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Sin

Genesis 3

Think of some of your favorite stories. Have you ever thought about how many of them cast serpents or use serpentine imagery as the evil one?

-Read this week about St. George the dragon slayer (reminded me of a guy from seminary that I stayed with, Anglican, so had chosen St. George as the patron saint of his house)

-Chronicles of Narnia, which is meant to serve as a picture of the Christian life, in The Silver Chair the evil queen transforms into a serpent to kill Prince Caspian

-Harry Potter, Voldemort, the evil one speaks Parseltongue (snake language) and uses a snake to do his bidding

-Hobbit/LOTR – dragon Smaug began the whole story! 

“Kill the dragon, get the girl.”

READ/PRAY – Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life! Help us now to hear and obey what you say to us today. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

EFCA SOF

1. The Temptation (1-5)

-Story takes a weird turn with the introduction of a new character – “the serpent” Who is that?

-Once again a lot of ink spilled in relation to this debate! Where did he come from, if God’s whole creation was good? A couple passages that help: Rev. 12:9, Ezek. 28. Looks like Satan brought about a heavenly rebellion against God.

-Culminates in Jude 5 where Jude addresses the implications of the rebellion and the heart behind: “did not stay within their own position of authority.” Make a note of that for later! There’s a desire to usurp God’s authority, to invert the created order and to attempt to sit on God’s throne.

-What do we make of a talking snake? Surely this is fantasy! We know Chronicles of Narnia isn’t a true story, we know our dogs don’t speak English (as smart as your dog is). This has to be that the early Israelites didn’t understand how the world REALLY worked, right? 

-One argument is that all the animals pre-fall talked, and it was only after the fall that that relationship was severed, this would lead to talking animals in heaven someday, would be pretty cool!

-Another option (and my preferred) is that Satan uses the serpent as his mouthpiece, there are instances in the NT of Satan’s minions speaking through people, this one seems to be in line with the rest of the Bible! Even though I still have hopes that I can talk to my dogs in heaven!

-Serpent is described as “more crafty” “most cunning” “shrewder”

-The word is meant to parallel a description from the previous verse: naked and unashamed. Naked in Hebrew is arummim, shrewd/crafty is arum. Gen. 2 describes the intended state of creation, Gen. 3 describes the aberration/destruction of that creation

-One of the things we need to remember here is Satan cannot create. He takes the things God creates and twists/distorts them to his own ends

-So God creates everything to be “naked/unashamed” and Satan twists that nakedness by being “crafty” He’s a sneaky little bugger.

-Last thing to remember is that I mentioned last week the innocence/ignorance of Adam & Eve. Think of a child who is ignorant in response to many of the world’s difficulties: running into the street, touching a hot stove, need to be trained in the ways of the world. 

-Adam & Eve were in a perpetual state of childhood – didn’t need to be taught “the ways of the world” because everything was meant to lead them to flourish

-They did have boundaries: eat from any tree to you hearts content, except 1

-How many times do we live similarly? God’s given us SO many opportunities/freedoms, but we want to pursue the 1 option that leads to death

-Satan knows what he’s doing here, he goes straight to God’s commands! “Did God actually say?” Doesn’t outright deny, just questions.

-Notice the change in reference to God between these 2 uses. Lord God vs. God. One contains the relational covenant name of God, the other uses the common

-This is at the heart of the rebellion of humanity even to this day! In most of our interactions in the world we’re taught to buck authority, to question everything, to refuse to acknowledge our own humanity and mortality. This is where we’ve seen this rise in “ex-vangelicals” people leaving the faith, because they “found errors” in the Bible, but didn’t take the time to dig into or explore those issues further. They just assume that God couldn’t actually say anything.

-But then Satan goes on the offensive, by putting into doubt God’s actual words. 

-Just to remember, what did God actually say?

-God’s plan was bountiful, they could eat in abundance, eat until their stomachs were overflowing! That was encouraged! There was 1 limitation placed. And Satan decides to attack that 1 limitation.

-So how does the woman reply? 

-We may eat, not in abundance

-lowers herself to play on Satan’s turf in her reference to God

-adds to God’s restrictions “neither shall you touch it.” (some argue this is her creating another boundary to prevent sin, I think this is the beginning of legalism) We’re seeing all the ways our world twists and distorts God’s message that leads us to human flourishing

-Satan knows he has her just where he wants her. She’s stooping down to his level, playing his game, when she should have ignored, run away, or banished him from the garden!

-So Satan takes the next step. Now that the woman has already twisted God’s words he then moves to outright denial.

-The Hebrew wording begins with NO! Emphasizes that the will surely NOT die!

-Let’s compare this phrase with God’s phrase, 1 word difference. 

-Look how subtle this is! 1 word is the difference between life and death, and how subtle are Satan’s schemes against us today? No one will see it if you look at that picture on the computer, no one will know if you do some under the table dealings, no one will know if cut some corners and take the easy way out. But God will. I’m getting ahead of the story though!

-Satan is aware that everyone, since even this creation, has wanted to be in the place of God. And isn’t that at the root of most of the issues we’re having in our world today? 

-If the world revolves around me, if I am the sum center of the universe, anytime anyone disagrees with you they’re upsetting the king! They’re questioning your place on your throne and they must be punished! 

-Think of driving. Everyone who speeds it just asking for an accident until you’re the one who’s running late! Everyone who drives slower than you is an idiot, and everyone who drives faster than you is a maniac! That’s human nature! 

-Now here’s the crazy thing that Satan says: ONLY if you eat of this tree will you be “Like God.” Wait a second. Who was created in the image of God? Who was created to represent God to the rest of the world? PEOPLE! They’re being tempted with something that is already true of them!

-It’s true, they would know the difference between good and evil, but only because their innocence would be destroyed, never able to be whole/holy again

-God had created a world that was perfect for them, everything they needed was supplied and they even had a job to do: work and keep the garden, but that wasn’t enough, they wanted to be in charge God’s domain instead of their own.

-So how does Eve respond?

• The Sin (6-7)

-Instead of saying NO to the temptation, instead of turning away, she starts contemplating it. Look at the description of this:

-good for food, delight to the eyes, make one wise. 

-Do you think it’s significant that God chose to reveal Himself through words? God spoke to create, God spoke to the man with His commands (just as He’ll speak to Moses to have him write down the commands), yet how Satan attacks is through the eyes? Not saying visual is evil at all! God created the heavens and the earth with beautiful signs, but the signs are meant to point to Him who is the Word made flesh! 

-I think a great example of this is the desire for sensational experiences in our faith. Those things are not bad/wrong, but continually looking for sensational experiences won’t allow you to bear the weight of the suffering that will come.

-This sin is also described in 1 John 2 – the 2 ways to live! The world vs. Father

-Good for food – desires of the flesh (appetites)

-Do you ever find yourself torn? Knowing something isn’t good for you, but wanting to do it anyway? The things that this world offers us to distract us from God.

-Delight to the eyes – desires of the eyes (affections)

-Word used here is the same one as in Deut. 5:21 “‘And you shall not covetyour neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’”

-A sinful desire. Saw a TV show yesterday: “listen to your gut, OK? And on your way down to your gut, check in with your heart. Between those 2 things, they’ll let you know what’s what.”

–Matthew 6:22-23, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.”

-Desired to make one wise – pride of life (ambitions)

-In and of itself, the pursuit of wisdom isn’t bad! That’s the theme of the whole book of Proverbs, but using wisdom to pursue fame/accolades is a problem.

-These 3 sins appear over and over and over again throughout the whole Bible, until they find their culmination in Luke 4 with the temptation of Jesus.

-hunger – desire of the eyes

-show divinity in Jerusalem – desire of the flesh

-worship Satan by given everything – the pride of life.

-Jesus succeeds, what happens to Adam and Eve?

-Eve eats. And then she gives some to Adam, and he eats. 

-“Who was with her.” Adam was there, watching this all take place. His divine command to “work and keep” the garden resulted in an utter failure

-Adam’s role of prophet/priest/king was abandoned because the temptation was too enticing. His first sin was passivity, instead of fighting against the devil, he gives in and watches his wife give in. This will have consequences as we’ll see

-The perfect harmony they experienced was shattered. Their ignorance was gone, could no longer enjoy being “naked and unashamed.” So they do their best to cover themselves up. 

-Don’t we try to do the same? When we’re caught in our sin we blame the situation, our upbringing, our life circumstances, but surely we’re not the problem.

-Part of the reason God shares this story with us is so we can see that even if you take all those extenuating circumstances away, we’d still choose sin.

• The Consequences (8-24)

-We know what the penalty SHOULD be – death! They disobeyed, it would appear that Satan won! This entire world that had been created for people would go to waste, God’s great plan of joining with his emissaries in working and keeping the created order was broken. Or was it?

-Up until this point, we’ve seen God’s people in God’s place living under God’s rule and reign. For the first time in their lives, Adam and Eve don’t run TO God, they run AWAY from God. 

-The first time I really started contemplating the implications of this verse was sitting in a Sunday school class in a house across our parking lot in 2002. A teacher in a Sunday school class here asked the question: have you ever thought about God walking on the earth with Adam and Eve? God, when he appears, chooses to look like a human.

-Now, this is a difficult verse to translate, includes ruach in the “cool of the day” (breeze/wind of the day”) so some argue that God appears in a wind storm which would certainly be terrifying! Either way, they know it’s God! And they’re afraid.

-God won’t let them off the hook. He calls to them (He knows where they are!) And at least Adam’s response is honest. For now!

-God, again, knows everything, knows they’ve eaten, but He still gives them a chance to confess.

-Part of the way God created humans is for the other – so we are to be in relationship with others. And that union in relationship is now broken, so Adam plays the blame game. 

-“The woman” First off, not a great first move by Adam. I remember being told in pre-marital counseling, the woman is ALWAYS right! 

-“whom you gave” then he blames God! 

-Then back to the women, she gave me some fruit, I had no clue, I was innocently walking along and she tossed me a piece of fruit! Adam was THERE!

-Then he finally gets to the reality: I ate.

-Then to the woman: in the Hebrew, it’s emphatic: Do you realize what you’ve done?!

-Eve blames the serpent. The crafty one. After the deception, then she’s honest.

1. For the Serpent (14-15)

-This serves as the center of the chiasm. God begins with Adam, to Eve, lands on the serpent, then Eve’s consequences and finally back to Adam’s consequences.

-This consequence runs contrary to some of the other religions dominating this area at the time. Serpents were viewed as gods! Once again, only 1 God

-Important to note who is cursed through this section. Serpent is cursed above all the animals, stuck slithering on the ground and eating dust.

-Not referring to his diet, more of a shame (eat my dust!) always be the loser

-Enmity between the women and their offspring, continual fighting/tension

-First hint that this will not result in immediate death!

-he (woman’s offspring) will bruise head, you (offspring) bruise his heel. If you’ve ever had ankle issues, you know it’s not fatal, but a bruised head? You’re not surviving that! There’s a reason we wear helmets when we bike/skate, we can survive many things, but not head wounds!

-This serves as the beginning of the seed of the serpent vs the seed of the woman. 

-Very next chapter Cain (seed of the serpent) kills Abel (seed of the woman)

-Joseph (seed of the woman) vs. his brothers (serpent)

-Pharoah (literally had a snake on his head) persecuting the children of God 

-David against Goliath (who appears with scaly armor) David strikes his head

-John the Baptist describes his opponents as a “brood of vipers” (Matt. 3:7)

-Jesus tells his opponents they are of their father, the devil (John 8:44)

-Revelation, the great serpent, the snake is thrown into hell forever.

• For the Woman (16)

-There’s no cursing of the woman, but there is enmity brought in.

-First enmity is in childbirth. Either no pain before the fall, or else it’s referring to the ways in which women are emotionally affected through child rearing. Could easily be both!

-Second is the marriage relationship is full of enmity. Full confession, I hate the way the ESV translates this. Changed it in 2016, originally said “Your desire shall be for your husband” which is what the Hebrew text says! They’re forcing a theological point in a place where we don’t need it. (rant over)

-“’To love and to cherish’ becomes ‘to desire and dominate.’” (Kidner, 71)

• For the Man (17-19)

-What’s cursed here? The ground! The ground bears the penalty for the sin of man! The ground from which he was created. The work that was one painless is now pain FULL. Instead of producing fruit in abundance, now it’ll produce thorns & thistles. 

-This has affected ALL of our work! Work until Jesus returns will be HARD! 

-This sin has affected all of human history! Until the serpent is fully and finally dealt with, we bear the weight of the effects of the Fall.

-But remember, it has been dealt with! Jesus experienced it all! He hung on a tree, sweat drops of blood looking at his work, wore a crown of thorns, and tasted the dust of death. This leads us to in the midst of the one of the 2 worst days in history, a glimpse of God’s good grace extended to us as broken people.

• God’s Grace (20-24)

-Eve sounds like the Hebrew word for “living/life”

NET: “By giving them more substantial coverings, God indicates this alienation is greater than they realize.”

-We’re meant to see glimpses of the temple/tabernacle here. The front of the temple faces east, what separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place is a curtain. 

NET: “Here they guard the way to the tree of life. The curtain in the tabernacle was to be embroidered with cherubim as well, symbolically guarding the way to God.” 

-That flaming sword falls down Jesus, and what happens to that curtain? It’s torn in 2! God can once again dwell with His people. 

-So what? Are you demonstrating that you are the seed of the serpent or the seed of the woman?

-Sin is enticing! Satan is good at his craft, he’s been perfecting it for millennia

-Work is hard

-God’s grace is sufficient for us all. Now God dwells with us. We are now described as God’s temple! 

-At the end of LOTR, Frodo and Sam fall asleep on the slopes of Mt. Doom, when Sam finally comes to, Gandalf (who he thought died all the way back in the 1^st book) is next to him. Sam’s first words were “Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue?”