Bible Passage: Genesis 2:25 – 3:7

Big Idea of Message:

A thorough knowledge of the Word of God and an unwavering trust in the goodness of God are absolutely essential for spiritual victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Genesis 3:1-7

 1   ME

How DO I STRUGGLE WITH THIS?

My name is Brian Petry, and I am the Associate Pastor of Students and Family, here at Oak Grove. I am happily married to my wife, Jenni, and this July during VBS week, as we have a tradition of doing, we will be celebrating our 8th year of tying the knot, and our 13th year of being together as a couple. We have two sons, Seth and Simon, which you will find running around the gym here as soon as the service ends. Normally, my ministry focus is developing the Family & Student Ministry, deeply rooted on family equipping discipleship. I also get to teach every week the teenagers in Sunday school and Middle School and High School youth group. However, on days like today, I have the privilege to share in the blessing of preaching, and I enjoy the opportunities, when they come.

I once heard a joke that went something like this…

A woman had been shopping and had bought a dress that she knew she couldn’t afford. “Why did you do it?” her husband asked. “I just couldn’t help it,” she said. “The devil tempted me.” “Why didn’t you say, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan’?” the husband asked. “I did. But he just leaned over my shoulder and whispered, ‘My dear, it fits you beautifully in the back.’” Source

Yes, Temptation is the topic for us today. Something that is just all too familiar for me. Even just writing this sermon, temptation was all over the place. I literally purchased a program that locked down my computer from everything but what I use to write because I had non-stop temptation to be researching other projects, to be shopping on Amazon, to cleaning up my hard drive. And so, I bought a program that locks all my programs and all the internet minus a couple of exceptions – to help me fight the temptation – because ask Jenni – I like to yield to the temptation of putting things off until they actually need to be done. At one level, yielding to temptation feels like not a big deal. Have a big project at work, and you’re tempted to procrastinate – no problem. It will get done by the deadline no matter what. But at a deeper level, a spiritual and theological level, yielding to temptation usually means something else – to putting something or someone (or yourself) in a position that you ought not to be in. And yes, we call this idolatry. Romans chapter 1 has what, I think, is the single best definition for sin and if you ever wonder whether something is “sin”, here is the answer. “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Rom 1:21-25)

 2   WE

HOW DO WE ALL STRUGGLE WITH THIS?

We all face temptations and we all sin. It might be easy to think that you have all your stuff together and that your temptations are minor, or maybe you are in a season where your awareness of your struggle with temptation is all too real and is so heavy on your soul. Temptation, it is something we all experience. And no, these temptations aren’t just the “biggies” – using substances, cheating on your spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend – even stealing or cheating from work or school. Maybe you are under pressure at work and at home, and so you have temptation towards a loss of integrity. For example, you can be tempted to exaggerate to make yourself look good. Maybe you are tempted to cut corners on projects. Maybe because you are pressured, you give into the temptation to have inappropriate anger, and you are impatient and harsh and even angry with others for no legitimate reason.

Maybe you have the temptations to use your position of power at work or at home in harmful ways. We have the temptation to manipulate people. To hold others to higher standards than we hold for ourselves. We have the temptation to control everyone around us.

We have purity temptations that face us every day. We have sensory overload, and we have the temptation to let our thought life to not be in check. Ever have the thought of whether people really knew what you were thinking? Maybe we have the temptation to put our marital faithfulness in question. It seems like every day, there is someone in the news who is caught cheating. Maybe you have the temptation for “innocent” flirting. You know what I’m talking about. No, it is never innocent.

Or maybe, when it comes to other people, you face the temptation to being a people pleaser. Usually, it’s deceptive. Of course, it is good that I want to do this project exactly like he wants, of course, I prefer not to make this person upset. But quickly, our genuine heart to serve others becomes less than genuine and performance oriented. Maybe we’re tempted to make ourselves the judge of everyone around us, and all of a sudden, we have a critical spirit, and we lack forgiveness.

Temptation. We all struggle with it, and it’s not new, but it goes all the way back to the beginning of time. No surprise that we can read lots about temptation in God’s Word.

 3   GOD

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THIS?

Before we move to picking up our text in Genesis – I need you to hold me to something so that we don’t spend the entire day here – and that’s that we are going to limit ourselves in the text today. There will be the temptation to jump forward. If you’ve been following along in our series in Genesis, Pastor Matt has been leading us through the first few pages of Scripture, and today we are at Genesis 3 – in other words – The Fall – and it is one of the big rocks in the grand narrative – the overall story of the Bible. No, the words “the fall” don’t show up in the text anywhere, but instead is what theologians call the introduction of sin into God’s perfect creation. It is the fall that distorted our relationship with God, and each other, and it was because of the Fall that God sent his son to die on the cross. Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration. The grand narrative of scripture. It would be really fun to take our text today and pull it out to the 30,000-foot view and talk theology. But, we’re going to save that for your community groups, that I hope you are in, and I bet Matt will hit that next week as well. Today we want to really focus on our text.

Recap:

So far in Genesis, we started at page one, chapter one, verse one. In chapter one, we read the creation narrative, where we saw that the Word of the Lord was the powerful means of Creation. God spoke and it was. Pastor Matt did an outstanding job in explaining how we are to read Genesis – not as a textbook, not as a myth, not as a parable, but as God’s revelation to who He is and who We are. Remember the context, Genesis was recorded soon after the Exodus, after 400 years of God’s chosen people being in slavery in Egypt, totally oppressed, objectified, and degraded. And then, Moses records Genesis and in it, reminds God’s people who they are – what is to be their identity? If you were to compare Genesis to other Mesopotamian stories of origins – there are some significant similarities that liberals like to really focus on. But if you were an ancient Babylonian or Egyptian and you were visiting Jerusalem and hear the Genesis version of world origins, what would strike you is not the similarities, but the differences. There is only one God. Gods and goddesses aren’t marrying and having children. The sun and the moon are created objects, not gods. Mankind is the climax of God’s creation, not an afterthought necessitated by a strike by the lesser gods. God provides mankind with food, not the other way around. The theology of Genesis is vastly different from anything else written. Genesis affirms monotheism, the creator God who brings things into being by his word. The place of mankind in God’s plan, God’s concern and care for man’s well-being. The things that are so different in Genesis than other ancient texts are some of the most central affirmations of the Bible and the Christian faith: for example, the unity of God (Mark 12:29), God’s sovereignty (John 1:3), mankind as God’s image (1 Cor. 11:7), God’s love for man (John 3:16). The opening chapters of Genesis set us up with the lenses to read the rest of scripture.

So, in Genesis 1, we have the days of creation, and God speaks and stuff flies into existence, and it was good. And the pinnacle of creation was the creation of Man, in God’s image.

Then, in Genesis 2, God rests, and then there is a retelling of the creation of man, and in this retelling, God creates man from the dust of the ground and breathes life into his nostrils. Man gets placed in the garden.

Genesis 2:8-9

Then, the Word of the LORD, after creating, formulates a divine command for humans to obey.

Genesis 2:15-16

The command – the one rule – which, as fallen people, we see as a rule, but to Adam, it really was more of a blessing. You may surely eat of every tree in the garden. Some translations say freely eat. Genesis, is written in Hebrew, and the Hebrew language, when compared to Greek, or even English, is kind of a “fluffy” language. In Greek, there are 24 ways to say the word “the” and they all have a different nuance. The Greek language is very precise, and if there is any ambiguity in the Greek, it’s because the author wanted there to be. But in Hebrew – there is fluffiness. Encoded in the grammar is emotion and tone, and it is poetic. In the Hebrew, the word “freely” or “surely” isn’t there, but instead it is the English interpretation of the tone and emotion attached to the word “eat.” The author is emphasizing the vastness of the availability of food. So, when you compare English translations, there is a variety of versions. In the Brian translation, it would say “And the LORD God commanded the man saying, “You may eat to your heart’s content of every tree in the garden.”

But, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. Not you might die, not you will eventually die, but on that day, you shall surely die. Hear the certainty in that consequence. And death – death wasn’t a thing in the garden at this point. Everything was awesome. Adam and God – building stuff, growing stuff. Hanging out with the best of God’s creation. I imagine that Adam would have needed to ask God what death meant, even.

And so, we have this command, this rule, or blessing – eat to your heart’s content, but don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, less you will surely die.

Then, last week, Pastor Matt preached on the search for a suitable helper for Adam, and God’s perfect solution – to which Adam goes – “Whoa man.” And the story goes happily ever, sort of, not really. Verse 2:25 says, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” and it is there that our text today picks up.

Somewhere near you should be a Bible, or you can turn on your phone or tablet, and begin to find Genesis chapter 3. We often talk about how much we value the presence of kids here, during the worship service. Instead of dismissing the kids to a children’s church program, we keep them with us, and they get to observe their parents and neighbors, worshiping God, and they learn what it looks like to worship. But kids being kids need to keep their hands busy, so in back there are some activity bags for the kids to play with, and there are also a variety of Kid Bibles back there, and each are designed with different ages in mind. There are even some booklets to help kids follow along with the sermon – which is kind of cool. Talk to me after the service if you have questions about resources for your kids during the service. I promise you, we’re not just being lazy by telling you to keep your older kids with you during the sermon.

Follow along with me, starting in Genesis, chapter 2, verse 25.

Genesis 2:25-3:7

Temptation raises questions about the Word of God (1-3)

1a) In the former chapters what God said was very clear; now what God said becomes a matter of debate prompted by the serpent. The Word of the Lord in the preceding chapters brought life and order; the words of the serpent now bring chaos and death. God’s Word is older than Satan’s lies, but Satan’s lies are so shrewdly expressed that they are most often effective.

The prologue of the story introduces the nature of the serpent as “crafty” or, depending on translation, shrewd, subtle, cunning, sneaky. That the Tempter was a serpent indicates that temptation came in a disguise. It came from a subordinate creature, one over whom humans were to exercise dominion (cf. Matt. 16:21-23). The appeal from a subordinate apparently took Eve by surprise, for she was engaged in conversation before she had a chance to think.

The appearance of a crafty snake prompting Eve to sin is a mystery. The text is interested neither in the origin of evil in the snake nor in the nature of the snake. It primarily is concerned with what the snake said. The narrative leaves all the other questions enshrouded in mystery. The serpent’s motivation is not stated, but a clue may lie in the characterization of him as one of the wild animals that “the LORD God had made” (3:1), perhaps a reference to God’s creation of all the animals as possible partners for the man in 2:18-20. Since the serpent was more crafty than all the rest, he must have been one of the more likely candidates as a helping partner for the man. With rejection comes resentment. He has been rejected, while the woman was the perfect fulfillment of the man’s and God’s desires. Just a thought. But maybe that is why he approaches the woman instead of the man – he’s attacking his competition.

The description of the serpent as “crafty” is powerful within the context of the verse right before this, we are told that the two off them were naked – innocently, naively naked. The word, crafty, or shrewd, carries the idea of being wary, knowing where the traps lay, where dangers are. Being crafty or shrewd is not evil in itself, for even in Proverbs 1:4, the naive person is instructed to grow in craftiness. But here, the craftiness is used for evil. In the Hebrew language, in which Genesis was originally penned, the word choice is poetic. The word for the two being naked was ‘Arom, and the description of the serpent as crafty is ‘Arum. ‘Arom and ‘Arum. There is a wordplay here that the author uses to make a contrast, the innocent nudity, compared to the serpent’s craftiness, and our passage, today, ends with the two, eyes open, knowing that they were naked, ‘Arom. The nakedness forms this unit of text by being functional bookends, something we call in biblical studies an inclusio. The word play supports the idea that the mention of their nakedness implies that they were oblivious to evil, not knowing where the dangers lay.

1b) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Not only did the temptation come in disguise and craftiness, but it raised questions about the commandment of God. Notice how the serpent can’t use the title of the LORD God, God’s sacred name. He only refers to him as Elohim, a God. The method was calculated and crafty. It wasn’t a direct denial of God’s commandment, but it had a variety of possible answers. The woman had an opportunity to justify herself and defend God, but the discussion had begun.

2-3) 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” In the woman’s response to the serpent’s question, what is noticeable is that the precision of the Word of the Lord had not been retained. There are three changes she made in her understanding of the command. First, she minimized the provision, the blessing, of the Lord. The Lord had said “you may freely eat to your heart’s content” but Eve reduced it to the permission to eat. Second, she added to the command. The Lord had said nothing about touching the tree, but Eve said that God – again, just Elohim, a God, adopting the serpent’s language – said, “neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” She exaggerates the command and adds to it. Third, she weakens the penalty for the sin. God declared, “You shall surely or certainly die,” but Eve said “lest you die.” Unless Adam had passed the command on to her incorrectly, in her mind, the command has been morphed.

Don’t hear me wrong here. The changes she made are within a legitimate range of interpretation. There is no violation in free paraphrasing the Words of the Lord. However, in doing so, the precision of the original command was weakened and the appeal to sin grew stronger.

4) 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. When the serpent saw that the woman had not retained the precise knowledge of God’s words, he denies the penalty of death. Notice here that the serpent’s words were much closer to the original decree than Eves. Again, if we could all read the Hebrew, we would see, embedded in the grammar, an underlined emphasis on the denial. You will NOT surely die. What first was a question about the prohibition now becomes a blatant denial of the consequence of disobedience.

And here is the lie that has captivated humans from the very beginning – there is no punishment for disobedience. But the Bible makes clear is that no one can get away with sin. Disobedience brings death.

5) 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.” Not only did the serpent deny the Word of God, but he also raised doubts about the integrity of God to justify the disobedience. His explanation of God’s motive in giving the law was that God was jealous and was holding them back from their destiny. According to the serpent, God knew that when they ate, they would be like God, knowing good and evil. What the serpent was offering, then, was the promise of divinity to them.

This knowledge of good and evil was and is intriguing. Adam and Eve lived in a setting that God himself had pronounced “good.” Yet, they were now led to believe that there was greater good held back from them, that somehow they could elevate life for the better. But with the knowledge of good there was also the knowledge of evil, that potential of putting life in danger or of destroying it altogether. This potential they underestimated.

6a) 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

The work of the Tempter was finished. He had removed the barrier to their eating-Eve was no longer convinced that God would punish them for it. And he had brought them to the brink of sin with his rationalization-Eve thought that God was holding them back from divinity. Now, the appeal of the forbidden fruit was sufficient to draw them into sin. Practicality for food, aesthetic beauty, and the potential for wisdom, the physical, emotional, and spiritual senses-all worked together to draw Eve into sin. The new possibilities of life enticed Eve to eat.

This threefold description of what Eve perceived seems to be reflected in John’s “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. (1 Jn 2:16)

Natural desires for food, beauty, and knowledge are gifts from God but are to be used within his restrictions. The world ignores these restrictions.

Sorry, not sorry, for going back to the Hebrew… The words that are used for Eve’s reflection are significant, however. In the 10 Commandments, the last commandment is do not covet. “And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbors.” The words used in Eve’s reflection – pleasant & desirable – are cognates, words that derive from the Hebrew words for covet as used in the 10 commandments. Strong desire, as Eve’s, or coveting, as the commandment prohibits, is often followed by unlawful taking, as it was here. Just a few paragraphs back it was God who defined what was good – and he said that the garden was made up of every tree that was pleasant to the sight and good for food, but here, Eve makes herself the determiner of what is good, rather than God.

6b) 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

It is no accident that the author throws in the statement that her husband, who was with her, ate. Adam didn’t need to be tempted with clever words – he just went along with the crime, willful conformity. In 1 Timothy 2:14, it says, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.” Sometimes, when I quickly read through the text or think back to references of the fall, my mind goes to how the story is really about Eve and the serpent, and her deception – but, how much worse was Adam? It was Adam who was tasked to tend the garden and protect it, and it was to Adam that God gave the command. They both are guilty of sin, and when they can’t handle the shame, they go to blame. When you sin, do not fall to the blame game. You will lose.

7) 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. The results of their action, their desire to be like God, to see what an allegedly not entirely good God was holding out from them – was anticlimactic. Their eyes – meaning their understanding) were opened, but their promised divine enlightenment did not come about. What was right before is now wrong. They knew more, but the additional knowledge was evil. They saw more, but what they saw they spoiled by seeing. Mistrust and alienation replaced the security and intimacy they had enjoyed… and so what do they do? They attempted futilely to cover themselves up with leaves. As we continue through the Book of Genesis and the next 8 chapters in particular, watch for the pattern of covering up sin. Covering up sin will never work.

The message to Israel, and to all God’s people, should now be clear: A thorough knowledge of the Word of God and an unwavering trust in the goodness of God are absolutely essential for spiritual victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.

It is no surprise, then, that the Old Testament is filled with instructions for the people to know the Word of God, to memorize it, and to use it to discern truth from error. Every sermon I preach, it somehow comes back to this passage found in Deuteronomy 6. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in the house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as front-lets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (5-9) How do we respond to temptation? We find that Jesus resisted temptation by his superior knowledge of the Word of God – and he quoted three times from Deuteronomy – when he was tempted by Satan’s use of the Word in Matthew 4. The temptation that Jesus had was also crafty; temptations to physical and spiritual achievement by disobedience to the Father – and such temptation can only be rejected through the use of Scripture.

 4   YOU

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO ABOUT THIS?

Sin is a choice. Being tempted is not a sin, but yielding to it is. No, the devil didn’t make you do it! But instead, sin begins by listening to the wrong voices.

The pattern of sin is something we need to be aware of. 1) Distorted God’s Word. 2) Questioned God’s authenticity. (Does God really love me? Could God really love me?) 3) Reject God’s goodness. 4) Entice man’s pride (idolatry).

And so, we sin, the end of innocence. What is good becomes distorted. Relationships are broken. Spoiler alert for next week – Adam first blames God, and then Eve, and Eve blames the serpent. As the saying goes, when you can’t handle the shame, you always go to blame. And after the blame, we fall into the pattern of covering up sin. Do you want to know something? Sin can never be covered up.

 5   WE

HOW CAN WE ALL LIVE THIS OUT TOGETHER?

By understanding how temptation works, we can devise a strategy for victory over it.

While Satan tempted Eve, we are led astray by our own lusts.

James 1:14-15

Before the fall, Satan had to approach Eve from without. Since the fall, he usually leaves us to our own inward lusts, which respond to the temptations of the world. Only occasionally is there direct satanic influence. But since Satan is behind the original temptation, I’m going to refer to him in talking about how temptation works.

Temptation is usually deceptive. Satan makes it look like sin will get you where you want to go right now. It will meet your needs, so why deny yourself? But through the work of the Holy Spirit – we know why – because we know who is reigning on the throne. To be forewarned of Satan’s strategy is to be forearmed. His pattern for tempting Eve is essentially the same approach he uses today. By studying to recognize that pattern, we will not be ignorant of his schemes and we can resist them.

So, how do we do this? 4 Things.

1. We must beware of “new” twists of doctrine or practices.

Since Satan uses deception, lies, and half-truths, we need to be cautious about any “new” doctrine or practice. Go to Barnes & Noble and you will find “Christian” books that teach on how to accept and love yourself (even when your life is filled with sin and idolatry). Today, tolerance is a chief virtue and the church is tempted to tolerate every form of perversion – and we call it Grace. Heck, a denomination just split over this, a few months ago.

2. We must affirm the authority of God’s Word.

Satan always works to undermine and manipulate the authority of God’s Word. If you take away the authority of the Word, you’re launched on a sea of moral relativism with no rudder. We must all submit to God’s Word, no matter how difficult or costly, nor how much you may not like what it says.

3. We must affirm the reality of God’s judgement.

You cannot get away with sin, any more than you can take fire into your shirt and not be burned. The fact that judgement is not immediate does not mean that it is not certain. Grace does not eliminate the principle of sowing and reaping – even for Christians. In Galatians 6, Paul wrote about sowing and reaping, and Grace, in the same letter!

4. We must affirm God’s character as revealed in His Word.

Satan will try, through trials or disappointments, to get you to doubt either God’s goodness or sovereignty. Once you doubt that God is good, or doubt that God is truly on the throne, it is a short step from there to rebellion because you can’t trust a God who is not good or not in control. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and thrown into prison in Egypt because he resisted Potiphar’s wife. He could have easily doubted the goodness or sovereignty of God, but years later, he told his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” You may have to believe despite your circumstances, but hang onto it by faith. God is good and sovereign.

How do we defeat sinfully yielding to temptation? We can’t, but God can. So trust him, unwaveringly. How do we develop an unwavering trust in the goodness of God? By knowing that God is who he says he is. How do we know God is who he says he is? Because by definition, God’s character never changes, and by having thorough knowledge of the Word of God – God’s revelation to us to tell us who He is – we can know. In Exodus 34, it identifies God as The LORD – The compassionate and gracious God. In Psalm 103 – the Lord is compassionate and gracious, abounding in love. It was Jonah that doesn’t want to do what God wants him to do – to go to Nineveh and preach repentance, and he runs away – not because he’s afraid, but because he knew that God was a compassionate God, a God who relents. In John 3 we are told that God so loves the world – the world that slaps him in the face – that he gave his son and died for us. In Ephesians 2 it says that even when we are alive with Christ, we are dead in our transgressions – our sinful idolatry, and that even so, God loves you. That when you are proverbially flicking God off and run in the opposite direction, he calls you his own and loves you enough to die for you. It should blow your mind away. Romans 5 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us that while we are still sinners he died for us.” Everything points towards the very last two chapters of the Bible.

Revelation 21 says that in the final days, there is a new heaven and new earth, coming down. “Now the dwelling of God is with man and he will be with them. They will be with him and He will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eye. No more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. (Rev 21:5). This is our hope. Then in Revelation 22 it says “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there by anything accursed, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it and his servants will worship him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

COMMUNION SEGUE

What is to be our response to this God that is compassionate to our rebelliousness? Right now, in this time of communion before we worship with our last song, 1) You need to ask God to open your window a little bit. If your heart doesn’t pound for the communion table – not the bread and cup, but what it represents – you don’t get it. You don’t get how sinful you are. How much of a rebel you are. 2) You start to understand the Father part of God. The sin totally matters. Justice required Jesus on the cross. Christ died for us. God’s love and mercy and compassion is linked to his justice. If you don’t see these things linked, you have the wrong view of God. God is compassionate and merciful and 100% just. Those who do not accept the forgiveness that God offers – God is totally just and righteous and loving to send them to eternal hell. That is not a conflict – and if your version of compassion and love doesn’t involve that, you are not a student of the God of the Bible – because that is who he is.

 6   Pray

Pray with me.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you would be gracious to us. We ask that you give us grace to know you in and through your Word. God, we ask that you would give us diligence and patience. We are so dull and so slow and so dimwitted and darkened by the effects of the fall that we can’t even see how glorious it is until you remove the veil from our hearts to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus. God, give us grace to do this by the power of your Spirit. It’s in your son’s name we pray. Amen.

Notes

Re: 7 days of creation

Genesis 1-11 is not a scientific description of creation, for how would people of earlier times have understood such an account? One might be tempted to describe it as a myth, for in many respects it has similarities with the accounts of world origins from the ANE that are usually called myths. But however apt a genre description myth might be, I would never use it in the pulpit – because to the modern ear myth means untrue, error, and people will dismiss the teaching as fundamentally of no value. Instead, tell bits of the great Mesopotamian stories of origins, such as the Atrahasis epic. I point out some similarities between these stories and Genesis, so that modern listeners grasp that we are dealing with the same sort of tale, without ever using the dreaded word “myth.” I tell them that the ancients would have believed these stories with the same conviction that we believe the theory of evolution. But what would really strike a visitor from the ancient Babylon or Egypt visiting Jerusalem and hearing the Genesis version of world origins is not the similarity with his Babylonian version, but the differences. 1) There is only one God. There is no theogony, with gods and goddesses marrying and having children. The sun and moon are created objects, not gods. Mankind is the climax of God’s creation, not an afterthought necessitated by a strike by the lesser gods. God provides mankind with food, not the other way round as the Atrahasis epic relates.

Genesis is putting a new spin on old tales. The outline of events from creation to flood may be the same in Mesopotamian and Israelite accounts of world origins, but the theology taught by the rival versions is quite different. Genesis affirms monotheism, the sovereignty of God who brings things into being by his word, the place of mankind in the divine plan, and God’s solicitude for man’s well-being. More points along these lines may be made by comparing the genealogies with the Sumerian King list and the Genesis flood story with the Gilgamesh epic. One should go on to point out that the emphasis of Genesis 1-11, when contrasted with ANE parallels, are some of the central affirmations of the Bible and the Christian faith: for example, the unity of God (Mark 12:29), divine sovereignty (John 1:3), mankind as God’s image (1 Cor. 11:7), God’s love for man (John 3:16). The opening chapters of Genesis provide us with the spectacles to read the rest of scripture with the right presuppositions.

When handled this way, the opening chapters of the Bible no longer seem an obstacle to faith, but a support for foundational truths of the faith. I sometimes go on to suggest we take a leaf out of Moses’ (or whoever the author of Genesis was) book and take modern scientific cosmology, from big bang to evolution, and retell it from a perspective of a belief in God the Creator. ‘Moses’ retold the ancient oriental story of origins from the perspective of a mankind friendly monotheism and thereby taught in this narrative what God was really like. Our vision of time and the universe is so much greater and richer than that of the ancients that to hold that there is a God who designed and upholds it explodes our imagination and demands our worship. As he said to Job: Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding (38:4). We can only join the Psalmist and say: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (8:3-4). Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching, eds. Grenville J.R. Kent, Paul J. Kissling, and Laurence A. Turner, Pgs 220-221.

If it was you in the garden, you too would have eaten from the tree.

The wages of sin is death – and you are dead.

Commentary – Creation & Blessing (Allen P. Ross)

The Temptation and the Fall
(Gen. 3:1-7)

The subject matter in these verses is the temptation that led to disobedience. The unit provides a perfect test case for the subject of temptation, for the disobedience cannot be blamed on the environment, and certainly not on heredity. The reader sees in this story the clear working of temptation.

The story is archetypical, as are so many of the stories in Genesis. On the literal level the account reports how sin entered into the human race. It explains that the human race came into its fallen state through the disobedience of the human parents in the garden, for God surely did not create humans in their present condition. The presence of evil in the race began in the garden.

On the archetypical level the story describes the process of temptation that occurs repeatedly in human experience. Here the story achieves its didactic element teaching us not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices (2 Cor. 2:11 ). Accordingly, the people of God may learn to resist the Tempter.

Theological Ideas

Several theological ideas come to the fore in this brief section. One concerns the Word of the Lord once again. In chapter 1, the Word of the Lord was the powerful means of creation-everything achieved its fixed place in the universe because it obeyed (cf. Ps. 33:9). In chapter 2, the Word of the Lord was formulated into a direct commandment for the humans to obey. But now in chapter 3, there is some question over the precise wording and meaning of the commandment of the Lord. It cannot be fortuitous that Eve lacks precision in the wording, whereas the serpent does not. This contrast in itself would be a sufficient lesson for the nation that received the Lord’s commandments and decisions (i.e., the Torah).

Behind the discussion between Eve and the serpent about the precise wording of the commandment is the issue of the divine motive in giving the law. A second theological motif to develop would thus be the integrity of God. How can anyone eagerly obey the commandments of God unless it can be demonstrated that his laws are good for the people? An appreciation of God’s goodness is essential to the keeping of the law.

In this context it may be helpful to compare the descriptions of the pagan deities in all their caprice as well as the symbols and representations of their power. One such symbol was the serpent. If the nations of the ancient Near East surrounding Israel venerated the serpent as the life-giving goddess of the earth, then the representation in this passage strikes a remarkably antithetical theme. The story takes on a polemic nature.

Finally, this passage contains early traces of wisdom motifs. The desire to be wise has remained with humankind throughout the ages, but the acquisition of biblical wisdom is quite different than the attempt made by Eve. According to later sages, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, but in this account the desire for wisdom follows a course of disobedience. No one can achieve divine wisdom in this way. Consequently, this disobedience resulted in Adam and Eve’s fearing the Lord, as the next unit will state (v. 8)-but this fear is very different from that which Proverbs 1:7 enjoins.

Structure and Synthesis

Structure

The account of the temptation is, of course, part of the larger context about sin and the curse. But it would be very difficult to include the entire chapter in one exegetical exposition if one is to do justice to the passage. The first seven verses form a unit on the temptation and the fall into sin, and the rest of the chapter records the results.

The passage develops with dialogue and description. The dialogue is between the serpent and the woman over the nature of the command. In 3: 1b, the serpent used the commandment in the form of a question in order to engage the woman in conversation. The woman’s attempt to paraphrase the commandment in response to the question reveals several telling changes (vv. 2-3); the serpent then boldly denied the Word of the Lord (v. 4). It is interesting that three times the Word of the Lord is quoted, but never appropriately: once it is questioned in a misleading way, once it is paraphrased with major changes, and once it is flatly denied.

The analysis of the descriptions in the story must incorporate the repetition of words as well as the use of circumstantial clauses. Probably Genesis 2:25 should be used as a general connecting verse between the two passages, for it lays the foundation for the motif of nakedness in chapter 3. If it is used to begin this narrative, then it forms an inclusio with verse 7, which records that the man and the woman knew that they were naked. In between these two notices of nakedness is the explanation of how Adam and Eve moved from innocent nakedness to shameful nakedness, or from integrity to guilt.

The mention of “naked” (`drdmmfm) in 2:25 also forms a significant word play on the word “subtle” (`arum) in the description of the serpent (3:1). This play underscores the fact that the integrity of the human was the target of the serpent’s attack-it was his area of expertise.

Another motif that ties the structure together is that of knowing. The serpent’s explanation of the prohibition was that God “knows” (yodea`) that if they eat they will become like God, “knowing” (yodI `e) good and evil (v. 5). Then, when the woman concentrated on the tree (v. 6), she saw that it was good, pleasant, and desirable-the knowledge of evil was not in her thoughts. But after the man and the woman ate from the tree, “they knew [wayyedP`u] that they were naked” and tried to cover themselves (v. 7). Now the knowledge of evil was overwhelming. Westermann notes that “being ashamed is rather a reaction to being discovered unmasked” (Genesis, vol. 1, p. 236).

The structure of verse 6 is also significant. The circumstantial clauses of the first half of the verse may be subordinated to the second: “When she saw . . ., she took. . . .” The significant point, then, is the shift from Eve’s thinking to the rapid succession of events in the verbs: “she took … and ate … and gave … and he ate also.” The dialogue and the descriptions retard the progress of the account as if to hold it out for investigation; but once the temptation is finished, the story line follows rapidly with the account of the fall.

Summary Message

The serpent raised serious doubt about the Word of God and the goodness of God in giving the commandment, with the result that the appeal of the forbidden tree to the senses of the woman prompted her to eat from the tree and also to give to her husband.

Exegetical Outline

1. Prologue: The humans were unashamedly naked (2:25), but the serpent was the craftiest of all God’s creatures (3:la).
2. The serpent engaged the woman in a discussion about the prohibition of God’s Word (lb-3).
   • The serpent questioned the woman about God’s commandment (lb).
     • The command as recorded in 2:16-17:
       • You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
   • The woman explained what God had said, but in the process made several significant changes (2-3).
     • …”We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.”
     1. She discredits/dismisses the privileges God had given (2-3a). (Freely eat)
     2. She added to the prohibition (3b). (do not touch it)
     3. She minimized the penalty for disobedience (3c).
3. The serpent denied the penalty for sin, raising doubts about the integrity of God in giving the commandment (4-5).
   • The serpent boldly denied the Word of the Lord (4). (you will die)
   • The serpent cast doubt on the integrity of God (5). (slanders the reason why God wants to keep them from eating of the tree)
4. When the woman concentrated on the forbidden tree with all its appeal to her senses, she disobeyed the Lord and ate from the tree and gave to her husband to eat (6).
   • The appeal of the forbidden fruit to the senses was sufficient to draw the woman into sin (6a).
     1. Practical: It was good for food.
     2. Aesthetic: It was pleasing to look at.
     3. Spiritual: It would make one wise.
   • The woman ate and gave also to her husband to eat (6b).
5. Aftermath: The man and the woman suffered the consequences of their disobedience, namely, the knowledge of sin (7).

Although other developments of this passage are possible, I would concentrate on the theme of temptation that leads to the fall. The section on the dialogue serves to remove the barriers to sin, and the appeal to the senses then prompts the sin.

Development of the Exposition

1. Temptation raises questions about the Word of God (1-3).

A. The Tempter (1a).

After God comes the serpent, whom the New Testament identifies as the devil (Rev. 12:9).

So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world.

In the former chapters what God said was very clear; now what God said becomes a matter of debate prompted by the serpent. The Word of the Lord in the preceding chapters brought life and order; the words of the serpent now bring chaos and death. God’s Word is older than Satan’s lies, but Satan’s lies are so shrewdly expressed that they are most often effective.

The prologue to the story introduces the nature of the serpent as “shrewd,” or “crafty.” This line could be treated prior to the first point of the exposition, but it may be more effective to include it as part of the work of temptation. That the Tempter was a serpent indicates that temptation came in a disguise. It came from a subordinate creature, one over whom humans were to exercise dominion (cf. Matt. 16:21-23). The appeal from a subordinate apparently took Eve by surprise, for she was engaged in conversation before she had a chance to think.

The appearance of a crafty snake prompting Eve to sin is a mystery. The text is interested neither in the origin of evil in the snake nor in the nature of the snake. It primarily is concerned with what the snake said. The narrative leaves all the other questions enshrouded in mystery.

The description of the serpent as “shrewd” (`drum) is powerful, in view of the notice in the preceding verse that the two of them were naked (`drummim). The word “shrewd” (or “crafty”) carries the idea of being wary, of knowing where the traps lay and the dangers lurked. That quality of shrewdness is not evil in itself, for according to Proverbs 1:4, the naive person and the simpleton need to cultivate it. But here the craftiness will be used for an evil purpose. This word play with “naked” supports the idea that the mention of their nakedness implies that they were oblivious to evil, not knowing where the dangers lay.

B. The Tempter’s question (1b).

Not only did temptation come in disguise and craftiness, but it raised questions about the commandment of God. (Note that the serpent could speak only of “God”; the name “Yahweh,” or the Lord, belonged to the context of the relation of humans to God.) The method was shrewd and calculated. It was not a direct denial of God’s commandment-not yet, anyway. The question raised was not easy to answer, for it left several possible answers open. Its purpose, however, was to engage the woman in a discussion about the commandment. It gave the woman an opportunity to justify herself and defend God.

C. The Tempter’s discovery (2-3).

In the woman’s response to the serpent’s question, it became clear that the precision of the Word of the Lord had not been retained. There are three changes that she made. First, she minimized the provision of the Lord. The Lord had said, “You may freely eat” (‘dkol to’kel ), but Eve simply said, “We may eat” (n6’ke1). Second, she added to the prohibition. The Lord had said nothing about touching the tree, but Eve said that God (she used the serpent’s designation) said, “Neither shall you touch it” (w”’16’ tigg’d). Von Rad says that it is as though she wanted to set a law for herself by means of this exaggeration (Genesis, p. 86). Third, she weakened the penalty for the sin. God had declared, “You shall surely die” (mot tdm(jt), but Eve said, “lest you die” (pen-trmutun). Concentration on such a forbidden object very easily led her to these modifications-unless Adam had told her incorrectly.

The changes that were made between this verse and the giving of the commandment are within the legitimate range of interpretation. There is no violation in free paraphrasing of the words of the Lord. However, if the precise wording of the original commandment is weakened, the appeal to sin grows stronger. “Lest you die” carries the meaning of God’s warning, but it does not clearly retain the certainty of the penalty of death. As Westermann commented, “A command that is questioned is no longer the original command” (Genesis, vol. 1, p. 239).

II. Temptation raises doubts about the integrity of God (4-5).

A. The Tempter’s denial of God’s Word (4).

When the serpent saw that the woman had not retained a precise knowledge of God’s words, he denied the penalty of death. It is striking here that his words were much closer to the original decree; he said, “You shall not surely die [lo’-mot rmutun].” The construction of the Hebrew stresses the boldness of this denial: “not-you shall surely die.” In the normal construction the negative would precede the finite verb, but here it is simply placed in front of the entire construction. What was at first a question about the prohibition now became a denial of the consequence of disobedience.

Here is the lie that has allured the human race from the beginning (see John 8:44): there is no punishment for disobedience. But the Bible again and again makes it clear that no one can get away with sin. Disobedience brings death.

You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

B. The Tempter’s explanation of God’s motive (5).

Not only did the serpent deny the Word of God, but he also raised doubts about the integrity of God in order to justify the disobedience. His explanation of God’s motive in giving the law was that God was jealous and was holding them back from their destiny. According to the serpent, God knew that when they ate they would be like God, knowing good and evil. The Tempter thus held out the promise of divinity to them.

This knowledge of good and evil was and is intriguing. Adam and Eve lived in a setting that God himself had pronounced “good.” Yet they were now led to believe that there was greater good held back from them, that somehow they could elevate life for the better. But with the knowledge of good there was also the knowledge of evil, that potential of putting life in danger or of destroying it altogether. This potential they underestimated.

In raising doubt about God’s integrity, the serpent motivated them to sin with the promise of divinity. The idea of becoming like God has an appeal that is almost irresistible (note the thought in Isa. 14:14, which, although probably not a reference to Satan, does portray the magnitude of this temptation). Yet, being led by a subordinate is, as Kidner remarks, “a curious way to achieve divinity” (Genesis, p. 68).

III. Temptation succeeds with an appeal to the senses (6).

A. The appeal of sin (6a).

The work of the Tempter was finished. He had removed the barrier to their eating-Eve was no longer convinced that God would punish them for it. And he had brought them to the brink of sin with his rationalization-Eve thought that God was holding them back from divinity. Now the appeal of the forbidden fruit was sufficient to draw them into sin.

Practicality for food, aesthetic beauty, and the potential for wisdom, the physical, emotional, and spiritual senses-all worked together to draw Eve into sin. The new possibilities of life enticed Eve to eat. This threefold description of what Eve perceived seems to be reflected in John’s “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). Natural desires for food, beauty, and knowledge are gifts from God but are to be used within his restrictions. The world ignores these restrictions.

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The words used in Eve’s reflection are significant. First, the words ta’dwa (“pleasant”) and nehmdd (“desirable”) are cognate to the Hebrew verbs translated “covet” in the Ten Commandments; both verbs are used in Deuteronomy 5:21, but only the second occurs in Exodus 20:17. Strong desire such as Eve’s, or coveting as the commandment prohibits, is usually followed by an unlawful taking, as it was here. This story, then, would have been instructive for Israel about the folly of acting on desire. Second, Eve’s reflection concentrates on the potential good of the fruit and ignores the evil that there is in disobedience. And third, the use of the word for wisdom (Iehaskil, “to make one wise”) introduces the strongest appeal to the woman. To be wise is to have mental and spiritual acumen. She clearly believed the serpent’s lie but realized her mistake too late. Later Paul would say that the world by its wisdom did not know God and that the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God (1 Cor. 1:26-2:16; 3:18).

B. The act of sin (6b).

Finally, the sin of Eve is reported, but it is reported in rapid succession with a sequence of verbs: she took, she ate, she gave, and he ate also. It is typical of narrative art in Genesis that more time is given to the dialogue and the tension; afterward the resolution is quickly reported. It is a way of stressing that the didactic material comes in the dialogue and the description.

The comment that the man ate also is important. The text thereby shows that he needed no temptation with clever words-he simply went along with the crime. His way that led to transgression was willful conformity. The New Testament says that Eve was beguiled, but man sinned willfully 1 Tim. 2:14; Rom. 5:12, 17-19).

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed. 1 Ti 2:14.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned. Ro 5:12.

If by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Ro 5:17–19.

Kidner makes an interesting observation on the coincidence of words used in the Bible; he notes that the verbs “take” and “eat” describe a very simple act in the garden. That act, however, required a very costly remedy, for the Lord himself would have to taste death before these verbs became verbs of salvation (Genesis, p. 68).

IV. Aftermath: The knowledge of evil brings alienation (7).

The results, of course, were anticlimactic. Their eyes (i.e., their understanding) were opened, but the promise of divine enlightenment did not come about. What was right before was now very wrong. They knew more, but that additional knowledge was evil. They saw more, but what they now saw they spoiled by seeing. Mistrust and alienation replaced the security and intimacy they had enjoyed. They attempted futilely to cover themselves with leaves.

The message to Israel, and to all God’s people, should now be clear: A thorough knowledge of the Word of God and an unwavering trust in the goodness of God are absolutely essential for spiritual victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. The appeal by the Tempter to humankind’s desire to know, under the guise of spiritual development, is thereby set aside. In practical terms, this lesson would mean for Israel that the subtle claims of the pagans to achieve divinity and superior knowledge through their corrupt practices were false. The people of God were to avoid the satanic appeal to an elevated life and superior knowledge if that appeal also required transgressing God’s barriers.

It is no surprise, then, that the Old Testament is filled with instructions for the people to know the Word of God, to memorize it, and to use it to discern truth from error (e.g., Deut. 6:5-9, 13-25; Ps. 119:9-16). Accordingly, we find that Jesus resisted temptation by his superior knowledge of the Word of God-he quoted three times from Deuteronomy-when he was engaged by Satan’s use of the Word (Matt. 4). The temptations offered to Jesus were also shrewd; they were temptations to physical and spiritual achievements by disobedience to the Father. Such temptations can be rejected only through the use of Scripture (Heb. 5:14).

God’s people must therefore have a wholehearted trust in the goodness of God, a precise knowledge of the Word of God, and an obedient fear of God himself. They must remember that they are human and not divine and therefore must obey him. True wisdom may be attained through compliance with the commandments of the Lord.

Bibliography

Bibliography

Coats, G. W. “The God of Death: Power and Obedience in the Primeval History.” Interp 29 (1975): 227-39.

Combs, E. “The Political Teaching of Genesis I-XI.” In Studia Biblica, pp. 105-10. /SOT Supplement 11. Sheffield: Sheffield University Press, 1979.

Gordis, R. “The Significance of the Paradise Myth.” A/SL 52 (1935-36): 84-86.

Habel, N. C. “Ezekiel 28 and the Fall of the First Man.” CTM 38 (1967): 516-24.

Joines, K. R. “The Serpent in Gen. 3.” ZAW 87 (1975): 1-11.

May, H. G. “The King in the Garden of Eden: A Study of Ezekiel 28:12-19.” In Israel’s Prophetic Heritage: Essays in Honor of James Muilenberg, edited by Bernhard W. Anderson and Walter Harrelson, pp. 166-76. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1962.

Reicke, Bo. “The Knowledge Hidden in the Tree of Paradise.” /SS 1 (1956): 193-201.

Sayce, A. T. “The Serpent in Genesis.” ExT 20 (1909): 562.

Stern, H. S. “The Knowledge of Good and Evil.” VT 8 (1958): 405-18.

Source – Preachingsource.com

Location of Passage

• Account for “the fall”. Nakedness of 3:7 is juxtaposed by nakedness in 2:25. The origin of sin is explained and its consequences on mankind. It anticipates the consequences of man and women being relocated out of the garden.

Key Words:

Naked – עָרוֹם (ʿā·rôm)

Any – כֹּל (kōl)

Crafty – עָרוּם (ʿā·rûm)

Freely – ( not actually in the text as a word, but grammatically on “eat”. The imperfect verb form probably carries the same nuance of permission (“you may eat”) since the man is not being commanded to eat from every tree. The accompanying infinitive absolute ads emphasis: “you may freely eat,” or “you may eat to your heart’s content.” (NET Notes)

Naked & Crafty – Nude & Shrewd – Arom & Arum. Naked in 2:25 was shameless innocence. Shrewdness of the Serpent in 3:1,and Shameful nakedness in 3:7. They have gained the serpents shrewdness and become shrewd themselves – which is to say they have become shamefully naked.

But naked isn’t just simple nudity. They sacrificed their blissful innocence at the altar of self-serving knowledge, especially in light of the limited pleasure afforded in the fruit.

Structure of Passage

• 3:1 – God’s Word is questioned
• 3:2-5 – God’s integrity is questioned
• 3:6 – The enticement of sin
• 3:7 – The consequence of sin

…But death is not the way it always was. In the Christian story, humanity was created to dwell with God in paradise and was made for immortality. Human beings were brought to life in order to know God and to enjoy him forever. The opening narratives of Genesis 1-3 show that sin and death were intrusions into this paradise, not part of its original design; they are intruders into a habitat that is not rightly theirs. Death was a threat as to what would happen to humanity if they disobeyed God’s commandments (2:17; 3:3). If Adam and Eve had obeyed God in their probationary period, they would have perpetuated the Edenic condition for eternity. Yet, humanity refused to believe the threat; they subsequently disobeyed God, and thus death came and reigned over them. Adam and Eve’s exile from the paradise of Eden meant subservience to the power of death and living under its tyranny (Gen 3:19-24). That is why in Genesis 5, we are given a genealogy that is characterized by the formula “X lived a total of Y years, and then he died.” and the refrain continues with “he died” and then “he died” and “he died” and so on. Death begets death, and a cycle of decay is passed on through sharing in the sin and fate of fallen humanity. Paul puts it this way: “sin entered the world through one man , and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned ” (Rom. 5:12). In other words, by the disobedience of Adam, sin came and death followed, and now sin and death reign over us. Also, we learn that the fleetingness of human mortality is often likened to “dust,” from which humanity was taken and to which it returns (Gen. 3:19; Job 7:21; 17:16; Pss 22:29; 30:9). Or else human life is like grass that grows briefly and then withers permanently (Job 8:12; Pss 37:2; 102:11; Isa. 40:7-8; 1 Pet. 1:24).

Sin – death nexus is what holds humanity in its bonds, producing both a physical death (separation of soul from body) and a spiritual death (separation of humanity from God). In the Christian scheme, death is multifaceted. First, death is a present experience caused by sin. Paul says that believers, before their conversion, were “dead in your transgressions and sins” (Eph. 2:1, 5). People are spiritually dead to God, as evidenced by sinful behavior, rebellion against God, and a coldness toward spiritual things. This is why they need the miracle of regeneration to be made spiritually alive; thereafter, they need resurrection to make their bodies alive.

Second, sin is also tied to physical death. We have already seen that in Genesis 1-3 and in Paul’s words in Romans 5:12-21. The point is accentuated in the biblical testimony: “The earnings of the wicked are sin and death” (Prov. 10:16); “you wicked person, you will surely die” (Ezek 33:8; “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23); “after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown gives birth to death” (Jas 1:15). Death is God’s judgement against sin and meted out with the full punishment it deserves.

Third, there is a postmortem death to be feared. Jesus taught: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt 10:28). Even after physical death, people are warned of the prospect of another death where soul and body perish in hell. This is what John the Seer calls “the second death” (Rev 2:11; 20:6; 21:4). The second death is what believers are saved from, but something that unbelievers and the wicked are destined for.

But death does not have the last word, much less the last laugh. The gospel declares God’s last word on the matter and the word is “life.” God acts, through Christ and in the Spirit, to bring life to those living under the reign of death – not an extended period of earthly life in our mortal coil, not another round of reincarnation, not a cryogenic slumber where only our minds survive, but a full and bodily everlasting life in God’s new creation…

… Although death reigns and falls on everyone through the disobedience of Adam, Paul teaches that through the obedience of Jesus Christ, righteousness will reign in life for everyone (Rom 5:15-21; 1 Cor 15:21-22). The reign of sin and death is dethroned by the abounding grace of God exercised in the righteousness and eternal life that comes in Christ Jesus (Rom 5:21). What is more, in the teaching of Jesus, believers are “children of the resurrection,” and they “can no longer die” (Luke 20:36). There is a reason for this. Moses calls the Lord “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” He can only be their God if the patriarchs still are with him. For “he is not the God of the dead but of the living.” The logic of Jesus’ response to the Sadducees is that if God is the covenanting God who freely binds himself to his people, even death itself cannot prevent his communion with them from prevailing forever (see Matt 22:23-33; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-39).

So, physical death is not the end for believers or the wicked. There is a second death at the final judgement to be avoided and hope for a resurrection of the dead to be attained. What happens in between is called “the intermediate state.”

Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction, Michael F. Bird (311-312).

Re: The Intermediate State

Justin Martyr lamented to Trypho: ‘For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this…l who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven, do not imagine that they are Christians.’ (Justin Martyr, Dial. 80.). Justin was right to object so fully. Though Christians believe that the soul is immortal, a disembodied eternity as a soul residing in heaven is not the end state for the saints. Christians “look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come,” as the Nicene Creed says.

Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction, Michael F. Bird (313).

Exegesis

The pattern of temptation: The serpent, who only speaks twice in the text, offers an alternative to God’s plan and their yielding to temptation brings imbalance into God’s good creation.

The temptation is omniscience – knowing good and evil. It is the quest to be like God.

3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Christian Standard Bible Ge 3:1.

3:1 – Serpent

• Other passages of snakes in the Bible: Ex. 4:3; Lev. 11:41-45; Num. 21:8; Job 26:13; Ps. 58:4; Isa. 27:1; Matt 10:16
• The text does not explicitly identify the serpent as Satan. However, 3:15 reveals the ongoing battle between mankind and the “evil” of the serpent. Paul equates the serpent in 3:15 with “Satan” (Rom 16:20). The role of the serpent parallels the adversary of Job 1 and 2, the “devil” in Matt 4:1, and the identification of Peter’s opposition to Jesus’ plan as “Satan” in Matt 16:23. Satan is also described as by Jesus as a “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).
• The Tempter (as one NOT created in God’s image; cf. 1:26-27) opposes mankind and God’s Word

3:1 – More Crafty – the word “crafty” (arum) Hebrew play on words with the word “naked” (eyrom)

• The serpents motivation is not stated, but a clue may lie in the characterization of him as one of the wild animals that “the Lord God had made” (3:1a), perhaps a reference to God’s creation of all the animals as possible partners for the man (2:18-20). Since the serpent was “more crafty” than all the rest, he must have been the most likely candidate as a helping partner for the man, which my further explain the serpents ability to speak, reason, and engage the woman in dialogue (she did not seem surprised). As the animal most like the man and therefore the best candidate as his companion, ther serpent may therefor ebe motivated by resentment of the woman. He has been rejected as comanion to the man, while the woman is the perfect fulfilliment of the man’s and God’s desires. This may also explain why the serpent approaches the woman instead of the man; he is attacking his competition. (See L.G. Stone “The Soul: Posession, Part, or Person? in What About the Soul? Neuroscience and Christian Anthropology, 58-59).
• Temptation is enticing, but is still a choice.
• The serpent’s strategy is to:
  • Distort God’s Word (misquote God’s Word)
  • Question God’s Integrity (you will not die)
  • Rejects God’s Goodness
    • God knows…
    • You will be like God (he’s keeping you from it)
  • Entice Mankind’s Pride (You will be like God)
    • The serpent’s appeal to mankind’s pride “like God”
  • Attack the Family (She gave to Adam who was with her)
    • The serpent went to Eve and not Adam
    • Part of the temptation was for her to “persuade” Adam to sin with her?

3:1 – He said to the woman – the serpent speaks to the woman and not to the man. Clear effort to undermine Adam’s role as head of the family (1 Tim 2:14)

3:1 – “Has God said” – the serpent avoids the use of the name of the Lord

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,

Ge 2:16

• Only the serpent and Eve refer to the Lord merely as “God.” Every other reference in the chapter refers to him with the two-fold title “Lord God”
• The serpent begins by misquoting God’s command by:
  • Making the command a negative instead of a positive
    • Adding a “not” at the beginning of the command – did God tell you not to eat of any tree?
    • An effort to make God’s commands seem burdensome
  • De-emphasizing the liberal nature of God’s goodness
    • Moving the phrase “of every tree” to the end of the sentence to emphasize the questioning of “every tree”
      • This question of the serpent is intended to undermine God’s goodness. Of course, God didn’t say that they could not eat of “any” tree.
      • This is a contradictory to what God said in 2:16
    • Omitting the word “freely” from the command (cf 2:16; Eve also misquotes this in her response in 3:3).
  • Under-emphasizing the individual responsibility (Plural “you” instead of singular “you” in 2:16)
  • The enemy always tries to distort God’s Word of his purposes. (Matt 4:6) (Same strategy as during Jesus’ temptation in the garden)

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ 4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Ge 3:2-5

3:2 – Eve knew God’s command from 2:16. Either the command was reiterated by God or relayed to her by Adam.

3:3 – Eve knew the consequence of sin.

3:4 – “You will not die”

• A direct denial of the truthfulness of God’s Word
• The irony of the woman not only talking to a serpent by listening to the serpent overrule God’s Word is thick.

3:5 – God knows … the suggestion that God is holding something back from you.

3:5 – Your eyes will be opened – you’ll be like God

• Half truth. Common tactic of the enemy
• You will be a god.

3:6 – The woman “saw” (cf. 1 John 2:16)

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Ge 3:6

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. (1 John 2:16)

• Note the staccato nature of the verbs. She saw. She took, ate, gave, he ate.
• The pattern of temptation begins with a look
  • Seeing the fruit wasn’t the problem, but the look led to the action.

3:6 – Good…delightful…desirable – the lure of temptation.

• “tov” (good) is a clear distortion of how God saw the “goodness” of His creation. Eve makes herself the determiner of what is good, rather than God.
• The lure of temptation was noted in Eve’s senses – She “saw” that the tree was good for food, delightful to the eyes, and believed the temptation of the serpent that it would make them wise.
• The enticement was the goodness of the food, the attractiveness of its appeal, and the desired result (make you wise).

3:6 – She gave to her husband with her.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Ge 3:7

• The obvious temptation to disrupt the family
• The fact Adam was there and did not stop her from eating is significant
• The fact that Adam so willingly participates is noteworthy
• While Eve is presented as giving the fruit to Adam, that DOES NOT absolve him of the guilt in the exchange. He is the one who was tasked to tend the garden and to protect it. (cf. 2:15).

3:7 – The staccato description of the consequences parallels the pattern of the sin.

• Their eyes of both were open – they knew, they sewed, they made.

3:7 – “They knew” – what sin does to your mind; the cognitive reality of sin

3:7 – covering – the effort to cover up one’s sin begins here

• The only other use of this form of this word in the OT is Joel 1:8 describing a woman clothed in sackcloth mourning the death of her husband.

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Structure of the Text to Drive the Sermon

• The choice of sin – sin is a choice
  • Exp. Being tempted is not sin, but yielding to it is
    • The devil didn’t make you do it!
    • Sin begins listening to the wrong voices
      • Adam should have stepped in to intervene or stopped Eve when she offered it to him.
    • The pattern of temptation:
      • Distort God’s Word
        • Making the command a negative instead of a positive
        • De-emphasizing the liberal nature of God’s goodness
        • Under-emphasizing the individual responsibility
      • Question God’s Integrity
      • Reject God’s Goodness
      • Entice mankind’s Pride (You will be like God)
      • Attack the Family (She gave to Adam who was with her)
      • Guarding against temptation begins by being careful with God’s Word
        • The devil’s half-truths lead to whole untruth
• The consequence of sin
  • The end of innocence
  • The distortion of something good (cf. 2:25)
  • A break in relationship with God and also between Adam and Eve as Adam later blames Eve for the sin.
  • The beginning of a pattern of trying to cover it up.
    • Sin can’t be covered up!

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Application Points:

Application: By understanding how temptation works we can devise a strategy for victory over it.

To be forewarned of Satan’s strategy is to be forearmed. His pattern for tempting Eve is essentially the same approach he uses today. By studying and learning to recognize that pattern, we will not be ignorant of his schemes (2 Cor. 2:11), and thus can resist them.

While Satan tempted Eve, we are led astray by our own lusts (James 1:14-15). Before the fall, Satan had to approach Eve from without. Since the fall, he usually leaves us to our own inward lusts which respond to the temptations in the world. Only occasionally is there direct satanic influence. But since Satan is behind the original temptation, I’m going to refer to him in talking about how temptation works.

Temptation is usually deceptive. Satan makes it look like sin will get you where you want to go right now. It will meet your needs. Why deny yourself?

1. We must beware of “new” twists of doctrine or practice.

Since Satan uses deception and lies, we need to be cautious about any “new” doctrine or practice. The world proclaims self-esteem and the church is glutted with books on how to accept and love yourself (even when your life is filled with sin). The world extols tolerance as the chief virtue, and the church is quick to tolerate every form of perversion under the banner of “grace.”

2. We must affirm the authority of God’s Word.

Satan always works to undermine the authority of God’s Word. If you take away the authority of the Word, you’re launched on a sea of moral relativism with no rudder. We must all submit to God’s Word, no matter how difficult or costly.

3. We must affirm God’s character as revealed in His Word.

Satan will try, through trials or disappointments, to get you to doubt either God’s goodness or sovereignty. It’s a short step from there to rebellion, because you can’t trust a God who is not good or is not in control. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and thrown in prison in Egypt because he resisted Potiphar’s wife. He could have easily doubted the goodness or sovereignty of God. But years later he told his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20). You may have to believe it in spite of your circumstances, but hang onto it by faith: God is good and sovereign (Ps. 119:75).

4. We must affirm the reality of God’s judgment.

You cannot get away with sin any more than you can take fire into your shirt and not be burned (Prov. 6:27-28). The fact that judgment is not immediate does not mean that it is not certain. Grace does not eliminate the principle of sowing and reaping, even for Christians. Paul wrote about sowing and reaping in the same letter he wrote about grace (Gal. 6:7-8).

5. We must remember that sin gives fleeting pleasure, but results in pain which far outweighs the pleasure.

It’s true, sin has its delights. It’s fun for the moment. But you pay an awful price. Not only you, but your children and grandchildren will suffer after you (Exod. 20:5). Sin is a lot like living extravagantly on credit. You can live like a king for a few months, but the bills are going to come due. Then you have to pay up. The pleasures of sin are not worth the awful price.

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If you get to Genesis 4 – and your heart doesn’t pound, you do not get sin.

The Point: Who is God? 1) A perfect Creator. 2) Outside of evil. He did not create evil. To say so makes God evil and the whole thing falls apart. There is not even a little evil in him because if there is a little, it gets multiplied by an infinite amount the the math isn’t good. 2) He is Just, He will not be mocked. 3) He is compassionate. “Don’t let them eat from the tree of life or they will stay in this state forever.” Life might be good now, but if you were in the garden, you would realize how messed up your life is and God will not let us stay this messed up. 4) God is grace. The fact that someone can disobey so hardcore, and continue to have a next breath – and God sees it crescendo’d throughout the rest of history – and there is still a next breath – incredible.

If you feel really bad about your own personal sin right now – that is good. Go to confession and repent.

Exodus 34 – The Lord – The compassionate and gracious God. Skip to Psalm 103 – The Lord is compassionate and gracious, abounding in love. Jonah – Doesn’t want to do what God wants him to do. He runs away, not because he’s afraid – he run’s away because he knew that God was a compassionate God (Jonah 4) a God who relents. John 3:16- God so loves the world (the world that slaps him in the face). Ephesians 2: Even when we are alive with Christ, we are dead in our transgressions. God loves you. It should blow your mind away. Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates his own love for us that while we are still sinners he died for us. Everything points towards Revelation, last two chapters. Chapter 21 – New heaven, new earth coming down. “Now the dwelling of God is with man and he will be with him. They will be with him and He will be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eye. No more death or mourning or crying or pain… making everything new. These words are trustworthy and true. This is our hope.

Rev 22: Then the angel showed me the river of the tree of life. 12 crops of fruit. Leaves for healing of the nations. No longer any curse (See ya Genesis 3). The throne of God is in the city, there will be no more night, they will not need the sun because the Lord will give light.

What is to be our response to this God is that compassionate to our rebelliousness? 1) You need to ask God to open your window a little bit. If your heart doesn’t pound for the communion table – not the bread and cup, but what it represents – you don’t get it. You don’t get how sinful you are. How much of a rebel you are. 2) You start to understand the Father part of God. The sin totally matters. Justice required Jesus on the cross. Christ died for us. God’s love and mercy and compassion, is linked to his justice. If you don’t see these things linked, you have the wrong view of God. God is compassionate and merciful, and 100% just. Those who do not accept the forgiveness that God offers – God is totally just and righteous and loving to send them to eternal hell. That is not a conflict and if your version of compassion and love doesn’t involve that, you are not a student of the God of the Bible – because that is who he is. Let’s pray.

COMMUNION SEGUE

If you are defeated by temptation and sin, God in His mercy has provided the way of deliverance: “[Jesus Christ] Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls” (1 Pet. 2:24-25). If you will trust in Christ as your Savior and Lord, He will freely pardon your sins and give you the power to overcome temptation.

 9   Pray

Pray with me.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you would be gracious to us. We ask that you give us grace to know you in and through your Word. God, we ask that you would give us diligence and patience. We are so dull and so slow and so dimwitted and darkened by the effects of the fall that we can’t even see how glorious it is until you remove the veil from our hearts to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus. God give us grace to do this by the power of your Spirit. It’s in your son’s name we pray. Amen.

Sources

The God Who Has Compassion on the Rebellious (Hamartiology, Mercy)

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-8-how-temptation-works-genesis-31-7

Genesis 3:1-7

Did God Actually Say…? (Genesis 3:1–7)