3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
[2] {The serpent} The serpent, in his Edenic form, is not to be thought of as a writhing reptile. That is the effect of the curse # Ge 3:14 The creature which lent itself to Satan may well have been the most beautiful as was the most "subtle" of creatures less than man. Traces of that beauty remain despite the curse. Every movement of a serpent is graceful, and many species are beautifully coloured. In the serpent, Satan first appeared as "an angel of light" # 2Co 11:14
3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?
3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.
3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou [wast] naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
[1] {And the Lord God said} The Adamic Covenant conditions the life of fallen man--conditions which must remain till, in the kingdom age, "the creation also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God" # Ro 8:21 The elements of the Adamic Covenant are: (1) The serpent, Satan's tool, is cursed (v. 14), and becomes God's illustration in nature of the effects of sin--from the most beautiful and subtle of creatures to a loathsome reptile! The deepest mystery of the atonement is intimated here. Christ, "made sin for us," in bearing our judgment, is typified by the brazen serpent # Nu 21:5-9 Joh 3:14 2Co 5:21 Brass speaks of judgment--in the brazen altar, of God's judgment, and in the laver, of self-judgment. (2) The first promise of a Redeemer (v. 15). Here begins the "Highway of the Seed," Abel, Seth, Noah # Ge 6:8-10 Shem # Ge 9:26,27 Abraham # Ge 12:1-4 Isaac # Ge 17:19-21 Jacob # Ge 28:10-14 Judah # Ge 49:10 David # 2Sa 7:5-17 Immanuel- Christ # Isa 7:9-14 Mt 1:1,20-23 1Jo 3:8 Joh 12:31 (3) The changed state of the woman (v.16). In three particulars: (a) Multiplied conception; (b) motherhood linked with sorrow;
(c) the headship of the man (cf) # Ge 1:26,27 The entrance of sin, which is disorder, makes necessary a headship, andit is vested in man # 1Ti 2:11-14 Eph 5:22-25 1Co 11:7-9 (4) The earth cursed (v. 17) for man's sake. It is better for fallen man to battle with a reluctant earth than to live without toil. (5) The inevitable sorrow of life (v. 17) (6) The light occupation of Eden # Ge 2:15 changed to burdensome labour # Ge 3:18,19 (7) Physical death # Ge 3:19 Ro 5:12-21 See "Death (spiritual)" # Ge 2:17 ¯ See Note "Eph 2:5" See for the other covenants: EDENIC ¯ See Note "Ge 1:28" NOAHIC
¯ See Note "Ge 9:1" ABRAHAMIC ¯ See Note "Ge 15:18" MOSAIC ¯ See Note "Ex 19:25" PALESTINIAN ¯ See Note "De 30:3" DAVIDIC
¯ See Note "2Sa 7:16" NEW ¯ See Note "Heb 8:8"
3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
[2] {thou shalt bruise his heel} The chain of references which begins here includes the promises and prophecies concerning Christ which were fulfilled in His birth and works at His first advent. See, for line of unfulfilled promises and prophecies: "Christ (second advent)" # De 30:3
¯ See Note "Ac 1:9" "Kingdom" # Ge 1:26-28 Zec 12:8 "Kingdom (N.T.)" # Lu 1:31 1Co 15:28 "Day of the Lord" # Isa 2:10 Re 19:11
3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;
3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.
3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
[1] {coats of skins} Coats of skins: Type of "Christ, made unto us righteousness"-- a divinely provided garment that the first sinners might be made fit for God's presence. See Righteousness, garment # Ge 3:21 Re 19:8
3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
[1] {Therefore the Lord God} The Second Dispensation: conscience. By disobedience man came to a personal and experimental knowledge of good and evil--of good as obedience, of evil as disobedience to the known will of God. through that knowledge conscience awoke. Expelled from Eden and placed under the second, or ADAMIC COVENANT, man was responsible to do all known good, to abstain from all known evil, and to approach God through sacrifice. The result of this second testing of man is stated in # Ge 6:5 and the dispensation ended in the judgment of the Flood. Apparently "the east of the garden" # Ge 3:24 where were the cherubims and the flame, remained the place of worship through this second dispensation. See for the other six dispensations: iNNOCENCE ¯ See Note "Ge 1:28" HUMAN GOVERNMENT ¯ See Note "Ge 8:21" PROMISE ¯ See Note "Ge 12:1" LAW ¯ See Note "Ex 19:8" GRACE ¯ See Note "Joh 1:17" KINGDOM ¯ See Note "Eph 1:10"
3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
