Genesis chapter 3

So here we have the Fall, the serpent plotting and scheming, the temptation, the giving in to temptation and the consequences:

Genesis 3: 1-5 (The Message)

The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: "Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?"  The Woman said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It's only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.'"

The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil."

See how the serpent twists everything?  He didn't actually lie, as such, after all, God did tell them not to eat for the tree:

Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;  but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’ (NIV)

And death would follow, not necessarily immediately though.  But the interesting things here (to me at any rate) are that firstly, God gave these instructions to Adam before He created Eve, so when Eve is answering the serpent, she is passing on second hand knowledge,  It is not something she was told direct by God Himself.  But as Adam is head of the household, you would expect God to leave these things to Adam because as Paul tells  us, the man is head of the woman, just as Jesus is head of the church:

Ephesians 5:22-28

Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favour—since they're already "one" in marriage. (The Message)

Then secondly, the serpent heard everything that God told Adam.  He was right there in the Garden of Eden listening to every word spoken, watching what was going on, seeing what happened.  So, presumably God had already created the angels and satan had been cast down from heaven (or maybe he was about to be as a result of his actions here)?

Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (NIV)

Genesis 3:12-13 The man said, The woman you put here with me— she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.  Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. (NIV)

Interesting to see how man blamed the woman, and she blamed the serpent.  No one standing up and accepting responsibility for making the decision to eat the apple in the first place.  It reminds me of  two of my boys who aggravate each other something rotten.  The 20 year old has been known on many an occasion to say "he made me do it" after he has just hit his 15 year old brother,  blaming his younger brother when he loses his temper and resorting to physical violence.

We each have to take responsibility for our own actions.  You can’t turn around and say that Eve was the one who made you eat the apple when you had to make a conscious decision to reach out your hand, take the apple and have a bite.  Eve was not the one involved in that decision making process, even though she may have been the one trying to persuade you to eat the apple.  It was your choice.  Similarly, Eve can’t blame the serpent for her choosing to believe his lies and take a bite of the apple.  Exactly the same process applies to her too as she had to have made a conscious decision to reach out and take the apple.

Both the man and the woman, Adam and Eve, had a close relationship with God, probably far closer than most of us.  Yet they were both tempted by the thought of being like God, of knowing good and evil, being all powerful all seeing, all knowing.  They gave no thought to what they could lose, only to what they might gain.  Sometimes, the price we pay to gain something is not worth it and you only have to look at the price Adam and Eve paid to realise that.

The other thing I never really appreciated before, is that it says in verse 6 "she also gave some to her husband who was with her."  It's not a case of Eve wandering around in the garden all on her own, no way.  She was with her husband, they were together, so when the serpent spoke to Eve, Adam was right there beside her listening to every word.  What a cop out to try and blame Eve when he knew exactly what had been going on and what had been said.  He is just as much a party to the sin as Eve was and pretending ignorance, closing his eyes and his mind to the truth is not going to change matters.

It is easy to put the blame on others, to try and make ourselves look good, be the innocent party and whitewash our actions.  But really, we are each just as guilty as both Adam and Eve every single time we sin and every single time we try to excuse it by blaming someone else, our circumstances, the economic situation, our lack of this, our need for the other, the weather, the time of year/month/week/day, our employer, our unemployment, the man in the moon, etc. 

We need to get real with ourselves, others and God, and admit when we have done wrong, take responsibility when we mess up and stop trying to blame anyone and everyone else.

The consequences for Adam and Eve here were simple:

• Pain in childbirth for the woman plus a husband who rules the roost;

• The ground is cursed;

• Getting food from the ground for the man will be as painful for the man as childbirth is for the woman.  He will spend his life working hard every day to earn a living, to put food on the table; and

• Expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Yet look at the care God takes here.  He doesn't just throw them out and leave them on their own.  He clothes them in leather before they are expelled, so they are warm and protected from the elements.  This is effectively the first sacrifice as at least one animal must have been killed to provide the leather clothing. 

And the serpent?

Genesis 3:14-15 God told the serpent:  "Because you've done this, you're cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life.  I'm declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers.  He'll wound your head, you'll wound his heel." (The Message)

A prophecy of what is to come with the offspring, Jesus, being killed by the serpent, satan, ("you'll wound his heel") yet rising from the dead to deal a mortal blow to satan ("he'll wound your head").