It is extremely depressing that the first man spend a grand total of 3 chapters before he fell from grace. Satan, after he has taken over control over the serpent, approached Eve to reclaim his dominion over the earth, after having lost it when he decided that he wanted to be like God.
Satan's Strategy
See how he twisted God's word:
What God said: From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat (Gen 2:16-17)
What Satan said: has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?
What Eve said: From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'
Satan's Response: You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
There are a few points to note here. First, Eve was not present when God gave Adam this command so it was left to him to explain the Adamic covenant to Eve. Some have wondered whether Adam actually passed on the message correctly and whether Eve added on to God's instructions. It is sufficient to deduce from Eve's reply to Satan that she knew the basics.
Secondly, it is instructive to understand how Satan attacks us by always stressing the negatives, just like our human nature always focus on the things that we do not have rather than those things that God has already richly blessed us with. God gave only ONE single restrictive instruction to Adam and Eve regarding the issue of food in the garden and yet the two of them decided that this single instruction was too difficult to follow.
Thirdly, there is this huge protracted debate about God's purpose in setting up this test if, in His omniscience, He knew that the 2 of them would have failed. They asked whether God has set them up for failure. Of course, those who subscribed to open theism will circumvent this "problem" by pointing out that God did not at that point know that Adam and Eve would choose the contrary path (Personally this sounds like a cop-out and does not gel with the Bible says about God). I do not claimed to have an elegant answer between God's foreknowledge and His intent to proceed with this test. I can only say that (1) it was not an unreasonable instruction and (2) in his infinite wisdom, He already knew what He had to do to redeem His creation. This will be revealed a few verses later.
The Fall of Man (and Woman)
The woman fell "hook-line-and-sinker" to Satan's strategy and she fell for the lusts of the flesh (the tree was good for food), the eye (a delight to the eyes) and the pride (the tree was desirable to make one wise). It was here that the Bible revealed to us that Adam was all along together with Eve during this entire exchange. The fact that Bible did not record Adam making any effort to counter Satan or stop Eve from breaking God's instruction demonstrated that Adam was as culpable as Eve. Collectively, both Adam and Eve were equally guilty of being disobedient to God.
In any case, the result was that the Bible described that "the eyes of both of them were opened" and they realised that they were naked. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word for naked here (עירם) and the one used at the end of chapter 2 (ערום) are spelled differently, possibly signifying the loss of innocence.
God's Judgment
Verses 8 and 9 have been used by some as evidence that the concept of the omnipresence and omniscience of Yahweh was developed only in the later part of the Bible. Here, God is described as having a physical presence and was not even aware of the location of Adam and Eve. There is, of course, a simpler explanation in that the Bible here is describing a physical manifestation of God's presence and God's question of "where are you?" was not evidence of lack of knowledge but an indictment of Adam's sin.
The temptation to "pass the buck" seems to have a very early origin as Adam was quick to point the finger at both God and Eve for causing him to sin (The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.). Eve fared a little better, admitting that she was deceived by Satan.
On the Serpent
Some people have wondered why did God punished the serpent when it was Satan that used it as a vehicle to cause Adam to sin. This however has been God's principle that He viewed the life of human being more than that of animals (Leviticus 24:21). While it was not clear whether the serpent had any choice to be used, it was clear that the punishment came as a result of causing man's physical and spiritual death.
On Satan
From this point onwards, Satan has waged a constant war of attrition with woman. Because Satan knew that God's redemptive plan will come through the woman, he has attempted to corrupt it through inter-marriage described in Genesis 6:1-4. While it was not apparent here why the Messiah would come from a seed of a woman given that the Biblical norm was to trace the seed through the male line, Isaiah 7:14 shed the light when it proclaimed that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. Satan's future was also revealed in this pronouncement that while the Messiah would be bruised in the heel (crucifixion), Satan would ultimately be dealt the final judgment and be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).
On the Woman
There are 2 slightly differing interpretation of Genesis 3:16 (NKJV and NASB). NKJV seems to suggest that besides multiplying the labour pains, God has also multiplied menstrual pains and the ability to conceive. NASB has assumed that this verse is a hendiadys (a figure of speech used for emphasis) and thus interpreted as a single idea of labour pains.
The woman's relationship with her husband would also undergo a radical change as a result of the fall. Although God has ordained that the man will be the head of the partnership (and he will rule over you), the woman will attempt to overturn this (your desire will be for your husband). The word "desire" is not sexual but rather to control or dominate. This same Hebrew word is also used in Genesis 4:7 in reference to sin's desire for Cain.
On the Man
God's judgment comprises (a) cursing of the earth [Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you], (b) human diet [you will eat the plants of the field], (c) hard labour [By the sweat of your face you will eat bread] and (d) physical death [Till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return].
Garment of Skin
The first record of physical death probably occurred at this point when God in His providence and care provided clothing made out of animal skin to replace the flimsy-made garment of fig leaves . Theologians also pointed to this passage as the first demonstration of God's demand for blood as a covering for sin. This theme would be further elaborated in the course of Biblical history.
Driven from the Garden of Eden
Even God's action to banish (literally driving out) Adam and Eve from the garden and the setting up of the cherubim to guard the tree of life can be seen as God's loving-kindness towards us. How? As sinners, the ability to live forever in a future that is bleak will certainly be a frightening thought. Think about someone like Hitler, Pol Pot or Mao Zedong living forever and you get the point.
The other point to note is the need to set up cherubim (meaning more than one cherub) and the flaming sword to guard the tree of life. Why was there a need to put the highest order of the angelic beings to guard it against man when one normal angel will do? Especially when one normal angel was able to send pestilence to destroy 70,000 people (2 Sam 24:10-17). The Bible doesn't say but God could be guarding it against Satan whom, before his own fall, was himself a cherub (Eze 28:12-19).
It was definitely a sad ending to what could have been a blessing for Adam and Eve but unconscious to them, God has already put in place the grand plan of salvation.
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