Genesis 3:1-7

I.                Genesis 3:1-24 The Fall

A.    Infliction of death upon mankind Genesis 3:1-5

1.     Genesis 3:1 – Now the serpent was more subtil 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’?”

a.      Serpent - נחש nachash,Strong’s #H5175 (masculine noun) snake or serpent it is from the root Strong’s #H5172 נחש nachash, (verb) meaning to practice divination, divine, observe signs, learn by experience, diligently observe, practice fortunetelling, take as an omen or to shine.  (Same root as copper or brass)

·       נחש nachash is interchangeable with שרף seraph for according to Numbers 21:8 God commanded moses to make a fiery serpent (שרף seraph) And then in verse 9 Moses obeyed and made a serpent (נחש nachash).

·       This word שרף seraph is also refers to majestic beings with 6 wings

·       Isaiah 6:2 - Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

·       Therefore if Seraph refers to a supernatural being , that would lead us to the understanding that Nachash could also refer to a supernatural being here and not a mere snake.

·       “Have we not, in this, a clear intimation that it was not a snake, but a glorious shining being, apparently an angel, to whom Eve paid such great deference, acknowledging him as one who seemed to possess superior knowledge, and who was evidently a being of superior (not of an inferior) order?”  E.W. Bullinger

b.     Subtil – ערום `aruwm,  wise in a good sense as well as bad

c.      What does “beasts” include?  Would it include man?

·       Beasts – חי chay , (adjective, feminine noun, masculine noun) meaning  living, alive, living creature

d.     Obviously this is not a mere snake as we know snakes do not have the required organs to speak, this is in fact the “old serpent” referenced in Revelation 20:2 “…that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan…”

e.      Satan has many names throughout scripture (ie serpent, dragon, satan, Lucifer, angel of light, prince of the air, king of Tyre, etc.)

f.       When Satan is referred as one name or another does that mean he is physically that being or does it merely the capacity or role in which he is operating at that time?

g.      First words recorded of Satan in scripture are of him initiating his deception by rightly quoting God in that God did say that man could partake of every tree OF THE GARDEN; However, as we will see there is a distinction made and the tree of knowledge of good and evil is NOT OF THE GARDEN.  He is using this as a means to justify partaking of the TKGE without mentioning the distinction that the TKGE is not of the garden.

2.     Genesis 3:2 – And the woman said unto the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

a.      Misquoting of 2:16 in that the word “freely” is omitted, which is the emphatic

b.     She also misquotes God in that he says in they may freely eat of EVERY tree OF THE GARDEN.

c.      If the woman is misquoting God’s Word, does this reflect a sense of under appreciation of the importance to which this Word should be held.

d.     The woman is clever enough to differentiate the approved vs. the forbidden.

3.     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.’”

a.      Here the woman rightly makes the distinction that this tree is clearly not of the garden, but in the MIDST of the garden

b.     We know from 2:9 that there were two trees (tree of life and tree of knowledge of good & evil) in the midst of the garden yet the woman makes no indication as to which of the two she is referring

c.      The phrase “…neither shall ye touch it…” is not part of the original command of God to the man in 2:17, therefore this was either:

·       Instructions from God not written

·       Instructions from the man to the woman

·       Inference made by the woman

d.     Omission of the emphatic “surely” which is what the serpent includes, but then contradicts in the next verse.

e.     In the midst - תוך tavek – (masculine noun) midst, middle, from among

·       The word “amongst” used in 3:8 to describe God is this same word תוך tavek

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

a.      Note here Satan is not disputing the woman, but God Himself in that the woman omits “surely” but Satan includes it thus disputing God from 2:17

5.     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.”

a.      More truth veiling the lie

B.    Eating of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge Genesis 3:6

1.     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 the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

a.      I John 2:16 – For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

·       Tree was good for food = Lust of the flesh

·       Pleasant to the eyes = Lust of the eyes

·       Desired to make one wise = Pride of life

b.     She gave to her husband…WHO WAS WITH HER

2.     Matthew 4:1-10 – Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in [their] hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

a.      Satan employs the same strategy on Christ.  The temptations themselves are not the fruit, but merely a means to the end of getting one to take the “fruit”

·       “Command these stones be made bread” – Lust of the flesh

·       “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down…” – Pride of life

·       “sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world” – Lust of the eyes

b.     After the woman was tempted and she fell to these temptations she took and “ate” the “fruit”

c.      What was the “fruit” that Satan wanted Christ to “take and eat”?

·       “…fall down and worship me…”

·       Christ did NOT take and eat of this fruit

·       Satan did not stand a chance…why? Because Jesus knew that the “fruit” from the Father was better than anything Satan could provide

·       Why does God hate sin? Because what we are really saying when we sin is that the “fruit” of this world is better than the “fruit” of the Father.

d.     So what was the “fruit” that the woman took and ate? Not sure, but 99.9999% sure it wasn’t an apple.  There was likely an actual physical "fruit" of some kind, what that might have been is a bit of a mystery, but the real "fruit" was a conscience decision to choose Satan over the Father. 

C.    Effect of the disobedient act Genesis 3:7

1.     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.

a.      Were their eyes closed up to this point?  Obviously the verse is not talking about the natural eyes, but a deeper revelation of knowledge.

b.     Does food give us knowledge?  Does one get smarter simply by eating? Of course not, but we all assume that this is speaking of natural eating.  How do we gain knowledge? Eating with our mind, information has to get to the brain in order to gain knowledge, the only knowledge we gain through physically eating is consistency and taste which can help in learning, but as far as good and evil how do we learn about that? Not by eating

c.      Very interesting verse, they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil so now they knew they were naked.  Surely they would have known they were naked before they ate, so this indicates a very different revelation of knowledge…shame.

d.     What is our natural reaction when we do something that we know we weren’t supposed to do?

·       To hide it

·       To fix it

·       Try to correct the mistake

e.      Knowing our own tendencies as humans, if we ate something we weren’t supposed to eat what do you think your reaction would be?

·       Spit it out

·       Wipe your mouth

·       Hide your face

f.       Why would the man and woman react by covering their genitals?  Does this seem like a logical reaction?

g.      Covering ones genitals after an act of disobedience would lead one to the conclusion that somehow the genitals were involved in the act.

h.      If the “fruit” was in fact a literal/physical fruit could it have had hallucinogenic or mind altering properties which would have opened the mind allowing the deceiver to inject other suggestive behavior? Lets take a look at the naturally growing Peyote:

·       Peyote is used world wide to initiate various transcendental practices.  It has a long history among Native Americans.

·       Psychodelic effects from Peyote can last between 10 and 12 hours and is said to trigger spiritual type experiences accompanied with both visual and auditory effects.

·       Peyote “buttons” have been radioactive carbon dated to between 3780 and 3660 BC

·       Could this “fruit” from the TKGE been something similar to Peyote?

i.       Let’s discuss further the opening of their eyes:

·       Eyes - עין `ayin, (masculine and feminine noun) 1) eye: physical eye; as showing mental qualities; of mental and spiritual faculties. 2) spring or fountain

·       The human body has a gland in the center of the brain called the pineal gland.  This gland is commonly referred to as the “third eye”.   It has also been referred to as the “seat of the soul” as the ancients believed it to have mystical powers.

·       The pineal gland has some important functions; it is the center for the production of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin regulates several daily body rhythms (circadian rhythms). Melatonin is released in the dark. Melatonin regulates the day/night sleep patterns, hunger and sexual desire.  It has been scientifically proven that exposure to long-term light will shrink the pineal gland and limit the production of melatonin.

·       The pineal gland calcifies with age and melatonin production correspondingly decreases. This decline in melatonin has been suggested to be a trigger for the aging process.

·       The development of the pineal gland is important to many mystic religions including Hinduism by chanting and creating vibrations this supposedly modulates pineal activity.  This resonance can be induced in the pineal gland using electric, magnetic, or sound energy, resynchronizing both hemispheres of the brain, resulting in a chain of synergetic harmony that releases Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic.

·       Reptiles have this gland as well, only the pineal is close to the skin and does not interact with the eyes to register day/night cycles. In these animals, the pineal gland is the master clock.

·       Could the opening of the “eyes” be a reference to the pineal gland and could the “fruit” have been a mind-altering drug that “opened their minds” to the suggestions of the serpent?