Editor's Note
As we said on Sunday in our “Christian to the Core” series, we’re inviting the entire Harris Creek family to read the Bible over the next four years, one chapter per day, from cover to cover. If you’ve been following along with us, you know we read Genesis 1-6 last week. We’re going to repeat those chapters this week, then move on to 7-12 next week so we’re all on the same page.
Be on the lookout for our new Family Guide coming on Sunday so you can recap and discuss the previous week’s readings with your kids!
Read Genesis 3
The Fall
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the groundfrom which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming swordflashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Go Deeper
Think about the most beautiful place you have ever been–one of those places in nature that still feels “natural.” When this chapter begins, everything is that way. Birds are chirping in the sky, Adam and Eve are married, and there’s a beautiful garden for Adam to tend. Literally, nothing has ever gone wrong! By the end of this pivotal chapter, everything has changed. Things aren’t perfect anymore. Humanity now has to start dealing with the ramifications of sin (which we’re still dealing with today).
How did we get here? According to the passage, Satan (the serpent) knew exactly how to tempt Eve: he promised her the opportunity to be like God. And from that moment on, this has been the tool that Satan has used time and time again. It plays out a number of different ways, but at the root of most sin is our pride. Our pride tells us that we, not God, know best, and so we’re going to do whatever we want to do. Instead of this making us like God, it drives a wedge further and further between us.
As sobering as this chapter is, we also have two reasons for hope. First, notice God’s approach towards Adam and Eve towards the end of the passage. Yes, there are repercussions for their sin, but at the same time we still see God’s provision for them. He provides them with animal skins to cover themselves (which is also the first time we see the blood of an animal shed to cover their sin).
Second, this is also the first time that we start to see the promise of a Savior to come. God tells Satan that someone will be born that will crush his head (even though he will wound His heel). It is going to take a while to get there, but this is the first reference we have to Jesus coming to redeem what has now been broken. Let us never forget that in spite of the brokenness around us, Jesus came to put it all back together.
Questions
How does Satan go about tempting Eve? How have you seen Satan tempt you in similar ways? What is the modern-day version of you being like God?
What do you notice about Adam’s response in this passage? What sticks out to you?
What do you learn about the gospel in this passage? What hope do you feel as you read it?
Did You Know?
The end of chapter 3 is the first of over 90 references to cherubim angels in the Old Testament. They almost always serve to protect what belongs to God or even to protect God’s presence. Here, the cherubim is tasked with guarding the way to the Tree of Life.
12 thoughts on “Genesis 3”
Pride is the original sin. It caused Satan to be thrown out of heaven and Adam and Eve to want to become like God. And, it continues to trip me up daily.
A great visual of man’s pride is captured in one of Michelangelo’s paintings at the Sistine Chapel. In the painting God is depicted as stretching out his body, arm, hand, and finger to reach Adam. Meanwhile Adam is depicted as reclining, casually lifting his arm, and barely reaching out his finger to touch God, The Almighty. That is pride.
I pray that today I do a better job humbly stretching to touch The Almighty.
Blessings!!
The Lord is so gracious and kind. When Adam and Eve sin, attempt to cover their sin, and hide in an effort to avoid the consequences of their sin, God mercifully covers them and provides for their needs. Even the Lord’s judgements are grounded in grace and mercy.
“We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die” (v2).
Head knowledge does not equal obedience. When engaging with the enemy Eve knew what God commanded but chose to disregard it. May this be a stark reminder that we must put on the full armor of God to withstand the attacks of the enemy. Applying and obeying God’s commands is paramount in defeating the enemy of our souls.
BUT GOD by grace
Genesis 3 is the reason for the rest of the Bible.
Ephesians 2:4–6
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
We sin because of this fallen world, Eve sinned because she was attracted to the forbidden tree’s fruit. She was walking by sight not by faith.
Genesis 3:6 good for food 1 John 2:16 the lust of the flesh
pleasant to the eyes the lust of the eyes
desirable for gaining wisdom the pride of life
1 John 2:16
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
God “drove them out of the garden” because the tree of life was there and if they had eaten of that tree too, they would live forever in their sin. God knew what was best. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23).. Now our daily struggle is sin and death, consequences of sin of Adam. BUT GOD made the way for us to still have fellowship with Him. The way to the new tree of life is through Jesus Christ and Him dying on the cross. John 14:6 says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” Hebrews 10:1-25 also shows the way.
Hebrews 10: 23-25 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
God thank You for making a way for me to have fellowship with You. Thank You for sending Your son to pay for my sins. God let me hold unswervingly to the hope You have given me and are faithful to fulfill that promise. God help me to be a blessing to my family, to my LG, my work community, and to anyone I encounter. God when I fail help me to be able to ask for forgiveness and respond with kindness. God thank You for that Day approaching and may I glorfiy You in these minutes of this day with all my heart, all my soul and with all my mind in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you SO much for posting this comment. The part about the tree of life was mind blowing to me and I got to learn something new tonight. Also thinking about how the rest of the Bible really is because of this chapter is so interesting. I am so completely humbled and in emotional awe of our God and a love like Jesus’. I canNOT wait to be in His presence forever and ever and ever!
5 “you will be like God“
This desire to be God is the root of my sin nature.
Instead of aspiring to be God, I should strive to be godly.
Did God really say…? Satan got Eve to question the integrity of the Word of God. He placed a seed of doubt in her mind. After Satan gets her to consider the integrity of God’s words, she omits a word from what God said. She adds a word to what God said. And she changes the words that God said. Satan still uses these same five steps to draw us away from God. But number one, he gets us to question the integrity of God’s Word. Did God really say…? Did God really mean what He said?
Given “the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature” (v 1, Amplified), I expect he would have chosen his timing as well as his words. No doubt he knew just when to strike.
Which makes me wonder: what was going on within Eve at that moment? What was she thinking? What was she feeling? What made her especially vulnerable just then to accept a lie as truth?
There are MANY moments I am just as vulnerable, just as easily deceived. I’ve learned the hard way it’s essential I guard my heart and take my thoughts captive as protection against lies, temptation and sin.
Most importantly, though, when I am fully filled with God’s Truth, I have no desire to accept anything less.
This right here really sticks out to me. “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” After they disobeyed his commandment, they messed up big time and he punished them. What happened next – he took care of them by making them clothes Our father’s compassion, love, mercy and grace is so deep and wide that we cannot comprehend it nor grasp it and that makes me even more thankful and grateful. Hallelujah praise his name on high!!!!!
How does Satan go about tempting Eve? How have you seen Satan tempt you in similar ways? What is the modern-day version of you being like God?
Satan tempts Eve by telling her she will be like God, knowing good from evil. To be like God, or to be your own god, would be like having complete control over your life, pretty independent. Many of us try to control our own lives like this, and we stray from God and begin to think that the life we have we built on our own.
What do you notice about Adam’s response in this passage? What sticks out to you?
One thing that I always think of when I see Adam’s response is how he tries to deflect and say his sin was not caused by him fully but partially by Eve. To go even further, it almost seems as if Adam blames God for putting Eve with him, and that he would have been better off without her. I think this can be seen in a lot of people’s lives today where we question God with the circumstances we’ve been put in and blame him for negative things that happen.
What do you learn about the gospel in this passage? What hope do you feel as you read it?
Even though this passage is the where everything falls, I’m always reminded of the mercy and grace of God.
What is the modern-day version of you being like God?
Control…
Control control control.
I cannot stress it enough.
I steal the wheel from God all the time and then lose my mind when the car crashes into a poll. I can’t even sit in the passenger seat and allow my God to take me where He needs to take me. If you read this please pray over my control, and that my hands would rest so God’s could fully work!
I am just like Adam.
I eat the fruit and hate it. I have such an innate desire to be right, to be prideful and be like god. Forgive & protect me.
The only thing holding me together is Jesus. If he didn’t come, idk where I’d be in life.
Thank you father