|
Genesis Chapter Three
Preface
This chapter is considered by many as the most important chapter in the Bible. Although this writer doesn’t share this view, he considers it as one of the most important chapters for the following reasons, which are taken from a quote by J. Vernon McGee contained in his Thru the Bible commentary.
Here we trace back to their source many of the rivers of divine truth. Here commences the great drama which is being enacted on the stage of human history and which well nigh 6,000 years has not yet completed. Here we find the divine explanation of the present fallen and ruined condition of our race. Here we learn of the subtle devices of our enemy, the devil. Here we behold the utter powerlessness of man to walk in the path of righteousness when divine grace is withheld from him. Here we discover the spiritual effects of sin, man seeking to flee from God. Here we discern the attitude of God toward the guilty sinner. Here we mark the universal tendency of human nature to cover its own moral shame by a device of man’s own handiwork. Here we are taught of the gracious provision which God has made to meet our great need. Here begins that marvelous stream of prophecy which runs all through the Holy Scriptures. Here we learn that man cannot approach God except through a mediator.
The book of Genesis initiates the first age (period) in which God deals with mankind. As one reads through the Bible, the discovery is made that history may be divided into different periods of time (dispensations) that are characterized by various means in which God communicated and ministered to the human race. To rightly divide the Word of Truth (Bible) and thereby be “approved to God” (2 Timothy 2:15), the student of God’s Word should understand the various dispensations (ages or time periods) in which God deals with man and the characteristics of each one.
Although God is always the Administrator of Grace, He has used different methods in His contact and administration toward man—each apparently with the purpose of revealing to man that he is totally incapable within his own power and ability to achieve the approbation (approval) of God. The conclusion one is forced to derive from a review of the various dispensations is that man is always a failure and without God’s grace and efforts towards him there is no hope whatsoever for mankind.
Although there may be differences in the interpretations of the various dispensations by Bible students and scholars, the following is a suggested division of them (derived from The Greatest Book on Dispensational Truth in the World by Clarence Larkin, 1918).
There will always be Bible students and “scholars” who will deny the dispensational divisions within God’s administration toward man. But to do so will lead to false conclusions and interpretations of Bible doctrine. The student simply cannot rightly divide the Word of Truth without understanding dispensations. The confusion often occurs in regards to this manner because the word world is used to translate two different Greek words within the New Testament. The Greek words are kosmos and aion.
This word occurs some 170 times in the New Testament. It is used to indicate (1) a decoration or ornamentation—1 Peter 3:3, (2) the universe (heavens and earth)—Matthew 13:35; 24:21; Luke 11:50; John 17:5, 24; Acts 17:24; Romans 1:20; Hebrews 4:3, (3) a metonym (figure of speech) referring to the inhabitants of the universe, both angelic and human—1 Corinthians 4:9, (4) an aggregate of evil—James 3:6, (5) the then-known earth, its substance and those living in or on it—Matthew 4:8; 13:38; Mark 16:15; Luke 12:30; John 1:9, 10, 29; 3:16-19; 4:42; 6:14, 33, 51; 7:4; 8:12, 26; 9:5; 12:19, 46, 47; 14:22; 16:8-11, 21, 28; 18:20; 21:25; Romans 3:6, 19; 11:12, 15; 1 Corinthians 1:20, 21; 3:19; 4:13; 6:2; 7:31, 34; 2 Corinthians 1:12, 27, 28; 4:13; 5:19; 7:10; 1 Timothy 1:15; 3:16; Hebrews 10:5; 11:7; James 2:5; 1 Peter 5:9; 2 Peter 2:5; 3:6; 1 John 2:2; 3:17; 4:1, 9; 2 John 1:7, (6) the world system—socially, politically, religiously and commercially—or, the “present earthly order of things, as opposed to God’s order; and hence, always with the idea of transience, worthlessness, and evil both physical and moral, to include its substance (things) and those who belong to it—Matthew 16:26; Mark 8:36; Luke 9:25; John 7:7; 8:23; 12:25, 31; 14:17, 30; 15:19; 16:8, 20, 33; 17:6, 9, 14; 18:36; 1 Corinthians 1:20, 21; 2:12; 3:19, 22; 5:10; 7:31, 33, 34; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Galatians 4:3; 6:14; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 2:8, 20; Philippians 2:15; James 1:27; 4:4; 2 Peter 1:4; 2:20; 1 John 2:15-17; 3:1, 13; 4:4, 5, 17.
This word is used 28 times in the New Testament. It refers, in contrast to kosmos, to a specific age or time frame—often to refer to a dispensation of God’s administration toward man with both a beginning and ending in linear time. See Matthew 12:32; 13:22, 39, 40, 49; 24:3; 28:20; Mark 10:30; Luke 1:70; 16:8; 18:30; 20:34, 35; John 9:32; Acts 3:21; 15:18; Romans 12:2; 16:25; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 2:6-8; 3:18; 8:13; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:21; 3:9, 21; 6:12; 1 Timothy 6:17; 2 Timothy 1:9; 4:10; Titus 1:2; 2:12; Hebrews 1:2; 6:5; 9:26; 11:3.
Without chapter three there could be little sense made of chapter four and the following chapters within this book. In chapters one and two man is innocent; everything is perfect. There is fellowship between God and man. But from chapter four on there is jealousy, anger, murder, lying, wickedness, corruption, rebellion and judgment. Without chapter three there would be the quandary of the origin of this terrible condition. Although evil did not originate in chapter three, it did for man.
In Genesis 2:7 “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” The creation of man was of a three-fold nature. God formed man’s body from the dust of the ground. God then breathed into man’s body the “breath [Hebrew: ruach, spirit] of life,” which is not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of natural man which allows “union with God” and “God-consciousness.” Within this process man also received a soul (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12), which is sometimes referred to by the word “heart” and is the seat of self-consciousness, reason, memory and affections.
Clarence Larkin in his immense and marvelous work (book) entitled The Greatest Book on Dispensational Truth in the World, 1918, had the following to say of man’s three-fold nature:
The two principal parts of man are the body and the spirit, but as the functions of these are separate, one being physical and the other spiritual, a third part had to be supplied called the soul, intermediate between them, and through which they may communicate. Thus man became a “Threefold Being.” 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 4:12 . . . . In Adam, as originally created, the “soul” was such a perfect medium of communication between the “body” and the “spirit” that there was no conflict between them. The three blended together in one harmonious whole. When man fell the “soul” became the “battlefield” of the “body” and the “spirit,” and the conflict began that Paul so graphically describes in Rom. 7:7-24.
This writer can only add that as long as the spiritual part of man is dead, there is no conflict within the soul. But upon a person’s spiritual rebirth, as described in John 3 by the Lord Jesus Christ, the battle within begins—and will not culminate within the believer until the Rapture or physical death of the body, whichever occurs first. Also, the reader should exercise caution in coming to any hard and fast conclusion as to exactly how the three natures or parts of man relate to each other. The “trinity” of man, just as the Trinity of God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), is a doctrine that is not easily understood by the finite mind of man. In fact, man may never be able to suitably understand it, as will be the case with many other doctrines expressed in God’s Word. But this is no excuse for not accepting such truths as factual.
It is within chapters two and three of Genesis that man is given a glimpse of God’s first dispensation and of the origin of the cataclysmic spiritual struggle as it relates to him and which has since engulfed this world, effecting him personally, politically, nationally, globally, temporally and eternally. Genesis 3:1-3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
There is no indication of the length of time between the creation of Adam and Eve and their expulsion form the Garden of Eden, which is recognized by some as the Edenic Dispensation, the “dispensation of innocence.” Man’s existence on earth at this time was under the most ideal of conditions—a beautiful, temperate earth filled with exquisite animals, birds, fish and plant life, not to mention a perfect marriage between man and woman—both on an equal footing. There were no storms or other cataclysmic events to devastate man’s peace, and there was ample food, ripe for the picking. Mankind’s only tasks, as far as can be ascertained in Scripture, was to tend the garden, name and care for the wild life (which at this time wasn’t “wild”) and function as progenitors of the human race.
All this came to an end when man disobeyed God and thereby fell from his state of innocence into a state of death, both spiritual and physical. The purpose of God in allowing the testing and fall of man is revealed in the Gospel, which was to demonstrate God’s unfathomable depth of love and grace in His forgiveness and redemption for a sinful and undeserving human race. Satan’s purpose in tempting man was to prevent God’s purpose in the creation of man, which was to populate the earth with a race of sinless beings.
Adam and Eve were created “innocent,” but innocence is not righteousness. If Adam and Eve had passed the test (Satan’s temptation) they would have become righteous or holy, but they failed and became sinners. There is but one step between innocence and holiness or one barrier between innocence and sin—the step/barrier of faith (genuine belief) in God’s Word, which always produces obedience. Righteousness is “doing what is right according to God’s will” in the face of and under the strain of temptation to do otherwise.
Temptation will either diminish or refine a person’s spirituality. Man was placed into the Garden as a “responsible” human. He was given specific tasks to perform and clear instructions regarding what he was and was not to eat. Both Adam and Eve, in light of God’s instruction, should have been alert to any guidance to the contrary of God’s Word.
The Bible does not reveal how the serpent, who was Satan in serpent-form, came to be in the Garden of Eden. It simply indicates that it/he was there, and from the context, it appears it/he was a beautiful and upright creature.
The serpent that appeared to Eve is later revealed to be none other than Satan himself (see Rev. 12:9). Those who seek to “demythologize” the Bible believe that this account of the fall is allegorical and not literal. They cite the talking serpent as proof. Can the story of the serpent’s deceiving Eve be accepted as factual? The Apostle Paul thought so (2 Cor. 11:3). So did the Apostle John (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). Nor is this the only instance of a talking animal in Scripture. God gave a voice to Balaam’s donkey to restrain the madness of the prophet (Num. 22), and the Apostle Peter accepted this as literal (2 Pet. 2:16). These three apostles were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write as they did. Thus to reject the account of the fall as literal is to reject the inspiration of Holy Scripture. There are allegories in the Bible, but this is not one of them. (Believer’s Bible Commentary by William MacDonald)
Satan was skillful in his approach to Eve. He was the first to use the battle-tactic of “divide and conquer.” Together Adam and Eve may have conferred, reinforced each other, and not succumbed to Satan’s temptation. So he waited to catch Eve by herself. He then subtly asked her, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” This cast doubt on God’s Word. The subtlety of this question is its insinuating suggestion that God would never be so unfair, unloving and unkind to forbid them “anything.” And Eve, instead of standing firm on God’s Word, swallowed “hook, line and sinker” Satan’s insinuation and began to doubt God’s instruction.
Eve’s reply to the serpent incorporates a misrepresentation of God’s instruction. She said, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” God never said anything about “touching” the fruit of the tree. So, to the “seed of doubt,” now comes the falsification of God’s Word. A lesson here is that doubting God’s Word eventually and surely leads to false doctrine. The prerequisite of proper Bible study and Bible interpretation is a genuine faith in the Word of God.
Additionally, she alters the penalty that God imposed upon the eating of the fruit of the tree. The Greek word translated “lest” in the phrase “lest you die” means “peradventure,” which is a word of uncertainty—thus expressing her doubt in the certainty of death regarding the issue. It is a dangerous thing to alter God’s Word. The commencement of the Fall was the “deceitful handling” of the Word of God, a practice stringently avoided by the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 4:2). Man often will not question the fact that God is good and kind, but he will fall over backward denying God’s clear warnings of impending doom. Genesis 3:4, 5 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Eve had added to the Word of God. But here, Satan, embodied in the serpent, totally contradicts God’s Word. Satan doesn’t just say to Eve that she will not die; he emphatically says that it is “for certain” that she will not die. Furthermore, Satan impugns God’s motive and Word by suggesting God had an ulterior motive behind His instructions.
Satan having sown the “Seed of Doubt” and perceiving that the poison was working, next declared that God was a liar by saying—“Ye shall not surely die.” This is the “Devil’s Lie,” and it has been incorporated into the religious systems of today, that teach that man shall not be eternally punished. Satan then impugned God’s motive by declaring that God did not want them to have a knowledge of “Good” and “Evil” lest they become “gods” like Himself. . . . The inducement that Satan held out to Eve, that the acquisition of knowledge would put her and Adam on the same plane with God, and make them God-Like, is the same inducement that Satan offers to ambitious men today, and he is seeking through his dupes to build up a magnificent civilization on the discoveries and inventions of men, and exalt man without God, and his aim is the final “Deification of Man,” that will find its culmination in his “Superman, the Antichrist,” who will sit in the Temple at Jerusalem and proclaim himself God (2 Thess. 2:3-4). This accounts for all the “World Systems” of today for the social, religious, political and commercial betterment and advancement of the race. The Greatest Book on Dispensational Truth in the World by Clarence Larkin, 1918)
It cannot be over-stressed that the Bible teaches (Romans, Hebrews, and James) that true faith brings not only salvation but the power to achieve increasing degrees of sanctification and obedience to God’s Word. On the other hand, seeds of doubt (lack of faith) produce spiritual defeat, disobedience and progressive degeneration into sin. Liberal theology and cultism always undermines the Word of God, producing seeds of doubt on every hand.
The thing that Eve did was to add to the Word of God. The liberal and the atheist take from the Word of God, and God has warned against that. The cults (and some fundamentalists, by the way) add to the Word of God, and God warns against that. There are those who say that today we are saved by law. They argue, “Yes, it is by faith, but it is faith plus something else”—and they are apt to come up with anything. The Word of God says: “Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God that you believe on Him whom He hath sent” (John 6:29). How important this is! (Thru the Bible commentary by J. Vernon McGee) Genesis 3:6, 7 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Once the seeds of doubt were in place Eve then yields to the “threefold temptation” of 1 John 2:16:
If Eve would have followed God’s plan in the relationship that He had established for her, she would have consulted her husband. This act alone would have most likely reinforced God’s true Word regarding the matter and would have kept her from such digression from truth into disobedience. Then, after she ate of the fruit, she also encouraged her husband to do the same. One can only guess that he did so as to avoid any separation from her. Eve was deceived (1 Timothy 2:14), but Adam acted willfully and in deliberate rebellion against God.
“And the eyes of them both were opened”—this refers to their conscience. Before the fall, man did not have a conscience; he was innocent. . . . “And they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Have you ever noticed that the fig tree is the only tree that is specifically mentioned? (The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not an apple tree. I do not know what it was . . ..) These fig leaves concealed but did not really cover. Adam and Eve did not confess; they just attempted to cover up their sin. They were not ready to admit their lost condition.
This is the same condition of men today in religion. He goes through exercises and rituals, he joins churches, and he become very religious. Have you ever noticed that Christ cursed the fig tree? That is quite interesting. And He denounced religion right after that, by the way; He denounced it with all His being because religion merely covers over sin. . . .
On the other hand, God begins with man’s heart. Religion is something that you rub on the outside, but God does not begin with religion. May I make a distinction here: Christianity is not a religion; Christianity is Christ. There are a lot of religions, but the Lord Jesus went right to the fountainhead when He said, “You must be born again.” (Thru the Bible commentary by J. Vernon McGee) Genesis 3:8-11 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Now Adam and Eve were lost, that is, because of their act of disobedience they had experienced spiritual death (separation from God) and were experiencing the progression of physical death within their earthly bodies. And in such a condition it is important to understand that they did not seek after God or His solution to their condition. No, they took it upon themselves to devise a means to cover their condition.
A person lost never truly seeks God. He may in fact turn to religion, which is his meritorious effort to achieve the approbation (approval) of God, but he will not seek God on God’s terms. It is God who seeks and saves those who are lost. This is grace. Whereas man refuses to come to God, God has taken the initiative to send His Son to die on a Roman rugged cross some two thousand plus years ago, so that man may turn from any meritorious self-effort and by faith alone in Christ alone be saved.
God’s search for man is pictured all the way through Scripture. Paul wrote, “. . . there is none that seeks after God” (Rom. 3:11). The Lord Jesus said, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you . . .” (John 15:16). And we can say with John, “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). (Thru the Bible commentary by J. Vernon McGee)
And so it was in the Garden of Eden. God manifested Himself and Adam and Eve heard Him approaching them in the “cool of the day.” They immediately hid among the trees (sin makes cowards of everyone!). When they found that they could not escape a confrontation with God—and no one will ever be able to avoid this—they were immediately faced with their action by the Word of God. This is reminiscent of the day when lost mankind will appear before the Judgment Seat of God in Revelation 20:11-15:
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
The day will come for all those who have turned their backs on Christ in order to achieve success, heaven or whatever “their own way” when they’ll come face-to-face with Christ. They’ll find that their “fig-leaves” accomplishments and efforts simply won’t “cut the mustard.” They’ll come up far short of the holiness God requires and which will appease His holiness and justice. But God in utter fairness will then open the Book of Life and show them that their names are not therein recorded, which will verify to them that they spurned God’s grace and free-gift offering of eternal life by faith alone in Christ alone. Not finding their names in the Book, they then will face an eternity separated from God in the “lake of fire.” This is the sure future, which man through religion denies and/or attempts to avoid through self-merit. Genesis 3:12, 13 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
It is interesting to see that Adam and Eve took the same route when faced with their deplorable behavior that most human beings take today, which in fact has been the trend throughout all history. When confronted with their sin, they “passed the buck,” making excuses as to why they personally were not responsible for their failings. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. They would not own up to their responsibility for their actions.
This is so prevalent among humans today and on every level. It is rare to find someone who is truly at fault and who will own up to their responsibility in doing wrong. Human beings learn early to blame anyone and anything but themselves. This is endemic in society as a whole, even among “mature” adults and whole institutions. It is always the fault of someone’s upbringing, social environment or lack of opportunities that causes a person to go astray—but never his or her fault.
This attitude or practice keeps man from accepting the fact that they are indeed sinners and is contributable to their avoidance of their need for Jesus Christ as Savior. One must understand that he is a sinner and helpless in this state before he can truly turn from himself (self-efforts) to Jesus Christ in faith and be saved. Furthermore, for the Christian, his refusal to accept personal fault regarding his sin will keep him from reestablishing the appropriate faith-based relationship with Christ—which is the “filling of the Holy Spirit”—that enables progressive sanctification and a life pleasing to God. It is a Christian’s refusal to accept accountability for his sin that keeps him separated from a close and personal walk in Christ. The remedy for the Christian when he sins is not to beg for God’s mercy (this was already given at the cross) but to immediately, upon recognition of the fact he has sinned, to adhere to the formula found in 1 John 1:9: If we confess [acknowledge, name or take responsibility for] our [known] sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our [known] sins and to cleanse us from all [unknown or forgotten] unrighteousness. For a Christian to simply and by rote (habit) pray to God to “forgive me of my sins,” without naming them and thereby taking responsibility for them, will achieve no forgiveness from God. God wants His child to be specific, which in itself requires help from the Holy Spirit within; therefore, it is important that at all times the Christian exercise an attitude of dependence (trust in and confidence) upon God in all matters of the spiritual life.
God the Father in His grace and love came to Adam and Eve in order to give them the opportunity to take responsibility for what they did. They failed, leaving God the only option of executing His judgment. Genesis 3:14-19 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
God’s judgment as the result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve was fourfold, toward:
Genesis 3:20-24 And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—therefore the LORD God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Adam displayed faith in calling his wife’s name Eve . . . the “mother of all living,” since no baby had ever been born up to this time. Then “tunics of skin” were provided by God through the death of an [innocent] animal. This pictures the robe of righteousness which is provided for guilty sinners through the shed blood of the Lamb of God, made available to us on the basis of faith.
There was a shade of truth in Satan’s lie that Eve would become like God (v. 5). But she and Adam learned by the hard way of experience to discern between good and evil. If they had then eaten of the tree of life, they would have lived forever in bodies subject to sickness, degeneration, and infirmity. Thus it was God’s mercy that prevented them from returning to Eden. Cherubim are celestial creatures whose function is to “vindicate the holiness of God against the presumptuous pride of fallen man.”
Adam and Eve had to decide whether God or Satan was lying. They decided that God was. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Thus their names are missing from the Honor Roll of Faith in Hebrews 11.
The ideal environment of Eden did not prevent the entrance of sin. A favorable environment is no guarantee to man’s problems. In this account of the fall of man, the Trinity is seen (“like one of Us”), the concept of death (spiritual—separation from God; physical—both progressive and certain), the coming Savior (“woman’s Seed”), God’s judgment for sin, and God’s grace (in seeking man and in providing him a proper covering of skin from an “innocent’s” death). All these doctrines are further developed and continue throughout God’s Word. |