A STUDY IN GENESIS
Today’s post will not be one taken lightly, but if you are a person asking the “Why” questions; today is a day of treasure in answering many of the questions we ask throughout our lives.
To recap, mankind has fallen. Satan has tricked Eve and Adam went along willingly. Mankind is no longer in charge of the earth. We gave the rights to Satan. There is now separation between us and God. Let us read Genesis 3:7-13, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8 They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
I want to point something out right at the beginning. Satan never leaves! He is there when the Lord arrives. This reveals that Satan is thrilled that he has dirtied what was pure, he has defiled a relationship between mankind and God. Satan wants to be there to witness it. Ironically, this also reveals that Satan thought he had won. That God would not have a plan ready to go. However, before we get to this I think we should identify a couple core normalities that we live with today because of this.
First, mankind is no longer covered. Some Bible scholars believe they were clothed in righteousness, because they were without sin. Once sin came in that clothing disappeared, leaving them naked. The Bible does not give us a diffinitive answer. However, I ask the question, was God wearing clothes? If He wasn’t they would have now known. So we can assume He was. Was He with sin? Absolutely not! Thus He was clothed in righteousness. There are a plethora of Bible verses talking about the righteousness that God clothes us with. I say all this to say, while we do not know the answer it is curious.
The next thing we need to point out is the issues with men and women. We see at the very start Adam is trying to pass the judgement onto his wife. Eve is wanting to pass the judgement onto someone else. Both are not owning up to what they did. No one forced the fruit into their mouth. They did it themselves.
The relationship with God was broken, mankind was afraid. How ironic that when mankind comes to grips with who God is, they either run away from Him or ask to come closer. In Christ we can boldly come to the throne and be with our Father. God starts with the root of the issue. The serpent is to be dealt with first. I find this interesting that God deals with the snake. Genesis 3:14 “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;”. The fact there is judgment on the snake at all, means the snake was a willing tool in the schemes of the devil. So next time you see a snake, just remember they are crawling on the ground because of the garden.
At this point, Satan might have been catching on to the idea God was passing judgement onto each participant, or he might not. However, when God turned to the devil and proclaimed his future it had to be sobering. Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Let us examine the specifics of what God is saying. There will be war between mankind and the devil, “I will put enmity between you and the woman.” There would be a war between a decedent of mankind and a decedent the devil, “and between your seed and her seed.” Yes the devil has children (we will get into that later but if you are wanting to know more now. Check out LA Marzuli (Link https://lamarzulli.net). The next aspect is unique, because it says, “her seed,” as much as mankind wants to say it is possible and deny science, women do not have seed. God is hinting at the virgin birth, hinting towards Jesus Christ. We know this is what God was thinking because of what is said next. “He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” The word “bruise” here is the Hebrew word “shuph.” It can mean bruise, break, or cover. Based on what we know about scripture, we can safely assume that based on context in the English language it should say, “He shall break you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” We all know that breaking the head is fetal while a bruised head is not. The Gospel reveals that Christ died for us, while Satan will be crushed.
The next stage of human events are on full display. Satan now realizes that God is not only playing for keeps, but He is going for Satan personally. In fact, the Trinity personhood that is talking to Satan, Adam, and Eve, was Jesus Christ. We know this, because in verse 21, God provides temporary clothing. God finishes by passing judgment on Adam, Eve, and on their relationship with each other and the earth. What was perfect is now cursed.
Genesis 3:16-24 “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.” 17 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. 18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 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.” 20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 22 Then the LORD 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”-- 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”
They were kicked out of the Garden. Nothing could be done by human hands to preserve them. It appeared to be dark, only a promise of a future child to crush Satan’s head lingered in the air. For the Devil his fate was sealed, for humanity it appeared God had a plan. Next week we will start the next chapter in Genesis and look into human events between mankind with sin at the helm.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming,
JL