Effects of the Fall

Answers Bible Curriculum Second Edition Unit 3 Lesson 21

We return this week in Sunday school to our study of the Fall of man, this time focusing on the effects of the fall. How was man changed as a result of sin? What curses did God announce on the serpent, on the woman, and on the man that are still evident today? And how were God’s pronouncements both illustrations of God’s justice and of God’s mercy—even of the triumph of the gospel? Join us as we consider many such key questions in this foundational account of history!

Our text for Sunday school is Genesis 3:1-24.

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which are fruits of the fall and those are the great flood and later but they are related to the fall and its immediate effects today we are talking about those immediate effects two weeks ago we looked at how man fell into heinous sin according to Satan’s crafty deception at the fall but now we’re looking at the aftermath in today’s lesson we’re going to examine the text in three different parts basically the rest of our passage but we’re going to take it up we’re going to examine it in three different pieces we’ll first examine the initial confrontation between man and woman with God then we’ll examine the curses that God pronounces and then we’ll examine the reaction of God and man to those curses and as we go along I think you’ll see that much of what man experiences is either or we feel the implications of that today or we actually experience the same thing so we’ll have plenty of application let’s pray below let’s pray though before we continue great God in heaven I pray that you would open up this passage to us help me to be able to explain it well and accurately and I pray God that we would all take in what is this dramatic momentous far-reaching event which you have so graciously recorded for us in the scripture I pray that you bless this time in your word amen all right please open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 3 and we’re going to begin examining the rest of our chapter with the initial confrontation with God and so this is Genesis chapter 3 we’re starting just verses 813 now we’re picking up our reading right after man and woman have eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil their eyes have been opened they have seen that they are naked and they’ve sewn fig leaves for themselves as loin coverings but let’s read what happens next so starting in verse 8 chapter 3 they heard the sound of the Lord that is Yahweh God Walking In The Garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God Among the Trees of the garden then Yahweh God Called To The Man and said to him where are you he said I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself and he said who told you that you were naked have you eaten from the Tree of which I commanded you not to eat the man said the woman whom you gave to be with me she gave me from the tree and I ate then Yahweh God said to the woman what is this you have done and the woman said the serpent deceived me and I ate okay let let’s just start with this little section and observe note that in verse eight of our passage Adam and the woman heard the sound of God walking in the garden this implies that God appeared to them in a visible and tangible form they could actually hear him moving or walking through the garden but notice in verse 9 the reaction of the man and his wife to this knowledge they hide from the presence of God where do they hide among the Trees of the garden the Trees of the garden that God himself created for them notice in verse n who calls out we don’t see man calling out to God but what see God who calls out to man and he asks where are you and notice how Adam responds in verse 10 he does not ignore God’s call oh he responds but he doesn’t say I’m I’m right here or come out and hiding go up to God and say oh there’s there’s no use trying to hide from you here I am no instead we hear an explanation from Adam why he’s hiding he says to God I heard you walking in the garden and I was afraid why was Adam afraid is it because he had sinned is that what he says no that’s not what he says he says he was afraid because he was naked you getting the sense that Adam’s trying to avoid mentioning something this only brings more questions from God though in verse 11 God hears that Adam knows that he’s naked and he says well who told you that you were naked uh oh The Jig Is up Adam you’ve just admitted something that proves that something is out of order so what are you g to do now God asks Adam straight out have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat well there’s no more room to maneuver it’s time to come come clean Adam but what does Adam do look at verse 12 he says to God the woman whom you gave to be with me she gave from the tree and I ate so does Adam admit his sin and take responsibility for a Disobedience no he doesn’t what do he do instead yes he we’ll talk about that in just a second he blames God but even but with that he also blames Eve and Eve seems to be the the primary focus in his statement Eve made me do it the woman whom you gave to me it was the woman it was not my fault I was just doing my own thing in the garden and she gave me the fruit yes I did eat but if it weren’t for her I wouldn’t have now notice as as someone already answered Adam SP specifically it’s the woman whom you gave to be with me and God doesn’t need to be reminded which woman Adam’s talking about since there’s only one woman on the earth at that time so why does Adam include that statement the woman whom you gave to be with me and it can only be because Adam is also blaming God it’s not just the woman’s fault it’s really it’s really God’s fault it’s like Adam says to God I did what you told me to or did what you told me not to it’s true but it’s not my fault the woman made me do it and come to think of it you’re the one who gave me this woman and if you hadn’t given me the woman that wouldn’t have made me eat the woman would would not have made me eat so really God this disobedience is your fault by the way notice how grammatically Adam’s admission appears in his sentence in his confession the Mission only appears as the last two tiny words of his statement but look at all the explanation and qualification in the front Adam did you eat of the tree uh the woman the one you gave to me she gave to me and I ate it’s basically reflected reflecting what the Hebrew does you also have this this ton of front matter and then that tiny confession at the end notice God doesn’t answer Adam’s or doesn’t respond to Adam right away but turns to hear the woman’s explanation what is this you have done and how does her response compare to Adam’s it’s not that different the woman also passes the blame she says it’s it’s the Serpent’s fault the serpent deceived me and I ate it’s true I did what you forbid but it was because of the serpent if it weren’t for the serpent I I wouldn’t have done it now’s take a step back now and interpret think about what man is displaying for the first time after the fall for the first time in scripture the first time in history man becomes afraid of God man cannot bear to be in God’s presence but instead tries to hide from him man cannot take responsibility for his own evil but instead blames others and man even has the gall to blame God for his own failure how can this be this is very different than what we saw before and consider how good God has been to them up to this point God as their creator has only lavished them with gifts since the dawn of creation he appointed man and woman as his under rulers made them in his own glorious image he gave them a very good world with no pain no futility no sin planted for them a wonderful garden filled with a variety of delicious fruit gave them precious companionship and their marriage relationship he himself communed with them as their God and as their friend and he warned them from the path that would destroy them he has been very good it’s been well pointed out by different theologians that from the beginning God has shown himself to be a god of Grace of undeserved favor you see God is not simply a god of law who says all right we’re starting out neutrally obey me and you’ll experience good disobey me you’ll experience bad rather what God does in creation is he pours out Abundant Blessings first and then says consider who I am and consider what I’ve done now trust and obey me we see this in creation and we’ll see the same thing when it comes to Israel’s deliverance from Egypt doesn’t start Israel with just a neutral place he actually starts them with undeserved favor and then he calls them to obey he’s a god of Grace now with such a God how should man have reacted to his own tragic fall not run away from God run to God yeah repent you consider what they know about God he’s the source of all goodness he’s the source of all kindness and Grace run to him he’ll know what to do God we’re sorry that we’ve sinned against you in this heinous way we have no excuse please have mercy on us and provide us a way to be reconciled to you but that is not man’s attitude clearly even from these first few verses they do not treat God as their help and savior but as their what they treat God really as as an enemy God is the Boogeyman out to get them he’s too holy and frightening to even get near he’s the real source of their problems and the solution is not reconciliation but Escape or even elimination get rid of God and everything will be all right how could they think this about God considering how he’s demonstrated himself to be towards them and there’s really only one explanation how could they react act this way it’s because they’ve had a radical change of heart with that first sin with the fall man’s heart has changed both man and woman have become hopelessly corrupted by evil they’ve experienced spiritual death a death of the heart and therefore a man now sees everything from a wicked self-exalting worldview he looks at God God and he should see the source of his hope and help and and all good but instead he sees an enemy to be avoided this is what theologians call the doctrine of total depravity or of total inability or of radical corruption in the very first moments after the fall we see man displaying this new heart towards God we’ll have much more to say about this biblical truth in the coming lessons but notice it’s already on display even so shortly after the fall man has become radically corrupted by sin because of the fall and it’s penetrated to his deepest character by the way why does God ask the questions that he does In this passage it’s not as if the Sovereign omnipotent omniscient God doesn’t know exactly what’s happened and has to come and find out so why does he ask where are you and what have you done yeah this is God giving this sinful hair an opportunity to repent to confess to come back to him to admit what they’ve done and seek his help now consider how gracious God is in his approach to Adam and Eve he think of how he might have come to them as soon as they sinned storm fire wrath a booming voice from Heaven saying I know what you done I’m going to come get you but that’s not what God does instead God comes walking slowly in the garden he calls after them and he asks questions could God have been Kinder or gentler in confronting sin heinous Rebellion against him he go and and despite what they’ve done he goes after them but what is their reaction to this Grace from God this very gentle approach it’s to avoid God it’s to blame God and don’t we see the same in our world today and even in our own behavior we not only do evil but we do our best to hide and excuse our evil and even blame others we see this all around us now I’m not saying that outside factors and people don’t affect us they do but the Bible makes clear that we are all responsible for our own evil thoughts words and actions no matter what other people do or what circumstances affect us so before we move on do take a moment to consider yourself do you do the same thing with your sins as Adam and Eve do with theirs do you hide them do you blame others do you even blame God and in response to your sin do you treat God as the enemy to be avoided or overcome or do you run to him as your savior he is the only help let’s now examine the next section of our text and that’s the curses having conducted his investigation graciously given an opportunity for man and woman to repent seeing that they will not God now pronounced is Judgment let’s now read verses 14 and 19 God says because you have done this and the Lord God said to the serpent I’m sorry include that line and the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this cursed are you more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field on your belly you will go and dust you will eat all the days of your life now put emnity between you and the woman and between your seat and her seat he shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel to the woman he said I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth in pain you will bring forth children yet your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you then to Adam he said because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you saying you shall not eat from it cursed is the ground because of you in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you and you will eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face you will eat bread till you return to the ground because from it you were taken for you are dust and to dust you shall return let’s observe the second section in these verses we see curses announced on the serpent then the woman then the man notice that God starts with the serpent it’s interesting that he asks questions of the man and the woman gives them opportunity to repent but says nothing this way to the serpent doesn’t give him an opportunity to explain himself or to repent and notice the pronouncements the four pronouncements that God makes to the serpent verses 14 and 15 God says you are cursed more than all animals you will crawl from from now on on your belly and in the dust I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed and the seed of the woman will crush your head and you shall only bruise his heel I will come back to the significance of that in a moment but after speaking to the serpent God then addresses the woman in verse 16 a shorter section here notice the two pronouncements made to the woman he says God said says you will have greatly multiplied pain in having children Now understand by the term multiply in our translation New American Standard translation it does not indicate that God is merely increasing the pain that was already present already a part of child birth or parenting that comes with our word multiply but actually the Hebrew is literally I will make I will greatly make great your pain so there’s no implication here pain already having been this is just just a new pain that’s going to be incredibly massive compared to the other pains in Creation in the Fallen creation so understand that about multiply but also understand the word childbirth here is more literally translated conception or pregnancy so God is saying I’m going to more I’m going to greatly increase I’m going to greatly make rate your pain in pregnancy or conception now that’s a little bit strange because there’s not really great pain associated with those two things compared to the the rest of life so likely this is figuratively describing the whole child rearing process we’re not just talking about Labor here certainly we’re not just talking about conception rather God is saying that motherhood as a whole is going to become a great pain as a result of the fall and can’t many mothers testify to this this not just in the pain of labor but all the sorrow and difficulty and frustration in trying to mold your children and seeing them behave a certain way or seeing certain things happen to them there’s great pain that comes with being a mother and this is a result of the fall but there’s another announcement made to the woman it says your desire will be toward your husband but he will rule over you now what’s that about well we’ll come back to that and then finally in verse 17 we have the pronouncements given to the man but notice God backs up a step he first specifically cites what was man’s fault he says because you’ve listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the Tree of which I commanded you about which I commanded you saying you shall not eat from it now the sin wasn’t simply that he listened to his wife it was that he followed her into sin God reminds the man of man’s exact responsibility doesn’t matter what your wife does doesn’t matter what she counsels you you are to obey my command not excuse it by saying your wife did or counsel you to do something and therefore God gives three pronouncements to man he says cursed is the ground because of you you will now work hard and with pain to get food from the ground and then you will die and return to dust now let’s return to interpretation now and see if we can answer some quick some key questions about this passage first did snakes crawl on their belly before the fall or only after well apparently it was only after because the rest of the curses in this section they describe new realities as a result of the Fall therefore When God says you will crawl on your belly serpent this apparently was a new thing it’s not something the serpent did before that might make us ask well then what did the snake look like before the fall did it have legs did it have wings something else but we don’t know Bible doesn’t give us enough information to answer that question it’s possible that snakes actually didn’t lose any appendages as a result of the fall but they merely changed posture even if a snake travels on the ground it could hold itself up as it travels you can think of maybe some snake today that whenever they’re defending themselves they they back themselves up and and their head Rises into the air snakes don’t usually travel like that though so it may be that though the snake’s body didn’t change its way of travel did the snake is now going to be serpents are now going to be traveling right on the ground with a face even on the ground but we might wonder in response to that well oh let me to Advance the slides here why why punish the snake we already noted in a previous lesson the snake is just a means it’s an instrument a tool of Satan snake doesn’t even have a comprehension of itself or of sin or the curse so why punish the snake well the answer is in what this punishment what this curse will figuratively communicate and we can get a good sense of this by considering a later Old Testament passage in Micah 7:17 we hear an announcement from God about the future enemies of Israel the context is that God has just declared how he’s going to restore Israel and he’s going to deal with Israel’s enemies and then Micah 7:17 says this about Israel’s enemies they will lick the dust like a serpent like reptiles of the earth they will come trembling out of their fortresses to Yahweh Our God they will come in dread and they will be afraid before you and do you hear what God’s saying there in Micah God’s enemies Israel’s enemies will one day have postures like The Serpent and consider how that posture is described in Micah it is a posture of loneliness of submission of fear and of defeat their faces these enemies are constantly in the dust now this is instructive this informs us as to why God curses the serpent God curses the serpent after the fall even though the animal cannot really comprehend its humiliation because this is a symbol of Satan’s own downfall Satan’s defeat and it has to be right after Satan uses a tool in an effort to corrupt mankind acquire glory for himself and frustrate God God turns the tool Satan’s very tool into a symbol of Satan’s own humiliation God essentially says to Satan do you see the posture of this snake this will be your posture and I want all the universe to know it and this fits right in with the context of God’s announcement about the Serpent’s head being crushed by one to come so in this very first curse God is making abundantly clear Satan has has accomplished no victory in the fall of Man Satan’s Doom is just as sure as it has ever been and the Very animal the snake that was used to precipitate the fall will now be a symbol of God’s victory over Satan for the rest of the snake’s existence and this is still true today when you see a snake traveling along the ground with his face in the dust think of the truth communicated in that snake’s posture it’s made clear for us in this curse now God also says that he will place enmity between the woman and the snake and between the seed of the woman and the seed of the snake what is that talking about well at first we might think that this is about people becoming afraid of snakes and snakes being afraid of humans but this is true of many other animals it hardly be a unique curse to the snake some people really like snakes I don’t know how they do but they do so the curse has to mean something else we’ve already seen that the other curses on the serpent have to do with Satan and while Satan does not procreate he is said later in the scriptures to have seed to have children and who are the children of Satan or the devil those who do what Satan does Wicked ones unbelievers they are the children of the devil so then God is promising here to The Serpent and to man who listens to this curse that there are going to be two kinds of seed there going to be a group that belongs to Satan and is like him and there’s going to be a group that comes from Eve and it’s going to be different but notice the relationship between these two groups according to this verse it’s going to be enmity which is conflict hostility now which group of people would experience conflict with Satan’s brood of wicked ones namely the people who do not do as Satan does the people who belong to God the people who love righteousness the people who are believers so God’s saying there’s going to be enmity between a group to come that will be like Satan and a group to come that will not be like Satan but will instead believe in me now notice God says to God identifies where this enmity will come from he says I will put enmity between these groups and between the woman and between the serpent and finally note that the seed of the woman is set ultimately to deliver a mortal wound on the serpent himself that’s what the phrase bruise his head bruise your head that means that someone’s been wounded in a way that they’re going to die it says the seed to come will do this to the serpent well that seed will suffer only a minor wound in return just a bruise on the heel so what is God saying to Satan with these announcements well first God is saying that he will save the woman and preserve a Godly line of humanity through her and this line will oppose Satan and those who follow him moreover from this Godly line a second promise will come one who will ultimately defeat and Destroy Satan who is that according to to the rest of scripture why that’s Jesus that’s Israel’s Messiah Son of God son of man born of a virgin and therefore the seed of the woman but not the seed of the man what we’re seeing here is actually God’s triumphant sovereignty in Salvation on full display God promises the serpent the most utter defeat he doesn’t just have a posture of humiliation but there’s more God says to Satan essentially you may think you have corrupted and destroyed mankind that they now all belong to you that they now all serve you but let me tell you I will cause the woman the very one whom you deceive and many from among her children to come back to me they will be a seed apart from your seed I will cause them to repent they will then hate you and therefore be at odds with all of those who belong to you as your children I will cause this to happen you can do nothing to stop me oh Satan in fact one righteous descendant from the wom will not only wage war against you he will lay the finishing blow he is my son he is the one who will come from the very race Humanity that you thought that you had conquered and captured you will be able to do nothing against him except give him a minor bruise you will kill and crucify him but he will rise triumphant from the grave to give life to all those who believe in him this is your doom oh deceiver was this not the awesome power and victory of our great God and savior on display now of course I’ve filled in some of the details this is an announcement made in in and a bare outline compared to what we see in the rest of scripture but don’t miss that right here in Genesis 3:15 and 16 we have the first proclamation of the saving Gospel of God and scripture now many more details will be filled in as as you proceed in the Old Testament and certainly in the New Testament but catch this from the beginning our good God gave all Sinners hope one day God promises I will provide you a savior and a deliverer from the serpent from Satan and from what he’s done to you and what should this encourage this should encourage all men to return to God and believe his promises this was true in the beginning and it’s true now it extends to everyone who listens to this word today return to God believe his promises he will deliver you now what about the second part of what is of what God says to the woman moving on to the woman now and as we talk through interpretation here see make sure the slide is where I want it to be so God brings great pain for women as they bring forth children but what about this second part your desire will be for your husband yet he will rule over you what is that all about this is a somewhat puzzling verse and there is some debate as to ex its exact meaning because the word desire here is very rare in scripture it’s only used three times once here once in Genesis 4 and once in Song of Solomon Chapter 7 what kind of Desire are we talking about now a key clue of interpretation which I think does lead us to the way we ought to understand this statement about the woman comes in the next chapter Genesis 4 turn over there for just a second Genesis 4 verses 6 to7 God says something to Cain context here is Cain is jealous over Abel’s accepted sacrifice and upset that his own sacrifice was not accepted notice what verses six and seven say then yah said to Cain why are you angry and why is your Countess Fallen if you will do well will not your countenance be lifted up if you do not do well sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you but you must Master it or you must rule it you notice how similar that sounds to the proclamation given to the woman in Genesis chapter 3 it’s even more similar in the Hebrew but you can see it reflected in the English now what sense does sin desire Cain is it a positive thing does it seek to love him or does it seek is good now clearly not sin Wants to Rule Cain control him destroy him therefore God says to Cain you must Master the sin that wants you in a bad way you must rule over it now if we take this understanding to Genesis chapter 3 as I think we ought because of how similar the phrasing is and what God is pronouncing to women in the second part of the curse to her is that as a result of sin the wife will now experience great marital Strife he says you will you oh wife you a woman will desire to rule your husband but he will rule over you to say that another way because of the Fall the woman will tend to desire to control her husband and be independent of him while the man will tend to desire to be sinful in his rule to dominate his wife and even abuse her and isn’t this something that we see today in every place especially in our own country on the one hand you have the feminist movement that seeks to liberate women from being submissive to husbands and to men in general but unfortunately it just makes women more vulnerable to men than ever on the other hand men continue to abuse their wives and women in general this happens not just in America but all around the world from the most modern Nations to the most backward tribal collection see just as the marriage Paradigm was broken in the garden with Adam and Eve sin Eve taking the lead and leading her husband into evil and man acquiescing to her leadership in that evil so that Brokenness is going to be continually reflected now in marriage and the many misunderstandings fights domestic abuse cases divorces and even murders that all around the world why would God curse marriage marriage was originally a gift but the fall brought a curse on marriage even on this good institution that God made now we might ask why these curses why announce these curses to the woman God could have cursed many things related to women moreover there are things that God curses in the world that are affected by the fall in a negative way besides what is highlighted to the woman here and even what’s highlighted to the man so why mention these two specific curses about raising children and the wife’s relationship to her husband well I think the answer is actually pretty simple it’s because these represent the woman’s primary sphere of Life The Curse is going to fall the announcement of the curse falls on her her main sphere and her main source of fulfillment the most relevant place to speak of a curse to the woman is with the home and family and so that’s what we see here and we see the same thing with Adam and the curse that is announced to him let’s now consider Adam the curse on Adam hit his most relevant sphere that is his work we’ve already covered some information about this in the lesson stewardship but God’s pronouncement on man is that man’s work will now become hard painful toilsome and futile Now understand these curses they’re not exclusive to the man exclusive to the woman the woman is going to experience the curse of on work as well and man will experience the curse on home and family as well but God is emphasizing it according to the primary sphere of woman and man rather than satisfying him himself in the food that God provided him man will now have to work painfully and frustratingly for his food he will now become a farmer dealing with thorns and weeds plants that did not exist or did not exist in the extent that they or in the way that they did before the fall as after the fall these plants will now flourish in a world where God changes the watering system from an underground watering system to one that relies mostly on on rain just as the pain of just as the pain of raising a family would be with a woman constantly all her days so will the pain of man’s work be with him all his days until he dies he will toil until he dies man will return to the ground from which he was made he will die his wife will die and their children will die thus this is it’s at the fall where death and the whole world even though animals did not sin and even though the ground had no part in Adam’s Rebellion all of it fell under the curse of death when its ruler was cursed did you catch that part of God statement curs is the ground because of you ground didn’t do anything and really all the Earth was cursed animals too because of what the ruler of the earth did and this is just what Roman says Romans 5:12 says therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin that is death entered the world through sin and so death spread to all men because all sined and then Romans 8:20 to 22 speaks about the same concept in terms of futility God says in Romans for the creation was subjected to futility not willingly but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God we know the whole creation groans and suffers the Pains of child birth together until now the way the world is is not the way it was originally created it wasn’t death before the fall this is something that happened to Creation this was a a subjection of creation because of man’s sin now these curses are severe and we do indeed feel their effects every day all of us experience the curse on work and the curse on the ground all of us experien the curse on home and family and all of us experience the curse of death unless Christ returns soon or each one of you listening today will die you will return to dust just as God said to Adam and what a tragic change in man’s State what a marring of God’s wonderful creation design chapter 1 chapter 2 it’s just so sweet it’s so great it’s so good and then man sins against God and this is the result now this is not an overreaction by God this is the price of sin this is what man in his evil chose for himself God was not unjust in anything he decreed as a result of the Fall he showed himself to be holy as well as good and as we discussed already in previous lessons these punishments were appropriate considering the severity of the the offense that is rebelling against rejecting God and exalting self and these curses will serve an important gospel purpose just as they do today when you experience the pain of Life the trouble of life and the reminder of death you are reminded of your need for Redemption and this is something I think all people realize deep down and when they see the Earth as it is they know something’s not right something’s off this is not the way the world was meant to be now have you felt that have you noticed that in your experience of these curses man when he Witnesses this he knows knows we need someone to set us free from all of this now as bad as these curses are there’s still two other tragic results of the Fall that we’ve not yet discussed but which appear in our final section of the passage of the chapter so let’s now turn to our last section Genesis CH 3: 20- 24 and let’s read so back in chapter 3 this is right after God finishes announcing the curses now the man called his wife’s name Eve because she was the mother of all the living Yahweh God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them then Yahweh God said behold the man has become like one of us knowing good and evil and now he might stretch out his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat and live forever therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken so he drove the man out and at the east of the Garden of Eden he stationed the cherubin and the Flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life now we’ll talk about these B these verses only briefly but notice a few items here notice that the immediate reaction to these curses by Adam is to name his wife he names her Eve in verse 21 and the reason is given to us explicitly in the text he says it’s because she was the mother of all living and that makes sense once we know a little bit about the the name Eve in Hebrew e the eve would be pronounced and that apparently is from the same root as the word K which means life therefore he calls her Eve she’s the mother of all a living you may say really Adam after all these curses you’re going to name your wife this this really positive thing talk more about that in just a second but do also notice in verse 22 we see God making clothes for Adam and Eve from animal skins as I mentioned two lessons ago this implies that God killed animals to clothe these humans and this then would be the first physical death in creation and not only does this measure this really gracious measure of God from Adam to from him to Adam and Eve not only does it meet their physical needs but it also serves as the first picture of man’s nakedness being covered by blameless sacrifice of course that’s a theme that’s going to continue to be developed in the Old Testament and in the New Testament finally notice how man is driven out of the garden garden with no ability to return maintain access God places a guard of cherubin which is more than one of these great Angelic beings at the east of the garden and he also places an Evert turning flaming sword now I think we often assume that this is these swords are being carried by the cherabin but it’s written as if it’s a separate entity God places the cherabin and then he places a sword a sword that keeps waving and turning in every direction specifically to prevent man from returning to the garden now let’s ask a a few final questions interpretation related why does Adam give such a hopeful name to Eve after hearing all the curses you might think that he’d name his wife something like tragedy or she led us into sin or this is a terrible day that’s not what we leave from Adam why does he give her such a hopeful name I think it’s because Adam realized how much of God’s mercy was displayed even in the curse announcements you see even though God said that man would die because he ate the fruit God did not immediately enact a sentence it’s true man started to die physically as a result of the fall and he would eventually die but God also proclaimed through the curses that man would continue to live for a Time Adam you will have to toil you will have to get your bread from the ground but when you do you will sustain your life and the life of your family Eve you will have great pain in childbirth and in raising children but you are going to have children life will continue the human race will not be wiped out it mercifully will continue thus the name Eve is an expression of Hope in God’s promises and it is memorial to God’s mercy despite man’s terrible sin I think it’s very instructive that in what we might think are the worst announcements ever Adam’s response is actually a positive because he saw God’s mercy even in the curses but there still was punishment there still was great great loss in the curses and what happened afterwards and notice what man loses by being driven out of the garden he has no more access to God’s presence he may not dwell with God anymore and he also loses access to the Tree of Life which as we hear from God himself is what grants eternal life if he Adam were to eat of the tree he would live forever God says we cannot let him do that and as this expulsion that does it not represent the two greatest problems that man faces the greatest problem for man and woman and all people now on the earth is not the pain that comes with living on a cursed Earth it’s not the conflict in Rel relationships that we have with one another it’s not even temporal death the greatest problem in question is how can we return to God how can we experience fellowship with him again and how can we receive eternal life now more information to in response to that question in response to that problem it will be unveiled as the scripture progresses today we know in full what Adam and Eve didn’t know in those days and that is eternal life and intimate fellowship with God would indeed be restored by the promised savior Jesus Christ for all those who repent of sin and believe in Jesus as Lord and savior they not only granted eternal life and rescue from God’s Eternal wrath against sin but they are granted to dwell with God to behold the glory and the beauty and the good of the Lord in his presence forever for all of you listening today I pray that that is your Eternal destiny that is what you are Marching toward I pray that that is the hope you have with you all the time you see all of these terrible things that are the results of the Fall they will one day be reversed for those who have been joined to God Savior Jesus Christ and not only reversed but made immeasurably better than even what man knew originally we don’t have time to look at it now but we see the description of the new heavens and the new Earth in the end of the book of Revelation and you see that better than anything Adam and Eve knew before and that’s the destiny that’s where those who know Christ are headed even during our sojourn on Earth however the various curses pronounced on men and women in Genesis 3 are o overturned through Christ in Christ the pain of bringing forth children is still felt but it is overpowered by the hope and trust each Christian mother has in God in Christ there’s still conflict in marriage but both husband and wife work toward Greater Joy and unity to together as they submit to God’s original design for marriage in Christ there is still Toil and Trouble in work but Christians can do their work heartily as unto the Lord knowing that even though this world is passing away even though our own lives are passing away our work is not in vain because God will see and God will reward us for the work that is done for his sake and in Christ though every Christian must pass through the river of death they do not need to be afraid nor do their loved ones need to weep like those who have no hope because the Christian knows where he’s going even in death he’s going to be with God Christ redeems us he redeems Believers from the curse of the fall and the pain and suffering of life that must be in this cursed world is made into a refining blessing for the believer therefore the Christian can testify as Paul says all things work to my good because of God now I have to ask you do you enjoy these blessings in Christ yourself do you feel how you have been redeemed from the curse in this life and then in the life to come you will experience the full Redemption better than anything Adam and ever Adam and Eve ever knew do you experience that or do you only feel the weight the curse the crushing weight of the curse the punishment that makes life sorrowful and that gives a fearful expectation of what is to come I pray that it’s the former if only you would know and follow Christ and you would know not only the blessing God gives in this life but you will enjoy the ultimate blessing when this life and this world are over as you can see there is much to say much to see and to say about God and about our relationship to him based on this chapter what a foundational text this is critical history and praise God that He gave it to us this makes sense out of the great suffering and Evil we see in the world but it also points us just it was originally meant to point Adam and Eve and the people of Israel to their need for redemption in God through his promised savior I look forward to exploring with you as we continue our study how God would reveal more and more about that savior that was announced even here in chapter 3 that takes us to the end of our lesson any questions about what you’ve heard today yes Magda and then twist it in a way to you know to bring us to um sin what do you say to the thought that the actual first sin was not in E taking of the fruit um in her and and the the result of knowing good and evil but rather that the sin happened in her heart prior to taking the fruit which was her desire to be like God okay yeah good question mag you say your question briefly you mentioned verse 22 where it says Behold a man has become like one of us knowing good and evil and your question is was sin actually taking of the fruit or was it manifest in Eve’s desire to just take the fuit and I think I would say that sin occurred before she took the fruit it was indeed the desire that Beyond merely wanting what God forbid it was an expression of autonomy apart from God God says there’s a certain thing that’s good I’m going to decide what’s good God says I should submit to him I’m going to do my own good this is partly why the heinous you see the heinousness of of Eve’s Rebellion but why does God specifically judgment for the fruit this is something I said in one of the previous lessons I believe it’s because God always focuses on Deeds as as the evidence that brings judgment God does see the heart and he will judge us according to what is in our hearts but he always points to the Deeds because the Deeds show us in our heart and I brought it the example before Abraham Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac God stops him at the last minute he says do not harm the child for now I know that you fear God and you will and you did not withhold your own beloved Son from me now God knew that before he even testate with him but he wanted that deed to be manifest that he could point to it and so he could point us to it as to what real Faith produces then it will be the same thing in the final judgment what does the New Testament say repeatedly about the the judgment final judgment to come we are judged according to our Deeds of course that doesn’t mean that we can just focus on the externals your deeds will not be acceptable to God unless you have the right heart but yeah I think I would agree with you in your suggestion that the fall actually took place takes place in the coveting of the heart but it’s manifest in The Taking of the fruit yeah that’s good uh yeah Josiah so going through Genesis this was the first time that I realized that there might be problem it where imame the same thing that we see in James one where the person is dragged into a trial and says that it’s God’s fault is that a question or is that just a comment okay yeah I I think it’s a good observation you do see in a sense the problem of evil articulated by Adam here when he says it’s the woman that you gave me God you’re the one who’s responsible for sin so I don’t deserve to be punished and to to restate the problem of evil more formally how can a good God allow sin or or ordain sin it must be either that God is not all powerful or man is not responsible for his sin but as you anointed Josiah James says you can’t do that I’m sorry if you don’t understand God’s ways are above yours and above ours he is able to he has morally sufficient reasons good and sufficient reasons for causing all things to pass as they have but that never absolves man of his responsibility before God Adam you are responsible for your evil and I am just to punish you and so it is with all men who commit evil so yeah I think you’re already seeing comment on the problem of evil here in Genesis 3 that’s good that’s true if you have other questions based on this passage there are certain issues I didn’t bring up didn’t get to talk about so if you have other questions about things related to this passage please email me I would love to try and deal with those questions as best I can but that’s it for this week next week we see one of the first effects one of the first tangible effects of the fall in in terms of man’s new heart man’s Fallen heart it’s the second the Second Great tragedy in the history of man the first murder we’re talking about Cain and abble next week now let’s close in prayer our great God this this passage it reveals to us one of the worst happenings to ever take place the rebellion and all the consequences of the Fall that it brought well this is a terrible terrible terrible happening God and so much pain and evil and futility has been the result but this is what we did this is our this is our wages of sin and it even has Eternal implications God you cannot be blamed for this this was this was our responsibility and yet God in spite of what we did in spite of what our first representative did you responded in Grace you responded in Mercy even in Wrath even in Justice you were gracious and you sought out the man just as you do today Lord you are calling for all men to repent and that you promise that anyone who repents anyone who humbles himself comes before you and seeks your salvation and your mercy you will receive them it’s because you do not change you are the gracious saving God today just as you were in the beginning and we praise you for that God as terrible as this passage is for what it reports how wonderful it is God for how it displays your grace and kindness Lord You Are Holy and we need your mercy to be reconciled to you we need Jesus Christ but we thank you for providing that way and promising from the beginning that you would do that I pray that those listening today would Revel more in your salvation as a result of this passage in Jes Jesus name amen all right thank you all I’ll see you again next week