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| The Fall
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,[b] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool[c] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[d] 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[e] and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to[f] your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.[g] 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. |
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Advent Day #21
Marty Sieger
In Genesis 1 & 2, God has created a perfect place and the perfect couple in a perfect garden. Adam and Eve had everything a person could want. They had the perfect marriage, and enjoyed life to its fullest. There was only one thing they were not to do, and that was to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In Genesis 3, the serpent enters the scene. He sought to draw the woman in to his clever temptation. The cunning creature and the woman formed from Adam’s rib, all created by the Lord God, had a discussion about the forbidden fruit. Sadly, both Eve and Adam give into the temptation and ate the fruit. Immediately, their eyes are opened to what they have done. They have disobeyed God and now they hide from Him. Instead of running to God to receive forgiveness and a cleansing from their shame, they do what so many of us often do. They make excuses. They blame the serpent and each other. They try to cover themselves with fig leaves in order to hide their nakedness.
Isn’t it amazing and sad how often we end up wearing fig leaf coverings? Not literally of course (that would be too cold in Illinois). Instead of running to our Savior and allowing Him to remove our shame because of His bloody, sacrificial death, we make our own fig leaf coverings. We might talk more about our accomplishments so that we don’t have to think about our failures. We might spend hours on our phone so that we don’t have to have those difficult interactions. We may even numb the pain and shame with pills, alcohol, or food.
I’m thankful that God doesn’t leave Adam and Eve in this sad, shameful, fallen state. He reaches out to them in love. In verse 15, God gives them hope. He was putting a plan of redemption in place. One day, they and many others would be back in the garden. We read about it in Revelation 21. John tells us of a new heaven and a new earth, and that the old heavens and earth have passed away. He talks of a Holy City and a marriage like no other, that is to take place. This will be far beyond the original Garden of Eden. There will be no more pain or sorrow, and He will wipe every tear from our eyes. This new heaven and new earth is where we will be with God for all eternity.
- Have you ever said, “I just wish____” fill in the blank, then it happens and you get what you wished for?
- What are some ways in which you try and sew fig leaf coverings to hide your shame from God and others?
- God loves to remove our shame and guilt. What stops you now from boldly coming to his throne of grace to have this happen? What promises of God can you reflect on if shame keeps coming to your mind?
Oh Lord, You are merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. You will not always chide, nor will You keep Your anger forever against me. Thank You for not dealing with me according to my sins, nor repaying me according to my iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is Your steadfast love toward me, as far as the east is from the west, so far do You remove my transgressions from me. Thank you Father!
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