Bibliology- This chapter presents a number of theological challenges, especially in regard to the nature of God. A plain reading of the text without context to any other passage in the Bible might lead one to believe that God has a physical body (verse 8), and that He is not omniscient (verses 9-12). This is why an understanding of the complete Bible is important, and it is also helpful to learn from Christian scholars who came before us who have already wrestled with some of these issues.
The first issue is the idea that God has a physical body, presented in verse 8. Jesus tells us that God is Spirit, and must be worshipped in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Further, we can affirm the omnipresence of God throughout the Old Testament. This idea is perhaps expressed most beautifully in Psalm 139:7-10:
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. “
Given that God is omnipresent, it would be incongruent to think that He also only existed in the Garden of Eden at that specific time and place. We can also affirm that He is Spirit by nature by this same logic. He exists in all time and space, yet we cannot physically see Him or touch Him. Wherefore, God is Spirit.
The other issue raised is the omniscience of God because God asked Adam “Where are you” (9) and “Have you eaten of the fruit” (11)? When looking at passages such as these, it’s important again to measure them against other passages that show God’s omniscience. Proverbs 15:3 tells us “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” Likewise, the New Testament reaffirms this belief in passages such as Hebrews 4:13, “ Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” So then, there is more going on in this passage than inquiry, and the questions were meant as a kind of rhetorical with a different purpose in mind.
Theology- The two biggest attributes of God displayed in Chapter 3 are His justice and His mercy. In His righteous judgment, God condemned first the serpent, who is Satan, to a final judgment when his head will be crushed, the woman to painful childbearing, and the man to toil in the sun. He then cast them from the Garden of Eden and blocked the way with a flaming sword. In doing so, He meted out justice, and He did so swiftly and without prejudice. To understand the grievousness of Adam’s sin, one must first understand the level of offense committed against God; otherwise, one might be tempted to think God was too harsh.
The seriousness of sin is equivalent to the one sinned against. This will be mentioned in more detail under Soteriology; but for now, understand that when Adam and Eve broke the command not to eat the forbidden fruit, they acted in willful rebellion against the God who created them. They had three commands: tend the garden, be fruitful and multiply, and do not touch the forbidden fruit. It was the only law of commission that they had, and they had to actively work against God to commit it.
That being said, His grace is also on full display in this chapter. The punishment for eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was death. It would have been righteous of God to strike Adam and his wife down the moment that they ate the fruit. But this is not what God did. Although death would now eventually come into the world because of their actions (by Adam's sin death was brought into the world), Adam would live on to the age of 930). Even before this, God gave Adam a space to repent, even asking Him “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” This is God calling out to Adam and giving him the chance to confess and repent.
Even after Adam made excuses for his sin, God still showed great mercy, even in His judgment. Instead, God killed an animal, most likely a sheep, and used its skin to cover their shame. Yes, there was judgment, but the judgment was less than they deserved.
Christology- Verse 15 is a direct prophecy of the coming of Jesus to defeat sin and death. The theological term for this is the protoevanelium. It expresses the idea that God has a plan for salvation, and did from the beginning, which was revealed to us in the fall. Jesus Christ was promised to us in the beginning, and He would be realized when He humbled Himself and came to this earth to die for us, thereby crushing the head of Satan. The bruising of His heel is two-fold. For one, sin has been in the world since the fall of man, and there was little anyone could do to escape its influence. Second, Jesus died on the Roman cross, thus bruising the heel. But death was not permanent, and when Jesus rose from the dead He defeated death, and Satan was crushed, placed in chains that he may no longer deceive the world.
To presume that this verse only refers to the natural dominance of man over beast greatly diminishes the importance of this verse. Both Jewish and Christian scholars proclaim that this text is predictive of the coming Messiah, and has been the hope of humanity since that time.
It’s worth noting that Adam and Eve were kicked out to the East, and a Chreeubiam was placed on the East side of the Garden of Eden. Likewise, the door to the temple was placed on the East as commanded by God (Exodus 27:9-18). When people turn to the Kingdom, they are brought from the East to the West. This becomes further significant when considering the idea that Jesus was arrested on the Mount of Olives, which is on the East side of Jerusalem, and brought West to pay for our sins, and to overflow the power of the Devil as predicted by Zechariah (14:3-3). This is symbolic of Christ bringing the world back into the Garden of Eden. This is fitting as Jesus is known as the second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45-58). In John 20:15, Mary Magdalene mistakes Jesus for the gardener. I significantly tell that Adam was the first gardener in the Garden of God, and Jesus is the last.
Pneumatology- Some say God was speaking to the Trinity in verse 22. This is similar to the idea of God saying “Let us make man in our own image.”
Anthropology- Sin. It grips at the very soul. Perhaps Paul summed it up best by declaring “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I” (Romans 8:15). This is where sin comes into the world. This chapter deals with two major issues in anthropology: the fall into sin, and the consequences of the fall.
There are several things worth noting in the temptation of Eve. She sees the tree, but she knows she isn’t to eat from the tree. However, the serpent, who is the Devil (Revelation 12:19). This will be discussed further under Satanology, for now, it’s more important to look at how Adam and Eve fall after succumbing to temptation. Genesis 3:6 says, “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.” She saw the tree, and she desired it. The fruit looked delicious, and there was a quality in the fruit that she thought she was missing out on. Sin is deceptive this way. There is a real condition of “missing out” syndrome. It’s summarised as the belief that by not participating in something we are missing out of something good, or pleasurable. James tells us that temptation happens when we are drawn away and enticed by our own lusts, and that lust turns to sin when it’s acted upon, and once acted upon it brings forth death (James 1:14-15).
It’s likely that Adam and Eve had been tempted by the fruit of the tree for some time. This is especially true of Adam, who was with Eve when she took of the fruit. It should be noted that the brunt of the responsibility for the fall fell on Adam. So much so that Paul refers to it as Adam’s sin, and it’s by Adam’s sin that death is brought into the world. Adam was charged with the responsibility of caring for his wife and tending the garden. He was with his wife when she fell. Paul says that Eve was deceived, but Adam was tempted (1 Timothy 2:14). Adam knew what he was doing was against God’s will, and he knew that taking of the fruit would lead to the judgment of God, and he did it anyway.
This chapter is further revealing of the nature of how we humans justify our sinful behavior before God. When God calls on each one to explain themselves, they each had another to blame, until it came to the Serpent whom God did not give the opportunity to explain himself. More on that momentarily. But Adam, when given the chance to own his sin and repent blamed his wife. “The woman whom thou givest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat” (Verse 12). Likewise, the woman, when given the same opportunity to repent as her husband, blamed the serpent, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat” (Verse 13). Neither could confront their responsibility for the sin they committed against God and so neither one could truly repent for that sin.
The first whom God judged was Satan, whose head shall be bruised by the seed of the woman. More on that is under Satanology.
The woman had two curses. The first is that she would bring forth children in sorrow. The pain of her conception would be greatly multiplied. In this modern world, it’s easy to forget how treacherous it could be to have children. Many mothers and babies died in the process. We take for granted how much modern medicine has spared women from suffering, torment, and, on occasion, fatality. But even with all of that, there is still pain in childbearing, and there can be danger as well. Even if we eliminate all the dangers associated with childbearing, the process causes lasting, and sometimes permanent. changes to the woman's body. Despite this, the woman is called to face this curse, just as the man needs to face his.
The second part of the woman's curse has been discussed in multiple ways. To text simply reads, “And thy desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Some have contested that the word for desire, “teshûqâh” (H8669) has a negative connotation and that this represents a desire to rule over her husband, a desire she will have to fight against in order to come into subjection of the second part of the judgment, that he shall rule over you. While there is certainly a reflection of the world we live in by interpreting it in this way, there does not seem to be much room in the text to make it mean that. To put into context, this is the same word used in Song of Solomon 7:10, expressing the man's desire for his wife. A better understanding of this curse is to connect it to the previous portion about childbearing. Despite the dangers associated with bearing a child, the woman is still going to desire a man, and desire to have children. This frees up the second part of the curse, and he shall rule over you, to simply mean that. The man is placed as head of the household. The woman is called to be subjected by her husband. This doesn’t mean that a husband should treat his wife unkindly, or in a bestial manner, but they are not equal in authority under the eyes of God.
In dealing with Adam, it’s telling that God specified exactly why he was facing judgment. “Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, thou shalt not eat it…” (Verse 17). From this, it may be inferred that the brunt of the responsibility, at least between the husband and wife, is on Adam.
Soteriology- From anthropology, it’s shown how man is in a depraved state, and has caused death to be in the world. The sin they committed was worthy of death even in the moment, yet God spared them. After their moment of proudly defying God, they immediately realized their nakedness and felt shame. This same shame caused them to try, in vain, to cover their own nakedness. Sin leaves us naked and ashamed, causing us to try to hide our own nakedness from the world and from God. When called out on this, we make excuses, just as Adam and Eve did, “the woman you gave me…” and “the snake…” It’s harder to own up to our transgressions and accept the reality of our own nakedness. In response, we try to cover up these sins. We lie about them, hide them, and aren’t honest to our loved ones or to God that we had this lapse. We hide our nakedness and shame through the creature comforts of this world, and ultimately more sin. We hide behind out greed, pride, malice, gluttony, or any other way we can to hide the fact that we have genuine guilt for our behavior. When that fails, and it always will fail eventually, we make excuses for our behavior, even justifying our actions in our own eyes. But there is also a symbol of God’s mercy in verse 21. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin and clothed them.” In order to make these coats of skin, at least one animal had to die.
There is a sacrificial system at work in this verse, Adam and Eve were naked before God. So a sacrifice was made that they might be clothed in righteousness. There are some who have speculated that it may have been a lamb, but there is no real way of knowing that. But, whatever the animal, it was slaughtered for Adam and Eve. This is a picture of Christ being slaughtered on the cross for the sake of our sins, and His death clothing us in righteousness.
What should also be noted is the fact that God slaughtered the animal and made the coats Himself. There is some discussion over who killed Jesus, was it the Jews or the Romans? The answer is both, and neither. Throughout the Bible, God uses our evil hearts to accomplish His goals. We see it when God sends a lying spirit to Ahab, or by allowing Babylon to take Jerusalem. But God is still the author of it all, and the laying down of His life especially so. It pleased God to crush Him, and to bruise Him for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:10).
Notice the language there, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” Isaiah is pulling on the prophecy of the man who would bruise the head of the serpent, but only after having his own heel bruised.
Escatology- Adam and Eve lived in paradise, as discussed in Chapter 2. Now they were being removed from paradise, and being separated from God. This is the terrifying truth and a living picture of the holiness of God. Sin cuts us off from the love of God, and we can only abide under His judgment. The world, likewise, faces His judgment, and will one day face the final judgment.
So what of the believer? Does our continuation of sin cut us off from God? Consider this: When Adam and Eve sinned they were cast from the Garden of Eden, but they were also covered, as it were, with a garment. In Matthew 22:11-14 we are told of the man who went to the wedding feast of a king’s son. This one showed up without a wedding garment, and so he was cast into outer darkness after being bound hand and foot. It is the garment that allows the wedding guests to stay in the presence of the King.
Before moving forward, a specific note must be made. This idea of being cast from the presence of God is a figurative idea. We know that God is omnipresent, so there is no place one could go to be apart from His divine presence. However, one can be outside His blessing, mercy, grace, and Kingdom. One who has put their trust in Jesus Christ, and continues to trust Him is preserved. It is a coat they cannot take off because the Lord has put it on them, and He keeps it on them. However, those who falsely sit amongst God’s people, who have no faith, need to be aware, that they will be cast out from His Kingdom into outer darkness, separated from the love and peace of God.
Ecclesiology- God forbade Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of Life after they had sinned. Likewise, when we see a brother in unrepentant error, it is the church's responsibility to bring that brother back under correction. This includes cutting them off from a certain amount of fellowship where life is found. Paul instructs this to the church of Corinth in Corinthians 5. A man is found to be in fornication with his father’s wife. Paul said the church should, “Deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5). He goes on to compare this one to leaven, and talks about purging him out because “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (6-7).
Today, church discipline is rare. Some churches don’t engage in church discipline at all, and some that do are ineffectual. Some withhold membership, meaning that they would not be allowed to participate in official church functions. Some withhold communion, though this is extremely rare in protestant churches. There are no easy answers to this question; if church discipline means nothing to the church attendee, then it is unlikely to have any lasting impact. What’s worse, some who may fall under church discipline may simply decide to go to the church down the street. What is a church to do? Maintain discipline, and the heart that would be softened will be. The most beautiful part of church discipline is restoration, when one turns from one's sins and wholly recommits one's life to Jesus. This beautiful picture is only seen in a church that disciplines. Whatever the discipline used, it should resemble some form of cutting off from the Lord's people.
Angelology- The Cheribum is a class of angels that guard the Garden of Eden, flank the Lord's throne, hover over the arc of the arc of the covenant, and often harold the coming of God. Chribum are specifically mentioned 91 times in the Bible, all in the Old Testament. However, it is possible that Gabrial is a Cherub, as He heralded the coming of Jesus. This is mere speculation, but speculation well within the confines of reality. However, this particular cherub had the responsibility of guarding the Garden of Eden, specifically, the Tree of Life.
Aside from this, there is little that Scripture teaches about Cherubs. It is worth noting them, however, because God uses them to spread His message around the world, and they will be with us in the Kingdom of Heaven. It should be noted that it is believed that angels, including cherubs, don’t have physical bodies. The depictions of physical form are now permanent states of being, but rather a depiction that they have allowed man to perceive by and by. That’s why they are sometimes depicted with human characteristics, and sometimes with more animal characteristics, especially the lion.
Satanology- Satan’s ways are subtle, and he will use any crack in human understanding to wedge sin between man and God. This is played out in the Garden of Eden between Eve and the serpent. Satan is called “the craftiest in the Garden of Eden” vs 1. The word crafty can also be translated as prudent or subtle. But no matter how it’s translated, the message is the same: Satan knows how to say things and manipulate events so they work toward his goals. And what is Satan’s goals? He knows scripture better than any man, so there it’s doubtful that he believes He will win against God. It’s more likely that he knows he is destined for the judgment of God.
To understand this completely, it’s important to understand who he was in creation. We know he was a chief angel who had fallen from Heaven (Isaiah 14:12) and that his heart was full of pride (14:13). The direct context of this verse is in reference to the fall of Babylon, and so there is dispute as to whether or not this section of scripture is referring to Satan by metaphor, or if it is simply talking about how God overthrows the nation of Babylon. There are some key notes that might lead most scholars, such as RC Sproul, John MacArthur, and George Haycock, to believe that this verse is referring to Lucifer. For one, Babylon is referred to in Revelation as the great city of Satan and the anti-Christ which God judges (Revelation 18). Also, the title given to Babylon in this chapter is “Day Star,” a translation from the Hebrew word “הֵילֵל” or “heylel” (strong H1966). This word is simply translated as “Lucifer” in the King James Bible, the Wycliffe Bible, the Bishops Bible, and the Geneva Bible. Modern translations use the phrase “Day Star” or some such derivative.
There is also similar language used when discussing the Prince of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:1-10. This one could be seen as a parallel passage. It describes the same kind of pride displayed in Isaiah 14 and proclaims a similar judgment. However, fewer commentaries draw a connection between the King of Tyre and Lucifer, which could naturally bring one to the conclusion that they are both specifically speaking of natural kingdoms that God brought judgment on. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the case, however, since these are two distinct prophets writing in two distinct times and to two distinct audiences.
However you look at this text in trying to discern who Satan is, the fact remains that we still know Satan rebelled against God, and that he inspires pride among those of the world and that he stands in condemnation for this pride because of 1 Tim. 3:6 also tells us that those who become puffed up in pride suffer the same condemnation as the Devil. Satan knows the judgment against him, that Jesus will crush his head. He also knows that God cannot lie, and God cannot error.
At the same time, it would not be correct to say that he simply is trying to bring as many people to Hell with him as possible, as been positioned by some Christians. Rather, he seems to have the attitude of Esau in that he has traded the permanent state of glory for his temporary lust for power. This will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 25, but it is helpful to mention this story as it reveals a character flaw in Satan. He wants to be God, he ascended to Heaven in order to declare himself as such. He traded the permanent state for the temporary one, and he tricked other angels into doing the same, and it’s what he wants us to do as well. It’s even what he tried to tempt Jesus with when he said, “All these Kingdoms I will give to you if you bow down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8).
So it’s this understanding of the character of Satan that illuminates the temptation in the Garden of Eden. He starts with simple questioning, a line of questioning designed to challenge one's faith. To Eve, “Hath God said…” (V1). This type of argumentation continues to this day, did God really say homosexuality is a sin, or will He send people to Hell? What kind of loving God condemns someone to Hell? Such questions do not edify but seek only to replace God in our hearts with the image of rebellion, with the image of our ideals and what we think feels good to be right. It works on our hearts when we think about people under the judgment of God, and that is where Satan wants us so that he can then send the lie, “Thou shalt not surely die, but God knows that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good from evil” (V 4-5).
We don’t know how long Satan was watching Eve before he engaged her, but we do know that he observed her long enough to know that she was, at the least, curious about the fruit from the forbidden tree. He knew exactly what to say to her to put enough doubt in her mind to cause the temptation. He also knew that she would give it to her husband and that he would eat it as well. As stated earlier, Satan is cunning, and he will use the areas where we’re weakest to tempt us into sin.
For his efforts, Satan was the first one cursed. It’s notable that God did not give Satan the chance to repent, or even respond. He asked the man what he did, who passed the blame to his wife. He asked her what she did, and she passed the blame to the serpent. To the serpent, He immediately passed a two-part judgment.
The first part plays to the animal he was acting as. He is cursed above every cattle of the field. He will never again experience the glory or goodness of God. He is cast out on his breast, never again to rise to his former glory as chief among angels (Isaiah 14). His name is universally despised, and he is the enemy of all living things. Given this curse, this is the moment of Satan's rebellion and the moment he drew a third of the angels with him in his rebellion (Revelation 12:4).
The second part of the curse deals with the coming messiah. Not only has God exiled Satan, He will also cast him into an eternal prison after his final defeat. When Jesus came, Satan did bruise His heel. He caused Jesus to bleed and die on Calvary. However, Jesus had the final victory by conquering death, rising from His tomb, and thus fully defeating Satan. The victory over Satan was won at that moment, even though we still live in a fallen world. Satan is in prison, but he is still able to influence this world, much in the same way a mob boss can influence his gang from prison. He has lost the war, and this is evidenced in the power and authority by the way the Gospel has proceeded forth to all the nations.
Demonology- There will be more to say about demons in Chapter 6. However, it can be said that if the fall of man is also when Satan fell like lightning, then this is the moment that he drew a third of the angels with him. It is likely that they were drawn in by the same temporary reward that drives Satan. They have the same desire to be worshipped, they have the same desire to sit as kings. They, too, are in chains of darkness (2 Peter 2:4).
Heresies
Mormonism- It is taught by the Mormon church that Adam and Eve did not know each other until after the fall, and that the fall was necessary in order for Adam and Eve to procreate. In this idea, the Mormons believe that sex is the forbidden fruit. “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). This would mean that God gave them a command, but then told them it was a sin to do it. For after God created them, He commanded them to be fruitful and multiply. This verse further argues that man couldn’t know joy without the fall.
This is not a new heresy to the Mormon church, but proceeds from what is known as “the serpent seed doctrine.” In this belief, Eve had sexual contact with the serpent, and that contact created a second race of man who was evil and could not receive any kind of grace from God.
There are others who believe that we did not inherit sin at this moment. They maintain that no one is born in sin, but that we eventually succumb to sin at some point in our life. This is primarily an Orthodox position, although some Western theologians have latched onto it as well. While it may not be considered a direct heresy, it is heterodox in its formatting. It presents the false idea that if a man could somehow avoid sinning their entire life then there would be no need for Jesus in that person’s life. After all, those who aren’t sick have no need for a physician.
Final Thoughts- The fall of man is the most significant event of the Bible, outside of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But even at that, it gives the meaning behind Jesus needing to come to the cross in the first place. Although Jesus has won the victory on the cross, we still live in a fallen world. The promise is ours, and those who are His are called into His Kingdom. But, until His glorious reappearing, we will still suffer various types of persecution, deaths, diseases, heartache, pain, and everything that this fallen world can throw at us.
It’s tempting to look at Adam and Eve and blame them for this mess in a spirit of presumption. We like to think that if it were us in the Garden of Eden we would have done better. We would not have fallen. We would have been able to resist the temptations of the Devil and would be glorious overcomers. I think that this is narrow-sighted and denies the fundamental nature of our humanity. There will be many times in the Bible where one might think “That wouldn’t have been me.” Then the question can be turned and asked, how many times have you sinned in thought or deed just today?
Truth be told, this was all necessary to happen. The plan from the beginning was to redeem mankind through the blood of Jesus Christ. God would touch humanity. When Paul writes, “All things work together for the good of those who love God, for those called according to His purposes” (Romans 8:28), it has to mean that he is including the fall as well. So this too points to the glory of God.
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