The Narrative
- God asked for one thing – obedience (Completion from the Cross).
- God had told Adam he couldn’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for he would die if he did (Gen. 2: 16-17).
- In his conversation with Eve, Satan enlarged the restriction to every tree in the garden to point out the restriction.
- Eve countered by telling Satan they couldn’t touch the tree. God didn’t say anything about touching. He just put the restriction on eating.
- Satan said God didn’t mean Eve would stop breathing and fall down dead. Instead, Satan clarified it to say that God meant that “…. you will be like gods knowing both good and evil” (Gen. 3: 5 NEB).
- Once Eve took the bite and nothing really happened, it made it look like Satan was telling the truth and God was lying.
- There is no indication that Adam questioned Eve’s decision or what she was telling him to do. He chowed down.
From How Do We Not Bite When Satan Says Bite?
Punishment
- God dealt with Satan first because He knew that was the root of the sin.
- The serpent was going to be a ground crawler and have a really bland diet of dust (Gen. 3: 14).
- This is where (most) women got the fear of snakes (Gen. 3: 15).
- Verse 15 is a prophecy of the coming Messiah.
- Eve not only sinned, but she also led others to sin.
- Her consequences were pain in childbearing and strife in her marriage (Gen. 3: 16).
- Wives would become subject to their husbands.
- Even though Adam just went with the flow, he encountered punishment, too.
- He was going to have to work hard — do tough, physical labor to eat.
- But the ultimate punishment was that mankind would now know death (Gen. 3: 19).
From What Would Have Happened If Adam and Eve Hadn’t Sinned?
Consequences of Sin
- spiritual death
- separation from God
From Are Disciples Called to Change the World?
Results of Sin
- The ground was cursed because Adam listened to Eve (Gen. 3: 17).
- This is where tornados, hurricanes, famine, drought, flooding, climate change and more came into being.
- Since Death entered the picture (Gen, 3: 19), we had to have a cause of death. This is where disease reared its ugly head.
- We are talking spiritual death, too. Adam and Eve were forced to leave the Garden and God’s presence.
- Family strife started here, but it probably soon escalated outside the family.
From What Would Have Happened If Adam and Eve Hadn’t Sinned?
Interpretation
- Satan being Satan, He twisted that to make disobedience attractive (Completion from the Cross).
- The devil usually gives us a half-baked story, so he can worm his way into our lives.
- Satan did have some truth mixed into the story (How Do We Not Bite When Satan Says Bite?).
- Satan is going to use scripture, tell us half-truths, not explain things fully, flat out lie – anything – to get us to sin against God. He will use whatever it take to make his story more attractive to us (How Do We Not Bite When Satan Says Bite?)
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