Grace Institute: Genesis: Genesis 3-5 - Fall of Humanity

Fall of the World Genesis 3-5 February 3 , 2008

The Original Sin

The Temptation

The Serpent

The chapter begins with the introduction of the serpent. Later scriptures clearly equate the serpent with Satan [1], manifest here as the most shrewd of all the animals. As a animal, Moses is emphasizing that Satan is also a creation of God [2]. He is not the evil equivalent of God, and universe is not governed by competing forces of a dualistic good and evil.

We don't know the details of this creature, such as why it's able to talk or how evil came to exist inside the garden. That doesn't seem to be important to the story. We do know, however, that God had given humankind dominion over all the animals, including the serpent. But here the serpent has usurp that authority and is acting as if it has dominion over this human. This is a warning that temptation often will come not from those in authority, but from a peer or even a subordinate and giving in to sin is often a result of us not exercising leadership.

Confusion About the Commandment

The serpent tempts the woman by confusing and casting doubt on God's commandment. Throughout the conversation with the woman we see that God's Word is twisted and confused.

The serpent bends the woman's understanding of the commandment, but in the process is really bending her understanding of God.

First he twists not just the prohibition, but the blessing of God, by suggesting that God does not allow them to eat of any tree in the garden. Often Satan's temptation makes us think that God is expecting more from us than he really does, thereby making God seem unreasonable in his expectations of us.

Secondly, the serpent casts doubt on the consequence (“you shall not die”). Satan's temptation will try to convince us that there will be no consequence to our action. He tells us that we won't get caught or that we won't have to face the consequences.

Third, he serpent suggests that the command of God is not for their own good, but that God is trying to withhold something good from them. Satan's temptation will convince us that God's command is not for our benefit and that God is not looking out for our best interest, but is trying to keep something good from us.

Finally, the serpent attacks the woman's self image. The fruit will make you like God. However, the woman already is like God. She is made in God's image. But Satan has twisted that and made her feel less than she already is. Satan's temptation will often cast doubt on your true nature. He says, “you can't be a child of God,” or “God couldn't love someone like you,” and therefore opens the door to doubting God's word.

The Importance of Knowing God's Word

In the temptation we discover that the woman does not have full information about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She says, “You shall not eat it, or touch it .” God told Adam that you shall not eat, but there is no mention of touching it. It is likely that when Adam told Eve of this rule, and He added a more stringent regulation to protect Eve [3]. While this more stringent requirement may seem like a good idea, it opened the door for the serpent to question the integrity of the regulation. Creating hedges around God's commands has the potential to lead to greater temptation. For example, the scriptures state that we are not to become drunk. As a hedge around this, many Christians have extended the rule to not ever drinking alcohol. While this may seem like a good idea, and it probably is as a self-imposed hedge. But when hedges are taught as if they are God's Word, it often leads to greater temptation. When teaching the Word of God, we must be careful to pass only what God says, and not add greater burdens, or we may be opening the door to greater temptation.

The serpent questions the integrity of God. “You won't die,” he says. In fact, God is trying to keep something from you. Eat the fruit and you will be like God . The serpent twists God's commandments not as a protection for humanity, but as a attempt by God to keep us from something good. We are confronted with that same temptation every day; that God's commandment is not for our good, but to keep us from something good. Temptation is questioning of the integrity and the goodness of God and His Word. For this reason, when Jesus was tempted by Satan, He fights off the temptation by correctly quoting the Word of God. Without a proper understanding of God's Word we are vulnerable to the temptations of the evil one.

The Sin

The Woman's Rationalization

Once Satan had confused the woman about the nature of God's commandment, then the woman was able to begin rationalizing the act. Once we no longer fear the consequences of God's commandment, we start finding ways to justify our sin. Genesis 3:6 shows us this three step rationalization process.

First it was pragmatic to eat the fruit. “The woman saw that the tree was good for food.” We often disobey God because it is practical, expedient or pragmatic. Life will be easier if we disobey.

Secondly, it would be pleasurable to eat the fruit. “It was a delight to the eyes.” We often disobey God because something is aesthetically beautiful to behold and therefore must be wonderful to taste. Sin often will bring immediate pleasure and delight to us.

Finally, eating the fruit would make her more perceptive, “It would make one wise.” We often disobey God because we think it will make us more wise or give us insight which we didn't have before.

If you find yourself using these rationalizations over God's clear commandment, watch out, for your mind is on the path to sin.

The Real Sin

Once the serpent had confused the woman, and then the woman had rationalized away God's commandment, there was nothing to stop her. So she ate the fruit.

The sin of Adam and Eve was disobedience of the direct command of God. But we see a clue as to the underlying motive causing them to disobey God in the words of the serpent. He tells them if they eat the fruit they will be like God , knowing good and evil.

This sin is not that they desired to “be like God,” for indeed we are commanded to be God (Leviticus 11:44 , Matthew 5:48 ). It is not that they wanted to be like God that was the problem, but that they sought to be like God on their own .

The great irony is, Adam and Eve were striving to gain what they already had. Adam and Eve already are like God. Unlike the serpent, they were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26 ). Furthermore, before eating the fruit they knew good. But now all they have gained from eating the fruit is the knowledge of evil. All that humanity has gained through the fall is a knowledge of foolishness.

Adam and Eve sought to know good and evil. In other words, they wanted to know wisdom and foolishness. However, they did not want to depend on God and His process for wisdom. As such the original sin does seem as much blatant rebellion against God but a foolish decision by Adam and Eve. The battle in the garden is not describing a contest between good vs. evil but between wisdom vs. folly [4].

Adam's Sin

Throughout the passage, Adam is the one held responsible for the disobedience. Their eyes were not opened to their sin until Adam had eaten of the fruit (3:7). God held the man responsible for the sin. When God entered the garden he called to the man (3:9) and asked the man to give an account (3:11). In Romans, Paul states that sin entered humanity and the world through Adam, not Eve (Romans 5:12-14, 1 Corinthians 15:22).

Somehow, God hold Adam responsible for the sin committed by the family. God had left the communication of the commandment to Adam, a job which he apparently did poorly ( 2:16 -17 vs. 3:2-3). God therefore held Adam responsible.

It is a useless hypothetical discussion to wonder what would have happened had Eve eaten the fruit but Adam had refused. But Adam's failure to communicate clearly to Eve and his failure to confront her in her sin shows that part of the issue was Adam's failure to take responsibility for his family.

This speaks of something of the responsibility that God places on husbands as the head of the home. As men, we need to take the responsibility for teaching God's Word in our homes. We need to be sure that we are clearly communicating the Word of God to our children. This is not a duty that is to be left to our wives or to a Sunday School teacher. As men, we need to take responsibility to hold our families accountable for their action. We need to take the lead in disciplining our children. Adam's failure was failure of leadership, and the results for humanity were devastating.

The Consequences of the Original Sin

While the sin of the fall was an effort to become more like God, so then the consequences of that sin was to lose some of the blessings of being made in God's image. Humanity still bears the image of God, but the blessings that go with that image bearing now come with pain and effort. If the man and woman want to be godlike on their own, then they would have to achieve the blessings of godlikeness on their own as well. The blessings of being an image bearer would now come only through hard work, suffering and pain.

Loss of Dominion Over the Earth ( 3:18 -19a)

Before the fall, God gave humanity dominion over the earth ( 1:29 -30). As image bearers, humanity has the right to subdue and exercise authority over the earth. However, now after the fall, that dominion will not come easily. Now the earth will resist humanity's attempts to subdue it. Food won't be just plucked from a tree, but now will require great effort.

Loss of Filling the Earth (3:16a)

Before the fall, childbirth was a blessing as they fulfilled their purpose to “fill the earth” ( 1:28 ). As image bearers, humanity has the right to continue to propagate the image of God through procreation. However, now after the fall, propagation of God's image through childbirth would come with great pain (3:16a).

Loss of Life (3:19b, 22-24)

Before the fall, humanity was allowed to eat from the tree of life, giving them immortality (2:9). As image bearers, humans had God-given life. However, after the fall, access to the tree of life would be cut off ( 3:22 -24) and life would be limited. Humanity was now mortal (3:19b). However, this is a blessing for humanity as much as a curse. Life where you face the consequences of your sin forever would be a living hell. As such, removal from the garden was an act of grace on God's part.

Loss of Intimacy between Man and Woman (3:7, 11-12, 16b)

As image bearers, marriage reflects the unity and equality of the Trinity. But now, that equality and unity will not come easily or without effort.

Before the fall, humanity had complete intimacy between the man and the woman. The two were naked and not ashamed ( 2:25 ). When Adam saw the woman for the first time, his emphasis was on how much alike they were (“bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh,” 2:23 ). Now after the fall, they look at each other differently. They don't see their sameness, but they notice instead their differences. So they became aware of their nakedness and covered up (3:7).

Before the fall, the man recognized that the woman was his suitable helper, fashioned by God to be his perfect companion. After the fall, now Adam doesn't see the woman as his helper, but as the cause of his problems. When God confronts Adam of his sin, he responds: “the woman you gave ” caused me to do it.

Before the fall, the man and the woman were a fuller picture of God's image as they two came together as one flesh ( 2:24 ). After the fall, that equality and oneness is threatened. Now, the woman's desire will be for her husband, and the husband will rule over the wife (3:16). This is not a new dictate from God as to how He wants marriage to operate. It is a statement of the tendencies that will now exist for men and women within marriage. The wife will desire to take over and usurp the husband's authority, while husbands will tend to abuse their authority.

Loss of Intimacy between God and Humanity (3:8-10, 24)

Before the fall, humanity had intimacy with God, as they walked together in the garden. Now, after the fall, they hid from God (3:8-10). Meeting God in the garden would no longer be an option (3:24). There was now a barrier to relationship with God.

As image bearers, we still have the right to have a relationship with God, but now that relationship would come only through pain and suffering. Now a sacrifice had to be made in order to restore that relationship, a sacrifice which is alluded to in 3:15.

The Seed of the Woman

Hope in the Midst of the Curse (3:15)

As part of the curse childbirth would be bring pain. But childbirth was also to be the source of hope, for God had promised that the seed of the woman would bring about the defeat of the serpent.

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." (Genesis 3:15)

The fall of humanity was not just an private affair between the four players (God, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent). This is a cosmological event which has ramifications for all creation. It will affect all of humanity (the seed Eve). All humanity fell when Adam fell, and fall under the curse (Romans 4).

But Eve's seed will not just be locked forever in a struggle against the serpent. At some point that seed will bruise the head of the serpent, while the serpent bruises the heel of the seed.

This is known as the proto-evangelon (“early gospel”) . It is our first glimpse of the promise of the coming Messiah. This seed will be injured by the serpent, but that ultimately the seed will deliver a fatal blow and defeat the serpent. Clearly this was fulfilled by Jesus death on the cross (Galatians 3:16).

Humanity still would be able to have intimacy with God, but at a cost. The seed would be bruised. But God gives hope that humanity will still be able to have relationship with God through faith in the seed.

The Generations of Eve's Seed

The rest of Genesis is watching this seed to see where hope arise. In chapter 4 we see our first hope, for Eve has had a child named Cain. Will he be the one through whom this hope is realized?

The Generations of Cain

The Sin of Cain (Genesis 4:1-4, 8-15)

Cain grew jealous of Abel, for he had earned God's favor. In his jealousy, he murdered his brother. The heinous nature of the sin goes back to the original commandment of God. God desired to see his image multiplied on the earth (1:27-28). Murder is a direct defiance of this command. It is a disregard for the image of God and an attempt to prevent God's image from being spread throughout the earth.

God did not require that Cain be put to death for his sin, for Cain seems genuinely repentant. Instead, he would become an exile, unable to farm the land. Already, however, it appears that humanity was in the killing mode, for Cain was afraid that people would kill him for being a vagrant. So God, in his mercy, gives a sign to Cain that anyone who kills him would have the vengeance of God.

The Seed of Cain (Genesis 4:19-24)

The scripture follows Cain's seed to see if hope can be found from this seed. Cain's offspring do some great things: they built cities (4:17), they created music (4:21), they developed industry (4:22), all in fulfillment of the on-going creative work of God. But they also developed the murderous ways of their ancestor Cain.

The genealogy of Cain ends at the seventh generation from Adam, to a man named Lamech. Lamech has two wives, and is the first record of polygamy in the bible. Lamech boasts to his wives that he has killed a man for hurting him and has killed a boy for hitting him. This is not an eye-for-eye justice, but life-for-an-eye justice. Lamech appears unrepentant, justifying his sin. Yet he demands that the same protection be given to Cain.

It has become clear that Cain's offspring would not be the lineage through which the hope of Genesis 3:15 would be fulfilled.

The Generations of Seth

You can almost sense Eve's disappointment that the promise of Genesis 3:15 was not to be found in either Cain and Abel. But now, in 4:25, she rejoices, for God has given her another seed (translated here as offspring).

Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, "God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him." (Genesis 4:25)

Maybe hope will come through this seed. She names the new child Seth, which means “appointed.” The genealogy in chapter 5 is not just family history, but an important tracing of the hope of humanity. Chapter 5 seeks to answer if this seed will be the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15.

It appears that indeed, this is the seed through which the hope would be transmitted. The men in this line begin to “call upon the name of the Lord” (4:26). This can also be translated “be called by the name of the Lord. [5}” This family line came to be called “God's people.” While Cain's family passed on murder, Adam's third son, Seth, carried on a tradition of walking with God.

The seventh generation of Cain is Lamech, the murderer. The seventh generation of Seth is Enoch, a man who walked with God. Because he walked with God, Enoch did not die, for God took Enoch before death in his 365 th year. This was an act of grace by God, for had Enoch lived to 900, he too would have been alive during the flood and during the great evil of humanity.

The contrast of Lamech and Enoch should not be lost on the reader. Seth's line is where humanity's hope lies.

Notes

1. Revelation 12:9
2. Sailhamer.
3. Barry Davis. Classroom notes from “Genesis through Song of Solomon.” Multnomah Biblical Seminary, Fall 2003.
4. Sailhamer.
5. Robert Jamieson, A.R. Faussett, David Brown. Jamieson-Faussett-Brown Bible Commentary Cricital and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.