Adam and Eve Tempted

A sneaky voice. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made” (3:1). Cunning means clever in a sneaky way. The New Testament tells us who was really speaking: “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). A twisted question. The serpent asked, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (3:1). God had said the opposite: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat” (2:16). Only one tree was off limits. A plain lie. Then the serpent said, “You will not surely die” (3:4). God had said, “You shall surely die” (2:17). The devil called God a liar. An attack on God's heart. The serpent said, “God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (3:5). He wanted Eve to believe that God was holding back something good. The same old trick. The devil still works this way. He makes God's word sound unclear, then he makes God sound unkind. How Jesus answered. When the devil tempted Jesus, Jesus answered with Scripture: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). What this means for you. Learn what God says, and trust that He is good. When a voice tells you God doesn't really mean what He says, answer with God's word.

The serpent (3:1). The Hebrew word is nachash (say: nah-KHASH), a snake. It was a real creature, but Revelation 12:9 names the one behind it: “that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.” Paul warns the church “as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Cunning and naked. The serpent was arum (say: ah-ROOM), cunning. The verse just before, 2:25, uses a word that sounds almost the same, arummim (say: ah-roo-MEEM), naked. The man and woman were open and trusting; the serpent was crafty and hiding his plan. Doubt first (3:1). “Has God indeed said…?” The question shrank God's generous word, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat” (2:16), into a list of rules. Eve's answer (3:2-3). Eve knew the command, but she added “nor shall you touch it” and left out “freely.” When we are not sure what God said, we are easy to fool. Denial next (3:4). “You will not surely die” flatly contradicts 2:17. Jesus called the devil a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Then slander (3:5). The serpent made God look jealous and stingy, as if God were keeping them from becoming “like God.” They were already made in God's image (1:27). The lie offered what they already had, on the devil's terms. The second Adam. In the wilderness Jesus faced the same tempter and answered three times, “It is written” (Matthew 4:4, 10). Hebrews 4:15 says He was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Where Adam fell, Jesus stood. Why it matters. Temptation usually starts with a question about whether God is good. Knowing God's word well, and knowing His heart, is how you stand.

God had given Adam and Eve a wonderful garden. They could eat from every tree but one. Then a snake came to Eve with a question. The Bible tells us the devil was using that snake. The devil hates God and wants to hurt God's people. His first trick was to make Eve doubt God's words. He made God sound mean and stingy. Then he said, “You will not die.” That was a lie. The devil still tells lies like that today. He says sin is fun and God is not fair. But God always tells the truth. When you hear a lie, remember what God says.

The snake told Eve a lie. He wanted her to stop trusting God. God's words are always true. God always loves us.

Looking and wanting. Eve saw that the tree “was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise” (3:6). Sin often starts with looking and wanting. Taking. “She took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (3:6). Adam was right there. He did not stop her, and he chose to eat. “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin” (Romans 5:12). Eyes opened. The serpent had promised open eyes, and their eyes were opened, but all they saw was shame (3:7). Sin never gives what it promises. Fig leaves. “They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings” (3:7). People still try to cover their sin by themselves. Hiding. When they heard the Lord God “walking in the garden in the cool of the day,” they hid “among the trees” (3:8). Before, they loved to be with God. Now they ran from Him. God came looking. “Where are you?” (3:9). God knew the answer. He asked so that Adam would come out and tell the truth. Jesus came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Blaming. Adam blamed “the woman whom You gave to be with me” (3:12). Eve said, “The serpent deceived me” (3:13). Neither one confessed their own sin. What this means for you. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9). You never have to hide from God.

Three steps (3:6). Eve saw that the tree was good for food, pleasant to the eyes and desirable to make one wise. The pull of the body, the eyes and pride is the same pull every person feels (compare 1 John 2:16). Jesus faced all three in the wilderness and did not give in. “With her” (3:6). Adam stood beside her and said nothing. God had given the command to him (2:16-17), so the Bible holds him responsible: “by one man's disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19). Opened eyes (3:7). The first result of sin was shame. The trust of 2:25 was gone. Fig leaves were the first attempt to cover sin by human effort. The cool of the day (3:8). The Hebrew says the wind of the day, the breezy evening. God came near as He always had, but now they hid from His presence. Sin breaks fellowship with God before it breaks anything else. “Where are you?” (3:9). In Hebrew this is one word, ayyekah (say: ah-YEH-kah). It is the cry of a seeking Father, not a puzzled one. God's first words to sinners were a question that invited them to come back. Four questions (3:9-13). God asked where they were, who told them, whether they had eaten and what they had done. Each question opened a door to confession. The blame chain (3:12-13). Adam blamed the woman and, in the same sentence, God: “The woman whom You gave to be with me.” Eve blamed the serpent. Sin turns people against each other and against God. Why it matters. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). Confession is the way out of hiding.

Eve listened to the snake instead of to God. She ate the fruit, and Adam ate it too. Adam was right there, and he did not stop her. Both of them chose to disobey God. That is what sin is. Sin is choosing our way instead of God's way. Right away they felt ashamed. They tried to cover themselves with leaves. Then they hid from God. But God came looking for them. He called, “Where are you?” God knew where they were. He wanted them to come out and tell the truth. Instead, Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the snake. When you do wrong, do not hide or blame. Tell God the truth, because He loves you.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Then they felt ashamed. They hid from God. But God came looking for them.

The serpent cursed. “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle” (3:14). From then on it would crawl and “eat dust All the days of your life.” Enemies. “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman” (3:15). Enmity means being enemies. God would not let the devil keep people as his friends. Her Seed. Seed means child or children. God said “her Seed,” and then “He.” One special Son would come. “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). Heel and head. “He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (3:15). A bruised heel hurts. A crushed head means defeat. At the cross Jesus suffered, but He defeated the devil (Hebrews 2:14). Pain and struggle. God told the woman that bearing children would bring pain, and that sin would bring struggle even into marriage (3:16). Thorns and dust. “Cursed is the ground for your sake” (3:17). Work became hard, with thorns and sweat. “For dust you are, And to dust you shall return” (3:19). Death came, just as God said. Mercy in the middle. The word cursed fell on the serpent and the ground. Before God spoke one hard word to Adam and Eve, He gave them a promise. What this means for you. Sin is serious, and it hurts. But God's answer to sin was a Savior, promised on the very first day.

No question for the serpent (3:14). God questioned Adam and Eve, but He did not question the serpent. He simply judged it. On its belly and eating dust, it became a picture of defeat (compare Micah 7:17, licking the dust). Enmity (3:15). The Hebrew word is eybah (say: ay-VAH), deep and lasting hostility. God Himself put it there: “I will put enmity.” He would not let humanity stay on the devil's side. Two seeds. Zera (say: ZEH-rah), seed, can mean many offspring or one. The verse moves from “her Seed” to “He” and “His heel”: one Person. Many Christians call 3:15 the first gospel, the first announcement of the Savior. The wound and the victory. The same verb, shuph (say: shoof), is used for both blows. A heel wound is painful; a head wound is fatal. Jesus shared our flesh “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The woman (3:16). Childbirth would bring pain, and the closest human friendship God made would now know struggle. Yet through childbirth the promised Seed would come. Toil (3:17). Itstsavon (say: eets-tsah-VONE), painful toil, is the same word used for the woman's pain in 3:16. Sin brought pain into home and work alike. Thorns (3:18). Many Christians see a picture here: Jesus wore a crown of thorns when He became “a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). Why it matters. God judged sin truly, and in the same speech He promised the One who would carry its curse.

God spoke to the snake first. God put a curse on the snake. Then God made the first promise about Jesus. A Child would be born from the woman's family. The snake would bite His heel. That would hurt, but the Child would not be beaten. He would crush the snake's head. That means He would beat the devil for good. Jesus did that when He died on the cross and rose again. Sin also brought pain and hard work. People would grow old and die. Sin is very serious. But God gave a promise before He sent them away.

God made a promise to send a Savior. A special Child would come. He would win over the sneaky snake. That Child is Jesus!

A name of hope. “And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (3:20). Eve sounds like the Hebrew word for life. After hearing about death, Adam spoke about life. He believed God's promise. God's clothes. “Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them” (3:21). A tunic is a long shirt. God replaced their fig leaves with something that really covered them. A life for a covering. To make clothes of skin, an animal had to die. Many Christians see this as the first picture of sacrifice. Later John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). “Like one of Us.” God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil” (3:22). Many Christians see “Us” as a glimpse of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Kept from the tree. God would not let them eat from the tree of life and live forever (3:22). Living forever as sinners would not be a gift. The guarded way. God placed cherubim, mighty angels, and “a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life” (3:24). Sin cannot come near a holy God. A way opened. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). In the end the tree of life appears again (Revelation 22:2). What this means for you. You cannot cover your own sin, but God can. He gives a covering and a way home through Jesus.

Eve (3:20). Her name, Chavah (say: khav-VAH), sounds like the Hebrew word for living. Adam had just heard “to dust you shall return,” yet he named his wife for life. His faith rested on the promise of 3:15. Tunics (3:21). The word is kethoneth (say: keh-TOH-neth), a long garment. God took away the fig-leaf coverings they had made and dressed them Himself. Skin (3:21). Skins come from animals, so the first death in the Bible may be an animal that died to cover sinners. Many Christians see here the first picture of sacrifice. Later the Bible teaches that “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22), and Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “One of Us” (3:22). As in 1:26, God speaks with a plural. Many Christians see the Father, Son and Holy Spirit here. Mercy at the gate (3:22-23). God “sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.” Eating from the tree of life would have fixed them forever in their fallen state. Sending them out was judgment and mercy together. Cherubim (3:24). Kerubim (say: keh-roo-VEEM) are powerful angels who guard God's holy presence. Later, cherubim were woven into the curtain of the tabernacle and made of gold on the lid of the ark. East of Eden. From now on, people live outside the garden. The rest of the Bible tells how God brings them home. The way back. Jesus opened “a new and living way” into God's presence (Hebrews 10:19-20), and the risen Lord promises, “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life” (Revelation 2:7).

Adam named his wife Eve. Her name means life. God had said they would die. But Adam believed God's promise about the Child. Then God did something very kind. He made clothes from animal skins for them. Their leaf clothes were not good enough. Then God sent them out of the garden. Angels and a sword of fire guarded the tree of life. The way back to God's garden was closed. But God was not done. Many years later, Jesus came. Jesus is the way back to God for everyone who trusts Him.

God made clothes for Adam and Eve. He took care of them. God is so kind. Jesus came to bring us back to God.