The Original Sin (Pt 2)

Genesis 3:1-7
2009.03.22
one28 Sunday worship

Genesis 3 introduces us to the beginning of sin. Once we walk through this wardrobe door we enter an entirely other country, and there is no return. The rest of the book of Genesis, the rest of the Bible, and the rest of human history bears the scars of Adam and Eve’s disobedience.

First thing in Chapter 3 – Scene 1 (vv.1-7), we are introduced to The Adversary (v.1a), the serpent, who was more crafty than any other beast of the field (v.1). Even though Moses doesn’t state it explicitly, the rest of Scripture attributes the serpent’s work to satan, a liar from the beginning and the father of lies. Where he came from, and even more importantly, how he came to be the adversary of God and man, is not answered here. He slithers onto the scene and casts doubts in the woman’s mind by questioning God’s Word.

The Temptation (vv.1b-5) began when the serpent said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” He intentionally misrepresents the one and only prohibition God gave, to exaggerate God’s restrictiveness. The Temptation/Conversation starts with a Question.

The woman’s Response is not that convincing. She said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 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.’ Eve initially corrects the serpent, but already seems to be leaning in his direction. She doesn’t communicate her thankfulness, but rather disparages (treats with little value) her privileges. She jumps into to the deep end of the complaint pool by putting words in God’s mouth. It is a half-hearted defense.

In her response, she alters God’s word, subtracting from it three times and adding to it once. That always leads to trouble. God had said, “You may surely (or freely) eat of every tree of the garden,” and Eve left out both accents of God’s generosity. Then she minimized the penalty. God had said, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” and she said only “lest you die.” She also added a part to God’s prohibition, claiming that God said not only that “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree” but also, “neither shall you touch it.”

The serpent has her right where he wants her. His Counter comes in verses 4 and 5, You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. The serpent attacks the motivation and character of God, making God seem not only nervous and restrictive, but now also insecure of His position. God “knew all along” what would happen if they ate. It is as if God made deceptive threats to the man an woman in order to keep something good from them.

The Fall (v. 6)

Herein is the first disobedience, the soil of disaster, the original sin.

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. (verse 6)

The serpent already had her ear, as evidenced by the fact that she didn’t run or resist him. She kept looking at the forbidden: when the woman saw. We’re sometimes told there is “no harm in looking.” Really?

Eve didn’t eat the fruit because she was in need or hungry. Every other fruit in the garden was hers for the taking. She ate because she thought it would bring her pleasure.

Many see a parallel between the three descriptions in Genesis 3:6 and the things in the world, cf. 1 John 2:16.

• the tree was good for food – the lust of the flesh
• it was a delight to the eyes – the lust of the eyes
• to be desired to make one wise – the pride of life (not “possessions” – ESV)

Note especially the third description, the tree was to be desired to make one wise. How did she know this? No one else had experienced it. There was no empirical data to support the claim. Eve believed someone. The only evidence she had that the tree would make her wise from the serpent’s statements. She believed the serpent, not God.

After she ate, she gave to husband who was with her. She was off on her own. I think the sense is “she gave that he might eat with her; that he might join with her in the act. The “with her” was less about Adam’s proximity or place, but about his participation. Eve ate because she was deceived. Adam ate deliberately.

“She saw…she took…she gave.” One verse. This mess will never be unscrambled, ever.

The limited grasp of the mind of man is not adequate to take in the length and breadth and fearful extent of the evil which has thus been entailed upon the human family–an evil running parallel with the present life and reaching forward into an unmeasured eternity! (Bush, 77)

As a footnote, the fruit Adam and Eve at is never named. Though some speculate it was an apple, that’s likely due to the common sound in Latin malus, “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” and malum, “apple.”

The Anti-Climax (v. 7)

Talk about a letdown, rip-off, disappointing end to a fantastic and impressive promise from the serpent.

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (verse 7)

The serpent was right in all three things he promised…sort of.

1. They would surely not die. Genesis 5:5 reveals that Adam lived to 930 years old.
2. Their eyes would be opened. Genesis 3:7 says just as much.
3. They would be like God, knowing good and evil. God says just as much in Genesis 3:22.

All of the serpent’s lies came true, kind of. It was , however, undoubtedly not what Eve bargained for.

The first result was humiliation and shame. Here is the first clothing, note that the purpose of the clothing was to cover.

Why didn’t Eve die immediately? Why didn’t they both die immediately when Adam ate, as God promised in Genesis 2:17

If … it be asked what death God threatened man with …, whether … bodily or spiritual or that second death, we answer: It was all … He comprehends therein, not only the first part of the first death, wheresoever the soul loses God, nor the latter only, wherein the soul leaves the body … but also … the second with is the last of deaths, eternal, and following after all. (Augustine, The City of God, XXII. xii)

Conclusion

This paragraph frames our beliefs about:

• the importance of believing God’s Word. What God says is always true.
• the existence of evil, in the world and in our own souls. Only in this account can we be heavy and hopeful.
• the deceptiveness of satan. We ought always be suspicious.

By the way, we totally would have done the same. It is hypothetical (of no real value) and arrogant (really quite foolish) to think that if we were in the garden, we wouldn’t have sinned.

Pelagius denied original sin. He claimed the only impact of the fall was Adam’s bad example. Not so according to the inspired commentary on this passage in Romans 5:12-21. In Adam we are all guilty, by nature children of wrath, sinners earning death for our disobedience.

A few weeks ago I promised some thoughts on the question: why would God even create a tree and forbid them to eat its fruit that could be a temptation? Why would He allow the serpent to entice the woman at all? If God knew what Adam and Eve would choose, and the drastic consequences of their disobedience, why go through with it?

It does show us that free-will is pathetic.

But more so, this is God’s story. More than anything else, it reveals something about Him. We would not know (or praise) the distinctiveness of God’s holiness, the severity of His wrath, the long-suffering of His patience, the breadth of His grace, or the depth of His love without Genesis 3.

We need to start getting our feet in the stirrups of a God-centered worldview that enables us to ride through life hating sin, and yet never wavering in confidence (and even celebration) that God is in control over the rough terrain. Genesis 3:1-7 a disastrous and designed part of the story.

Next week we’ll see in Scene 2 that Adam and Eve ran and hid from God rather than repent.