v1: The serpent's cunning;
- he went to the woman first; she was first tempted, (1 Timothy 2.14)
- he brought a question to spoil the relationship with God;
- he tried to make them to doubt God's word;
- he came to ruin the pearl of God's creation.
The end result is sin and rebellion and death; there came the need of salvation, initially through animal sacrifice, but also by faith. We must not think that God was taken by surprise, but nor that He actually planned man's fall; yet He has already planned the coming into the world of the Son of God. Adam and Eve were not compelled to fail; it was possible for them not to sin; their freewill was sufficient to resist. Although God is unchangeable, and cannot sin, He made Adam changeable, and capable of sinning.
v2-3: It is clear that Adam and Eve are together (see Genesis 3:6). The serpent comes to the two of them, but addresses his questions to the woman.
Eve's answer is not accurate; the tree of life was in the middle of the garden, although the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was close to it (Genesis 2:9); sometimes the routes of right and wrong appear quite similar.
The prohibition was of eating, not touching, although of course one might lead to the other.
Eve's response to the serpent shows how easily we can alter what God has said, especially when we are under some pressure of temptation. We are not naturally strong.
v4: The serpent's next words directly contradict God's warning in Genesis 2:17.
The character of the devil is manifest; he was a liar from the beginning, John 8.44; all his words here are untruths.
v5: "This is the real reason God wants to keep you from the fruit," he says, attacking God's character and integrity. He thus makes sin appear acceptable, even beneficial.
As we guide others, we must do so out of godly desires and righteousness; selfish motives, even for sensible advice, are destructive.
v6: Adam and Eve both eat the fruit. They did not expect the temptation, they may not have been conscious that eating the fruit was an act of rebellion against God; although there is no reason that they did not know His commands.
They disobeyed, they were guilty; and they will die. The consequences for all humankind were devastating, for sin and death entered the world.
The fruit was;
- good for food - the lust of the flesh;
- pleasant to the eyes - the lust of the eyes; and
- desirable to make one wise - the pride of life.
Compare Genesis 2:9; God had provided food fulfilling the first two. Yet Adam and Eve were tempted into wanting something more, thinking God's provision insufficient. They were covetous, compare Joshua 7:21; the enemy can sow seeds of dissatisfaction and greed.
Yet their thought processes at the time were perhaps less sophisticated. And our own experience of temptations rarely takes us through a consideration of rebellion, of covetousness, of potential consequences. The temptation blinds us to such wider issues, and presents the attractiveness of sins.
Thomas Watson suggests that Adam was guilty of ten sins; unbelief, ingratitude, discontent, pride, disobedience, improper curiosity, wantonness, sacrilege, murder, presumption. (A body of divinity. III The fall.)
v7-8: The immediate consequence; broken relationship with God, Isaiah 59:2. There is shame and guilt, but this can only be covered by God’s act of propitiation; their own attempt to cover themselves was insufficient.
Their innocence is lost; their bodies, previously shining (Exodus 34.29) became dull. They did not fall from grace; for they were not in a state that we return to; in Christ we do not become innocent, we become righteous.
In Romans 3.25, God has set forth Christ as our propitiation, for we cannot do it, Psalm 49.8.
v9-13: Nothing is beyond the knowledge of the Lord God; He knew what had happened. He brings questions to expose sin, and to encourage faith, just as read in the gospels. Adam and Eve sought to avoid their responsibility.
There are three questions to Adam:
- Where are you?
- Who told you that you were naked?
- Have you eaten from the tree...?
There is a single question for Eve:
- What is this that you have done?
It seems common for men to seek to pass blame. 'like a compass needle that always points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman.’ (Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns.)
‘Why didn’t God intervene to prevent this?’ we may ask. C.S.Lewis in The Problem of Pain, offers a solution. ‘We can, perhaps, conceive of a world in which God corrects the results of this abuse of free will by His creatures at every moment… But such a world would be one in which wrong actions were impossible and in which, therefore, freedom of the will would be void. …Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free wills involve, and you will find that you have excluded life itself.’ (Chapter 2 Divine Omnipotence)
The glory of the gospel is that God has resolved this unsolvable dilemma through Jesus Christ.
v14-19: God's prerogative is to judge; His commands have been breached, His standards neglected. Should He not act?
v14-15: The serpent if judged first, not because Adam and Eve blamed it, but because God knows it to be the tempter. The serpent remains silent before God; He could of course destroy it.
The serpent has immediate judgment, to be cursed, to live on the ground. There is full defeat later; Eve's seed is Christ, who bruised Satan's head. In Romans 16:20 this is applied to the church; we share in the victory.
v16: Words for the woman; she shall have pain in childbirth, and she shall be in submission to her husband.
The word 'desire', or, better, 'desire against' implies resistance, and can include aggression. The promise is not of totally gracious submission and devotion. Similarly, 'rule over' implies conflict between man and woman. These words describe a curse, not a basis for male authority. Yet, in Christ, the curse is ended; see Colossians 3:18-19, describing the proper relationship between husband and wife.
v17-19: Adam went wrong because he heeded the voice of the woman. There is mercy here; Adam is not cursed, but the ground is cursed for his sake; the ground is always with us on the earth, a reminder of this curse. The serpent also went on the ground, see Luke 10:18.
The ground is effectively man's destiny unless he trusts in Christ.
Life is now full of toil and sweat, there is always resistance to progress; thus Adam is cursed by toil in life, and futility in death. He has no hope. There is “painful toil,” speaking of the troubles and cares of life, which came in at this point. The work given to Adam became wearisome, rather than a joyful delight.
There are thorns and thistles; since God did not make new things as a result of the fall, we understand that the thorns and thistles perhaps grew more rapidly, and began to effect the cultivated land in a way not previously experienced.
v20: Eve is the mother of all living; a vital doctrine that demands that Adam and Eve were the first two people; (Mark 10:6-9; Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49). From these two the world began to be populated, as generation after generation has sons and daughters. Chapter 5 indicates that each lived around 800 years. By the time of the flood they were thousands of people.
Through the first pair, sin spread to all mankind; this is specific in Genesis 4:8, 23; and general in Genesis 6:5.
v21: A sacrifice and a covering for sin; later God provided a lamb, 22:6, and a body, Hebrews 10:5; all pointing us to Calvary, and God's perfect provision in Christ.
Adam and Eve lost their innocence, and now their nakedness; they had knowledge without discernment; freedom without responsibility. God later gave a covenant for security, and law for responsibility; later still came grace for power.
v22: Adam and Eve know good and evil; they are no longer innocent, and can think and decide and scheme; if they were to take from the tree of life (who is Christ) they will live forever.
v23-24: Man is banished, and kept from the tree of life. The way to the tree is guarded, see Genesis 2:9. In Christ, that way is re-opened, see Revelation 22:2.