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The Temptation and Fall of Man
Genesis 3:17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. :18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. :19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. :21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Verse 20 is Adam’s response in faith to the revealed Word of God in verses 15 and 16. God had told them that in the day that you eat thereof you shalt surely die (2:17), which involved not only a separation from God but, in time, physical death as well.
Then God gave them the promise in verses 15–16 that Eve would bear children and continue to live physically. Adam’s response to God’s promise was to call his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
“Consequently, by the significant nature of the name employed, as well as by the significant way in which the matter is reported at this important juncture, we are to understand that Adam refers to the things implied in the promise of the victory over the devil. In other words, he here gives evidence not only of believing that God spoke the truth but evidence of belief in the salvation which God had promised” (Leupold, p. 177).
God responded by providing coats of skins, and clothed them. This was His way of demonstrating that fellowship was restored.
“While it may be premature to read into this the introduction of animal sacrifice, it certainly illustrated to Adam and Eve, who may even have witnessed the death of these innocent animals, the high cost of their guilt” (Davis, p. 95).
Genesis 3:22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—:23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. :24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
There was a shade of truth in Satan’s lie that Eve would become like God (v. 5). But she and Adam learned by the hard way of experience to discern between good and evil. If they had then eaten of the tree of life, they would have lived forever in bodies subject to sickness, degeneration, and infirmity. Thus it was God’s mercy that prevented them from returning to Eden.
Cherubim are celestial creatures whose function is to “vindicate the holiness of God against the presumptuous pride of fallen man.”
Adam and Eve had to decide whether God or Satan was lying. They decided that God was. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Thus their names are missing from the Honor Roll of Faith in Hebrews 11.
The ideal environment of Eden did not prevent the entrance of sin. A favorable environment is not the answer to man’s problems.
Cain Murders Abel
Genesis 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.”
When Cain was born, she acknowledged that this birth was only by the Lord’s enablement.
In naming him Cain (“acquisition”), Eve may have thought that she had given birth to the Promised Seed.
Genesis 4:2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Genesis 4:3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.
The process of time mentioned in verse 3a allows for a considerable increase in the world’s population.
Genesis 4:4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,
Genesis 4:5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
Genesis 4:6 So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
Genesis 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” What can we learn from this?
Genesis 4:8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Genesis 4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Genesis 4:10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
Genesis 4:11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
Genesis 4:12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”
The word for vagabond is related to the word Nod in vs. 16 where he was eventually to dwell. He would be a homeless wanderer, banished from permanency and consigned to seeking out a living in whatever manner he could.
Genesis 4:13 And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! :14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” :15 And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
Cain’s whimpering complaint reveals remorse for the consequences of his sin rather than for its guilt. But even then the Lord allayed the fugitive’s fears for his life by putting a protective mark on Cain and a curse on anyone who killed him. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, the saddest of all departures.
The Wickedness and Judgment of Man
Genesis 6:1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, :2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
Macdonald, Farstad Grady Scott, Hindson, E. MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006).
