Godward Thoughts

Man had been placed in the garden by God, and given a task (to tend it and to keep it)—and a prohibition—(Gen. 2:17). Man was created to rule over the animals. The Bible was written as a textbook for man—and like any textbook it does not expect the student to understand everything in the first few chapters. There are many questions left unanswered which are taken up at later times. The fact that a serpent speaks is exceedingly strange for the Bible is not Aesop’s Fables.

The Bible makes a very conscious distinction between man and animals. In the previous chapter it explained that Adam gave names to the animals. (Clearly the animals could not do that themselves!) A speaking serpent is incongruous against the background of the Creation account. Speaking animals would seem to belong to paganism which has no concept of creation. Yet it is only later that we learn that the serpent was an instrument of another power. In Genesis 3 all that is not immediately relevant is omitted. All we are told is that the character of the animal made it a particularly well-adapted instrument for the power that used it, and we learn that it was created by God a beast of the field. That is very important for there was an order of authority in the creation. That order was: man ruling over beast; man ruling over the creation.

Satan planned to interrupt that order—to take the lowliest of the beasts and make that beast rule over man. He wanted man to listen and to follow the lowliest of the beasts rather than for man to obey and follow God. He approached the woman first to induce her to lead her husband astray, and thus further disrupt the natural authority of man over woman.

The Temptation

We can learn a lot from this first encounter with Satan:

1. He wants to confuse us (3:1 “Yea, hath God said…”)

He does the same in our minds: “Maybe that verse doesn’t really mean what it looks as if it means. Maybe God doesn’t mean for us to take that literally. Maybe … Maybe … Maybe …” Satan’s strategy is to make us doubt the reliability and applicability of the clear teachings of Scripture. We must not believe him!

2. He wants to cloud the nature of God (3:1)

Of course God hadn’t said that! In fact, he said that Adam and Eve could eat from any tree of the garden—except the one (2:16–17)! But you see how Satan operates. He twists what God has said. And he takes one small restriction, placed upon us for our good, and makes God out to be a spoilsport. He says things like: “God is always trying to spoil your fun. What’s the matter with looking at a little soft porn? After all, you’re not hurting anyone.” Or, “Why does God care what you do with your money? Doesn’t he want you to enjoy life?” In the face of such lies, we must remember that our God is good, no matter how the devil paints him!

3. He wants to salve our consciences (3:4)

Sin isn’t that big a deal, the devil tells us. “OK, God said don’t eat from the tree. But come now, do you really think he’s going to kill you over this? Go ahead. You know he will forgive you.” Have you ever heard him talk like that? Don’t believe it. The devil is a liar; God hates sin, and “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

4. He wants sin to look good (3:5)

There was some element of truth to that statement. Adam and Eve, who had never before known evil, would surely know it now! But do you see what Satan was doing? He was convincing Eve that sin would actually enable liberation and self-actualization! And he is still telling the same lies: “Go ahead and separate from your wife. You’ll finally be free.’ “Go ahead and take out your frustration. You’ll feel much better.” “Go ahead and vent your anger towards God. It’s cathartic.” Lies, all lies! Sin will never make you free. Adam and Eve were promised liberation, but instead (3:7) they received shame. They were promised that they would become like God, but instead they found themselves (3:8–10) hiding from God.

Sin’s seductive promises always turn out to be a mirage! Those relationships we enter against the will of God leave scars that may never fully fade. Those extra trips to the buffet leave us miserable for the rest of the day and place some of us on operating tables. And what about the nicer car, the bigger TV, the latest gadgetry, and the younger wife? All those things grow old and outdated—leaving us just as empty as we were before. Selfishness and sin never keep their promises.

Their Shame

Instead of getting what Satan promised, the first sinners found themselves naked and ashamed. Instead of admitting their sin when confronted, they made excuses! Blame-shifting is a universal human disease. Ever since Adam and Eve, it has been part of our sinful human nature: “I know I sometimes lose my temper. But that is just the way God made me.” “I know I shouldn’t talk to my wife that way, but I’m under a lot of stress at work.” “I know I shouldn’t read these racy romance novels, but my husband isn’t exactly a knight in shining armor anymore.” But anytime we begin a sentence with “I know I shouldn’t … but,” we are on dangerous ground. We ought simply to stop with: “I know I shouldn’t.” God has made himself clearly seen in creation, in the human conscience, and, most of all, in his Word, so that we are “without excuse” (Rom. 1:20) when we sin against him.

Their curse & promised redemption (Genesis 3:15)

Sin would affect every aspect of their lives and our world. It ruins all that it touches. Death would now be a reality. Chapter 5 dramatically illustrates this by repetition of the phrase “…and he died.” But, one day a child of the woman would destroy the works of the devil forever. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:” Galatians 3:13

sources:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v4/i3/fall.asp

Kurt Strassner, Opening Up Genesis (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2009), 33–36.