Nuke's Blog
Periodic ramblings by an old geek…

Ok, so it appears I gave you nearly two months to read ahead.  Oops!  Maybe you’ll get about the same for the next post, since I’ll be possibly covering Genesis 4-11 all at once.  And then again, maybe I’ll be on task for the first time in recent history and you’ll only have a couple weeks.  Of course, it might take you a couple weeks just to get through this post. ;)

 

So, Genesis 3… where we see the fall of man.  We’re going to see much of this "chiasmus" today, where something occurred during the fall that Jesus has redeemed or will redeem.  We start out with a discussion between Eve and the serpent.

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 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, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:1–6 (ESV)

Satan is well-versed in the Word of God.  He may be so prideful that he thinks he can beat God at His own game, but he certainly pays attention and uses it against us.  Do you see in verse 1 how he asks Eve a misleading question?  He twists what God said to her with, "any tree in the garden?"  We can look back at what God really said.

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 2:16–17 (ESV)

It was not all trees, but a single tree.  Eve responded to Satan with that, but we see she is already adding to God’s Word, not remembering it correctly.  She adds "neither shall you touch it."  Remembering God’s Word incorrectly leaves Satan an easy way in, twisting it as he goes.  So, how do I see Jesus in this passage?  Let’s look forward to another discussion Satan is involved in.

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew 4:1–11 (ESV)

Here we see Jesus going through the temptation in the wilderness.  Satan is again using God’s Word, but twisting it in an attempt to lead Jesus down the wrong path.  Let’s take a quick look at the second of the three tests.  Here’s the passage Satan is quoting:

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

Psalm 91:11–12 (ESV)

If you look back at Matthew 4:6, do you see how Satan leaves out a phrase from Psalm 91:11?  "To guard you in all your ways."  Jesus recognizes Satan is twisting this passage in order to put God to a test, rather than God’s intention that we trust Him in everything we do.  Where Eve fails in the face of temptation, misunderstanding God’s Word, Jesus triumphs over Satan, using God’s Word correctly to defeat him.  In fact, what does God do after Jesus trusts Him and passes the test? Psalm 91:11-12 is fulfilled.

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew 4:11 (ESV)

Moving on, we see the first results of the fall.

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.

Genesis 3:7 (ESV)

I see two things here.  The first is this physical picture, in their nakedness, of a spiritual problem.  Our sinful state, our unrighteous intentions, are laid bare to God.  These secrets of our heart will be judged by Jesus Christ.

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:12–13 (ESV)

 

15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Romans 2:15–16 (ESV)

Jesus Christ is the Word of God, as we’ve seen before.  In case you still don’t see that, John makes it even clearer in Revelation than Paul does in Hebrews.

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

Revelation 1:12–16 (ESV)

The second thing I see in Genesis 3:7 is another physical picture, in Adam and Eve attempting to cover their nakedness, of a spiritual problem.  Man attempts to attain righteousness through his own works, and it doesn’t work.  Only the righteousness attained through Jesus Christ is sufficient.

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Romans 3:20–28 (ESV)

 

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:3–4 (ESV)

In the next few verses of Genesis, we see God searching in the garden for Adam and Eve.

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool 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?” 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.”

Genesis 3:8–10 (ESV)

They heard the sound of God walking in the garden.  Recall from previous posts that when we see God present on earth, He is in the form of Jesus, the image of the invisible God.  Perhaps we see Jesus here, about to pronounce judgment on them, pointing to His future judgment of mankind.

22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

John 5:22 (ESV)

 

42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Acts 10:42–43 (ESV)

Before moving on, I will just throw out a friendly reminder that we cannot hide from God, as Adam and Eve surely learned.  You could, of course, study the book of Jonah instead if you like. :)

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

Psalm 139:7–12 (ESV)

Skipping ahead to the next item I find in Genesis, we hit the verse that even the lightest of study Bibles would point to as direct prophecy of Jesus Christ.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

This offspring who would bruise the serpent’s head is none other than Jesus Christ.  He took Satan’s deceptions, his hold over us in our sins, and nailed them to the cross.

20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Romans 16:20 (ESV)

 

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

1 Corinthians 15:25 (ESV)

 

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Hebrews 2:14 (ESV)

 

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Colossians 2:13–15 (ESV)

He will also defeat Satan once and for all.

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 20:1–3, 7-10 (ESV)

Moving on in Genesis, we again see more along the lines of Adam as a type (or anti-type, if you want) of Jesus, as we found in Genesis 2.

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.”

Genesis 3:17–19 (ESV)

Adam’s sin led to death for man.  And yet, Jesus Christ leads us back to life.

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:12–17 (ESV)

 

21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:21–22 (ESV)

Adam’s sin also led to the corruption of creation.  Jesus Christ will redeem creation as well.

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

Romans 8:20–22 (ESV)

 

13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:13 (ESV)

 

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Revelation 21:1–3 (ESV)

Back to Genesis, we see God now correcting man’s attempt at covering himself physically.  This is a picture of God later covering our sins in His perfect way spiritually.

21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Genesis 3:21 (ESV)

Do you see how God cover their nakedness?  With "garments of skins."  Where do you think He got those?  God made the first innocent sacrifice, of animals in His creation, in order to cover the physical nakedness of Adam and Eve.  This points to the innocent sacrifice He would make, of His own begotten Son, to cover our spiritual nakedness in our sins.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

1 John 3:16 (ESV)

 

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:9–10 (ESV)

This sacrifice, this covering, was a work of God, and there is nothing we can add to it.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Hebrews 10:11–14 (ESV)

As Genesis 3 closes, we see the great loss as a result of the fall – access to the tree of life.

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.

Genesis 3:24 (ESV)

Jesus will one day restore our access to that tree.

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:19–22 (ESV)

 

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:1–2 (ESV)

I will leave you with one final thing.  We spent much time in the garden of Eden in this chapter of Genesis.  As I was studying, I started thinking about another garden, and how it is full of this chiasmus if you compare what happened in the two.  Of course, I’m referring to the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed in anguish before being arrested.

39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Luke 22:39–46 (ESV)

"Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  It was all around Jesus and His disciples in that garden, as the serpent was there with Adam and Eve in Eden.  Don’t think Jesus was being tempted?  Do you see how "his sweat became like great drops of blood?"  Wow.  And yet, Jesus did not succumb to it.  He accepted and followed His Father’s will.  Instead of running through more and more Scripture, I will simply list out some of the things we can find when making a comparison, and let you work through it yourself.  By the way, some of this list came from a decent summary I found online, but have since lost the link.  It had much more obscure thoughts, which I find too much of a stretch anyway.

• Adam began his physical life in Eden, leading to spiritual death – Jesus started down the road to physical death in Gethsemane, leading to spiritual life
• Adam succumbed to temptation in Eden – Jesus overcame temptation in Gethsemane
• Adam hid himself in Eden – Jesus presented Himself in Gethsemane
• Adam and Eve spoke with Satan in Eden – Jesus spoke with His Father in Gethsemane
• God sought after Adam in Eden – Jesus sought after God in Gethsemane
• God setup a sword in Eden to block life – Jesus has a sword put away in Gethsemane to give life (I find this to be one of the more interesting "stretches" from that website)

So there we have it for Genesis 3, short of other items you find yourselves and comment on for the rest of us.  Here is the summary for those of you who simply skipped the entire post looking for it.

• Genesis 3:1-6 – chiasmus – Jesus overcomes temptation from Satan’s twisting of God’s Word
• Genesis 3:7 – type/picture – nakedness as a picture of our sinful state, redeemed through Jesus
• Genesis 3:7 – type/picture – fig leaves as a picture of man attempting by his own works to attain righteousness, found only through the work of Jesus Christ
• Genesis 3:8-10 – appearance – Jesus walking in the garden, searching for Adam and Eve
• Genesis 3:8-10 – prophecy – Jesus coming to pronounce judgment on mankind
• Genesis 3:15 – prophecy – Jesus, seed of the woman, bruises the serpent, Satan
• Genesis 3:17-19 – chiasmus – Adam’s sin leads to death, Jesus brings us life
• Genesis 3:17-19 – chiasmus – Adam’s sin leads to corruption of creation, which Jesus redeems
• Genesis 3:21 – prophecy – Jesus is the innocent sacrifice to cover our sins
• Genesis 3:24 – chiasmus – Jesus gives us access again to the tree of life
• Genesis 3:1-24 – chiasmus – garden of Eden in comparison to the garden of Gethsemane

If history holds, you have several weeks to study up on Genesis 4-11 for next time.  God be with you.

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