The Fall of Man; The Aftermath

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Meditations: Genesis 3 (AMP)

Genesis 3:1
And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, “Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?"

Thoughts:
Sin and temptation always challenge the truth and reliability of God's Word and His plans. The Devil is always out to get us to doubt and deny what God says and wants in our lives. Once we begin the path to doubt, sin is never far off.



Genesis 3:4-6
But the serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! 
For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened [that is, you will have greater awareness], and you will be like God, knowing [the difference between] good and evil.” And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.

Thoughts:
The idea of becoming wise and insightful appealed to Eve. Was that because she thought she would be more like God? For the first time, she felt discontent within. She desired to be more than just how God designed her to be. She saw herself as lacking, as incomplete. But, what made Adam give in? Could it be because he saw that Eve did not physically die?


Genesis 3:8
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the [d]presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

Thoughts:
For the first time, God's presence was not welcome. There was separation, there was shame. All these feelings, Adam had them all rushing through his mind and heart at once. The consequences of sin, the great cost and loss, all these entering the core of his very being, corrupting him from within.


Genesis 3:12-13
And the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me—she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent beguiled and deceived me, and I ate [from the forbidden tree].”

Thoughts
For the first time, there was disunity in marriage. There was no US; they went against each other. Nobody instinctively sensed and took responsibility for his own actions.


Genesis 3:16-19
To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiplyYour pain in childbirth; In pain you will give birth to children; Yet your desire and longing will be for your husband, And he will rule [with authority] over you and be responsible for you.” Then to Adam the Lord God said, “Because you have listened [attentively] to the voice of your wife, and have eaten [fruit] from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’; The ground is [now] under a curse because of you; In sorrow and toil you shall eat [the fruit] of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field. "By the sweat of your face You will eat bread Until you return to the ground.

Thoughts
With sin came pain. The woman will now experience painful childbearing. She will now have insecurities and a need for her husband, whatever that means emotionally and mentally. She will now be under his authority. If this meant that the leadership of the husband was a consequence, I do not know for sure. I do think that with this case, Eve was unable to make the right decision and from then on, that would be the case with her; that her judgments were no longer reliable and that she would need her husband to give her leadership and direction.

With sin came corruption. Adam lost authority over creation and creation began to suffer with his fall. There was now labor to be exerted before the ground could yield him a harvest. Creation could no longer submit to him because he lost his capacity to dominate and rule. Worse, Adam hears for the first time that indeed, death was sure to come. How many years was it before Adam fell, I don't know. But, how dreadful it must have been for Adam to see and experience physical degeneration progressing as time passed by.