Genesis 3

Ge 3:1-5.

THE

TEMPTATION.

1. the serpent--The fall of man was effected by the seductions

of a serpent. That it was a real serpent is evident from the plain and

artless style of the history and from the many allusions made to it in

the New Testament. But the material serpent was the instrument or tool

of a higher agent, Satan or the devil, to whom the sacred writers apply

from this incident the reproachful name of "the dragon, that old

serpent"

[Re 20:2].

Though Moses makes no mention of this wicked spirit--giving only the

history of the visible world--yet in the fuller discoveries of the

Gospel, it is distinctly intimated that Satan was the author of the

plot

(Joh 8:44;

2Co 11:3;

1Jo 3:8;

1Ti 2:14;

Re 20:2).

more subtile--Serpents are proverbial for wisdom

(Mt 10:16).

But these reptiles were at first, probably, far superior in beauty as

well as in sagacity to what they are in their present state.

He said--There being in the pure bosoms of the first pair no

principle of evil to work upon, a solicitation to sin could come only

from "without," as in the analogous case of Jesus Christ

(Mt 4:3);

and as the tempter could not assume the human form, there being only

Adam and Eve in the world, the agency of an inferior creature had to be

employed. The dragon-serpent [BOCHART] seemed the

fittest for the vile purpose; and the devil was allowed by Him who

permitted the trial, to bring articulate sounds from its mouth.

unto the woman--the object of attack, from his knowledge of her

frailty, of her having been but a short time in the world, her limited

experience of the animal tribes, and, above all, her being alone,

unfortified by the presence and counsels of her husband. Though sinless

and holy, she was a free agent, liable to be tempted and seduced.

yea, hath God said?--Is it true that He has restricted you in

using the fruits of this delightful place? This is not like one so good

and kind. Surely there is some mistake. He insinuated a doubt as to her

sense of the divine will and appeared as an angel of light

(2Co 11:14),

offering to lead her to the true interpretation. It was evidently from

her regarding him as specially sent on that errand, that, instead of

being startled by the reptile's speaking, she received him as a

heavenly messenger.

2. the woman said, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the

garden--In her answer, Eve extolled the large extent of liberty

they enjoyed in ranging at will amongst all the trees--one only

excepted, with respect to which, she declared there was no doubt,

either of the prohibition or the penalty. But there is reason to think

that she had already received an injurious impression; for in using the

words "lest ye die," instead of "ye shall surely die"

[Ge 2:17],

she spoke as if the tree had been forbidden because of some poisonous

quality of its fruit. The tempter, perceiving this, became bolder in

his assertions.

4. Ye shall not surely die--He proceeded, not only to assure her

of perfect impunity, but to promise great benefits from partaking of

it.

5. your eyes shall be opened--His words meant more than met the

ear. In one sense her eyes were opened; for she acquired a direful

experience of "good and evil"--of the happiness of a holy, and the

misery of a sinful, condition. But he studiously concealed this result

from Eve, who, fired with a generous desire for knowledge, thought only

of rising to the rank and privileges of her angelic visitants.

Ge 3:6-9.

THE

FALL.

6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food--Her

imagination and feelings were completely won; and the fall of Eve was

soon followed by that of Adam. The history of every temptation, and of

every sin, is the same; the outward object of attraction, the inward

commotion of mind, the increase and triumph of passionate desire;

ending in the degradation, slavery, and ruin of the soul

(Jas 1:15;

1Jo 2:16).

8. they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the

garden--The divine Being appeared in the same manner as

formerly--uttering the well-known tones of kindness, walking in some

visible form (not running hastily, as one impelled by the influence of

angry feelings). How beautifully expressive are these words of the

familiar and condescending manner in which He had hitherto held

intercourse with the first pair.

in the cool of the day--literally, "the breeze of the day," the

evening.

hid themselves amongst the trees of the garden--Shame, remorse,

fear--a sense of guilt--feelings to which they had hitherto been

strangers disordered their minds and led them to shun Him whose

approach they used to welcome. How foolish to think of eluding His

notice

(Ps 139:1-12).

Ge 3:10-13.

THE

EXAMINATION.

10. afraid, because . . . naked--apparently, a

confession--the language of sorrow; but it was evasive--no signs of

true humility and penitence--each tries to throw the blame on

another.

12. The woman . . . gave me--He blames God

[CALVIN]. As the woman had been given him for his

companion and help, he had eaten of the tree from love to her; and

perceiving she was ruined, was determined not to survive her

[M'KNIGHT].

13. beguiled--cajoled by flattering lies. This sin of the first

pair was heinous and aggravated--it was not simply eating an apple, but

a love of self, dishonor to God, ingratitude to a benefactor,

disobedience to the best of Masters--a preference of the creature to

the Creator.

Ge 3:14-24.

THE

SENTENCE.

14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent--The Judge pronounces

a doom: first, on the material serpent, which is cursed above all

creatures. From being a model of grace and elegance in form, it has

become the type of all that is odious, disgusting, and low [LE CLERC, ROSENMULLER]; or the curse has converted its natural

condition into a punishment; it is now branded with infamy and avoided

with horror; next, on the spiritual serpent, the seducer. Already

fallen, he was to be still more degraded and his power wholly destroyed

15. thy seed--not only evil spirits, but wicked men.

seed of the woman--the Messiah, or His Church [CALVIN, HENGSTENBERG].

I will put enmity between thee and the woman--God can only be said

to do so by leaving "the serpent and his seed to the influence of their

own corruption; and by those measures which, pursued for the salvation

of men, fill Satan and his angels with envy and rage."

thou shalt bruise his heel--The serpent wounds the heel that

crushes him; and so Satan would be permitted to afflict the humanity of

Christ and bring suffering and persecution on His people.

it shall bruise thy head--The serpent's poison is lodged in its

head; and a bruise on that part is fatal. Thus, fatal shall be the

stroke which Satan shall receive from Christ, though it is probable he

did not at first understand the nature and extent of his doom.

16. unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy

sorrow--She was doomed as a wife and mother to suffer pain of body

and distress of mind. From being the help meet of man and the partner

of his affections

[Ge 2:18, 23],

her condition would henceforth be that of humble subjection.

17-19. unto Adam he said--made to gain his livelihood by tilling

the ground; but what before his fall he did with ease and pleasure, was

not to be accomplished after it without painful and persevering

exertion.

19. till thou return unto the ground--Man became mortal;

although he did not die the moment he ate the forbidden fruit, his body

underwent a change, and that would lead to dissolution; the union

subsisting between his soul and God having already been dissolved, he

had become liable to all the miseries of this life and to the pains of

hell for ever. What a mournful chapter this is in the history of man!

It gives the only true account of the origin of all the physical and

moral evils that are in the world; upholds the moral character of God;

shows that man, made upright, fell from not being able to resist a

slight temptation; and becoming guilty and miserable, plunged all his

posterity into the same abyss

(Ro 5:12).

How astonishing the grace which at that moment gave promise of a

Saviour and conferred on her who had the disgrace of introducing sin

the future honor of introducing that Deliverer

(1Ti 2:15).

20. Adam called his wife's name Eve--probably in reference to

her being a mother of the promised Saviour, as well as of all

mankind.

21. God made coats of skins--taught them to make these for

themselves. This implies the institution of animal sacrifice, which

was undoubtedly of divine appointment, and instruction in the only

acceptable mode of worship for sinful creatures, through faith in a

Redeemer

(Heb 9:22).

22. And God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us--not

spoken in irony as is generally supposed, but in deep compassion. The

words should be rendered, "Behold, what has become [by sin] of the man

who was as one of us"! Formed, at first, in our image to know good and

evil--how sad his condition now.

and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of

life--This tree being a pledge of that immortal life with which

obedience should be rewarded, man lost, on his fall, all claim to this

tree; and therefore, that he might not eat of it or delude himself with

the idea that eating of it would restore what he had forfeited, the

Lord sent him forth from the garden.

24. placed . . . cherbim--The passage should be

rendered thus: "And he dwelt between the cherubim at the East of the

Garden of Eden and a fierce fire, or Shekinah, unfolding itself to

preserve the way of the tree of life." This was the mode of worship now

established to show God's anger at sin and teach the mediation of a

promised Saviour as the way of life, as well as of access to God. They

were the same figures as were afterwards in the tabernacle and temple;

and now, as then, God said, "I will commune with thee from above the

mercy seat, from between the two cherubims"

(Ex 25:22).