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Why did the fall come from Adam and not Eve?
Genesis Chapter 3 is one of the most important chapters in the entire Bible.
This single chapter, tells us so much. Some of the lessons that we can learn
from Genesis 3 include:
* How sin entered the world
* Why are we cursed
* The responsibility of headship
* How Satan attacks us
* & a host of other life lessons.
For starters, let's look at the prequel to the verses in question. It really starts with
Genesis chapter 2.
I - Genesis 2:8-9
"8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
II - Genesis 2:15-17
"15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely
die.”
III - Genesis 2:18-25
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
22 The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."
Now let us sum up these foundational Scriptures before looking into the Fall.
Part I - Genesis 2:8-9
Here the Lord our God provided everything that we would ever need as humans. He gave us every tree that was good for food and pleasing to the eyes.
He also placed 2 very special trees in the Garden of Eden. One was "The Tree of Life," and the other was, "the tree of
knowledge of good and evil."
Notice also that both trees seemed to be in close proximity to one another in the center of the garden.
The Word in the original Hebrew, "tavek" (Strong's 8432) which means by implication something is in the middle or center. They were both in the center of the Garden.
Part II - Genesis 2:15-17
In these two verses we find at least three interesting things.
(1) God put man in charge of the Garden to "cultivate it" and "keep it."
(Meaning to husband and protect)
(2) God gave us free will telling Adam that he could eat from any tree in the Garden.
(3) God gave Adam ONLY
ONE rule / ONE command - Not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil or he would surely die.
Part III - Genesis 2:18-25
Here we find another good bit of relevant information to the study.
(1) God wanted to form man a helper so he would not be alone.
(2) Adam witnessed as God created every beast and every bird, and then was given the power and authority to name each one.
(3) God created a female from Adam
(4) Adam called Eve "Woman" because she was taken from
"man."
(5) They were naked and not ashamed.
Now for the lesson from Chapter 3 regarding the fall.
Genesis Chapter 3 begins like this:
"1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate."
When reading this section of Scripture, there are several things that stuck out in my mind:
(1) It only took Satan 1 try to get all of mankind to fall. He must really understand our weaknesses.
(2) He attacked the woman and not the man...why?
(3) The devil twisted God's Words around.
(4) Eve misquoted God.
(5) The tree appealed to Eve on three levels. First, it was good for food. Second, it was pleasing to the eyes. Third, it was desirable to make her WISE!
(6) Adam was with her when she ate of the forbidden tree.
(7) Later in Genesis and in Scripture we read that the fall was teh result of Adam's transgression and not Eve's.
Now let's look deeper & put some of these pieces together.
(A) Recall that when God gave the command to Adam referring to not eating the forbidden fruit, that
Eve was not yet created. Adam was commanded in verses
2:16-17. Eve was not created until vere 2:22. This is an important point.
(B) God's exact Words to Adam were, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
(C) When Eve was tempted by Satan, she misquoted. Read her words again, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
(D) There are two things that are interesting about her misquote of God's Words.
(1) She did not name the tree. She only referred to it as, "the tree which is in the middle of the garden."
(2) She misquoted the restrictions. She said that, "God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it
or touch it,
or you will die."
Why in the world would she say that she could not even
touch it or she would die?
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
This is what I believe happened in the Garden of Eden based on what is told
to us in Scripture.
(1) I believe that Adam got a little prideful. I think he was
prideful because he was created first. He was able to have the power and authority to name all of the creatures that God created in front of him. Whatever he named them, that was what they were called. How awesome would that be to watch as God created all beasts and birds before your very eyes so that YOU could name them. That probably went to his head.
I believe his pride continued when God made the female for him. I believe this pride shows in his naming of the female. He called her "woman"
because she was "taken from man." Why not call her something that glorifies the Creator instead of the created? A name that means
something like a "gift from God?"
(2) I think what happened next was that at some point, Adam "Lorded it
over" Eve. I believe that he acted superior to Eve. He was created first. She was taken from him. He named her for himself. He named all of
the animals and birds not her. He was put in charge of the garden and not her.
(3) I believe that he made her feel
inferior. I believe that she did not feel as wise as he was
because he treated her like she wasn't, and she knew that she was not,
because she was not there during creation and the naming.
(4) Think about her words, and think about how sometimes parents go over the edge with their children. It's kind of like going to Grandma's house and your mom telling you about the expensive vase in the
living room that looks so tempting. Dad doesn't just say, "Don't touch it."
Oh no! Dad tells his kids, "Don't touch it...Don't look at it...Don't go anywhere near
it."
Can't you see the same in Adam. Eve got the warning from Adam. Adam did not even tell her the name of the tree. Maybe he was afraid that if she knew the name she would want to touch it. He only referred to it as the tree in the middle of the garden.
Adam also added to God's warning. He told her not to eat it or touch it or she would die.
(5) Then look at what it was that finally tempted
Eve. Yes it looked like food, and yes it was pretty. But then she noticed that it was,
"desirable to make one wise."
Think about her thought process. Eve might have thought to herself:
(A) 'Yes it appears to be good for food...but the garden is full of food...it's not worth it.'
(B) 'Yes it is pretty to look at...but the garden is full of every beautiful tree...it's not worth it.'
(C) 'But then again, it can make we wise...wise like Adam...Even better, I'll be wiser than
Adam...I'll be as wise as God like the serpent said...I'll do it!'
(6) All the while, Adam is by her side watching. Maybe he's nagging...maybe he's curious and thinks God will make him another if she dies...who knows what he was thinking, but he was there not stopping her.
LESSON LEARNED
The fall was the result of Adam taking a bite, not Eve. Death was due to his bite, not hers.
(Romans 5:14, 1 Corinthians 15:22) Adam was the one that received the command from God, and he was the one God entrusted to protect and keep the Garden, not Eve.
Adam failed because (1) he appeared to be prideful just as Lucifer fell because of Pride.
(2) He added to God's Word. (3) He did not keep that which was entrusted to him. This includes both his wife and the garden.
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