Thursday, September 4, 2014

Commentary of the Bible - By Robert Dean Steel

Genesis 3

1 – We are introduced to the serpent.  It was more crafty than any of the creatures God has made.  It talked to the woman.   We know that satan by other passages of scripture was inhabiting the serpent and giving it the ability of speech.  Must have been quite a surprise when the woman heard the serpent speak.  He said, “Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden.”  Planting seeds of doubt and deception in mind to distrust God is a common ploy of evil.
2-3 – The woman tells the serpent that they can eat of any tree in the garden but not the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.  If they do they will die.
4-5 – Immediately the serpent counter acts the command of God and says they will not die.  He then says that their human eyes will be opened and they will be like God knowing good and evil.  This is again any plot of evil.  The same lie the demons fell for.  They wanted to be God and they now want God’s greatest creation to fall like they did.
6-7 – The woman saw the fruit was good, pleasing to eye and also desirable to gain wisdom so she ate it.  She then gave it to her husband who we learn was with her at the time and He ate it.  This shows Adam’s not only participated but willingly engaged in disobedient behaviour.  He was there when the serpent said all this.  Their eyes became open and they realized their nakedness and they tried to cover it with fig aprons.  You cannot cover sin with human efforts.  Only the blood Jesus Christ can truly cleanse from sin.
8-9 – They heard God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.  Obviously a representation of God though we do not know in what form God came.  They hid from Him and God called to them.  Two things of note; God had a wonderful friendship with man before this incident and He showed himself in some form to man until the fall. 
10-11 – Man responded by telling God four things.  I heard you, I was afraid, I am naked and I hid from you.  God says, “who told you that you were naked.”  Then God asks the man a pointed question, “Did you eat from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?”
12-13 – This immediately brings about the blame game.  The man blames the woman and the woman blames the serpent.  Since the fall mankind generally does not take the blame for their own actions.
14-15 – Judgment is immediate and severe.  The serpent is cursed to crawl on the ground.  They will be warfare between its seed and hers.  The woman’s seed will one day crush its head and the serpents will bruise his heel.  Two thoughts.  First, this scripture talks about Jesus Christ coming to destroy the works of the devil.  This was a promise of future victory.  Secondly ,it is the seed of the woman.  A woman does not have seed a man does.  Yet this child will be a product of the seed of the woman.  It indicates that this child will have no human father but only a human mother.  A virgin born child which we now know was Jesus Christ.
16 – The woman would face three consequences.  First, she would have much pain in childbirth.  Secondly, her desire would be her husband and lastly man would rule over her.  Not God’s plan but a consequence of sin.
17-19 – Adam face the following consequences.  The ground became cursed because of him.  It will be through pain toil and hard work that he would reap fruitfulness from the soil.  Thorns and thistles became a reality.  Lastly man would die physically and return to the dust as he came. 
20 – Adam named the woman Eve because she became the mother of all living things.

21-24 – God gave Adam and Eve animal skins to cover their nakedness.  Animal sacrifices would become a temporary method to cover man’s nakedness and sin.  Man was then banished from the garden because they had become like God knowing good and evil.  Here we also see the first mention of the pronoun us indicating trinity.  Man was banished as well because if they would have eaten from the tree of life they would have lived forever in sin.  God then drove them out for they were not willing to leave and then he placed a cherubim with a flaming sword to keep man from re-entering.  This sword protected the tree of life.  In this passage angels are first introduced and the tree of life is placed on hold until its re-appearance in the book of revelation.

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