D. The snake was standing upright, talking to the woman.

E. He appeared as a figure of authority. One that was above Adam and woman.

F. Many false religions have in their worship a form of serpent. They are devil worshippers.

II. The Devil approached the woman.

A. Gen. 2:16 - God gave the command to the man, not to the woman. She probably felt less weighed by the command.

B. The serpent actually spoke to the woman.

1. never spoke to the man at all.

2. appears to be actually talking.

3. the word "said", is the same as God speaking (Gen. 1) and the woman speaking (Gen. 3) and man speaking (Gen. 3)

4. A demon possessed serpent could talk - example of seance and people talking and knowing things they ordinarily wouldn't know.

a. "Surgeon with the Rusty Knife" - A man in Brazil taking on the voice and characteristics of a dead German doctor.

b. Arthur Ford - Episcopal minister trying to find out about his son who committed suicide.

5. The serpent talking didn't seem to be any surprise at all.

6. Deceptions that took place before the fall of man.

a. Jude 6 - angels sinned in following Satan (I suppose this was before Gen. 3:1)

b. Gen. 3:14 - Christ believed the serpent had consented to the Devil using his body.

c. These failings (following Satan) had no effect on man for only man had the command from God.

d. God spoke to the serpent, so evidently God believed it could understand the judgment put upon it.

C. Talked to her of religion.

1. Deut. 12:29-32 - don't listen to any false religion.

2. Satan apparently didn't make any preliminary remarks, but rather boldly and straight-forward asked the question.

3. Uses "Elohim", God the creator, not "Yahweh", Jehovah God. The woman did too - She didn't know the grace of God, or His promises.

D. Satan's temptation consisted of focusing attention on that which man was not allowed to have. Satan made no mention of the abundance of God's blessings. Satan still does this today. Most of our being discontent with God's blessings (the things we have) is because we are looking at what we don't have, not at the things God has given us.

E. Satan attempted to cause woman to doubt God's word. Casting suspicion upon God's goodness. Satan still is using this method today.

V. 2 & 3, 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.

I. The fall begins to take place in V. 1, when woman listens to the suspicions of Satan.

II. Is Eve able to withstand the temptations? YES

A. She has a greater knowledge of God and His goodness and greatness than we.

B. All of creation proclaimed the goodness of God toward man. (God planted the Garden of Eden to put them in).

C. Woman knew about the command. Whether it came from God or Adam, we don't know, but we do know she had the command.

D. She should have realized something was wrong when an animal began to question God's purpose. 2:19,20. Adam was above the animals in that he named them. Woman was not there at that time, but she was there in 1:28, when God gave command to Adam and woman to subdue the earth.

E. Eve should have replied that God was entirely good and would not withhold good from them. Do you see the lack of faith in woman?

F. Lest we be too hard on woman in her failings, let us realize that many times we know full well what Satan is doing and follow him anyway.

III. Eve omits the word "every" in 2:16. She is beginning to lose sight of the bounty of God's blessings and look with longing toward that which God has expressly forbidden.

A. She is desiring to "miss-use" the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

1. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is intended to remind man of God's blessings.

2. To remind man he is in charge of the earth.

3. To remind man that God is in charge of him.

B. Beginning to see in Satan's words that perhaps God has failed to give all good things.

IV. Changes the commandment

A. Adds "neither shall ye touch it"

B. Matt. 5:19 - To be the least in the kingdom, just break or teach others to break one of the least commandments.

C. Rev. 22:19 - the commandment is "Don't add to or take away from the words of the prophecy".

D. "Sharpens" the commandment. This is totally unnecessary, as God's word will always stand without us trying to make it stronger than it is.

E. Note the placement of the words "God hath said". The emphasis is not placed upon the positive things God has done, but on the negative. The proper placement would be at the very beginning of her speech.

F. Here the fall actually takes place. What we see in the remaining verses is the unfolding of what woman had already done in her heart.

V. 4 & 5, 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.

I. After Satan has carefully broached the subject and seeing the swaying of the woman toward compromise, Satan loses no time in carrying things one step farther.

II. "ye shall not surely die" - a bold faced lie - He is the Father of lies.

A. Note the emphasis on the words (1) not (2) surely (definite, certainty)

B. Satan could not at the first make such a bold statement, but at this point feels entirely confident his statement will be accepted.

III. In verse 5, Satan implies that God "knew all along"

A. "Your eyes shall be opened". An attractive suggestiveness, elusive and vague, more seductive than a particular promise. (The unknown always seems better - picture of four cows standing, grazing, each cow eating across the fence in the others pastures.)

B. "Ye shall be as gods" Implies a raising above the level of mere humans, to a plane equal to God.

IV. Satan has succeeded in planting in woman's heart the same kind of pride that caused his fall. Is 14:12-15.

V. The temptations of Satan all contain a mixture of truth and error. The truth Satan's lies contain are so far from the true realities as to be totally false. But they are very cleverly disguised.

V. 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.

I. The woman now sees the Tree for the first time in the perverted sense revealed to her by Satan.

A. Always before she had viewed the Tree from God's standpoint.

B. After listening to Satan, her viewpoint changes. So it is, with us. Refer to Deut. 12:29-32 - don't listen to any false religion.

II. This is not the beginning of sin, but the full development and definite expression of her heart.

III. The extent of the temptation - Joshua 7:21 --- 3 steps of temptation for Achan. (Totally) I John 2:16 compared with Gen. 3:6.

A. I Thess. 5:23 - to all parts of man.

B. Note order:

1. God always works from the inside out. Phil. 2:12, 13 - work out your own salvation - God is working in us.

2. Satan always works from outside in (As far as he can go. He can't ever get to spirit of saved person.) Joshua 7:21

C. Body

1. good for food - Gen. 3:6

2. lust of the flesh - I John 2:16

D. Soul (emotions - mind)

1. pleasant to the eyes - Gen. 3:6

2. lusts of the eyes - I John 2:16 (not eyes of body, but of inner man)

E. Spirit

1. desired to make one wise - Gen. 3:6

2. pride of life - I John 2:16 - the nearest the devil can get to spirit is deception of mind - II Cor. 4:3,4

F. Man totally righteous before sin. After sin he is totally unrighteous

IV. The extent of the fall.

A. Some believe the woman didn't fall into sinfulness, but only stumbled.

1. Those people also believe a person can "pick themselves up out of sin".

2. By doing good works, being baptized, believing without repentance, etc.

B. The woman fell into sin so deeply, there was no way she could ever recover herself.

C. In her heart, the woman had committed every sin the Bible mentioned.

1. Read Romans 1:18-32.

2. These verses tell us that the greatest sin of all - the sin that leads to all other sin - is the sin of not recognizing that God is God.

3. When the woman used the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or any other purpose than recognizing that God is God, it was sin.

4. Because the people described in Romans 1:18-32 forget God, they go on to commit the most atrocious sinful acts known to man.

5. Romans 1:21-31 describe some of the great wickedness that was in Noah's day, in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, and that are publicly present in our world today.

D. Romans 1:32, "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

1. The woman understood that she was guilty, and that she was worthy of death, and that she was going to die.

2. Her whole nature was changed from good toward evil.

3. She hated goodness and those that were good.

4. She hated her husband, and wanted him to die.

5. Her pleasure was no longer in God blessing her or her husband, but in their destruction.

6. She found pleasure in giving the forbidden fruit to her husband, thus casting the whole human race into sin.

7. She found pleasure in giving her children, (grand children, etc;) sin, thus causing their death. Compare this fact with women today who murder their unborn children (abortion), or with Bible characters who have killed their children or grandchildren to gain personal status and prestige.

8. It would be very good for the reader to think of all kinds of sin against all kinds of people and note that the woman had already experienced all of these in her heart. When she gave the forbidden fruit to her husband, that was only the outward show of all that inward wickedness.

V. The woman giving to Adam - I Tim. 2:14 (Not sex, for God gave sex before the fall for the perpetuity of the human race. - Gen. 2:28)

A. Needless to ask, "What if the woman only had sinned?" This is an endless genealogy:

1. I Tim 1:4 - endless genealogy ministering questions, not Godly edifying. Note difference in endless genealogy and honest questions.

2. Titus 3:9 - avoid foolish question. (Those that don't really have any answers.)

B. Rom. 1:32 - Now that she has sinned her desire is to cause others to sin also.

C. Probably persuaded Adam with same arguments Satan gave her. Plus the additional argument that she had ate and hadn't died.

D. Maybe also under guise of kindness - she didn't want to keep this wonderful fruit to herself. This is still Satan's ploy - tells us not to deprive ourselves of any sin. "Get all the gusto you can--you're only through this world once."

VI. Adam receiving the forbidden fruit.

A. Not in secret, as woman cooking the forbidden fruit and Adam not knowing.

B. I Tim. 2:14 - The man knew full well what he was doing.

C. Gen. 3:17 - God said the man obeyed his wife instead of God.

V. 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.

I. The most sad experience ever - for both. (Both are guilty, both have same experience.) Quote Prockech - "They eat, they expect marvelous results, they wait -- and there grows on them the sense of shame."

II. Their eyes were opened - not eyes of body but eyes that perceive the spiritual condition.

A. Saw their folly

B. Saw their former happiness as an unattainable state.

C. Their eyes were opened, but not like Satan had led them to believe (Gen. 3:5)

D. In a way, this is actually. It shows the Holy Spirit of God was working on them, showing them their sinfulness before God and one another.

III. Knew they were naked.

A. Gen. 2:25 - they were naked before they sinned, but they were not ashamed.

B. Now they're ashamed before one another (sewed fig leaves together).

C. Now they're ashamed before God (sewed fig leaves together and hid from God when He came walking in the garden. (Verse 8)

IV. Sewed fig leaves together

A. A type of Israel - (The fig in the Bible is always a symbol of Israel) They're trying to bring in the kingdom of Israel without being lead of God.

B. Why do all the pictures of Adam and woman picture them with fig leaves covering the organs of generation?? They (and we) realize that the very source of human life is contaminated by sin.

C. Men try to cover their sinfulness by their own works.

D. This is a testimony to their own sinfulness. They know they are sinners, yet try to hide it from all others.

E. Made aprons first, then heard God walking.

1. "Apron" of Gen. 3:7 means "a belt". This "belt" is made up of many small parts. Some people try to make salvation complete in many small parts instead of trusting in the one completed work of Christ on the cross.

2. "Coat" of Gen. 3:21 means "to cover, garment, robe". It only takes one work for Christ to cover our sins, but men seem to think their many works is sufficient.

F. Shows human religion. They try to hide their nakedness from each other. Men try to hide their sinfulness from each other.

V. 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.

They didn't leave the garden.

I. They didn't have time - probably not entirely the reason.

II. They were of the elect.

III. Therefore, burning in them is a desire to be in the place where God is.

IV. They didn't want to leave presence of God (Place of worship)

A. Gen. 4:16 - Cain went from presence of God.

B. Gen. 4:26 - Men began to call on name of Lord (Organized worship)

V. This is like lost people who desire to go to church even though sometimes it makes them miserable. They know that is their only hope.

VI. Hid themselves. #1

A. Didn't want to be seen of God because of sin.

B. They knew they were guilty.

C. What they dreaded most of all (God seeing them as they really are.) was the best thing for them.

D. Gen. 42:36 - Jacob saying "All these things are against me." They were actually for his good.

E. The best thing a lost person can do is not hide from God. (This also goes for saved people!)

VII. Hid themselves #2

A. Among the trees of the garden.

1. The same that caused the fall.

2. wrongful use of one thing leads to wrongful use of other things of nature. Titus 1:15 - Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

B. From Presence of God (From worshipping God.)

1. Gen. 4:16 - Cain going from presence of God.

2. Jonah 1:3 - Jonah went from presence of the Lord. (From service)

VIII. God walking in the garden.

A. from the language this is a common occurrence.

B. Voice of Lord God - trinity - didn't sneak up on them.

C. cool of day - a certain time of day (cool also called "breeze". So wind and spirit translated the same.)

D. came to convince and humble, not to destroy. Luke 19:10 - Christ came to seek and save that which was lost.