Commentary on Genesis: Chapter 3 - An Exhaustive Study

THE FALL OF MAN 

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.”

God is now allowing and using Satan to test Adam and Eve. They were made perfect, but were they virtuous? Satan, a spirit entity, was allowed by God to select a creature that lived in the Garden to physically represent him. In this way Adam and Eve would have a physical creature to converse with. It initially appears that Satan had waited until he could get Eve alone to reason first with her concerning the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. But we later will learn that Adam was at least in the area and therefore may have overheard and considered the logic behind the conversation that was about to ensue. The "serpent" Eve encountered was a physical creature she could see and interact with. Not a bodyless voice that might cause her to become scared, or think she was talking to herself. Because Satan is spirit and currently confined in the air, he was allowed by God to throw his voice so that it appeared to come from this creature Adam had named Serpent. So the creature was never able to actually speak. Instead, we are witnessing the use of a live animal by a higher spiritual power in order to interact with a human. The fact that the creature appeared to be talking does not seem to have surprised Eve. After all, she was new to the Garden herself and was continually observing all manner of life forms and their various abilities. We are told that this "beast", was by its nature more “subtle” in both form and demeanor than any other animal that had previously visited the Garden. And with its multicolored scales glistening in the sunlight, mesmerizing slit pupal stare and soothing voice accompanied by a forked tongue, Eve no doubt thought she had found a new friend she could trust and commune with other than Adam. It is interesting to note that the Antichrist is also referred to as the “Beast” (Revelation 19:20).

“And he {Satan} said to the Woman, Yes has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the Garden?”

In Hebrew the words “…he said to the Woman,” conveys the idea that Satan hissed an enchantment that beguiled Eve. But this is not true. Eve was well aware of the covenant Adam had made with their Creator and the ramifications of breaking that trust. At this time, Eve is referred by the title “Woman” because she is the only known female in existence and therefore does not need a name. Satan draws in Eve to interact in a conversation by first using the word “Yes”. The word "Yes" generally has a positive, reassuring and calming effect on a person. He then refers to the LORD God as only “God”. This is because he cannot speak the full name of God without becoming sickened. Interestingly, while the disciples referred to Jesus as Lord, Judas refused to use this title. Satan then asks her a question while implying it requires a simple yes or no answer. The question from Satan is, will God not allow you to “….eat of every tree in the Garden?” Can that be true … is that fair?

“And the Woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the Garden.”

So Eve has now fully engaged in a conversation with the Serpent. This will prove to be her downfall. She now miss quotes what she was told by Adam. Satan is only using Eve to get to Adam who is the primary party in the Adamic Covenant with God. Satan believes what he literally heard God say to Adam. If they eat the fruit they “will surely die”. So, he wants Adam and Eve to eat the fruit and die. Then Lucifer, who considers himself God’s legitimate first born son, will be allowed to rule the planet Earth and its creations. Not Adam!

“But the ‘fruit’ of the tree that is in the midst of the Garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, ‘neither shall you touch it’, least you die.” 

Eve has now added the word fruit along with the words, neither shall you touch it. She also leaves out the words “surely die”. So Eve apparently thought the fruit, including its skin, was also deadly to the touch.

“And the serpent said to the Woman, You will not surely die.”

Satan has now uttered the first lie in the history of the Earth to the first woman who is now hanging on his every word. This lie, told to Eve by a creature she has just met, has now planted a seed of doubt in her mind concerning the honesty of God her Creator. She is now seriously contemplating if it is really true that in eating the fruit she will “surely die”. Or, did God just say that even though it is not true? In other words, if I disobey God, will I really die? This statement indicates that Adam and Eve apparently had at least a rudimentary understanding and fear of death. They must have been told by God that they did not exist until He created them. Therefore, they must have thought that in death they would once again cease to exist. So, it was a great relief to Eve to hear from the Serpent that her fear of death was unfounded. Meanwhile, Satan’s goal was to get the couple to eat the fruit and create the world’s first suicide pact. That way, these two incredibly dim witted humans that God apparently created the Earth for, would be gone. Then he could now rule the earth by default with the fallen angels worshipping him as their god of choice. He originally wanted to rule from above the Throne of God. But since that idea was soundly rejected, he decided he would settle on ruling the Earth instead (Isaiah 14:13).

“For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil.” 

By saying “You will not surely die”, Satan is intimating to Eve that he and God have a secret that God does not want the couple to know. In this sentence, the Serpent, now her new best friend, reveals this secret and it both stuns and excites Eve. He tells her that God does not want them to eat the fruit because “God knows” when they do {not if}, their “eyes {minds} will be opened”. Interestingly, the eyes of a snake are always open. Satan is telling Eve that she and Adam only think they know the truth about God, themselves and the world around them. When in actuality, they only currently know a half truth. The full truth is that once they disobey God, eat the fruit and break the Covenant, they “will be as gods”. They will understand that they have always been free to choose to work with God, or go their own way just as God does. And it’s all because, “knowing good {right} from evil {wrong}” allows them to pick and choose between the two. Thus, God is essentially holding them back from becoming their full authentic selves. And the only way to prove all of this true is to simply take the fruit and eat it. How easy is that? But we quickly will learn that eating the fruit would not bring them closer to God. Instead, it brought them closer to Satan. Their eyes were open from a Holy happiness with God to fallen sinful misery with Satan. Adam and Eve were already like God living in a paradise. The knowledge of good and evil only made them sin conscious and afraid of God.  

This act of a creation rebelling against the will of its Creator began in the mind of the angel Lucifer. He then proposed this idea to certain angels who agreed with his philosophy of self-rule. When his plot to overthrow the Throne of God was ready to initiate, God temporarily exiled him along with one third of the angels out of Heaven and down into the atmosphere of the Earth (Revelation 12:12). Today, Satan is still being put to good use by God to test mankind for virtue. Creations either recognize and are grateful to their Creator for their existence, or they refuse to recognize their Creator. In this way they do not voluntarily put themselves in what they see as a servant master relationship. You see, to acknowledge ones Creator is by inference acknowledging that the Creator may have a plan for the creation. And, this plan may run counter to the plans of the creation. Therefore, some believe it is better to not acknowledge their Creator than fall into a possible master servant relationship. Even if it means the relationship may end with the creation being exiled or even annihilated out of existence by its Creator. In other words, it is better to exist and be annihilated than to acknowledging and pay homage to a Creator. When in reality, for a creation to recognize their Creator is simply a way for the creation to thank the Creator for existence. No creator, no creation and no existence. There, that was easy. 

“And when the woman saw {believed the lie} that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise {wisdom}, she took of {picked} the fruit thereof, and did eat; and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat.” 

It would be more accurate to say that, when the woman first believed the lie she then acted on it. It is one thing to have thoughts that are against the will of God. But when a person defiantly rebels against the will of God, the act committed becomes a grievous sin in the eyes of God. So, once Eve believed the tree was good for food, she began to find other justifying reasons to support her desires to eat the fruit in order to become a God.  

Now, because animals have instinct and no real cognitive self-aware intelligence, they cannot sin. Therefore, the animal kingdom was not under the covenant God made with man or Adam. So, the animals were possibly free to eat the fruit of every tree in the Garden without receiving the gifts of knowledge and extended life. Thus, the serpent may have been actually eating the fruit in front of Eve as proof that it would not kill her. Still, this was no excuse as she was tangentially under the covenant by way of Adam. This slight legal demarcation would later allow Mary {a female} to be able to give birth to a sin free Jesus. Please see related: Why Jesus Had To Be Born Of A Virgin.    

While Eve decided “it was pleasant” to look at, she most of all wanted or "desired" to eat the fruit because it would “make one wise” like a god. Eve equated wisdom with being godlike, but instead she was only awakened to the understanding of Good and Evil. So, she reached out and “took {plucked} the fruit” and now held it in her hand. “And {she} did {willingly} eat;”. So, Eve was not handed the fruit by the serpent. The creature had arms and fingers at this time as it was before the curse caused it to genetically lose its ability to produce limbs. We can know this because the skeleton of all snakes today still reveal that this animal once had protruding limbs that terminated with rudimentary hands and feet though not like humans. Not only did Eve have to pick the fruit, she also had to peal it to get to the flesh. Some Jewish scholars believe that the semicolon that follows the word "eat;" indicates a pause in the action. Meaning that Adam was not there at this meeting and that Eve had to take the fruit and serve it to him. Thus, by bringing the fruit to him, Eve brought evil into their marriage. We read in the Book of Timothy that while Eve was deceived, Adam was not. He was fully aware of what he was doing and the consequences of his action (I Timothy 2:13-15). So once again, we are reminded of the old adage, “Thinking themselves wise, they became as fools" (Romans 1:22). When Adam sinned, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit immediately left. He was now spiritually separated from his Creator, and God was notified about what had occurred. It has been suggested that Adam ate the fruit out of his love for Eve. However, as heartwarming as this thought is, it is always wrong to sin against God even in the name of love. 

Eve began to eat the fruit and realized that the serpent was right, she did not drop dead. If Adam was there during the meeting, it was then that she handed some of the fruit to him. He also realized that the fruit was good to the taste, beautiful in color and most importantly, Eve kept eating it and did not die. So Adam also “did eat” of the forbidden fruit. No doubt the two were now thinking, why did God forbid them to eat this fruit when it looked interesting, tasted great and did not kill them? Obviously the serpent was right. Like gods, they now felt free to do whatever they wanted to do whenever they wanted to do it.  

             WHAT WAS THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE? 

While the Bible does not name the fruit, we can say with absolute certainty the fruit was not an apple. This misunderstanding was derived from a common but historically inaccurate belief based on a word used in the Latin Vulgate Bible. The Latin word malus meaning evil was used for the fruit. The public was very quick to notice that this Latin word was very similar to the Latin word malum which means apple. Thus, the first unban legion was born and continues to be passed down from generation to generation. 

The apple as the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge is also not supported by a significantly older Jewish tradition. The Jews always believed that the fruit was the pomegranate. And here are the reasons why? The pomegranate fruit has 613 seeds and there are 613 commandments in the Torah. This is seen as a sign that that the fruit is in line with God’s word which is in turn a path to righteousness. The large number of seeds are symbolic of fertility or procreation and an increase in knowledge. God is repeatedly cited throughout the Bible as encouraging human procreation which in turn supports the idea of spiritual and abundant life that comes from obedience to God. The top of the pomegranate forms a crown. It is said that this design was copied to create the crown for King Solomon considered the wisest man in the world. The pomegranate is one of the “Seven Spices” of produce that the Bible praises as native to the Middle East and Israel, while the apple is native to the Ukraine region (Deuteronomy 8:8). The pomegranate is also a deeply symbolic fruit of Divine favor and sanctity. Its image is embroidered on the garments of the High Priest and is painted and carved into Temple architecture giving it a significant status that no other fruit has. Thus, it is both a highly sacred fruit and yet a forbidden fruit that became the instrument of the ultimate sin of man….the pride of wanting to be like God. The seed juice of the pomegranate produces a strikingly rich blood red color. The flavor is sweet and at the same time sour. It seed is extremely rich in antioxidants, fiber, vitamins C, K, B9, Potassium and Magnesium.

“And the eyes {minds} of them both were {now} opened, and they knew {understood} that they were naked {exposed flagrant naked disobedience}; and they sewed {strung}fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons {loincloths}.” 

Because they both ate the fruit at the same time but did not die, both now believed the lie that God was wrong and the serpent was right. However, they also discovered that God had instilled in them a conscience. Mankind is hardwired by God to know right from wrong. A person may deny that they have this ability, or exhibit a lack of empathy concerning their fellow man, but all people know what is right and what is wrong (Genesis 3:22; Proverbs 1:4; Romans 2:14-15). So while Adam and Eve reveled in their new found freedom of self-awareness and self-direction, they both instinctively knew that their Creator would be disappointed. Therefore, knowing He would be arriving that evening as usual to talk with them, they decided to create a way to hide their disobedience. To do this, they each strung “sewed” a few “fig leaves together” using a vine and tying it around their wastes making the first loin cloths. They were attempting to hide themselves before the LORD because they knew they had been disobedient. But at the same time, they were excited about this new understanding of self-decision making they had. And perhaps they would now learn from their LORD God what it would take for them to also create things. While this sounds insane, the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that at death, the males each receive a planet and a wife who births Spirit Children that indwell the human population of their planet below. Once again, fact is stranger than fiction. Please see related: Christianity Vs Jehovah’s Witnesses. 

Adam, the first High Priest of the LORD God Almighty, had knowingly and willfully sinned against the LORD God in the Garden which served as the First Temple of God. They were now about to find out just how unbelievably tragic their actions would be for themselves, all their descendants and nature. 

 “And they heard the {familiar} voice of the LORD God {calling them} walking in the Garden in the cool of the day {evening}: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the Garden.” 

Adam and Eve were use to God arriving wherever they were in the Garden in the evening before sundown. He would apparently always call out to them so as not to suddenly appear and scare them. But this time, when they heard “the voice of the LORD God walking in the Garden”, they “hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the Garden”. The voice or Word of the LORD has gone from a welcoming sound to a dreaded sound. His voice had not changed, they had changed. They were no doubt trying to gauge His mood. Like children hiding from a parent hoping to delay discovery. Did He already know about what they had done, and if not, should they tell Him? We also read “the LORD God was walking in the Garden” not angrily running to confront them. He was calm, cool and collected. Adam understood that he did not have, at this time, a path to salvation. He was under a covenant that, if broken, resulted in judgement and condemnation as opposed to grace and mercy that the cross now affords people.  

“And the LORD God called to Adam, and said to him, Where are you?” 

Needless to say, the LORD already knew exactly where they were and what they had done. It was simply a question of how they were now going to react to Him. It is very telling that the LORD called out to Adam and not Eve. Here we see the start of a fundamental change in the relationship of man or Adam to God his Creator. God could have immediately cut off the relationship, removed them from the Garden and left them to suffer the consequences of their willful rebellion in a cold cruel world. But, as a loving Father, He did not do this. Instead He lowered Himself to appear to them even though they were now covered in the revolting stench of sin. To the total surprise of Satan, He did not throw them out of the Garden like He threw him and his followers out of Heaven. Satan was also as surprised that Adam and Eve, as of yet, had not dropped dead from eating the fruit. So, what was God up to? All three stood there wide eyed and waiting with great anticipation to find out.  

The phrase “Where are you?” is the first question in the Old Testament and is ‘God looking for man’. The first question in the New Testament is the Magi asking, “Where is He born King of the Jews” and is ‘man looking for God’. This question “Where are you?” is literally God asking Adam to come out of hiding. But since God knew where they were, the question was more figurative as in, ‘Adam? Where are you in your thinking…what have you done?’ The fact was, Adam and Eve had lost faith in God being able to provide all their needs. Now, because their consciences had been motivated for the first time, they feared God and His righteous indignation at what they had done. Still, they had eaten the fruit, their eyes were now open, they were as gods, so therefore they should now be better off. Right? And yet they felt uneasy in their minds. Something had changed … something was wrong because they now felt fear for the first time. 

 “And he {Adam} said, I heard Your Voice in the Garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked {in my sin}; and {so} I hid myself.”  

Adam is saying that he heard the voice of the LORD and instead of being happy and running to meet him, he became scared and hid. A complete one eighty in his emotions towards God. Adam is confessing but not repenting. His hiding was not about what he did, but God’s reaction to what he did. Adam is saying, I heard you and immediately my grievous sin against You enveloped my entire being. I felt completely exposed because I was completely naked in my sin. There was nothing nothing between my sinful self and Holy You. In my shame at what I had done, I began to panic and the only thing I could think to do was to hide myself. I felt ashamed in my mind and so I hid my body from you. I started feeling fear as you came closer, so to hide my sin, I tried to put as much vegetation as I could between You and me in my fallen state.  

Interestingly, at the end of the Great Tribulation Period, Jesus appears to end the War of Armageddon and usher in a one thousand year Millennial Reign of Peace on Earth. At the time of His appearance, the wicked hide behind rocks and in bunkers as opposed to the righteous who run out to meet Him with open arms (Revelation 6:15-17). 

“And He {the LORD} said, Who told you that you were naked?” {Adam is silent} “Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 

So the Word of God is asking Adam to tell Him who told him that he was naked? Adam was silent because there was no other person that told him this. God knew there was no other person. He was simply trying to get Adam to tell Him the truth about how it now came to be that he felt the need to cover himself with leaves and hide in the vegetation of the Garden from his Creator. The LORD knew that Adam came to this understanding through a new uncomfortable feeling he was now experiencing. And, that Adam created the word “naked” to describe this new condition. Adam was capable of having this feeling of being ashamed of something he had done against the will of God, because God gave him a conscience. But this was something Adam had never used before this time because he had nothing to be ashamed about. He was sinless and pure as was his Creator. But after he ate the fruit, his conscience was activated and his willful act of disobedience was constantly at the forefront of his mind. It convicted him over and over for breaking the sacred covenant he had made between himself and his Creator.  

Now the LORD asks Adam a simple straightforward question expecting a simple straightforward answer. “Have you eaten the fruit that I commanded you that you should not eat?” This question is framed so as to remove the pretext of ignorance and cause Adam to reveal he had sinned in direct violation of the covenant. Had Adam admitted his sin and asked for forgiveness, the LORD may have reconsidered His judgement. But this unfortunately is not what Adam decided to do. 

“And the man {Adam} said, The woman who You gave to be with me, she gave me {the fruit} of the tree, and I did eat.” 

Thus, we have a record of the first time in human history that a man threw his wife under the preverbal bus. We cannot be sure where the “Knowledge” that Adam gained from eating the fruit went. But we can be sure it is not display here. Adam is obviously in a sheer panic and grabbing at straws as he is being examined by his Creator. So he answers the LORD’S question by saying, “The woman who you” the LORD, knowingly built and then you “gave to be with me” and then you arranged me to marry her, “she gave me {the fruit} of the tree”, and because there was nothing I could say or do, “I did eat”. Thus, Adam was clearly saying that because the LORD created the woman of his dreams, and the LORD brought her to be with him, and the LORD married the woman to him, and the LORD created a forbidden tree, and the LORD’S woman gave him the fruit of this tree, it is obvious that the LORD and the woman are to blame for this entire mess he now somehow finds himself in. Here we see the first use of the gift of the Tree of Knowledge. We can rightly imagine that the LORD and Eve are now both looking at Adam in total astonishment and wondering if he really ate some of the fruit and got any Wisdom benefits at all? The serpent is no doubt gob smacked. 

“And the LORD God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? And the woman said, The serpent {that you created} beguiled me, and I did eat.” 

The phrase “What is this that you have done?” is not a question. It is a statement of fact. The covenant was very simple, don’t eat the fruit and receive endless blessings. Or, eat the fruit and be cursed. So what the LORD was saying to Eve is better phrased, “Woman, what in the world have you done?” These two questions, “Where are you {in your thinking}?” and “What is this that you have done?” sums up the entire human condition in the eyes of God. 

Eve, by now blaming the Serpent, is also joining Adam in blaming the LORD as He created the Serpent. She is saying that the Serpent tricked her with his logic, or hissed an incantation. However, the truth comes back to the LORD’S “command” to not eat the fruit….full stop…Serpent or no Serpent. But the bottom line of all this is, Satan got the couple to commit suicide by death through old age, and they in return effectively turned over the deed to the Earth to him. However, at the Second Coming, Christ will take back the deed that He has paid for it with His life blood and mankind becomes immortal. 

Interestingly, it is said with tongue in cheek that God then turned and asked the serpent for an answer. But the serpent just shrugged his shoulders as he did not have a leg to stand on.  

                            THE ADAMIC COVENANT AND CURSES 

“And the LORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above the cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly will you go, and dust will you eat all the days of your life:” 

God does not bother to ask the Serpent or Satan a question as He knows Satan is the first pathological liar. God tells Satan that the creature he used to deceive the couple not be annihilated but would be punished. And it will be in such a way that it will serve as a reminder to mankind down through the ages to now look upon the serpent as loathsome and with no redeemable traits. The creature will suffer the same fate as Satan. Both will now go from first place to last place on the spiritual and physical scales (Luke 10:18; Revelation 20:10). From elegance and power to disgust and lowly. The verbal curse that God places on the creature describes what is about to happen physically. The creature will no longer run and climb on four limbs. Instead it will now crawl with its entire body covered in the filth, dirt and dung of the Earth. To accomplish this, the Holy Spirit immediately manipulated the creature’s genes so that its four limbs with hands and feet would no longer develop. We know this to be true because the skeletons of all reptiles clearly reveal four undeveloped appendages inside its body. 

 “And I will put enmity {Loathing, Animosity, War} between you {Satan, serpent} and the {singular} woman {Mary}, and between your seed {snakes, giants, demons, wicked men, Antichrist etc.}, and her Seed {singular Jesus} ;it {Jesus the sin dragon slayer} will bruise your head {poison of sin and death in serpents fangs/head}, and you will bruise{strike} His heel.”

 God has physically judged the Serpent. Now He is speaking to Satan who had used the Serpent and cause the woman to eat the fruit in the hope of ending the human race. Instead, He will use the woman to create a race of people. And this race will loath both the physical serpent and what it represents which is Satan. He then prophesied that Satan will produce {not create} a physical “seed” {race}. But that the race of Adam will despise his race. This occurred when some of the Guardian angels mated with women to create a hybrid race known as Nephilim or Giants. The race of Adam would eventually destroy them. Their spirits would be released into the world and become known as demons. Jesus would destroy the overwhelming majority of these sprits. Please see related: Jesus the Demon Hunter. 

The Church founded by Jesus and powered by the Holy Spirit would destroy the few remaining sprits. Satan would always have human followers who would cause wars, but they too would always be kept in check by the powers of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the final Age of Mankind, Satan would control a Word Leader who will be known as the Antichrist. But even then, this man and his followers would be destroyed at the Second Coming of the Christ, the now immortal human biological Son of God. So while Satan will have many opportunities to try and rule mankind and be worshiped, all his scheming will fail and he will ultimately be eternally confined to a place of destruction.  

On the other hand, Adam’s race will eventually produce a Messiah. This is the first prophecy in the Old Testament which concerns Jesus the coming Messiah of the world. The Word of God is personally declaring that there will be a time when one woman will produce one seed that will become the only redeemer of mankind. At this time, it was thought that the man deposited the seed of a child into the woman who incubated it for nine months. So, for the LORD to say “her Seed”, He is saying the woman would have the seed without a male giving her one. Thus a shadow prophecy of a virgin birth. Satan is now being told that Eve will continue to live and continue to produce children. That one of these children will save mankind from sin and death, then go on to defeat Satan. The phrase, “you will bruise His heel” is telling Satan that He will have the opportunity to try and kill the Messiah. This occurred when they crucified Jesus and hammered a nail through each of His heels on either side of the cross center post. Three first century crucified men have been found all with a crucifixion nail still lodged in their heels. 

“Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you will bring forth children; and your desire will be to your husband, and he will rule over you.” 

God is telling Eve that her punishment will be three fold. First, she will be able to give birth, but now it will be painful. Apparently, the birthing process was originally designed so that the pain receptors to the brain would naturally be blocked during delivery making the event practically painless. Or, because Adam was asleep when his side was opened to create Eve, perhaps the birthing processed would have originally caused the female to sleep during the process. But in any case, this would no longer be the procedure. This is a reminder to all people that Adam and Eve made a willful decision to rebel against God. Thus they brough all of this  on themselves. Second, the children born will cause their parents emotional pain in that they will display the same disrespect to their parents that Adam and Eve showed to God. 

In fact, Eve’s first born son Cain will murder his twin brother Abel. God did not ordain this. The brothers brought this about in their own way. And lastly, Eve was originally given equal status with Adam, but because she instigated the breaking of the covenant, she is now demoted in physical strength and stature. Now, she will still be able to voice her opinion to the husband, but he will speak on behalf of the family. And in doing so, will take on the responsibility and punishment for bad decisions. This does not mean that the woman cannot voice her opinion or even speak on behalf of the family. But if she decides to take on this responsibility, she is also taking on the full onus of judgement that will follow should her decision be found antithetical to the will of God.  

Do not think for a moment that Adam is getting off lightly. His judgement is next and it’s a doozy. 

“And to Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice {advice} of your wife {over Me}, and have eaten the fruit, of which I commanded you, saying, you will not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake {needs}; in sorrow {labor} you will eat of it {crops} all the days of your life {which are now numbered};”  

God tells Adam that because he took the fruit from Eve and did not utter a single word against what she had done, he would now provide the main labor force needed to produce food. It is also clear that the fruit itself contained no good or evil properties. It was simply a test for virtue. And Adam, as the first High Priest of God, showed he had no virtue. This is why God pronounced this curse. Man will now labor and live hand to mouth. And this will go on all the days of his life until he dies. That’s right, this is God pronouncing a death sentence on man. No more Tree of Life extensions (Genesis 3:24; Revelation 22:2). Now man will labor every day only to receive a small portion of all he was freely and abundantly given in the Garden. And because Adam agreed to follow Eve’s lead without a single word, the earth of the entire planet is now under a curse(Genesis 3:17). How pathetic is this scene. God saw this entire event unfold and was mortified. Adam, a genetically perfect man, with a tremendous intellect, sin free and lounging in a paradise just made for two with all needs being met, eats the fruit against His direct command without uttering a single word? Are you kidding me?  

If God were to have simply annihilated Adam and started over, where is His mercy. And, if He did not punished Adam, where is His righteousness. Both these qualities of God would meet on the cross.  

“Thorns also and thistles will it {earth} bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field {plant life}; in the sweat of your face will you eat bread {food}, till you return {in death} to the ground; for out of it you were taken: for dust you are {made}, and unto dust you will return.” 

The “thorn” is a symbol of a cursed Earth. But it is also a hidden prophecy concerning Jesus and His crown of thorns. It was the sin free blood of Christ that touched the crown of thorns on His head and broke this curse. Man will continue to eat the plants of the Earth, but now he will have to struggle to get the them to grow. The curse of “the sweat of your face” from work was also broken when the blood of Jesus mixed with the sweat of His face on the cross. Nails were driven into His wrists. It was the blood of His hands that broke the curse of hard manual labor to produce food. It was the blood from the nails in His feet that satisfied the prophecy given by God that the “Seed of the woman” or Messiah would crush the head of the serpent meaning the finial kingdom of Satan and his son the Antichrist. Satan’s minions would “bruise the heel” of the Messiah, but through His death, He created eternal life for mankind. The fear of death was Satan’s greatest weapon. Now with eternal life guaranteed, the proverbial venomous head of the serpent was truly crushed. 

Interestingly, the sacrificial redeeming blood of Jesus literally dripped onto the ground around the base of the cross. The cross was located on the Hill of the Skull. This hill got the name because it was there that Noah, after the flood, reburied the skull of Adam the first man to sin and be condemned but now redeemed (Corinthians 15:21-22). Also, it was believed that King David buried the skull of Goliath there. Goliath was a hybrid monster from a race spawned by rebellious guardian angels who mated with women. Thus they were the “seed” God referenced as “your {Satan’s} seed” when addressing the Serpent. And symbolically, by dropping the cross into the prepared hole, the seed {Jesus} of the Woman {Mary} crushed the head or skull of Goliath the seed of Satan. Please see related: Mystery of Golgotha Revealed; Giants and There Genes Revealed. 

“In the sweat of your face will you eat bread {food}, until {the day} you die and return unto the ground; for out of the ground were you taken: for dust you are, and unto dust will you return.” 

Anyone who has performed hard manual labor will understand the agony of having “the sweat of their face” continually running into their eyes and causing unbearable burning. And remarkably, the sweat and the burning never stops. The longer one works, the worse the situation gets. The word “bread” is referring to a food staple that has been eaten since the beginning of civilization. Here the word is literally referring to a loaf of bread, but it is also figuratively referring to food in general. The phrase, “until you die” is the worst part of the curse both then and now. God is making it clear to Adam and Eve that He told them the penalty for breaking the covenant was death. Therefore, they should now psychologically prepare themselves for this eventuality. They now realize this is what God meant when He used the phrase “you will surely die”(Genesis 2:17).               

God never meant they would literally drop dead. He meant that they would physically began to slowly age with each passing day only to eventually die. In other words, the Holy Spirit now manipulated their genes so that they would begin to age. The serpent lost its legs but the man lost immortality. However, there was also a spiritual aspect to this part of the curse. It meant that the eternal Holy Spirit left them when they sinned against God. It was replaced with an eternal Spirit of the Flesh. So now at death, they would not go immediately to Heaven as originally designed. Instead they would now go down to a place in the Earth known as Sheol. Please see related: Death Before Jesus; Rich Man Poor Man. There they would have to wait until “the Seed of the woman” would appear, redeem them and lead them up into Heaven. And finally, only the power of God could create a living being from dust. And only the power of God can resurrect that person again from dust. So here we read God once again reiterating that man did not evolve but was originally made by His hands, an immortal and ultimately eternally in His image. 

“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all {modern humans} living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” 

God named His male creation Adam meaning both red earth/clay and mankind. Adam was then given the authority by God to name all of creation. He needed to give Eve a name as they would now have children and the need for individuals to have names would be necessary. The name Eve {Hawwa} means life, so Adam actually named her Life. She was the producer of all the new race of humans today known as Modern Man. Thus, Adam bears the name of a dying body, Eve of the living spirit. For Adam to have named Eve Life means that God must have told Adam that they would not immediately die. The ancient Jewish Talmud states that Eve gave birth first to twins while still in the Garden. This makes sense as God would need to be present to instruct the two on childbirth. It is also written that Cain and Abel were born either nine months or two years before Satan was allowed to test the couple.  

This phrase tells us three things. First, God still loved them and actually fashioned and showed them how to make protective clothing. Second, the terms coats of skins implies two animals were killed to make their clothing. Because we learn in chapter four that Cain and Abel are making sacrificial offerings to God, a salvation system has obviously been put in place by God (Genesis 4:3-4). In other words the two animals, possibly sheep, were initially sacrificed to cover the couples sin and to provide clothing necessary for the world outside the Garden’s temperate micro climate. A sinless animal had to shed its blood in order for the sins of a person to be covered up. Not forgiven, but at least covered. And third, this event was a shadow prophecy concerning a time when a Messiah would be sacrificed for the actual forgiveness of sin. Thus, clothing, a temporary annual sacrificial system and the redemption of sin were all gifts from the Lord God to mankind (Isaiah 61:10). 

This first sacrifice was the foundation of God’s plan to redeem mankind. The fact that Adam and Eve received clothing suitable for the world outside the Garden was a bonus. Their children would now annually sacrifice an animal on behalf of their recognition that they desired God to cover their sins. Because the descendants of Adam were vegetarians, they experienced the trauma of killing an innocent living creature. In this way, God wanted them understand that He saw mankind’s sin as a traumatic event. However, the people were use to animals dying of accidents and of old age. At that time, they would take the carcass and harvest the skins for clothing, bones for tools and meat rich in nitrogen for crop fertilizer. This method of fertilization was still in use by Naive Americans when the English arrived. But instead of using domesticated animals, they used fish.

 God had now restored Adam and Eve through animal sacrifices in order to be able to continue to have fellowship with them (Hebrews 9:22; Hebrews 11:4). At this time, when a righteous person died, their eternal intelligent spirit would descend into Sheol to await release by a Redeemer. This would occur on Resurrection Sunday (Ephesians 4:9-10).                    

   EXPULSION FROM THE GARDEN 

“And the LORD God {Word of God} said, Behold, the man is become as {in some ways} one of Us {plural}, to know good from evil: and now {in sin}, lest he put forth {reach out}his hand and take also {the fruit} of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the LORD God sent him {the couple} forth from the Garden of Eden, to till {plow} the{very} ground from where he was taken {formed}.” 

Man was made in the likeness of God and had now become more like God by deciding to act and react according to human reasoning. But man was far from the wisdom of God, and by knowingly breaking his covenant with his Creator, he had distanced himself from His Creator and brought himself closer to death, the grave and destruction. Fortunately, God in His mercy, decided to first remedy this reckless situation man had put himself in by taking away the Tree of Life. It was obvious that mankind would at some point think to also eat this fruit in order to obtain immortality. In doing so, he would only make matters much worse as now he would be doomed to sin against God in perpetuity. An endless life of sin upon sin that would eventually lead to mankind destroying themselves and the planet they lived on.  

With the Tree of Life removed, God would now initiate a plan that would ultimately offer mankind the ability to have their sin debt completely erased and obtain eternal life. So now we learn that while mankind was originally created in the image of God and destined to live eternally, he was now a slowly dying creature and only a pale reflection of God’s image. But, there was now a promise from God that He would send a Messiah or Anointed One who would create an offer of salvation and eternal life in the presence of the Creator. The question was, would man take the offer or refuse it? 

On an interesting note, the University of Pennsylvania has a 5,500 year old clay seal of Adam and Eve naked and bowing with a snake rising up behind them. Also, in 2015, the five thousand two hundred year old remans of a female farmer was found in Belfast Ireland. Her DNA showed that she was from the Middle East!  

So, this verse ends with an act of judgement and mercy. Man was expelled from the Garden so as not to live eternally in sin and separated from God. However, mankind would now need to work in order to survive. Man would now have to toil preparing the ground, planting, nurturing and harvesting. And ironically, the ground that will provide nourishment for him, “the ground from where he was {created} taken”, is the same ground in which he will be buried. We are told that Adam was created outside the Garden, so it would seem he was buried in the same location where he was created (Genesis 2:7-8). On an uplifting note, this verse reminds us that Adam was created from the soil of the Earth by God and did not evolve from another life form.  

“So He drove out {from the Garden} the man {couple}; and He placed at the east {entrance} of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned in every direction, to keep {from man} the way {access} to the Tree of Life.”  

Apparently when it came time to leave the Garden, Adam and Eve had to be forcefully “driven out”. And to make sure they did not try to sneak back in, God placed at least two Cherubim at the entrance to the Garden. This reinforces the understanding that the Garden was surrounded by an impenetrable range of steep mountains rising thousands of feet. And, that the only way into the Garden was a gap in the mountainous range located to the east. This would have been the narrow pass that allowed the animals to enter the Garden to be named by Adam and allowed the River Eden to exit.

 The word “Cherubims” is plural and an interesting choice of angelic beings to guard the entrance to the Garden. Cherubim are cited in the Bible as guarding sacred places and symbolize the Throne of God. They have four faces, four sets of wings and two hands. Two wings are used to fly and two are used to cover their bodies. Their hands resemble those of a human. Their likeness was put on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. There, the two Cherubims are facing each other and bowing with the tips of their outstretched wings surrounding the Mercy Seat. So this bit of information further supports the understanding that the Garden was the first Temple of God on Earth and that Adam was the first High Priest. 

 Now, not forgetting that Adam was a perfect male specimen and of superior intellect, it should not be lost on the reader that he could have possibly been able to discover a way back into the Garden. Therefore, God also included a “flaming sword” which was constantly rotating. This was a physical display to indicate that the Garden was continuously being scanned to make absolutely sure no one entered by any route. Ominously, this is the first use of the word “sword” in the Bible. 

The Flood of Noah would have destroyed every trace of the Garden of Eden. However, today with the use of satellite technology, the most probable location of the Garden has been identified. Please see related: Did the Flood Of Noah Effect the Entire Earth?