Front matter (continued, part 2)
In this beautiful garden, God provided both bounty and beauty; Adam and Eve had food to eat and God's lovely handiwork to enjoy. As yet, sin hadn't entered the garden; so their happiness wasn't marred.
A retired man living in a city got tired of seeing an ugly vacant lot as he took his daily walk, so he asked the owner for permission to plant a garden there. It took days to haul away the accumulated rubbish and even more time to prepare the soil, but the man worked hard. The next year, the lot was aglow with life and beauty, and everyone took notice.
The first covenant (2:16–17) A covenant is a binding arrangement between two or more parties that governs their relationship.3 The word command is introduced at this point because it's God who makes the terms of the agreement. God is the Creator and man is the creature, a "royal tenant" in God's wonderful world, so God has the right to tell the man what he can and cannot do. God didn't ask for Adam's advice; He simply gave him His commandment.
"God has certainly given you a beautiful piece of property," said a visitor as he admired the flowers and the landscaping.
"Yes, He has," the busy gardener replied, "but you should have seen this property when God had it all by Himself!"
God had given great honor and privilege to Adam in making him His vice-regent on the earth (1:28), but with privilege always comes responsibility. The same divine Word that brought the universe into being also expresses God's love and will to Adam and Eve and their descendants (Ps. 33:11). Obedience to this Word would keep them in the sphere of God's fellowship and approval. All God's commands are good commands and bring good things to those who obey them (Ps. 119:39; Prov. 6:20–23). "And his commands are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).
The reply was a wise one and not at all irreverent. The same God who ordains the end—a beautiful garden— also ordains the means to the end—someone to do the work. After all, "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26), and no amount of prayer or Bible study can take the place of a gardener plowing the soil, sowing the seed, watering plants, and pulling weeds. "For we are laborers together with God" (1 Cor. 3:9).
Work isn't a curse; it's an opportunity to use our abilities and opportunities in cooperating with God and being faithful stewards of His creation. After man sinned, work became toil (Gen. 3:17–19), but that wasn't God's original intention. We all have different abilities and opportunities, and we must discover what God wants us to do with our lives in this world, for the good of others and the glory of God. Someday, we want to be able to stand before God and say with Jesus, "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do" (John 17:4 nkjv).
God placed two special trees in the middle of the garden: the Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9, 17; 3:3, 22, 24). Eating from the Tree of Life would confer immortality (v. 22). Eating from the second tree would confer an experiential knowledge of good and evil, but it would also bring death (2:17).4 Since they had never experienced evil, Adam and Eve were like innocent children (Deut. 1:39; Isa. 7:15–16). When they disobeyed God, they became like Him in being able to discriminate between good and evil,but they became unlike Him in that they lost their sinlessness and eventually died.
Adam the tenant. God planted His garden "eastward in Eden" (Gen. 2:8). "Eden" means either "delight" or "place of much water" and suggests that this garden was a paradise from the hand of God. Bible
But why did God have to test Adam and Eve? There may be many answers to that question, but one thing is sure: God wanted humans to love and obey Him
Genesis 2
down on many unbiblical marriages today and says, "From the beginning it was not so" (Matt. 19:8). His original plan was that one man and one woman be one flesh for one lifetime.
freely and willingly and not because they were programmed like robots who had to obey. In one sense, God "took a risk" when He made Adam and Eve in His own image and gave them the privilege of choice, but this is the way He ordained for them to learn about freedom and obedience. It's one of the basic truths of life that obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings judgment.
God had at least four purposes in mind when He performed the first marriage in the garden of Eden. First, He wanted suitable companionship for Adam, so He gave him a wife. He gave Adam a person and not an animal, someone who was his equal and therefore could understand him and help him. Martin Luther called marriage "a school for character," and it is. As two people live together in holy matrimony, the experience either brings out the best in them or the worst in them. It's an opportunity to exercise faith, hope, and love and to mature in sacrifice and service to one another for God's glory.
The first marriage (2:19–25) At the close of the sixth day of creation, God had surveyed everything He had made and pronounced it "very good" (1:31). But now God says that there's something in His wonderful world that is not good: the man is alone. In fact, in the Hebrew text, the phrase "not good" is at the beginning of the Lord's statement in 2:18.
Second, marriage provides the God-given right to enjoy sex and have children. The Lord commanded them to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen. 1:28). This doesn't imply that sexual love is only for procreation, because many people marry who are beyond the time of bearing children, but the bearing of children is an important part of the marriage union (1 Tim. 5:14).6
What was "not good" about man's solitude? After all, Adam could fellowship with God, enjoy the beauty of the garden and eat of its fruits, accomplish his daily work, and even play with the animals. What more could he want? God knew what Adam needed: "a helper suitable for him" (v. 18 niv). There was no such helper among the animals, so God made the first woman and presented her to the man as his wife, companion, and helper. She was God's special love gift to Adam (3:12).
A third purpose for marriage is to encourage selfcontrol (1 Cor. 7:1–7). "It is better to marry than to burn with passion" (v. 9 nkjv). A marriage that's built only on sexual passion isn't likely to be strong or mature. Sexual love ought to be enriching and not just exciting, and marriage partners need to respect one another and not just use one another. Throughout Scripture, sexual union outside of marriage is condemned and shown to be destructive, and so are the perversions of the sexual union (Rom. 1:24–27). No matter what the judges or the marriage counselors say, "God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral" (Heb. 13:4 niv).
The dignity of woman (vv. 18–22). The woman was by no means a "lesser creature." The same God who made Adam also made Eve and created her in His own image (1:27). Both Adam and Eve exercised dominion over creation (v. 29). Adam was made from the dust, but Eve was made from Adam's side, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh (2:23).
The plain fact is that Adam needed Eve. Not a single animal God had created could do for Adam what Eve could do. She was a helper "meet [suitable] for him." When God paraded the animals before Adam for him to name them, they doubtless came before him in pairs, each with its mate, and perhaps Adam wondered, "Why don't I have a mate?"
Finally, marriage is an illustration of the loving and intimate relationship between Christ and His church (Eph. 5:22–33). Paul called this "a great mystery," that is, a profound spiritual truth that was once hidden but is now revealed by the Spirit. Jesus Christ is the Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) and therefore a type of the first Adam.
Though Eve was made to be a "suitable [face-toface] helper" for Adam, she wasn't made to be a slave. The noted Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote: "She was not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved." Paul wrote that "the woman is the glory of man" (1 Cor. 11:7 niv), for if man is the head (1 Cor. 11:1–16; Eph. 5:22–33), then woman is the crown that honors the head.
Adam was put to sleep and his side opened that he might have a wife, but Jesus died on a cross and His blood shed that He might have a bride, the church (John 19:33–37). Christ loves the church, cares for it, and seeks to cleanse it and make it more beautiful for His glory. One day Christ will claim His bride and present her in purity and glory in heaven (Jude 24; Rev. 19:1–9). When Adam saw his bride, he burst into joyful praise (Gen. 2:23), as though he were saying, "At last I have a suitable companion!" (The niv sets this apart as a poem.) Her identity as "woman" would remind everybody that she was taken out of "man," and the term "man" would always be a part of "woman."7 She was made from him and for him, and he needed her;
The sanctity of marriage (vv. 23–24).5 God's pattern for marriage wasn't devised by Adam; as the traditional marriage ceremony states it, "Marriage was born in the loving heart of God for the blessing and benefit of mankind." No matter what the courts may decree, or society may permit, when it comes to marriage, God had the first word and He will have the last word (Heb. 13:4; Rev. 22:15). Perhaps the Lord looks
Genesis 2
therefore, they will always belong to each other and lovingly serve each other.
that mean "to come together." A lease on a house enables two parties to come together in a business arrangement. The marriage vows, authorized by a marriage license, enable a man and woman to live together as husband and wife. Without such agreements, society would fall apart. 4 The tree of life is a repeated image in Proverbs (3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4) and also in the book of Revelation (2:7; 22:2, 14, 19). The tree of life is found in the heavenly "garden city" providing sustenance and healing. 5 In Matthew 19:10–12, Jesus made it clear that not everybody is supposed to be married, although most people expect to be married and probably want to be married. Singleness is not a curse. God gives people different gifts (1 Cor. 7:7) and calls people to tasks commensurate with their gifts. In the church, neither gender nor marital status determine spirituality or fellowship (Gal. 4:26–29). 6 The Song of Songs magnifies the enjoyment of married love and says nothing about conception or children. In ancient Jewish society, it was considered a disgrace not to have children, yet many fine marriages were not blessed with offspring, and such is the case today. 7 The Hebrew says, "She shall be called ishsha because she was taken out of ish." Scholars aren't agreed on the significance of ishsha as derived from ish. Perhaps it's a parallel to the words adam (man) and adama (ground) in 2:7 and 3:19. Man was made out of the ground; woman was made out of man.
Adam didn't speak the words recorded in verses 24–25. They are God's reflection on the event and His enunciation of the principle of marital unity declared by Adam. Woman is one with man both in origin (she came from man) and in marriage. In the sexual union and in their children, the man and woman are "one flesh." Marriage is a civil relationship, regulated by law, and should be a spiritual relationship and a heart relationship, governed by the Word of God and motivated by love. But marriage is basically a physical relationship. The man and the woman are not primarily "one spirit" or "one heart," as essential as those things are, but "one flesh." Hence, the importance of "leaving" the former family and "cleaving" to one's mate (Eph. 5:30–31), the forming of a new relationship that must be nurtured and protected.
The phrase "one flesh" implies that anything that breaks the physical bond in marriage can also break the marriage itself. One such thing is death, for when one mate dies, the other mate is free to remarry because the marriage bond has been broken (Rom. 7:1–3; 1 Cor. 7:8–9; 1 Tim. 5:14). In Matthew 19:1–9, Jesus teaches that adultery can also break the marriage bond. Under the Old Testament law, anybody who committed adultery was stoned to death (Deut. 22:22–24; John 8:3–7), thus leaving the innocent mate free to remarry, but this law wasn't given to the New Testament church. It appears that divorce in the New Testament is the equivalent of death in the Old Testament and that the innocent party is free to remarry. However, sins against the marriage bond can be forgiven and couples can exercise forgiveness and make a new beginning in the Lord.
CHAPTER FOUR THIS IS MY FATHER'S WORLD— OR IS IT? I
confess to my shame that during my early years of ministry I avoided having the congreation sing "This Is My Father's World" in our worship services. Except for one line, the song emphasizes the God of nature and not the God of the cross and I wanted everything in our services to be "evangelical." Furthermore, the language of the song was too sentimental for me, and I wondered what kind of person the composer was. Without even investigating, I concluded that anybody with a name like Maltbie D. Babcock had to be a tubercular recluse who passed away the long hours of each day looking out the window and writing maudlin poetry.
We live in a world created by God, we are creatures made in the image of God, and we enjoy multiplied blessings from the hand of God. How tragic that so many people leave God out of their lives and become confused wanderers in a unfriendly world, when they could be children of God in their Father's world.
1 In Scripture, the number seven often stands for fullness and completion. According to Leviticus 23, the Hebrew calendar was built on a series of sevens. The seventh day of the week was the Sabbath, and Pentecost occurred seven weeks after the Feast of Firstfruits. During the seventh month, the Jews celebrated the day of Atonement, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Each seventh year was a Sabbatical Year and the fiftieth year was the Year of Jubilee. 2 The Hebrew word qadas means "to set apart, to make holy" and can be applied to people (Ex. 13:2; 19:14; 28:14), inanimate objects (29:36–37, 44), events such as fasts (Joel 1:14) and wars (Jer. 6:4 where "prepare" [kjv] is qada), and even the name of God (Ezek. 36:23). That which God sanctifies must never be treated as something common. 3 Our English word "covenant" comes from two Latin words
Imagine how shocked and embarrassed I was to discover that Maltbie D. Babcock (1858–1901) was a virile Presbyterian pastor who was an excellent baseball pitcher and a champion swimmer. Most mornings, he went jogging for eight to ten miles! He told people he was going out "to see my Father's world."
Of course, I've matured a bit since those salad days and have repented of my folly. Someday I want to meet Pastor Babcock in heaven and apologize to him. I've come to realize that David was right in praising the Creator in his psalms, and that the glorified beings in heaven are doing the right thing when they worship God both as Creator (Rev. 4) and Redeemer (Rev. 5), because
Genesis 2
teach, mankind didn't begin its religious journey by worshipping the things of nature and then gradually climb upward to worship one God. Actually, mankind began at the top, knowing the true God, but to gratify their passionate appetites, they refused to worship Him and turned instead to idols. "Thus does the world forget You, its Creator," wrote Augustine, "and falls in love with what You have created instead of with You."
the two go together. Creation and redemption are part of one great plan, because the redemption wrought by Jesus on the cross will bring freedom to all nature. One day God's creation will joyfully enter into "the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:21). Hallelujah!
But not everybody agrees with David and Paul and the heavenly worshippers that this is indeed "our Father's world." In his Prejudices: Third Series, the American newspaper editor and essayist H.L. Mencken wrote: "The universe is a gigantic fly-wheel making 10,000 revolutions a minute. Man is a sick fly taking a dizzy ride on it. Religion is the theory that the wheel was designed and set spinning to give him the ride." The British essayist Walter Savage Landor said, "Taken as a whole, the universe is absurd"; and American physicist Steven Weinberg wrote, "The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless."
When David considered the greatness of the heavens, he had to ask, "What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him?" (Ps. 8:3–4). The prophet Isaiah contemplated the greatness of the Creator and clearly saw the foolishness of idolatry (Isa. 40:12–26; 45:5–18).
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed,
Where'er I turn my eye: If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky!
Well, take your choice! But be careful, because the choice you make will determine the kind of life you'll live on this earth and your eternal destiny when you leave it. The atheist says that the universe is only an orderly accident. Agnostics admit that they just don't know and aren't too worried. Theists confess that God originally created everything but has long since forsaken what He made. But the Christian believer still sings, "This is my Father's world."
Isaac Watts
A tour guide at an atomic laboratory gave his group opportunity to ask questions, and one visitor asked: "You say that this whole world that seems so solid is nothing but electric particles in motion. If that's true, what holds it all together?" The guide's honest reply was, "We don't know." But Paul answered that question centuries ago: "all things were created by him [Jesus Christ] and for him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Col. 1:16–17 niv). This is the God we worship, and creation joins with us in praising Him (Ps. 19:1–5; 96:10–13; 148:1–13).
What difference does it make that Christians believe in a Creator who not only made the universe but presides over it and controls its destiny? If in church we sing "This Is My Father's World," then how should we live in the marketplace and the neighborhood to prove that we really mean it?
We will be good stewards of His creation When God gave the first man and woman dominion over creation (Gen. 1:26–30), He put them and their descendants under obligation to value His gifts and use them carefully for His glory. God created everything for His glory and pleasure (Rev. 4:11) as well as for our enjoyment and use (1 Tim. 6:17; Acts 17:24–28), and we must always see ourselves as stewards in God's world. To destroy creation and waste its bounties is to sin against God.
We will worship God alone "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm" (Ps. 33:8–9 niv).
Creation reveals the existence of God, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. That this complex universe should appear by accident out of nothing from a "big bang" is as probable as the works of Shakespeare resulting from an explosion in a printing plant. Only a God of power could create something out of nothing, and only a God of wisdom could make it function as it does. The scientist is only thinking God's thoughts after Him and discovering the laws that God built into His world at creation.
In this universe, we have God, people, and the things that God made, among them water, land, animal and plant life, air, and vast resources underground. We're commanded to worship God, love people, and use things for the glory of God and the good of others. When this divine order becomes confused, then God's creation suffers. When in our greed we start lusting after things, we soon begin to ignore God, abuse people, and destroy creation. Novelist Alan Paton wrote, "The ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed."
Paul affirmed that creation proves God's "eternal power and Godhead" (Rom. 1:20); and David sang, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork" (Ps. 19:1 nkjv). Jesus didn't hesitate to use the word "creation" (Mark 10:6; 13:19), nor did Paul (Rom. 8:1–20, 22) and Peter (2 Peter 3:4).
Romans 1:18–32 explains the devolution of mankind from the knowledge of the true and living God to the worship of false gods and dead idols. Contrary to what some comparative religion scholars
God wrote into the law of Moses His concern for people, animals, plants, and the land with its resources. The Sabbath day gave rest to both the workers and
Genesis
words that together mean "to see beforehand." No matter what has to be done, the Lord will see to it (Gen. 22:13–14). Planet Earth isn't staggering around in space like a helpless drunk. God has the whole world in His hands and is working out His divine purposes for the good of His people and the glory of His name. It's that assurance that gives His people peace, no matter how difficult the circumstances may be. "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. … Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:7, 10).
their animals (Ex. 20:8–11; 23:12), and the Sabbatical Year and Year of Jubilee gave rest to the land (Lev. 25). Because the Jews didn't obey these laws, they went into captivity so that the land could enjoy its Sabbaths and be renewed (2 Chron. 36:14–21).
God gave Israel regulations concerning lost and fallen animals (Deut. 22:1–4), nesting birds (22:6–7), plowing animals (22:10), and newborn animals (Lev. 22:26–28). The psalmist praised God for His constant concern and care for animals and people (Ps. 102:10–30). There's no escaping the fact that God hasn't deserted His creation, but mankind has certainly desecrated and destroyed God's creation. Why? Because people think they own creation. They forget that we're God's tenants and stewards of His gifts.
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5—7), Jesus tells us how to cure anxious care. We must put our lives in the hands of the Father and trust Him to guide us and provide for us a day at a time (6:24–34). If we put things first in our lives, then we'll worry and fret, but if we put God's kingdom first, He'll meet our needs and give us His peace (v. 33). He is working all things together for good right now (Rom. 8:28), even though we may not see or understand all that He's doing for us.
Ecology experts claim that 100 species of plants and animals become extinct every day, and that the destruction of forests and the pollution of water and air is producing more and more ecological tragedies as time goes on. Yet God loves His creation and wants us to use it lovingly. "The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made. … The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made … The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made" (Ps. 145:9, 13, 17 niv). Dare we exploit and destroy the creation that God loves?
We will pray to our Father If God the Creator and Lord of the universe is our Father, then it's reasonable that we should talk to Him about the things that concern us. "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him" (Matt. 6:11 nkjv).
We will trust in God's providence and not worry The agnostic and atheist have every right to worry because (as someone has said) "they have no invisible means of support." To them, the universe is a self-made impersonal machine, not the creation of a wise God and loving Father. But Christian believers see creation as their Father's world. They call the Creator "Father," and they trust Him with their lives, their circumstances, and their future.
But if God is sovereign and has a plan for His people and His world, why pray? Isn't praying interfering with God's will? No, it isn't. Prayer is one of the means God has ordained to accomplish His will in this world. It has well been said that the purpose of prayer is not to get our will done in heaven but to get God's will done on earth. "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (6:10). If we don't ask, we can't receive (Luke 11:9–10; James 4:1–3); and Jesus, by His example, instruction, and promises, encourages us to ask.
Everything in nature praises the Lord and looks to Him for whatever they need. "These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season" (Ps. 104:27 nkjv). There's no evidence that robins get ulcers or that rabbits have nervous breakdowns.
We pray to the Father because we know He is the Creator and "Lord of heaven and earth." The great intercessors in the Bible could all say, "My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (Ps. 121:2). This was true of Abraham (Gen. 14:22), Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:15), the apostles and the early church (Acts 4:24), Paul (Eph. 3:15), and even our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 10:21). When you focus on the greatness of God, your own problems and burdens will become smaller and lighter.
Said the robin to the sparrow,
"I should really like to know, Why those anxious human beings
Rush around and worry so." Said the sparrow to the robin,
"I do think that it must be That they have no Heavenly Father
We will not fear to suffer for His sake "So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good" (1 Peter 4:19 niv). The Greek word translated "commit" is a banking term that means to "deposit for safekeeping" and implies two things: first, that His people are valuable to the Lord, and second, that He is dependable to care for us. "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7 nkjv). After all, if the Creator is able to hold His universe together and keep it functioning to accomplish
Such as cares for you and me."
The universe isn't a vast machine that God created, wound up, and then abandoned. "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it" (Ps. 24:1 niv). "Whatever the Lord pleases He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places" (Ps. 135:6 nkjv). "In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10).
The word "providence" comes from two Latin
Genesis
One December day, my wife and I were driving to see her family in Wisconsin, and our car skidded off the road into the ditch. We weren't hurt and the car wasn't damaged, but we didn't know how the two of us could manage to get the car back on the road. A few minutes later, three men driving by saw our plight, stopped the car, and got out to help us. They didn't ask our nationality or our religious convictions; they simply went to work and got our car out of the ditch. We thanked them profusely and they went on their way. What the Scottish poet Robert Burns called "man's inhumanity to man" certainly wasn't evident that day!
His will, can't He do the same for our lives, our families, and our ministries? The Creator who knows the number and names of all the stars knows who we are and can meet our deepest needs (Ps. 147:3–6).
Peter wrote his letter to believers in the Roman Empire who were about to enter the "fiery furnace" (1 Peter 1:7; 4:12ff.) and be persecuted for their faith. But when His people are in the furnace, the Creator keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. He knows how long and how much, and He is always in control.
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace all-sufficient shall be thy supply; The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
The Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel called race prejudice "the maximum of hatred for the minimum of reason." But if we're all made "of one blood," how can we despise and mistreat one another; for in so doing, we also hurt ourselves.
We will read and study God's Word "Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments" (Ps. 119:73 nkjv). The hands that wove us in our mother's womb (139:13–16) also wrote the Word to guide us in our daily lives.1
John F. Wade
We will love and serve mankind When Paul addressed the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill, he gave them a short course in theology and anthropology (Acts 17:22–34). He told them that God was the Creator and didn't need their man-made temples and idols, because He is Lord of heaven and earth. We can't give God anything because He made everything, and it's He who gives to us "life, and breath, and all things" (v. 25).
When you purchase a new car or a new appliance, you read the instruction manual to make sure you understand how it works. The Bible is the "instruction manual" for life; it tells us where we came from, what we are, and what God expects us to do. The God who made us knows best how we should live, and if we ignore His counsel and warning, we're heading for trouble. To manage our lives without obeying His Word is like flying an airplane without first having read the manual and taken flight instruction: we're heading for a fall!
Then Paul ventured into dangerous territory and declared that God made all peoples of "one blood" (v. 26), a statement that must have disturbed the proud Greeks. At that time, they considered themselves a superior people and everybody else "barbarians." But Paul knew that all peoples sprang from Adam and that all races and nations are one family before the Creator. In His providence, God has allowed nations to rise and fall and even to move to new territories, but they are all His creatures, made of the dust and sustained by His power.
The Lord has a divine purpose for each of us to fulfill, and we discover that purpose by reading His Word and obeying it. "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me: Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands" (138:8 nkjv). The Lord wants to guide each of us and enable us to enjoy what He's planned for us, but we have to be willing to cooperate. To ignore the Bible is to abandon the greatest "life manual" ever given to mankind.
In the Old Testament law, God commanded the Israelites to show kindness to the strangers and foreigners in their midst (Ex. 23:9; Lev. 19:34; 23:22; Deut. 10:17–19; 26:1–11). Jesus showed mercy to Gentiles as well as to Jews, and He used a Samaritan as an example of a good neighbor (Luke 10:25–37). Some of the Jews in the early church had a problem accepting the Gentiles, but God made it clear that there was no place for prejudice among His people (Acts 10; 11:1–24; 15:1–29; Gal. 3:26–29). As long as there are needs to be met, we must be neighbors to one another and help one another. It isn't enough to be faithful in our religious duties; we must also be compassionate toward the needy (Isa. 58:6–11; 1 John 3:16–24; James 2:14–17). Even if people aren't professed believers in Christ, they are humans made in the image of God; and we must do what we can for them.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Prov. 3:5–6 nkjv). Certainly we must use our minds and think things through, but we must not lean on our own reasoning apart from God's Word. Common sense told young David that the giant Goliath was bigger and stronger than he, but faith said that God would defeat the giant (1 Sam. 17). Human reason told the three Hebrew men that the fiery furnace would cremate them, but faith said that God could protect and preserve them (Dan. 3). "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17 nkjv).
God is the Creator, and He's given His creatures a book that helps them understand who He is, how He
Genesis 3
that we have heard only one side of the case. God has written all the books."2 And Mark Twain wrote, "We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents."3 A popular television comedian always got laughs when he said, "The devil made me do it!"
works, and what He wants them to do. It's a book of precepts to obey, promises to believe, and principles to understand. It's also a book about real people, some of whom obeyed the Lord and some who didn't, and from the experiences of these people, we can learn a great deal about what to avoid on the path of life.
We should by all means learn all we can, but everything we learn must be tested by the Word of God. American physicist and Nobel Prize recipient Robert A. Millikan said, "I consider an intimate knowledge of the Bible an indispensable qualification of a well-educated man." Yale University professor William Lyon Phelps agreed when he said, "Everyone who has a thorough knowledge of the Bible may truly be called educated … I believe knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible."
Although we don't understand much about his origin,4 we know that Satan is real, Satan is an enemy, and Satan is dangerous. Here in Genesis 3, Satan is compared to a serpent, an image that's repeated in 2 Corinthians 11:3. In Revelation 12, he's called a dragon, and both names are combined in 20:2. But Satan is not only a serpent who deceives, he's also a roaring lion who devours (1 Peter 5:8). Among his names are "Abaddon" and "Apollyon" which mean "destroyer" (Rev. 9:11), "Satan" which means "adversary," and "devil" which means "slanderer."
If you believe that God is your Creator, and that you're living in His universe, then listen to what He has to say and obey it, for that's the secret of true fulfillment and success (Josh. 1:7–9).
In John 8:44, Jesus called Satan a murderer and "the father of lies." He also called him "the evil one" (Matt. 13:19) and "the prince of this world" (John 12:31). Paul and John also called the devil "the evil one" (1 Thess. 3:3; 1 John 3:12), and Paul said Satan was "the god of this age" (2 Cor. 4:4), the ruler of the world system (Eph. 2:2), and the leader of demonic forces of evil (Eph. 6:10–12).
Endnote
1 In Psalm 139, after David ponders his being made by God in the womb, he immediately mentions the Word of God (vv. 17–18).
In short, Satan is no pushover, and God's people must be careful not to give him a foothold in their lives (Eph. 4:27). That's why we're studying God's Word and seeking to understand the strategy of Satan (2 Cor. 2:11).
CHAPTER FIVE Genesis 3 PERILS IN PARADISE I
B.The fall—3
The strategy (3:1b–5) A temptation is an opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a bad way. It's a good thing to pass a school examination but a bad thing to do it by cheating. It's a good thing to pay your bills but a bad thing to steal the money for the payments. In essence, Satan said to Eve: "I can give you something that you need and want. You can have it now and enjoy it, and best of all, there won't be any painful consequences. What an opportunity!" Note the stages in Satan's tempting of Eve.5
f Genesis 3 were not in the Bible, there would be no Bible as we know it. Why? Because the rest of Scripture documents the sad consequences of Adam's sin and explains what God in His grace has done to rescue us. By grasping the basic truths of this important chapter, you can better understand Paul's discussion of justification in Romans 5, his teaching in 1 Timothy 2:8–15 about men and women in the church, and his explanation in 1 Corinthians 15 of the future resurrection.
Satan disguised himself (v. 1a). Satan isn't an originator; he's a clever imitator who disguises his true character. If necessary, he can even masquerade as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).6 When he came into the Garden, Satan used the body of a serpent, one of God's creatures that He had pronounced "good" (Gen. 1:31). Eve didn't seem disturbed by the serpent's presence or its speech, so we assume that she saw nothing threatening about the encounter. Perhaps Eve hadn't been introduced to this species and concluded that it had the ability to speak.7
Adam's disobedience brought sin into the human race,but the Bible gives us no explanation for the existence of Satan and evil before the fall of man. The record in Genesis 3 is not a myth. If the fall of man didn't actually occur, then the Christian faith is built on fables, not fact, and Jesus Christ suffered needlessly on the cross. From Genesis 3 to Revelation 21, the Bible records the conflict between God and Satan, sin and righteousness, and pleads with sinners to repent to trust God.
Satan still works today as the great impersonator. He has produced a counterfeit righteousness apart from the righteousness that comes only by faith in the Savior (Rom. 9:30–10:13). Satan has false ministers (2 Cor. 11:13–16) who preach a false gospel (Gal. 1:6–10), and he has false brothers (and sisters) who oppose the true gospel (2 Cor. 11:26). The devil has
The enemy (3:1a)1 Satan has been caricatured so much by writers, artists, actors, and comedians that most people don't believe the devil really exists, or if they do believe he exists, they don't take him seriously. For example, the English novelist Samuel Butler wrote, "It must be remembered
Genesis 3
creature rather than the Creator" (v. 25 nkjv). Speaking about Satan, Jesus said "for he is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44). In defiance of God, humans exchanged God's truth for "the lie" (note the singular), and followed Satan who is the father of "it" (note the singular again).
gathered his counterfeit Christians into false churches that God calls "synagogues of Satan" (Rev. 2:9), and in these assemblies, Satan's "deep secrets" are taught (v. 24). Satan questioned God's word (v. 1b). Second Corinthians 11:3 makes it clear that Satan's target was Eve's mind and that his weapon was deception. By questioning what God said, Satan raised doubts in Eve's mind concerning the truthfulness of God's word and the goodness of God's heart. "Do you really mean that you can't eat from every tree?" was the import of the subtle question. "If God really loved you, He would be much more generous. He's holding out on you!" Satan wanted Eve to forget that God had told Adam (who had told her) that they could eat freely of the trees of the garden. For their own good, there was a prohibition: they didn't dare eat from the forbidden tree in the middle of the garden (Gen. 2:15–17).
What is "the lie" (singular) that has ruled civilization since the fall of man? It's the belief that men and women can be their own god and live for the creation and not the Creator and not suffer any consequences. Believing this, they refuse to submit to God's truth but prefer to believe Satan's lies and follow his diabolical plan for their destruction. They don't realize that Satan is their master (Eph. 2:1–3) and the lake of fire is their destiny (Matt. 7:13–23; Rev. 20:10–15).
When you review the sequence, you can better understand how Satan leads people to the place of disobedience. Once we start to question God's Word, we're prepared to deny His Word and believe Satan's lies. Then it's just a short step to believing Satan's promises and disobeying God's commands. When our Lord was tempted (Matt. 4:1–11), He answered Satan's lies with God's truth and three times affirmed, "It is written!" Satan wants to deceive our minds (2 Cor. 11:3), but we defeat him by using the spiritual weapons God provides (Eph. 6:10–18; 2 Cor. 10:4–5).
Eve's reply showed that she was following Satan's example and altering the very Word of God. Compare 3:2–3 with 2:16–17 and you'll see that she omitted the word "freely," added the phrase "nor shall you touch it" (nkjv), and failed to say that God "commanded" them to obey. Note too that Eve copied the devil further when she spoke of "God" (Elohim) and not "the Lord [Jehovah] God," the God of the covenant. Finally, she said "lest you die"—a possibility—instead of "You shall surely die"—an actuality. So, she took from God's Word, added to God's Word, and changed God's Word, which are serious offenses indeed (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:19). She was starting to doubt God's goodness and truthfulness.
The tragedy (3:6–7) Humans are so constructed that they must believe something; if they don't believe the truth, then they'll eventually believe lies (2 Thess. 2:10). But if they believe lies, they will have to suffer the consequences that always come when people reject God's truth.
Satan denied God's Word (v. 4). "You will not surely die" (niv) is a direct contradiction of God's "You will surely die" (2:17 niv). But Satan is a liar (John 8:44) and God is the God of truth (Deut. 32:4), and our response to what God says should be, "Therefore all your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right" (Ps. 119:127). At this point, Eve should have reminded herself of God's Word, believed it, left the serpent, and found her husband. It's when we linger at the place of temptation that we get into trouble, especially when we know what we're thinking is contrary to God's truth. God's truth is our shield and buckler (Ps. 91:4; Eph. 6:16), but it protects us only if we take it by faith and use it.
Disobedience (v. 6). First Eve took the fruit and ate it, and then she took some fruit to her husband and he ate it, so that both of them disobeyed the Lord. Eve was deceived, but Adam sinned willfully with his eyes wide open (1 Tim. 2:14). This is why Paul points to Adam, not Eve, as the one who brought sin and death into the human race (Rom. 5:12–21). "For as in Adam all die" (1 Cor. 15:22).
God sees the first Adam as the head of the human race, the old creation. When Adam sinned, we sinned in him and through him suffered the consequences of sin and death. But God sees Jesus Christ as the Head of the church, the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), and through His righteous act of obedience in dying on the cross, we have life and righteousness. Yes, sin and death are reigning in this world, but grace and righteousness are also reigning through Christ (Rom. 5:14, 17, 21). Faith in Jesus Christ moves us out of Adam and into Christ, and we are accepted in His righteousness.
Satan substituted his own lie (Gen. 3:5). "You will be like God" is a promise that would get anybody's attention.8 "Glory to man in the highest!" has always been the rallying cry of those who reject the biblical revelation, whether they espouse godless humanism, materialism, or the so-called New Age religion. (Actually, the philosophy of the New Agers isn't new at all. It's as old as Genesis 3!)
Eve sinned because she was attracted to the fruit of the forbidden tree. She was walking by sight and not by faith in God's Word. Genesis 3:6 parallels 1 John 2:16: "good for food"—"the lust of the flesh"; "pleasant to the eyes"—"the lust of the eyes"; "desirable for gaining wisdom" (niv)—"the pride of life." These are the things that motivate the people of the world today, and
Romans 1:18–32 describes how Gentile civilization from the time of Cain rejected the truth of God and turned to foolishness and lies. They "exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the
Genesis 3
ted, "I was afraid" (v. 10). Trying to hide from the Lord is certainly a futile endeavor (Ps. 139:1–12), and yet guilty sinners still attempt the impossible.
when God's people start thinking like the world, they start living like the world.
We know why Eve succumbed to the temptation, but why did Adam willingly sin when he knew it was contrary to God's will? Did he see a change in Eve and realize that his wife wasn't in the same sphere of life as she had been? Did he have to make a choice between obeying God and staying with the wife he undoubtedly loved? These are questions the Bible neither raises nor answers, and it's unwise for us to speculate. Adam made a choice, the wrong choice, and humanity has suffered ever since.
Shame, fear, and guilt so transform the inner person that Adam and Eve could no longer enjoy their beautiful garden home. The trees they had tended and admired, and from which they had eaten, were now only "things" to be used to hide two frightened sinners from the face of God. This wasn't what the trees wanted to do, but they had no choice. Nature is a window through which we see God, but Adam and Eve made it into a locked door to keep God out! One day the Savior would die on a tree so that frightened sinners could come to the Lord and find forgiveness.
Knowledge (v. 7a). Satan promised that they would "be like God" and know good and evil, and his promise was tragically fulfilled. Adam and Eve lost their innocence and for the first time had a personal realization what it meant to sin. It wasn't necessary for their happiness that they have this knowledge, and it would have been far better had they obeyed and grown in their knowledge of God (John 7:17).
The discovery (3:9–13) How God appeared to our first parents when they fellowshipped with Him in the garden isn't explained to us. He probably assumed a temporary body that veiled His glory, as He would do when He visited Abraham many years later (18:1ff.).
In Scripture, shamelessly exposing the naked body is connected with idolatry (Ex. 32:25), drunkenness (Gen. 9:20–23; Hab. 2:15), and demonism (Luke 8:26–39; Acts 19:16). It's a mark of a decadent society on the threshold of destruction when people make a business out of flagrantly exposing naked human bodies to be the objects of sensual pleasure, either in person, in pictures, or in films. Pornography is big business in today's society.
Seeking (v. 8). Adam and Eve should have been running to God, confessing their sin, and asking for His forgiveness. But instead, they were hiding from God, and He had to find them. "There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God" (Rom. 3:11 nkjv). Evangelist Billy Sunday said that sinners can't find God for the same reason criminals can't find policemen: they aren't looking! The Father interrupted His Sabbath rest to go find the man and the woman He had made in His own image.9 When Jesus ministered on earth, He said, "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). He too interrupted the Sabbath to heal a sick man (John 5:1–16) and a blind man (John 9), and His defense before the bigoted religious leaders was, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working … the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does" (5:17, 19 niv). Today, through the witness of the church, the Holy Spirit is seeking the lost and bringing them to the Savior (16:7–11; Acts 1:8).
Shame (v. 7b). Realizing their nakedness for the first time (2:25), they quickly made coverings for their bodies. Sin ought to make us ashamed of ourselves. God has given us an inner judge called "conscience" that accuses when we do wrong and approves when we do right (Rom. 2:12–16). A Native American Christian compared conscience to an arrowhead in his heart. "If I do wrong, it turns and hurts me until I make it right. But if I keep on doing wrong, the arrowhead keeps turning and wears down the points, so it doesn't hurt anymore." The Bible calls that a "seared conscience" (1 Tim. 4:2) or an "evil conscience" (Heb. 10:22) that no longer functions properly. When people are no longer ashamed of their sins, their character is just about gone. "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed. Nor did they know how to blush" (Jer. 6:15; 8:12 nkjv). "Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame" (Jer. 3:3 niv). Sins that used to be committed under cloak of darkness are now exhibited openly in movies and on television, and when people protest, they're called "prudes" or "Puritans."
Speaking (vv. 9–13). God doesn't ask questions because He needs information. Being God, He knows everything. Rather, He asks questions for our good, to give us the opportunity to face facts, be honest, and confess our sins. However, we must not think of God speaking to Adam and Eve the way a cruel master would speak to a disobedient slave or an angry judge to a convicted criminal. It was more like a brokenhearted father speaking in love to his wayward children.
Fear (v. 8). Sin produces both shame and guilt, and both make sinners wants to hide. Adam and Eve felt ashamed because of what they were (naked), and they felt guilty because of what they had done (disobey God). Guilt and fear usually go together, which explains why the pair didn't want to enjoy their evening fellowship with the Lord in the garden. Adam admit-
First, God called to Adam to give him opportunity to answer and come out into the open.10 That God called him at all was an act of grace, for God could have spoken the word of judgment justly destroyed Adam and Eve. Another gracious wonder was that Adam could hear God's voice and respond,
Genesis 3
and sinners "children of the devil"; He reserved that title for the self-righteous Pharisees who crucified Him.
for his inner nature had been so polluted by sin that he didn't want to face God.
So, throughout history, there has been a conflict between Satan and God, Satan's children and God's children. As we'll discover in our next study, the battle continued with Cain murdering Abel, for Cain was "of that wicked one" (1 John 3:12), that is, a child of the devil. During Jewish history, the enemies of the true prophets were the false prophets who spoke in the name of Jehovah.
Once Adam and Eve came out of hiding, Adam confessed their shame (they were naked) and their fear (they were guilty). Without saying it openly, Adam was admitting that they had eaten from the forbidden tree. However, when God asked him pointblank if he had eaten of the tree, Adam never said, "Yes, I did!" Instead, he blamed both God and his wife! When God questioned Eve, she blamed the serpent. (She didn't say, "The serpent that You created," but perhaps she thought it.) There were excuses but no confessions.
Both Jesus and Paul pictured false teachers as pretenders, "wolves in sheep's clothing" (Matt. 7:13–15; Acts 20:28–31). Satan the counterfeiter has always had his children ready to oppose the people of God. At the end of the age, it will culminate in Christ versus Antichrist, Satan's counterfeit masterpiece (2 Thess. 2; Rev. 13).11 At the cross, Satan "bruised" Christ's heel, but because of His death and resurrection, Christ crushed Satan's head and won a complete victory over him (Eph. 1:17–23; Col. 2:14–15).
To quote Billy Sunday again, "An excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie." Yes, Eve gave Adam the fruit because the serpent deceived her, but that was no reason Adam had to disobey God. When people start making excuses, it's evidence that they don't sense the enormity of their sins or want to confess them and repent. If sinners can find some loophole, they'll run through it as fast as they can!
The woman (v. 16). God reinforced His word of hope to Eve by assuring her that she would bear children and therefore not immediately die.12 But the special privilege of woman as the childbearer (and ultimately the one who brings the Redeemer into the world) would involve multiplied pain in pregnancy as well as submission to her husband. This submission isn't identified as part of a curse or as a mandate for husbands to have sovereign power over their wives. The New Testament makes it clear that husbands and wives who love each other and are filled with the Spirit will be mutually submissive (Eph. 5:18ff.; 1 Cor. 7:1–6).
The penalty (3:14–19) God's love for sinners in no way eliminates His holy hatred for sin, for while it's true that "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16), it's also true that "God is light" (1:5). A holy God must deal with sin, for the good of the sinner and for the glory of His name.
The serpent (vv. 14–15). God pronounced sentence first on the serpent and then on the devil who had used the serpent. It seems that the creature Satan used was originally upright, because God humiliated it by putting it into the dust (Ps. 72:9; Isa. 49:23; Mic. 7:17). While God did curse the serpent and the ground (Gen. 3:17), He never cursed Adam and Eve.
The man (vv. 17–19). Eve would have pain in the labor of childbirth, but Adam would have pain in his daily labor in the field. As he worked to get his food, Adam would encounter obstacles and have to toil and sweat to get a harvest, and this would remind him that his disobedience had affected creation (Rom. 8:18–23). Even more, as he tilled the soil, he would remember that one day he would die and return to the soil from which he had come. Adam the gardener became Adam the toiler.
God's words to Satan (v. 15) are called the protevagelium, "the first gospel," because this is the first announcement of the coming Redeemer found in the Bible. To God's old covenant people, this verse was a beacon of hope (Gal. 4:1–4); to Satan, it was God's declaration of war, climaxing in his condemnation (Rom. 16:20); and to Eve, it was the assurance that she was forgiven and that God would use a woman to bring the Redeemer into the world (1 Tim. 2:13–15).
The recovery (3:20–24) For the sake of His own character and law, God must judge sin, but for the sake of His beloved Son, God is willing to forgive sin. Remember, Jesus is the Lamb "slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8; see Acts 2:23; 4:27–28), so that God had already made provision for forgiveness and salvation.
The offspring ("seed") of the serpent and of the woman represent Satan's family and God's family. In the Parable of the Tares (Matt. 13:24–30, 36–43), Jesus states clearly that Satan has "children," people who profess to be true believers but who are actually counterfeits. The parable reveals that wherever God "plants" a true child of the kingdom, Satan comes along and plants a counterfeit. The two grow together and won't be separated until the harvest at the end of the age.
A new name (v. 20). Adam believed God's promises (vv. 15–16) and called his wife's name "Eve," which means "living." Faith simply takes God at His Word and acts upon it.
These are people who reject Jesus Christ and confidently depend on their own religious self-righteousness to get them into heaven. The Pharisees were "children of the devil" according to John the Baptist (Matt. 3:7–10) and Jesus (12:34; 23:15, 28, 33; John 8:44). There's no record that Jesus ever called the publicans
New clothing (v. 21). God's response to Adam and Eve's faith was to remove their flimsy man-made garments and clothe them with acceptable garments that He Himself provided (Isa. 61:10). Innocent animals had to die so that the man and woman might
Genesis 3
(2:15–17). God used singular pronouns when speaking to Adam, so Eve was told the divine commandment by her husband. 6 Many people who claim to have had "out-of-body" experiences report that they felt no fear because they saw "a bright light at the end of the dark tunnel." Assuming that this light was the presence of God in heaven, they had confidence that they were ready to meet God. But Satan the imitator knows how to produce light and imitate the very angels of God. 7 Eve's innocent response to the words of a talking animal is another argument for the absence of Adam, or else we have to believe that humans and animals were able to communicate in Eden. Since Adam had named all the animals, he would have known the nature of the serpent, that it couldn't speak. Adam has been blamed for not being with his wife, but he had work to do and the garden was probably large. As for Adam's "guarding" the garden, Genesis 2:15 speaks of "working and taking care of the garden" (niv). The Hebrew word translated "dress" in the kjv and "take care of" in the niv can also mean "to watch, to guard" and is translated that way in 3:24 (niv, nkjv). But since God had pronounced the serpent "good," what reason would Adam have for thinking it was a part of a wicked plan and that his wife was in danger? Without the advantage of hindsight, what would we have done had we been in his place? 8 If Isaiah 14:12–15 is a description of the fall of Satan, then the statement "I will be like the Most High" (v. 14) reveals the hidden agenda behind Satan's revolt: he wanted to be like God. He failed in reaching this goal, so now he passes the desire along to Eve in the form of a promise. Satan desires the worship and service that belong only to the Lord God (Matt. 4:8–10). 9 It's interesting to contrast Genesis 3:8 ("the cool of the day") and 18:1 ("the heat of the day"). God's visit in the garden was to call man to forgiveness, but His visit to Abraham was to announce, among other things, the destruction of the wicked cities of the plain. 10 Note three interesting questions that God asks in Genesis: "Where are you?" (3:9) "Where is your brother?" (4:9) and "Where is your wife?" (18:9) 11 The Greek preface anti means both "instead of Christ" (i.e., a false Christ) and "against Christ." There were "antichrists" (false teachers) opposing the church in the first century (1 John 2:18–29), and they are still with us. The test of false teachers is what they teach about the person and work of Jesus Christ. 12 The Hebrew phrase in Genesis 2:17 is "dying you will die," which means "you will surely die." But it suggests both a crisis and a process. To die means to be separated from God, which is what happened to our first parents the instant they sinned. But death also means the separation of the spirit from the body (James 1:26), and the process of dying began with their disobedience and ended years later when they expired. Because of the law of sin and death, life has always been a constant battle to conquer death. 13 The first Adam was a thief and was cast out of paradise. The Last Adam, while hanging on the cross, said to a thief, "[T]oday, you will be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43 nkjv).
have a new beginning and be back in fellowship with the Lord. It's a picture of what Jesus did for sinners on the cross when He died for a sinful world (2 Cor. 5:21). A new home (vv. 22–24). If Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Life, they would live forever on earth as sinners, and their future would be bleak. They must one day die because "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Therefore, the Lord banished the couple from the garden; in fact, Genesis 3:24 says that He "drove" them out. (See 4:14 and 21:10.) God put angelic guards at the entrance of the garden to make sure Adam and Eve didn't try to reenter. The way to "the Tree of Life" would one day be opened by Jesus Christ through His death on the cross (John 14:6; Heb. 10:1–25; Rev. 2:7; 22:1–2, 14, 19).13 Daily life would now become a struggle for the man and woman outside the garden as they toiled for their bread and raised their family. They could still have fellowship with God, but they would daily suffer the consequences of their sin, and so would their descendants after them. The law of sin and death would now operate in the human family until the end of time, but the death and resurrection of the Savior would introduce a new law: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2 nkjv).
1 While Satan is certainly at work throughout biblical history, in the Old Testament, he makes four special "personal appearances": to tempt Eve (Gen. 3); to get permission to attack Job (Job 1—2); to tempt David (2 Sam. 24; 1 Chron. 21); and to accuse Joshua the high priest (Zech. 3). For a study of these four passages and what they mean to the church today, see my book The Strategy of Satan (Tyndale House). Other books that can help you better understand Satan and his wiles are: The Voice of the Devil by G. Campbell Morgan (Baker reprint); I Believe in Satan's Downfall by Michael Green (Eerdmans); Satan: His Motives and Methods by Lewis Sperry Chafer (Zondervan); Your Adversary the Devil by Dwight Pentecost (Zondervan); The Invisible War by Donald Grey Barnhouse (Zondervan); and The Adversary by Mark Bubeck (Moody Press). 2 Samuel Butler, The Note Books of Samuel Butler, edited by Henry F. Jones (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1921), 217. 3 Charles Neider, The Complete Essays of Mark Twain (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1963), 237. Like Butler, Twain says, "We have none but the evidence for the prosecution, and yet we have rendered the verdict." 4 Many students believe that the fall of Satan (Lucifer) lies behind the "taunt song" description of the defeat of the king of Babylon found in Isaiah 14:12–17. John Milton took this view (and embellished it) when he wrote "Paradise Lost." 5 In Genesis 3:1–5, both Satan and Eve use plural pronouns, suggesting that Adam may have been present but said nothing. However, it's likely that these plural pronouns simply mean that Satan and Eve included Adam because he was the one to whom God originally gave the prohibition about the trees
Genesis 4
who receive His blessing, for all that we receive is because of God's grace.
CHAPTER SIX Genesis 4:1–24 IN CENTER STAGE—CAIN A
Sibling rivalry among brothers is another theme in Genesis. Ishmael persecuted Isaac; Jacob left home so Esau couldn't kill him; and Joseph's brothers intended to kill him but decided to sell him as a slave. When sin entered the human race, it gave us dysfunctional and fractured families, and only the Lord can put families together again.
ll the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players," wrote Shakespeare. "They all have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts."1
C.The consequences of the fall—4—5
Remember those familiar words from English Lit 101? Shakespeare was right: we have many roles to play in life as from time to time we relate to various people and confront different circumstances. The important thing is that we let God write the script, choose the cast, and direct the action. If we disregard Him and try to produce the drama ourselves, the story will have a tragic ending.
The worker (4:2b) As his sons grew older, Adam put them to work in the fields,and it became evident over the years that each boy had his own interests and skills. Cain became a farmer and Abel became a shepherd, the first of many shepherds found in the Bible, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his sons, Moses, and David.
Adam certainly taught his sons why they worked: it was a part of God's creation mandate and they were colaborers with God (1:26–31). Work isn't a punishment from God because of sin, for Adam had work to do in the garden before he and his wife yielded to Satan's temptation. The biblical approach to work is that we are privileged to cooperate with God by using His creation gifts for the good of people and the glory of God. (See Col. 3:22–23; 1 Thess. 4:11–12; Eccl. 9:10.) Work in the will of God isn't a curse; it's a blessing. "Six days you shall labor and do all your work" (Ex. 20:9 nkjv) was as much a part of God's law for Israel as His command to rest on the Sabbath Day. The Bible has nothing good to say about idleness or about the idle people who expect others to provide for them (2 Thess. 3:6–15). Before He began His public ministry, Jesus labored as a carpenter (Mark 6:3), and when he wasn't traveling or preaching, the apostle Paul worked as a tentmaker (Acts 18:1–3).
That's what ruined Cain, the first human baby born on the stage of Planet Earth: He ignored God's script, "did his own thing," and made a mess out of it. Genesis 4 focuses the spotlight on Cain; he's mentioned thirteen times, and seven times Abel is identified as "his [Cain's] brother." As you consider Cain's life and some of the roles he played, you will better understand how important it is for us to know God and do His will.
The brother (4:1–2a) God commanded our first parents to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth" (1:28), and they obeyed this mandate (5:4). While it's true that the building of a family isn't the only purpose for marriage, and not every marriage is blessed with children, it's also true that children are a precious gift from God (33:5; 48:9; Ps. 127:3) and should be welcomed with joy. The Jewish people in the Old Testament and the Christians in the first century church would be appalled at today's abortion statistics and the philosophies of the people who produce them.
As Christians, we don't work simply to pay our bills and provide for our needs. We work because it's God's ordained way for us to serve Him and others and thereby glorify God in our lives (1 Cor. 10:31). We don't work just to make a living; we work to make a life, to develop our God-given abilities, and seek to increase the quality and quantity of our labor. Martin Luther told the dairymaids that they could milk cows to the glory of God, and Theodore Roosevelt said that "the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." Perhaps the boys asked their father why their work was so difficult, and Adam had to explain that God had cursed the ground because of his own disobedience. "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread" was God's sentence (Gen. 3:17–19 nkjv), and there was no escape. But this question gave Adam the opportunity to remind his sons of God's promise of a Redeemer and a day when creation would be set free from the bondage of sin (v. 15).
The name "Cain" sounds like the Hebrew word for "acquired." Eve praised God for helping her through her first pregnancy. After all, this was a new experience for her and she had no doctor or obstetrical nurse to assist her. Her second pregnancy brought Abel into the world. His name means "breath" and is the word translated "vanity" at least thirty-eight times in Ecclesiastes. Cain's name reminds us that life comes from God, while Abel's name tells us that life is brief.
Genesis is a "family book" and has a good deal to say about brothers. Being the firstborn son, Cain was special, but because of his sin, he lost everything and Seth took his place (Gen. 4:25). Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn, but God bypassed him and chose Isaac. Esau was Isaac's firstborn son, but he was rejected for Jacob, and Jacob's firstborn son Reuben was replaced by Joseph's two sons (49:3–4; 1 Chron. 5:1–2). In fact, God even rearranged the birth order of Joseph's sons (Gen. 48:8–22). Throughout Old Testament history, God's sovereignty is displayed in His choices of those
The worshipper (4:3–7) Adam and Eve had learned to worship God during
Genesis 4
temptation and sin. This is what Paul meant when he wrote "neither give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:27). If we aren't careful, we can tempt ourselves and bring about our own ruin.