GENESIS LESSON 8

     Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of
the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

     This temptation, that Eve had, was like many temptations today.
You will notice that the serpent did not just come right out and say
that God didn't say, or that He did. He just put a question in her
mind. You see, God really did not tell Eve not to eat of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil. He told Adam not to eat of the tree. Eve's
information was second hand from Adam, nevertheless, she was aware
that they were not to eat of this tree. Most temptation comes in a
very tricky way, as Eve's did.

     There are some writers that do not believe this was an actual
serpent, but the punishment God puts on the serpent would be of no
effect if he were not truly a snake.

     People who try to do sneaky underhanded things are commonly known
as a "snake in the grass", reaching right back to this Scripture where
the serpent first got Eve to questioning this statement of God.
(Beware of those who are encouraging you to question your relationship
with God, or with your church). That is just a clever way to plant
doubt.

     Verse 2 tells us for sure that the woman knew the restrictions in
the garden, even though she did not have 1st hand Knowledge.

     Genesis 3:2 "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of
the fruit of the trees of the garden:" Genesis 3:3 "But of the fruit
of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye
shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."

     From the above words we know that Eve knew the location of the
tree. She changed (added to) the caution of God (neither shall ye
touch it). Her first mistake was listening, and then entering into
conversation with him (the serpent).

     So many of our problems in our church could be stopped, if we did
not enter into conversation with those who are opposed to the church.
The devil has always been sneaky, and his tactics have not changed.
The best thing we can do is recognize the enemy and stay away. DO-NOT
enter into conversation. We have everything to lose and nothing to
gain.

     Genesis 3:4 "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not
surely die:"

     Once the serpent had her listening, then he called God a liar
(indirectly of course). The devil is the liar, and always has been.
God is truth.

     Genesis 3:5 "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil."

     Again, he came to Eve with a half truth. Surely her eyes would
will be opened, but how horrible an opening. He was thrown out of heaven
himself for wanting to be God. The flesh desires power and authority,
the flesh must be controlled by the spirit, so as not to sin. Many
false teachers today again are saying that man will become God. This
has never been true. God alone is God.

     Secular humanism in our schools is teaching our children that
they are their own god. Satan is bringing a half truth through our
schools and many of our churches today, and we, like Eve, are falling
for it. She looked, she saw, she desired. She had lust of the eyes,
lust of the flesh, and worst of all, a desire to be as God.

     Genesis 3:6 "And when the woman saw 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, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and
gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

     You see the lust of her eyes when she looked, the lust of
appetite, (she ate), the lust for worldly wisdom (make one wise). She
was not satisfied to just ruin her standing with God; she included her
husband as well.

     Isn't that just the way of the sinner today, not satisfied to
fall themselves, trying to drag someone else down with them.

     Adam had the choice (he did not have to eat the fruit just
because his wife did). He knew the prohibition God had made; he ate
the fruit anyway.

     Genesis 3:7 "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew
that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons."

     As I said before, (part of what the serpent said was true) their
eyes were opened to realize the terrible sin they had committed. They
suddenly were not innocent (they had sinned). The first awful thing 
that they discovered was that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves 
to cover their nakedness.

     Genesis 3:8 "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in
the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the
garden."

     This is the first specific time it is mentioned that Eve
heard God's voice. God had come for fellowship. Guilt and shame
entered, and man and woman hid from God. Just as it is today, there is
no place to hide from God. Be sure, your sin will find you out.

     Genesis 3:9 "And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto
him, Where [art] thou?" Genesis 3:10 "And he said, I heard thy voice
in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid
myself."

     So many times quilt of sins causes us not to come to God. We feel
we have done something so bad, that God will not listen and forgive.
You see, in verse 10, Adam's guilt and sin had caused a separation
from God.

     Genesis 3:11 "And he said, Who told thee that thou [wast] naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou
shouldest not eat?"

     Without knowledge of sin there is no guilt association. Here God
reminded Adam that his commandment was not just a request, but if
disobeyed would be sin.

     Genesis 3:12 "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to
be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat."

     Adam is half accusing God. He is saying if you hadn't given me
this woman, I wouldn't have sinned. He was trying to shift the blame
to someone else. He was trying to say he really wasn't to blame
himself.

     Genesis 3:13 "And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is]
this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled
me, and I did eat."

     Now that it is too late, the woman realized the serpent had
tricked her. She, too, did not want to take the blame and tried to
push her guilt to, the serpent. The difference between her and the man 
was that she was tricked; the man sinned with full knowledge.

     There is a certain comedian today, as part of his act, says the
devil made me do it. Excuses never change. We still try to look for a
scapegoat, someone else to take the blame for our sins. It just won't
work. Each person is responsible for his or her own acts.

     We will see in the following verses that, just as sin is
individual and each responsible for his own, so is the punishment for
sin.

     Genesis 3:14 "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because
thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above
every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt
thou eat all the days of thy life:"

     You see, God did not give the serpent a chance to explain. The
serpent, the spirit of Lucifer, had already fallen and been cursed.
There was an additional curse pronounced here. (Many believe the
serpent went upright before this curse was pronounced). He would now
crawl on his belly and eat dirt all the days of his life, (lower than
all the other animal kingdom). Satan as well as the serpent, was to be
bound earthly.

     Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel."

     This is one of the most important verses in the Bible. This is
the promise of Jesus Christ as destroyer of the devil. The very first
verse said that the serpent, or Satan, would be the natural enemy of
mankind.

     This statement truly means Satan is our enemy, but also that the
snake is the natural enemy as well. The statement, "between thy seed
and her seed" indicated that the enemy of Satan (Jesus) will be of the
woman and not of the man. The devil, Satan, or his demons truly do nip
at the heels of the Christian, but through the power of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we can stomp on his head.

     The Scripture teaches that the devil and his demons are subject
to us when we cast them out in the name of Jesus the Christ.

                                Notes.




                             Questions 8

1.  How did the serpent approach Eve?
2.  Is there a Scripture where God told Eve not to eat of the tree of
    knowledge?
3.  Did Eve know not to eat of the tree?
4.  What is a common statement called of people who deal trickery or
    underhanded?
5.  What is a clever way people get us to doubt our belief in God or
    our church today?
6.  What statement did Eve add to thou shalt not eat?
7.  What was Eve's first mistake?
8.  What word describes the tactics of Satan?
9.  In verse 4 what lie did the serpent tell Eve?
10. The devil is a liar and God is what?
11. What did the serpent say she would be like when she ate of the
    tree?
12. Why was Lucifer thrown out of heaven?
13. What two things does the flesh desire?
14. What are many false teachers telling the people today?
15. What is secular humanism teaching our children?
16. What 3 things caused Eve to sin?
17. Who did Eve include in her sin?
18. Did Adam have a choice?
19. Why did they sew fig leaves?
20. What part of what the serpent said was true?
21. Where did they hide?
22. When was the first time specifically mentioned that Eve heard
    God's voice?
23. Where can you hide from God?
24. What 2 things separated Adam from God?
25. Who was Adam trying to blame?
26. Who did Eve blame?
27. Why did God not let the serpent explain?
28. What was the serpent's position in regard to other animals now?
29. Why is chapter 3 verse 15 so important?
30. Who will be the enemy of the serpent?
31. What indicates the virgin birth of Jesus?
32. How can we cast out the devil and his demons?