Columbiana County Jail 01/30/2026
Columbiana County Jail • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Genesis 2:24 - 3:5
Genesis 2:24 - 3:5
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Here the story of Adam and Eve pauses to make a point; we should follow the pattern of marriage as revealed in the rest of god’s Word. Men must leave both parents and hold fast to or “cleave “ to their wives. They must become one flesh together. How do we know this is unmistakable? They must become one flesh together. Why? This is because it is the way God designed this relationship between the two of them. This is because we know that marriage is from God. This is because we now know it is not good for man to be alone. This is because God saw the need and provided the woman to be a helper, companion, and wife. This is because the woman was taken out of a man and built from his rib. This means they were created to be together.
This verse shows us significant ideas of how cultures should function. In the ancient world, one of the highest values was allegiance and honor one’s parents. The Bible makes it clear though it is the man’s duty to leave his parents and transfer his loyalty to his wife. providing, living with, and caring for her must take priority in his life over doing the same for his parents.
Second, a man must stick to his wife in a willful and lasting way. The idea here is a covenant or contract. The man’s commitment must be iron-clad.
Third, the two will become one flesh. Now this speaks to their exclusive physical bond, but this also speaks of their family relationship. As one flesh, the husband and wife will become family to each other, with all of the legal and relationship rights and privileges that come with being so closely connected.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
With the end of our chapter, we see the high point of human innocence in God’s newly created world. Adam and Eve existed without any experience of evil, jealousy, deception, or insecurity. They were literally made for each other as husband and wife. All they needed had been fully provided by God. They had no need of clothing. They had no idea of what it meant to be ashamed of anything. In fact, the fact that they were naked in their sinless condition was no due to ignorance, instead it was due to innocence.
We will discover in the next chapter, the shame of being naked is tied to an awareness of one’s own sinfulness and rebellion. We will cover our nakedness in a attempt and a desire to hide our true selves from others. Why? That is because we will fear what others will think about us. In other words, we can not change the nature of the fallen world, so human beings should rightfully be clothed. Adam and Eve had no such sin, and they lived in freedom from any impulse to hide any part of themselves from God or each other.
Sadly, as we will soon discover, all of that is about to change.
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Now we are going to start the next chapter. This chapter turns to describing how Adam and Eve became separated from God.
In this verse, we see a new character being introduced. This character is the serpent. Who is the serpent? Where did the serpent come from? First thing I want to point out is we have no reason to assume that animals possess the power of speech and reason at this time. It seems strange at this point, that Eve seems oddly unsurprised when the serpent speaks to her.
We are told the serpent is the most crafty or shrewd of all of the wild animals. The Hebrew word here is a’rum, which also means “prudent” or “sly”. The term itself is not necessary a negative term, The difference here is how one chooses to use this ability will make the difference between sin and righteousness. In this case, the serpent uses “craftiness” in order to ruin mankind.
Now I personally believe that this speaking serpent is Satan himself. So this poses an interesting question. How did Satan appear as a serpent? I believe Satan possessed and spoke through a serpent created by God. Although this is my interpretation, allow me to give my reasoning for this. I believe this because it seems consistent with what I know of Satan from other passages in the Bible. First, Satan and the other demons are spiritual beings , not physical, but with the ability to take control of both people
3 Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
and animals.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
Jesus describes Satan the father of lies
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
And Genesis 3 records the first lies to be heard on earth. Finally, Revelation refers to Satan as a dragon, the “old serpent”.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
His first recorded words to the woman challenge God’s commands with a simple question, casting doubt on God’s words. The serpent seems to either misstate or question God’s restrictions about what she and the man could eat.
The serpent knows exactly what God had commanded. His intent is to provoke Eve to judge God’s fairness.
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
In the previous verse, Satan was in control of a serpent and began his temptation of the first woman. This conversation is his attempt to convince her to disobey God. He starts with a question she knows the answer to, one apparently intended to draw her into judging God’s character. This begins by encouraging her to consider , or even doubt, God’s command: Did God really say you can’t eat from any tree in the garden?
In this verse and verse 3 she gives the serpent her response. She immediately corrects the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden”. This part of the response is all well and good. Her answer is correct, but getting her to talk is part of Satan’s trap. The end of her response in verse 3 shows she does not have a clear understanding of God’s command.
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Now we see the serpent set the trap by asking the woman a slanted question. Her answer at first was solid in verse 2. In verse 3, she continues her answer with God’s actual restriction. However, she does not seem to quote it exactly right. This reflects just enough doubt over God’s words to give Satan an opportunity.
Here is what God said to Adam about what not to eat...
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
The woman , either by accident or out of sincerity, added an extra layer to God’s statement. The restriction that they were not even allowed to touch the tree was not part of God’s restriction. Either Eve did not fully understand the command, she misremembered it, or she she intentionally misquoted it in an effort to be more emphatic.
Instead of bolstering her willingness to obey, this addition to the words of God actually makes Satan’s strategy more effective. In the context of this conversation, her error makes God appear even more restrictive than He is. The serpent will quickly center in on the issue of God’s character, His honesty, and His fairness.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
After drawing Eve into a conversation about God’s restrictions for their food, the serpent flatly contradicts God. Satan rejects God’s warning that the humans would die if they ate fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
This conversation serves as a prototype for temptation to sin. Satan’s strategy begins with starting a conversation about it., then subtly questioning the fairness of the command, then candidly calling God a lair. To this day, every temptation to sin is, at some level, a question of God’s character using the same path. Did God really make that statement? Is God telling the truth? Should I trust what He says? Don’t I actually know better? Should I not choose my own way? these are the questions that take you down the path of pride and sin, this is the path Satan took Eve on.
One key point on Satan’s strategy is he never fully lies. Compelling deception is always built on half-truths about God’s intentions and restrictions. We will discover this very soon.
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Here Satan continues his deception of Eve. His goal is to convince her to disobey God by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now Satan reveals what he wants Eve to believe : that God’s true motive for His rule is selfishness. According to Satan, God just wants to scare them away so they don’t become like Him. Satan says God is competitive and jealous and He can’t be trusted to give commands for their good.
In fact, Satan says, eating the fruit will open their eyes. They will finally see the world as it really is, knowing all things; “good and evil” just like God. As in the previous verse, this deception contains a partial truth. We will see that their eyes are opened. They do come to know good and evil. But that knowledge does not bring them God’s power, nor His wisdom, nor His ability to love. What they will discover is that knowledge without corresponding maturity brings perversion. Humanity is not equipped for this knowledge so it brings them shame, fear, and pain. They come to know good by abandoning it. They gain the knowledge of evil by committing it for the first time in history.
The power of Satan’s temptation was his attack on God’s character and motivations: Don’t obey God because He is neither good n.or loving nor trustworthy. Satan says that God wants to rob us of experiencing true power , from gaining full understanding. Satan is creating the assumption that mankind is in a position to judge the character of God. That lie continues to drive humans toward sin and away from God who loves us.
Next week we will cover Genesis 3:6-13 for our next commentary.
