Genesis Chapter 3
Heavenly Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters reading this right now. I pray that you give them the strength to overcome any battles that they are facing. May every area under attack, subside under your caring hands. I pray that you give them the wisdom and the power, to withstand anything, that is trying to tempt them to fall, in Jesus name I pray. Amen!
Welcome back Brothers and Sisters, to The Heartfelt Studies. I hope you are enjoying these studies, as much as I am. I can’t believe we’re on Chapter 3 already, so lets get to it!
The Fall
Genesis Chapter 3, verses 1-6
As we know, snakes can be very discreet, yet very sly and here we see that the serpent in the garden, was very sneaky indeed! We see, that the serpent (yes this one speaks), so we can gather, that Satan is disguising as a serpent, who tells the woman that she won’t die if she eats from the fruits from The tree, which God told her and Adam not to eat from. The serpent also tells the woman, that if she eats from that tree, her eyes will be opened to knowing good and evil. With this, the woman thought of the tree, as being good and which would provide her wisdom. Therefore, she did not think again about what God commanded.
So here, the woman is disobedient to the commands of God and is swayed by the craftiness and the tongue of the serpent. Now, we can see where humanity’s peace and righteousness was broken and where sin entered into the world.
Genesis Chapter 3, verses 7-10
Here, we see not only did the woman eat the fruit, but she also gave some of the fruit, to her husband and doing so, they both became aware that they were both naked. They covered themselves with sewed fig leaves, to protect their dignity, yet hide their sin away from God. When Adam and the woman, heard God calling them, they hid behind the trees of the garden. Even though Adam and the woman were already naked, their eyes, their hearts and mind didn’t comprehend this. They were innocent and free from sin, but as soon as they ate from the fruit of the tree, their eyes were opened and they became ashamed.
It is a powerful message, because we see that God knows and sees all, he shelters us and hides us, from the things he knows can cause a downfall. Also, when we do not listen to God, then sometimes we put ourselves into situations, which we could have avoided, but in this world, we sometimes lean on our own desires and understandings.
Genesis Chapter 3, verses 11-13
God walks through the garden and calls out to Adam and sees that Adam is hidden in shame. He questions Adam on how Adam is aware that he is naked and asks if he has eaten off the tree, which was forbidden. Adam admits that the woman gave him some of the fruit. When God asks Eve, what she done, she responds that the serpent enchanted her, into doing so.
Here we learn, that sometimes the words and the things of the world, can block our blessings from God.
Genesis Chapter 3, verses 14-16
Here, God speaks to the serpent and tells it, that due to its deceptiveness, there will now be a curse over the field and there will be no fresh harvest for it to feed on, just the dust from the ground.
Reading the previous verse and now, we understand that the serpent speaks (and we know reptiles do not speak) so here Satan must be in the midst, because of this; Upon thy belly shalt thou go. We already know that serpents slither on their bellies, but if this was solely a serpent, this would not be a curse and this serpent knew fully well that tempting the woman, would cause chaos in Eden. So when God chooses to curse the serpent in this way, we know that God is greater and more powerful than what came against him.
Also due to the disobedience from the woman, God cursed her, that the only desire she would have is for her husband who would rule over her and although she will be able to conceive, pain will come upon her.
We see here, that God is a God of mercy. How can we see that when he has put a curse upon this woman? It is because, God could have taken away her ability to conceive altogether, but he doesn’t, God still blesses her with many opportunities to bare children. Yes pain will be upon her, but the mercy of God could have been greater.
Here, God teaches woman, that disobedience has consequences and in this case it is a physical consequence, that would be past down to generations to come.
Genesis Chapter 3, verses 17-19
As we read in the verses above, Adam listened to his wife and took a bite of the apple and instead of speaking about what’s right and what’s true, Adam disobeyed God’s commands. As a punishment, God curses the ground, causing hardship for Adam for all the days of his lives. Instead of being able to grow fresh crops as before, Adam would now struggle in accessing the necessities, that God granted before.
Again, we see that, when the heart and mind is not aligned with God, when righteousness is broken, when the sin of man occurs, then God will separate us from the things we needed and wanted, in order to recognize that we shouldn’t take his words or his blessings for granted.
Genesis Chapter 3, verses 20-21
In these verses, we see that the woman who is Adam’s wife, now receives her name. Adam calls her Eve, because she is the Mother of of all human beings, which in Hebrew also means ‘Life/Living’. It is a beautiful name, which represents hope for the future.
As we know from above, Adam and Eve were clothed in fig leaves, to cover themselves, but in verse 21, God demonstrates to them, that what they were wearing isn’t enough for their decency. Therefore, he takes the life of one of his animals and uses its skin to clothe Adam and Eve.
Genesis Chapter 3, verses 22-24
God is aware that Adam has eaten from the tree of life, as he knows what the tree of life brings and doesn’t want Adam to rebel again and take advantage of it. Therefore, God casts Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and places a flaming sword at the entrance, so they can not come back. Keeping the tree of life of protected.
THOUGHTS
Genesis Chapter 3, is so powerful, because it shows us how merciful God can be and it reminds us that he has beautiful plans over our lives. However, in order for his plans and promises to unfold, then obedience is key in our walk and journey with him. He is aware we will fall and go off track, but we have to learn to stand strong and surrender everything we have, unto him and his way. God loves us all and wants the best for us, so keeping taking time with him and things will be okay.
If you have any more knowledge to share on Genesis Chapter 3, please feel free to reach out in the comments below xx