The Temptation and Fall in the Garden

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Genesis 3:5-13
April 17th 2022
Estros Sunday

For if you live according to the flesh
Okay, so we left off with verse 5 where Satan said to Eve relative to the forbidden fruit.

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.

And we come to Eve’s decision, which begins with Moses saying at verse 6

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 of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 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. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

The Nature of Temptation

Alright, let’s go back to verse 6 which says:

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

Before we cover the basics of the verse itself, I have to, because we have come to it, reappeal to passages that also speak to the temptation.

To do that let me go to the white board:

First notice that we have one passage in Genesis and one passage toward the end of the Apostolic Record – and they both talk about the same thing.

Then we notice that inbetween them we have Jesus response to these temptations, which is written out in narrative form – which is much longer – and it responds to what both the Genesis account says and what the 1st John passage says.

So let’s work through these together:

GO TO WHITE BOARD

Genesis 3:6
Matthew 4:1-11
1st John 2:16

Passages and Insights

FIRST,
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,

First, “bodily appetites”

And then Jesus in the wilderness (LAST)

Mt 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

And what was Jesus tempted with?

A fleshly appetite – to make loaves of bread and to feed himself.

I suggest that this general temptation covers all the temptations these literal bodies experience – whether food, drugs, sex – whatever.

What does Jesus say about this. First he responds by appealing to scripture and says

4 It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

And in this we have an insight on what to feed ourselves with first and primarily – the Word of God. Why? When the soul and Spirit are fed and strong, the appetites of the flesh are reduced and are prioritized, becoming much less of a priority.

So there the first thing that seduced Eve. Second?

SECOND
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,

Second, appetites of the flesh, bodily desires, food, sex, drugs, the very temporal wants in our flesh
FIRST, back to Genesis where we read of Eve and the forbidden fruit

“and that it (the forbidden fruit) was pleasant to the eyes,”

What is the primary point here? The

Understanding the Temptation of the Eyes

She saw that it was pleasant to her eyes. It presented itself as offering her something beneficial to her life. It appealed to her soulish desires.

The Temptation of Jesus

So we go to Jesus in the wilderness and WE READ:

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, (What is this about taking Him up – and then) and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, (it was so He could see what would be pleasant to the eyes or would appeal to the lust of His eyes)

6 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.

In other words, throw yourself down and command the angels to save you, make a spectacle of your power, as a sign of your prestige which will appeal to the eyes of all who witness it, which will appeal to the lust of your soul. Jesus responds with:

7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Meaning, “while this might feed my needs and ego, it would be an example of tempting God, which I will not do. Meaning, “I will not do anything as a means to try and make God act on my behalf. This is forbidden in scripture because it serves me and not Him. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy here which plainly states "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Which means, thou shalt not try him; or, thou shalt not, by throwing thyself into voluntary dangers, try to appeal to God for protection. It is true that God might aid those who are placed in danger or trial inadvertently but it is not true that the promise was meant to extend to those who wantonly provoke him, and trifle with the promised help.

The Lust of the Eyes

And this brings us to the last element that tempted Eve:

SECOND, John writes:
All that is in the world the lust of the flesh, then SECOND

“and the lust of the eyes,”

What is the primary point here in what John calls, “the lust of the eyes.” I would suggest that this speaks to anything and everything that impresses our carnal natures, what we perceive as good for our popularity, desirable and beneficial to our person. It could be things that promote power, authority, wealth, materialism, strength, might.

It is different from the lust of the flesh in that it isn’t speaking of natural physical desires produced by being physically human, (thirst, hunger, sex), but appeals to the soulish desires in a human being, things that appeal to our stature, our fame, our comforts, our popularity. We might suggest that these things appeal to our PRIDE, so it's not so much a physical desire for an attractive woman or man but what they do for our image or social status.

The Temptation of Pride

Back to Genesis and the fruit:

FIRST

And she saw in the tree that was to be desired because it would “make one wise.” What is this the basis of? Pride. She wanted knowledge of good and evil which would make her as the gods and she did not want to wait for God to give her wisdom. It would make one wise.

LAST

8 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;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Satan promised to give Jesus all the Kingdoms of the world and all the glory of them – what kind of offer is that if it's not one that appeals to pride, right? Power, glory over all the kingdoms of the world? I think it’s important to know that Jesus will ultimately arrive at this same place of power but it would be through the means of the Father and not giving into Satan or His flesh. This is the same principle in scripture of what God wants to do with all human beings, lift them up and make them heirs – but on His terms and through His processes.

So, Jesus says:

10 Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Not the glories of earthly kingdoms.

SECOND
Going to John

The Temptation of Pride

All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes AND “the pride of life.” Obviously, this is a reiteration of Pride that tempted Eve. So let’s go to what Satan tempted Jesus with in the last temptation (verse 8 of Matthew 4).

FIRST: And she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

And in the case of Jesus, the last Adam, we read:

11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

SECOND: And in John’s account, he reminds us that none of these things “is of the Father, but is of the world.”

Jesus and the Rejection of Worldly Temptations

And so we see that in the case of this temptation, Eve and Adam would fall because they succumbed to “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.” And that Jesus, the last Adam, refused all that was in the world that was offered to Him, and in so doing He began to overcame the effects of the Fall by Resisting “the lust of the flesh,” the “lust of the eyes,” and “the pride of life.”

Back to Eve, God had undoubtedly created our first parents in a number of ways counter to the standard general view of them held throughout the ages. I suggest that they were very intelligent and had a tremendous capacity to increase in that intelligence given them in and through their relationship with God. I also suggest that they had the capacity to freely choose, and to act, and to labor and consume food which would serve to keep them healthy and to sustaining to them there in the garden; perhaps this was the value of the fruit of the Tree of Life. I also believe that within them was the capacity to choose and do evil – even if they did not have all the faculties to understand what evil would really look like once it plays itself out. To me this was the state and condition of our first parents and even the state of the human condition today point to the fact that our original parents were one of excellence.

The Origin of Transgression

And so, from where or how did transgression come? The same way it came for Satan – there was a desire to be elevated to a higher place through their own means which apparently they thought could be had by an “increase of wisdom.”

Remember, Eve saw the fruit was “good for food” (self) pleasant to the eyes (self) and would make one wise (self). And she chose self over God. In the end, this is at the heart of pride. But it seems that the desire for more wisdom is not, in and of itself, a bad or evil thing. After all, Eve desired it before taking the fruit to get it. Perhaps God has implanted this desire in the creations made in His image but at the same time showed them that there was a right and good way to obtain it (by and through knowledge of Him, after all, wisdom IS defined as knowledge applied) rather than through forbidden methods and means.

It seems that God expected that Adam and Eve's judgment would have overridden their desires and they would have chosen to reject the forbidden fruit but this was not so – in the end. And from this, we might suppose that there is knowledge and information God possesses that He does not want His creations to know. That knowing or obtaining such leads to places and states of minds and emotions that would be too much for us meaning it would cause us harm. And so the object of gaining knowledge ought to be pointed at our gaining knowledge that He wants us to have, and not just our seeking to know and experience it all.

Solomon's Wisdom

Solomon, the wisest of them all wrote:

Ecclesiastes 1:12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

It seems that these things that Solomon pursued and which led only to vexation of spirit God desired to withhold from humanity to some extent or another.

The Fall of Adam and Eve

But Eve and Adam wanted to open that box and to let Pandora fly. And so on to verse 7.

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.

First of all, before we move forward, it's interesting that Adam appears to join Eve out of nowhere here. In verse one the Serpent is described and only Eve is mentioned as being present – even during the discussion between them. And we read Satan saying to her at verse 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.

And then we read:

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

Was Adam with her all the time? Did he join her mid-temptation? Can’t really say. Can’t say what he thought about the fruit. Can’t say how she got him to eat it or if he ate it readily without any convincing – Moses doesn’t tell us here – though Adam will allude to her when he is called on the carpet by God.

The Consequences of Disobedience

One final note. Adam and Eve were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth. Certainly, they could have asked God or watched the animals to know how this was accomplished. I suggest that God knew that at some point someone in the Garden would probably eat of the forbidden tree. That is why scripture says that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world. But I don’t believe God cared to know who would fall or when it would happen. This approach exonerates Him from predetermining Adam and Eve themselves from falling when He made them, but instead opens up a free economy of choice by which he was prepared to face head on once a bad choice was made.

And so now we come to the results:

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.

The eyes of them both were opened. Apparently, they were opened in at least some of the ways that God did not want them to opened through this means. In other words, He did not want them to understand the shame of nakedness, the loss of innocence, or the need for covering themselves. Neither did He apparently want them to have their eyes opened to everything around them – and we can say this because these things were shown them as a result of them eating of the forbidden fruit.

The Knowledge of Good and Evil

It’s a pretty heavy concept, “the knowledge of Good and Evil” if we were to embark down that road. But for whatever reason, God did not want His first human creations to pursue its path – – and they did. And they now had a sufficient enough insight into things that they were able to discern between good and evil and what was the immediate result? “Shame and guilt in the face of innocence lost.”

The apostolic record teaches us that Satan sought to seduce and ruin mankind through seduction as Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 11:3.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

It seems that Satan knew that as long as Adam and Eve depended on God they could not be ruined, so he endeavored to seduce them away from this dependence as a means to ruin them. Corrupting them from “the simplicity that is in Garden life” just as Paul fears the early Christians would be “corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Adding the knowledge of Good and Evil to their existences then appears to have corrupted their simplicity and introduced to them complexity, therefore problems, therefore a deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. to peace. These same seductions appear to continue to resonate through this world in the mouths and minds of those who seek to lure others away from trusting Him and to rely on their own wisdom. And one of the most effective ways of Getting

The Shift from Dependence on God to Self-Sufficiency

People often move away from God and their dependence on Him by adopting certain beliefs:

• They believe they don’t need Him and His ways.
• They suppose their thinking is equal to or superior to God’s.
• They become alienated from His word and disregard living by it.

The end result? A quest for wisdom and knowledge that exists outside of Him. Once this mindset fully takes hold, people ultimately and actually start believing they are gods, possessing as much power and insight as Him—sometimes more. This shift is called a fall in scripture, reflecting the state of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Think on that for a while.

The Original Fall: Adam and Eve

First, their eyes were opened. Second, they knew they were naked. Third, they sewed together fig leaves to clothe themselves. It's intriguing that the first knowledge they gained was the realization of their nakedness, and the second was the ability to sew. They crafted with their hands, making suits of apparel—out of fig leaves—to hide behind. Why did they hide? Despite being beautifully and rightly made by God and existing in a sparsely populated world, they felt ashamed.

I believe they used leaves from the same tree they ate from, which suggests the fig was the fruit. Whatever the forbidden tree was, they gathered fig tree leaves and made apparel suits to cover themselves. This represents the first expression of religion: suits of apparel to hide behind.

The Expression of Religion and Shame

Today is Easter around the world. Personally, I am troubled by the day but will avoid delving into it. It’s significant for religion as people gather in buildings, wearing nicely sewn suits to hide behind. The scripture clearly describes God as hating such religiosity, a sentiment tracing back to the Fall.

8
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Now the Hebrew reads:

And they heard the voice of the Lord God going in the garden to the direction of the sun, and the man and his wife hid from before the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden.

We also know from Hebrew that the voice of the Lord God is described as wind. Commentators suggest that as the sun set in the garden, the wind of the Lord blew in to commune with the couple—this being the time of day (late afternoon) when God (who is spirit and not anthropomorphic) would appear in the setting sun and be heard as a wind, communicating with Adam and Eve either daily or occasionally.

In my immature mind, I imagined an anthropomorphic God walking through the cool garden in a spirit body, but Jewish tradition paints a different picture, setting it around sunset and involving wind as His voice. This is supported by Hebrew describing the scene as happening at the day's decline, accompanied by an evening breeze.

9
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

In other words, “Adam, this is the time of day we always meet and talk. Where are you?”

Isn’t it amazing, that in addition to Adam and Eve’s eyes opening, the result of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was that they

• Saw they were naked.
• Made suits for themselves.
• Tried to hide amongst the trees from the Living God who made them!

Is that what man does with all this knowledge of Good and Evil? Apparently.

The Fruits of Sin: Shame and Fear

Before hand, Adam is naming the animals appropriately and gardening and communing with God directly and now he’s full of shame sewing together leaf aprons and hiding in the trees!! It's pretty comical when we think about it. And so toward dusk God comes a calling, saying, “Adam,” and asking, “where are you?” Verse 10 is really telling.

10 And he (Adam) said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

I heard your voice – one which they had apparently heard before – but this time, in light of their sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. His voice produced in them “shame and fear.”

Shame and Fear: The Human Experience

And what does sin produce in us? “Shame and fear.” Until it foments to the point where we get tired of shame and fear and replace it with pride and brashness. Let’s remove ourselves from God and just place ourselves in the presence of our parents. They tell us not to do something and we do it. The result? Shame and fear. Shame for having rebelled against them and their words and fear of the consequences for having rebelled.

Then we become teenagers and we tire of feeling shame and fear and in response place the blame on mom and Dad. They are the stupid ones. I’m not ashamed anymore and I am not afraid of you either! Right? Many have suggested that it is in response to terrifying elements in nature that religion got its start. That human beings are out living their lives and a sudden earthquake rocks their world, or a tornado, or lightning and thunder, or a lava spewing volcano.

But I would suggest that is it fear of ourselves being hurt NOT a fear of the thing in itself. With a clear conscience, lightning is just a bright light from the sky. In the face of sin and evil, lightning is God coming to punish us. See the difference? Anyway, it is sin that has the power to cause us to feel shame before our maker and fear of our maker – and these are the exact things Adam appears to have felt – hence the making of the first Sunday clothes (out of figs) and then hiding in the trees from the view of the living God he disobeyed.

Sin and Redemption Through Jesus

All of this is couched in the first three words of Adam to His maker: “I was afraid, because I was naked.” I was afraid because I was exposed, I had nowhere to hide, I had no defense, no shelter and no protection. And so, we see shame and fear are the first fruits of sin from the first transgression to the present time. For this reason, we really need to see what sin is relative to Jesus as a means to be set free. Without this understanding, we will all still find ourselves ashamed and fearing the living God.

And I would be remiss if I did not take the time to show you, from scripture, how nobody on earth ought to stand ashamed and fearful in the face of the living God. NOT because we are good, or because there is no such thing as sin or debauchery, but in light of what Jesus has accomplished on behalf of the world these things ought to be eliminated from our minds. Let me explain.

Paul clearly wrote: “For the wages of sin is death.” Remember? Pretty plain, right? And the basis for death that entered the world was it was earned via sin. But then we read that Jesus came and died for the sins of the world? I mean he bore the sins of the world in His body that was laid in the grave.

Peter wrote, speaking of Jesus

1st Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Most people tend to think that this death and burial were efficacious only for those who believe on Him but remember, it was for the whole world as scripture readily maintains that the WAGES of SIN were paid.

Paul supports the fact that it was for the whole world when he says in 2nd Corinthians 5:14-15

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

Have you ever considered this? That since our sin (meaning the sins of the

The Gift of Reconciliation Through Christ

World) were paid for in the body of Christ through His death, then ALL of us have ostensibly dead too – buried with Him in the death He suffered for us? What an amazing gift to the world, and here is the thing – nobody needs to believe it for it to be effective!

In and through His death the world was completely reconciled to the Father, and therefore His wrath abides on no one. Isn’t that good news? Now lightning is just lighting, and earthquakes are part of this world, and floods are not because God is angry.

Isn’t this part of the Good News something that all Christians should share with those around them? I think it is. I think it serves to open up doors to the hearts of those who are seeking for more in life and I think that those who take advantage of it or don’t care would anyway. But the old standard of believe or your sins are going to send you to eternal hell by the wrathful hand of God isn’t even biblical. But this loving gift to all is.

The Power of Resurrection

But the Good News doesn’t stop there. In the very next verse Paul adds an invitation to all the beneficiaries of His death, saying:

15 And since he died for all, they which live (repeat this and ask, “who are those they which live – those who look to Him in faith, right) they which LIVE should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, AND (Paul says) rose again.

In other words, yes, he died for all as the payment for all the world sin. But, Paul adds, BUT THEY WHICH LIVE . . . (those who look to Him in faith, Paul says) should not live lives unto their own will, but should live lives UNTO HIM who DIED AND AND AND rose again.

And so we can see that in His death ALL have been forgiven of sin because the wages were paid, but in His resurrection those who choose to believe on Him will rise to new life and walk not after their own will, but unto Him who – DIED AND ROSE AGAIN.

The True Good News

So, the first benefit of the Good News is Jesus’s death – it was for all, believer and not, paying the wages of sin. But the second benefit, which is far more amazing, is that in and through His resurrection those who choose to look to Him in faith RISE with Him to new life through the power of Him rising from the grave!

This is the true “good news” folks – not the antiquated message of fire and hell if you don’t conform but one based in His ultimate victory – first over all sin forevermore and secondly to give life to all who want it.

So, at this point, with Adam having answered God who was calling to Him, and Adam saying that he was afraid because he was naked we now read:

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

And from that point God will call the serpent forward and begin to curse him and the couple – which we will get to next week.

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