"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone."- Isaiah 9:2
The Meaning of Genesis 3,
Covered in God's estimation
A quick-study on Genesis 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’?”
Notice how Satan twists the context and makes God sound bad by definition:
Think of saying it like this: ‘Did God really tell you not to eat from all the trees?’ Like God is trying to restrict them from anything good, so we see a demonic angle immediately.
Also, trying to put confusion into the mind of Eve as well.
Compare God’s words in Genesis 2:
“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good…”
vs. Satan’s words:
“Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
The wedge of accusation by implication is placed, the seed of doubt of God’s motives and benevolent character are sown by the deceiver. Even the way the question is framed is meant to help Eve come to a wrong conclusion. Satan poses as a ‘enlightener’
Anyone been lied to like this by someone posing as a ‘friend’?
Also, Satan is using the original Law as an enticement to sin. The barrier is being used as leverage to incite evil desire.
Think of this in light of what Paul says in Romans 7:
"I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. (Romans 7:7-8)
Now what is the woman’s response?
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 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.’”
See anything strange about this response?
Let’s discuss 2 things:
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“of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden” is the first thing. Why is this a strange response? Because God placed the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden, according to Genesis 2:9: “The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (2:9) which tree is forbidden? Any tree that is in the midst of the garden? Not so! Because God said: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good...” so this includes the tree of life being allowed to be freely eaten.
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Either Eve did not take the time to familiarize herself with God’s law, God’s rules, God’s Scripture (same as His Word), or
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Adam did not take the time to describe which one was forbidden, did not think it was important or didn’t want to deal with it in a reverential way
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Where did “nor shall you touch it” come from? Remember the words of God in 2:17: “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.”. Where is the rule of not touching it? Its added by either Adam or Eve! Maybe Eve in her mind just thought that was a reasonable conclusion, maybe Adam just told Eve to stay away since it was easier to say that than explain why not. Remember Adam was the only person to whom the Word had been revealed since AFTER the rule was installed God made Eve (see 2:15-22)
“Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:6)
Now comes the sales pitch, accompanied by an outright accusation:
4 "Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 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.”
This is an open lie, Adam died in his right relationship to God when they fell. Why? Because Jesus said: “this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3
Also, as we will see later, the process of death begins in the first couple. The sentence of death is given (another way of translating 2:17 is ‘in dying you shall die’)
The accusation is that God is holding back good from human beings. That God is scared of them or doesn’t want them to have the fullness He has designed for them. So the seed of mistrust is planted.
COVETOUSNESS is the only of the 10 commandments blatantly associated with the motives of the heart in the Old Testament
6 "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.”
Pause here!
Does this sound familiar?
1 John 2:15-16 says: 16 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world
—the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life—
is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:16)
Match:
“saw that the tree was good for food” “the lust of the flesh”
“that it was pleasant to the eyes” “the lust of the eyes”
“desirable to make one wise” “the pride of life”
Thus says the Holy Spirit through James:
“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:15-16
"She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
How many of us have led others into sin? How many of us have been led into sin by another?
Jesus says in Luke 17: “Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.3 Take heed to yourselves.”
7 "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."
They knew they were naked, so what do they do? The primary defense mechanism is defense mechanism #1: cover yourself with something. We know we are not right, so we do ‘good works’ and engage in religious ceremony, and through our own ‘merit’ we sew fig leaves together to cover our nakedness. To MAKE OURSELVES RIGHT IN OUR OWN ESTIMATION
8 "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.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
Note: there is no hiding from God, as the writer says: “there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13)
10 "So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 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?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
Defense mechanism #2 make this God’s fault somehow. We accuse God of mishandling creation! Think about it… we say well if this hadn’t happened, or, if I hadn’t been made this way…everything would be okay
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The blame game is easy. It’s simply not my fault, this is the result of poor management by God, or my environment, or the devil made me do it.
God deals with the source of the temptation and then back to the person who was ultimately accountable. Adam.
And notice the Physical – Spiritual connection that is laid out in this judgement. First physical then spiritual. The curses are God’s righteous judgement on those who have perverted His design which was ‘very good’ in 1:31.
14 "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.
15 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.”
The device Satan used (serpent) was judged and a spiritual metaphor is applied to Satan. Since “the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground” in Gen 2:7, God tells Satan he is now bound to ‘eat dust’ (14). The very human race he despised and deceived he was going to serve as a tool used by God for judgement (1 Chronicles 21:1 in conjunction with 2 Samuel 24:1) Other Scriptures support this emphatically.
The very first Messianic Prophesy ever is given by God Himself. God preaches the Gospel to founders of the demonic horde and humanity at one setting. Adam, Eve, and Satan.
Notice the singularity of the ‘Seed’ in v. 15. And the promise that this ‘Seed’ would be wounded in the heel!
Thus, says the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 53:5-6:
“But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
And:
Notice how the seed is not ‘their seed’ but rather ‘her seed’ as we see in Isaiah 7:14:
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”
But now to move on to the rest of God’s judgement:
16 “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.”
First physical then spiritual. Since God is God of both. God multiplies sorrow and conception. The pain now associated with childbearing is staggering.
17 "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.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 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.”
Now instead of the pleasantness of eating food in security and in the garden of the Lord, Adam must now fight against the earth to retrieve enough substance for him and his family to live on.
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21 "Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them."
Do not miss this point. This is the inference we need to understand. It’s the second Messianic Prophesy in the Scripture and this time by type instead of in explicit form.
Remember how we spoke of Adam and Eve MADE THEMSELVES RIGHT IN THEIR OWN ESTIMATION?
Turns out that estimation is NOT GOOD ENOUGH IN GOD’S EYES.
See, man is always trying to cover himself with his limp self-righteousness. But that is because he knows that something isn’t right, and his own conscience is bothering him. So what does he do? Lots of religious activity!
He is sewing leaves of self-righteousness on himself constantly, or is in denial. Think about most people who you ask if God will let them into heaven, the response: ‘I am a pretty good person’. This tells of 2 things, 1 it is the internal realization that God will not allow just anyone in but rather has standards (of which they always qualify). And 2 they know that something must be addressed in their heart, they try to appease their guilty conscience. But we are only sewing on leaves to be right in our own estimation! But since the leaves are not meant for a covering, they don’t work at all! They always leave a draft, they always need more! Why is there no peace, no rest for the self-righteous? Because he never knows how much is enough to make him righteous enough.
And here is the most important thing:
He does not need to make himself righteous in his own estimation, he needs to be righteous, or covered, IN GOD’S ESTIMATION.
So therefore: “for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”
So what does this mean? This means that God took the skin of an innocent animal (a perfect animal – almost certainly a Lamb) and killed it so that Adam and Eve would be covered in GOD’S ESTIMATION. What does this point to? You guessed it! Christ!
For again thus says the writer:
“John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29-30).
Consider another vital Messianic Prophesy, found in Jeremiah 23:6:
“In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (caps NOT mine)
So how does this apply to us? Lets let God explain through another Messianic Prophesy:
“Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him;
He has put Him to grief;
when His soul makes an offering for guilt,
He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11 Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied;
by His knowledge shall the Righteous One, My Servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and He shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:10-11 ESV)
Make many to be ACCOUNTED RIGHTEOUS? Where else can we find this?
“14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.
17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:14-17)
Thus again speaks the Holy Spirit through the writer:
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Phillipians 3:7-11)
Finally, the finish.
22 "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”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 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."
Revelation Chapter 22:1-5 describes the final result of the work of the promised Messiah.
“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”