Because you have done this

Genesis 3 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Fall of Man

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. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

⁸ They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” ¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat
All the days of your life; ¹⁵ And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” ¹⁶ To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. ¹⁸ “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; ¹⁹ By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

²⁰ Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

In yesterday’s meditation I shared 2 Timothy 3:16:  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.   It is important then that we try to understand all scripture and apply all scripture to our lives. We should not pick and choose the portions of scripture that are pleasing to us and disregard what is difficult. This is a grave error that many make as they create their own doctrines and so create a god in their own image; the way they think He should be, rather than all of who and what He is.

In today’s text we see that it is also important that we do not add to God’s word, forbidding what He has not forbidden or permitting what He does not permit. The deception of Eve, and so the fall of man into sin begins with this interchange between Eve and the serpent:     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’?” The woman said to the serpent, “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.’”    In Genesis 2:16-17 we see the actual commandment of God: The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “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.”   God never said they could not touch the fruit, by adding to God’s word and His commandment the devils temptation was made easier. Once he was able to tempt Eve just to touch the fruit, her desire for it was increased and she, seeing that nothing had happened, ate of the fruit.  In the same way when we add restrictions, rules and regulations to God’s word and His commandments, when we forbid what God has not forbidden, we actually make it easier for the devil to tempt people. Once they see that there is no consequence for violating man’s rules, they are more likely to disregard God’s commandments.

Look at the consequence of Adam and Eve’s disobedience:  To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”   Not only did Adam and Eve suffer the consequence of sin and disobedience, but also all people and all of creation. The ground was cursed because of sin.   As a result we today also suffer from the consequence of sin. We live in a fallen world. When we see evil and darkness, when we see even natural disasters and disease which lead to death, we should not blame God, we should blame sin. We also should not blame Adam and Eve, as if they alone are responsible for sin. Romans 6:23 says:  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.   1 John 1:8 says:  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  Like the sin of Adam and Eve, our sin also carries consequences for our own lives and also for the lives of others. God is not to blame for the consequences of sin. He does not cause evil and violence. Neither can man’s rules and regulations stop it.

We should not miss what is perhaps the greatest consequence of sin in today’s text:    Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—  therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.  So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.   God’s did not initially say that they could not eat from the tree of life. His plan and His intention was that they would live forever in fellowship with Him and obedience to Him. That they would die was the greatest consequence of sin. Romans 6:23 says:  The wages of sin is death… Sin always results in death. When there is sin and disobedience something always dies. Romans 6:23 continues:  but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.   Adam and Eve were banished from the garden so that they would not eat from the tree of life and live forever as sinners. John 3:16 says:  God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.   In John 14:15;21 Jesus says:  “If you love Me, keep My commandments… He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”    Revelation 22:14 says:  Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life.

All scripture, all of God’s word from Genesis to Revelation is: profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. God’s plan is that we would live forever. Through Christ, in obedience to Him we have the right to the tree of life. All that we see, read and understand, all that we apply to our own lives as we journey through scripture this year will be to reveal all that is ours in God’s plan, all that is ours through the right to the tree of life which we have in Christ. In John 10:10 Jesus says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”   May we come to know the abundance of obedience to Christ.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for Your word, for Your will and Your plan that despite the consequences of sin, I might live the abundant life in Christ.   Amen.