The Fall, part 2

In the first installment, we looked at what Adam and Eve did that got them in hot water. They both sinned at multiple levels, including seeing the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and desiring it despite their instructions to leave it alone. They also regarded the serpent’s words as more valuable than God’s, and also believed his lies about their relationship with God as being one of antagonism and not lovingkindness. They also sinned by wanting to have that knowledge from the Tree and desire to be like God. Needless to say they had really stepped in it and how they handled it would result in more sins and the final result being their expulsion from the Garden and an end to unabridged fellowship with God.

The next passage under review has two main parts. The first portion is Gen 3:8-13:

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 3

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the LORD God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

10 And he said, “I heard You in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

11 Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12 Then the man replied, “The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

13 So the LORD God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?”

And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”

Stepping back to verse 7, Adam and Eve became ashamed of their nakedness, made coverings of the fig leaves, and then hid when they heard God approaching. God called out for them, saying ‘Where are you?’, but in reality, since God is all-knowing, He knew where they were. His calling for them is seen by many as God’s attempt to allow them to come forth in honesty and admit to them what they had done. Also many see their hiding as their attempt to hide the fact that they had done wrong and attempt to cover it up. This is a similar statement that was made by Jesus in John 3:20,

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 3

For everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.

Adam responds to God by admitting to his shame of being naked and fear of God seeing him this way, but also neglects to admit that he went against God’s word. Since God already knew this he directly asked Adam as an out by confessing his error, but Adam went straight to blaming Eve, even though Adam deliberately took the bite knowing that it was against God’s directive, again lying and sinning accordingly.

God then turns to Eve and gives her the same opportunity to come clean and admit, but Eve pointed the finger at the serpent and the fact that the serpent had deceived her, avoiding the truth that she willfully accepted the serpent’s words over God’s. Therefore you have both Adam and Eve ditching the truth despite knowing differently. If any of you have kids, you know that kids lie with the hopes of being acquitted and absolved. But all parents seem to respond that if they are caught in a lie, the punishment will be worse. And so it is with Adam and Eve.

The second part of today’s passage is Gen 3:14 - 19, where God passes judgement on the three parties, the serpent, Eve and Adam.

The LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you.”

And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

The judgement for the serpent is famous in that it will reflect the upcoming victory over evil in that the serpent (as possessed by Satan) will be at odds with mankind and damage him, but the final victory will be mankind’s with the advent of Jesus who will crush Satan and evil through his sacrifice and subsequent resurrection. This is known by the Latin phrase as the Protoevangelium, or the precursor to the Gospel.

Eve’s judgement results in a life full of sorrow and distress through painful childbirth (including menstruation) as well as a changed position in life from an equal partner and helper for Adam, to a position of humble subjugation. Adam’s punishment is that he will have to labor and toil and will have to grow his own food, whereas in Eden his life was one of pleasurable work for God. Most importantly, they both will now suffer the pangs of death, where they will now longer live forever in joy. Now they will suffer pain and distress all the remaining days of their lives. They will now suffer from temptation and sin as will all of their offspring. From paradise to misery, theirs (and ours) lives changed with a simple bite. Luckily for us, this condemnation was expunged from our lives by God’s sacrifice and resurrection of his son, but that is another story for another time.

I hope you found this video informative and thought-provoking. As always, I welcome any questions, comments, observations and second thoughts. If you liked this video, please Like and Share and pass along to your friends or anyone that you think would find this enlightening or fulfilling. Also, please subscribe so you will receive notifications of subsequent videos. Thanks for watching and God Bless.