THE FALL
Genesis 3-4
Key Verses
3:1-7 The crafty serpent spoke to the woman: “Did God really tell you not to eat from a tree in the garden?” The woman replied, “God only said not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, or else we would die.” Hearing it, the serpent challenged the woman, “But surely you will not die, for God knows that after eating the fruit of that tree you will simply be able to see everything more clearly. In fact you will be like God, able to tell the fundamental difference between good and evil.” Tempted by the prospect, the woman took some of the fruit and ate. She then gave some to her husband and he also ate. Immediately their consciousness changed and they saw their own nakedness as something shameful. So they made clothing from fig leaves and covered themselves.
3:8-18 When they heard the Lord God taking a leisurely stroll in the garden that evening, the man and woman felt guilty and hid. God called out to the man, “Where have you gone?” And the man answered, “I’ve hidden because I was afraid you would see me naked.” So God asked, “But who said you were naked? Did you eat from the tree I told you not to eat?” And the man replied, “Yes, because the woman you gave me as a companion gave it to me.” When God asked the woman if it was true, she acknowledged that it was, saying, “But I was tricked by the serpent…so I ate.” …God cursed the serpent, saying, Your deception will come back on you in the form of enmity between you and the woman, between her progeny and yours. And though you injure her descendants, one of them will crush your head for good.” …God then declared to her, “Now you must go through great pain to bear children. And though you find your heart drawn to your husband, you will be vulnerable to his fickle use of power over you.” And to the man he said, “The earth will come under a curse because of what you have done. Getting your food from it will require struggle and difficult labor for as long as you live.”
3:21-23 God made clothing of leather and dressed Adam and his wife. …Then he evicted them from the Garden of Eden, forcing them to till the very earth from which they had been formed.
4:1-16 Adam slept with his wife Eve, who conceived and gave birth to Cain…Later, she gave birth to another child, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, while Cain became a farmer…Then one day Cain flew into a rage of jealously…and attacked and killed his brother Abel. God came to Cain and asked, “What has become of your brother Abel?” Cain replied, “What makes you think I should know? Am I supposed to be my brother’s keeper?” God then said… “I hear your brother’s blood crying out to me from the ground where it was shed…From this day forward you will live under a curse because of what you’ve done…The ground you till, tainted by your brother’s blood, will no longer yield a crop. And you will be left to restlessly wander from place to place. …Cain pleaded with God, “If I am a constant wanderer, someone will surely find and kill me. But God reassured him, “You do not need to worry. I will not allow that to happen.” So Cain departed, leaving God’s presence to live east of Eden in unfamiliar lands.
Basic Message
The serpent, a member of God’s creation, challenged God’s authority by lying to the woman and tempting her to eat of the forbidden fruit tree using the argument that she would then “be like God.” She succumbed to the temptation, as did Adam, to challenge God’s absolute power and authority. God’s punishment included expulsion from the Garden of Eden and curses upon the serpent and both man and woman. The serpent would be perpetually at enmity with humankind, finally to be crushed by One to come; while childbirth and labor were meted out to the couple, both of whom would henceforth experience significant pain and struggle. Eden’s innocence and harmony were shattered.
Adam and Eve began a family which included two sons, Cain and Abel. Out of jealousy Cain murdered Abel and incurred the judgment of God. Cain was expelled from God’s presence. His livelihood as a farmer would prove fruitless, forcing him into perpetual wandering in inhospitable lands.
Comments
* Whatever degree of symbolism one chooses to employ to explain the story of the serpent and the Fall, it is clear that lying, deception, and rebellion were the original sins that separated humans from a close and vibrant relationship with God. God’s punishment included physical suffering and hard toil but not the withdrawal of his love, provision, and protection. The creation too was included in God’s curse, illustrating an unbreakable link between humankind and the natural world. God’s design and his overall plan included an inexorable bond between man and his environment.
* Fear of the serpent runs deep within the human psyche despite numerous attempts to present snakes as mere creatures to be valued as one would any other creature—a noble cause from an ecological point of view. Sociobiology would say that fear and enmity are due to the threat snakes have historically posed to humankind’s survival, and certainly that stands to reason. But the scriptures here also emphasize the symbolic. The serpent is associated with God’s willful antagonist, Satan, while the woman’s offspring is associated with God’s chosen champion, the Messiah who will ultimately crush the evil power of the devil. This is the first direct reference in scripture to the Christ who was to come.
* The facility for moral judgment and its necessary accompaniment, the propensity for sin, would apparently be passed down through the generations. Enmity between brothers who derived their livelihoods from differing ways of life would lead to Cain’s murdering Abel. Cain’s flippant reply to God’s inquiry as to Abel’s whereabouts after the dire event (“Am I supposed to be my brother’s keeper?”) reveals, in God’s subsequent judgment of Cain, that righteous living indeed includes concern for others. It is a theme that repeats again and again throughout scripture: whether toward family, neighbors, strangers, or even enemies. Here, too, is revealed what is perhaps God’s greatest judgment on sin—the separation of the sinner from God himself. Sin results in a breach in God’s original design, wherein mankind lives in harmony with God and nature in paradise. But God’s redemptive plan for his creation would eventually provide the means to repair that breach and restore all that was lost…and more.
Biblical Themes
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 15
