Genesis 3

Introduction

Satan’s sudden appearance in Eden remains one of Scripture’s profound mysteries. How did he come to stand there, speaking to God’s perfect children? In an unexpected conversation with the evil one, Eve faces a deceptive darkness that shifts her heart. Adam, too, confronts a series of moral choices—and, in a moment that echoes through history, he chooses to do nothing. After the fall, God steps in, delivering both judgment and the first provision for sin through the shedding of blood.

Chapter 3 v.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’?”

v.2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden.

v.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.'”

v.4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”

v.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.”

The Villain of Eden

Eden – God’s House Temple

Eden was the “mailing address and zip code” for God’s presence on Earth, his direct, ongoing dwelling. Eden was more than a garden; it was God’s house-temple. Dr. Michael Heiser points this out in Demons, noting Eden as both God’s abode and the site of the original rebellion. G.K. Beale shares a similar perspective, dedicating an entire book (The Temple and the Church’s Mission) to Eden’s role as the archetype of the temple where God’s presence dwelled.

“The archetypal nature of Eden as the house-temple of God is why Eden is described as a well-watered garden (Gen 2:6, 8-9, 10-16; Ezek 28:2, 13) and a holy mountain,” Heiser writes (Demons, p. 63). For the Israelites reading these passages, Eden would immediately evoke images of God’s supernatural presence—and they would recognize the serpent as a supernatural being as well.”

“Today, we tend to imagine Eden as we would any beautiful earthly garden. Sure, we know God was there, but we often think of Eden as just a perfect garden. Yet, for people of the biblical period, Eden represented something far more transcendent. They would view Eden as a temple because temples were where deities resided. Eden was God’s earthly abode, a reflection of the heavenly reality. Just as Adam communed with God in Eden, priests later communed with him in Solomon’s Temple,” (Heiser, Demons, p.62).

This is why I’ve sometimes critiqued urban-minded theologians who, surrounded by cement and cityscapes, miss the true agrarian nature feel woven throughout Scripture.

The Voice Of The Devil

Jesus faced every attack from the devil by holding tightly to the Word of God. He identifies the devil as a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies (John 8:44). The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, reminds us, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12). To the Corinthian church, he writes, “We are not ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11), I see the term “devices” in the King James Version as a stronger translation. Scripture teaches us about a powerful being who violently opposes God and seeks to destroy all that is beautiful in His creation. The devil’s words carry such spiritual power that even a perfect man and woman can be deceived.

According to Morgan, the devil made the following verbal accusations to Eve:

He openly questioned God’s goodness
He denied God’s severity. One way to think of severity is to think of God’s absolute power, and his willingness to use it.
He slandered God’s motive

(G. Campbell Morgan, The Voice of the Devil, 1920, p12)

Satan’s schemes are found throughout Scripture, but his personal voice is not. He speaks only three times: Here in Genesis 3 to Eve, directly to God in Job 1, and confronts Jesus in the wilderness in Matthew 4.

In Genesis 3 Satan’s purpose is to slander God, he wants Eve to hear disgusting thoughts about God. Such thoughts had never entered her mind, but now she must find a way to process evil thoughts and she will fail miserably, as does Adam.

Satan’s voice is making a claim, God is holding out on Eve. If only she knew, and she obviously doesn’t, God is not good at all — this is Satan’s consistent lie. Satan must convince Eve of this lie, but he cannot convince God of any lie. “If Satan has deceived men about God, and he did; he cannot deceive man about God,” (Morgan, p28).

Warren Wiersbe produced a similar classic book demonstrating the work of the devil as a deceiver, destroyer, ruler, and accuser:

The deceiver targets your mind.
The destroyer targets your body
The ruler targets your will
The accuser targets your heart

(Warren Wiersbe, The Strategy of Satan, Tyndale House Publishers)

Liar Liar

Satan Lied To Eve – Satan deceived Eve about God’s goodness. He wanted her to believe that if God were truly good, He wasn’t good enough—certainly not worthy of her worship, adoration, or obedience. Satan suggested that her lack of knowledge was due to God’s refusal to share certain “secrets”—insinuating that God lacked the kindness to let her in on truths only Satan could reveal.

Satan Lied To God – Satan also lied directly to God about Job. According to Satan, the only reason Job served God was because of God’s blessings. Satan claimed that if God took away those blessings, Job would eat the apple Adam and Eve left behind. But his scheme failed. Job’s response stands as a testimony of faith: “Though he slay me, I will still hope in him” (Job 13:15), and “When he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:10).

Satan Lied to Jesus – Lastly, Satan tried to deceive Jesus. He offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world, claiming power that wasn’t his to give. Jesus shut him down: “Begone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Satan’s History

Heiser whose works I cite in this section frequently, calls Satan The Original Rebel. His history is found in Genesis and Job, those writings are the two oldest books in all Scripture. Job took place before the days of Moses and is likely as old as Genesis. Both books early on in the storyline introduce the person and work of Satan early on, and as a central figure to humanity’s problem.

From there the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel reveal a window into his backstory. In Ezekieal 28:14 Satan is seen as a guardian of God’s throne. He is identified with the word cherub, making him a guardian cherub. Scripture fills out the job description of a guardian cherub as follows:

Guards the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:24)
Draws the Chariot of God (Ezekiel 1:5-20; 2 Samuel 22:11
Serves the throne of God (1 Kings 6:23-28, 8:6-8)

Satan however was given a grander role. Ezekiel calls him an anointed cherub (28:14).

The Prophet Isaiah refers to Satan being kicked out of the mountain of assembly, which we understand to be a robust gathering of God’s created beings, some form of the greater angelic host, and Adam and Eve either were not yet created, or are not present for such an experience. Satan nonetheless, according to Isaiah 14:13, is zealous and hungry for independence from God. He believes he can become like the Most High God, and is de-throne for his pride and cast out.

Put together, a composite picture is comes into focus. Satan is a created angelic being given a certain kind of authority and role within the mount of assembly, which likely is inside the geography of Eden. For some reason, after experiencing God’s glory, Satan believed God was no longer necessary, and when God’s plan for creating humans in God’s image and likeness was revealed, and that God placed Adam and Eve in Eden, the domain of his previous rule, he went after them, in order to destroy God.

The book of Revelation places Satan’s final destination in the Lake of Fire, where he is tormented forever.

The Serpent

For clarity, Satan didn’t possess a snake and then stand up and have a conversation with Eve. The serpent was not a member of the animal kingdom. “This conclusion seems obvious, since the New Testament identified the serpent as Satan or the devil (Revelation 12:9). The devil is certainly not a zoological specimen (2 Corinthians 11:14, cf. Matthew 4:1-11, John 8:44). If we agree with the New Testament that a supernatural being (Satan) tempted Eve in Eden, then by definition the serpent must be more than an animal. Many attempts have been made by theologians through the centuries attempting to figure out what kind of animal from the animal kingdom did Satan possess. It ‘s best to consider the text as showing the serpent as a supernatural being in possession of a supernatural body,” (Heiser, Demons, p. 62).

The serpent is described as being made in the field, such phraseology doesn’t by definition mean it’s from the animal kingdom that Adam eventually named. None of those creatures possessed the kind of supernatural power of the serpent.

Satan and Jesus

Jesus took the devil seriously. By calling him the devil, Jesus recognized Satan as an accuser and a slanderer.

Jesus gave the devil not just a name but many titles revealing his schemes and foul character. In Hebrew, the term “the Satan” includes a definite article, making him “the Satan.” Here are the titles Jesus used for Satan:

the Satan
the Evil One
the Tempter
the Destroyer
the Deceiver…who deceives the whole world
the great Dragon…who leads the world astray

Additionally, three times Jesus called Satan “the Prince of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). The Greek word for prince here is archon, a political term in Jesus’s day, used for the highest-ranking Roman official in a city or region. Jesus was saying that this creature is the most powerful and influential being in the world. When the devil claimed that all the kingdoms of the world were his to give away, Jesus didn’t contradict him (John Mark Comer, Live No Lies, p.9).

God’s desire for Eden was to create humans who know His love, hear His voice, believe in His perfect goodness, and willingly obey His Word from the heart. What stands out in the early part of Eve’s conversation with the serpent is her lack of fear and caution. Adam and Eve are not repulsed by Satan; they almost seem familiar with him.

Scripture gives no clear indication of Adam and Eve’s prior knowledge of Satan, but it does confirm that Satan and Jesus know each other. During His earthly ministry, Jesus had numerous encounters with Satan and demons, who knew exactly who He was. They acknowledged Jesus as “the Son of God” and “the Son of the Most High.” Satan and the demons acted with fear, caution, and confusion around Jesus, powerless against Him, often expressing panic and rage at their inability to overcome Him.

Yet for all the familiarity, Satan didn’t know what Jesus was doing, because Jesus never told him. God alone holds the full scope and plan of salvation, even now. Salvation comes by revelation, and God reveals it to whomever He wills, both to humanity and to the devil. For instance, even after the cross, Jesus had to open His disciples’ minds on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:45), and Pentecost was essential for the early church to understand.

Peter On Salvation Being Revealed:

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look (1 Peter 1:10-12).

Paul On Salvation Being Revealed:

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the ruler of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory ( 1 Corinthians 2:6-8).

See The Following Verses If Needed:

Jesus encounters Satan and Demons: (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13, Mark 1:21-24, 5:9-15, Luke 4:31-37, 8:30-37)

Satan and Demons call him the Son of God, and Son of the Most High (Matthew 4:6, 8:29, 3:11, 5:7, Luke 4:3,9,8:28).

An Evil Conversation

Eve’s conversation with Satan revolves around a dynamic power struggle between truth and lies. What gets tested is our desire to live independently from God. Theologians like to write about our autonomous desires (John Frame DOG). It’s another way of saying we don’t want God in every area of our lives.

When we think about lies we should insert the word Jesus preferred: Deception. And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.(Matthew 24:4 NKJV). While I prefer NKJV in this instance, the ESV gets the point across: “See that no one leads you astray.”

What are we deceived about? Reality and God’s perfect goodness.

“What is truth? The best definition I know of truth is reality, or that which corresponds to reality. It’s easy to get lost in the metaphysical weeds, but for our non-technical purposes, truth is what we can rely on as real. The chair I’m sitting on is real. The air I’m breathing is reality. Jesus is reality. And the best definition of reality is what you run into when you’re wrong” (Comer, p. 23).

God has an enemy with evil intent focused on stripping away God’s authority and perverting human destiny by leading them to live independently from God. It’s worth noting that Satan didn’t possess Eve, nor could he read her thoughts. But his lies made her unstable.

The original command, first given to Adam, then given to Eve – she demonstrates full knowledge of God’s word at this point, is a three fold command:

From any tree of the garden you may eat freely (Eat Freely) ESV translates freely as surely.
From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat (Don’t Eat This One)
For in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die (If You Do, You Die)

What Eve Got Wrong

First Eve twisted Scripture. In a surprising way, Eve alters God’s command and allows Satan to trap her. The way out would’ve been to cry out for help immediately, but instead she stays near the evil one and falls. Here is how she alters Scripture:

(Eve) – We may eat. She makes little of the enormous blessings and privileges God gave her. God specifically used the word freely. Eve could liberally bath herself in God’s abundance, but she chose to make God’s grace a small thing.
(Eve) – Lest you die. For some reason Eve gets confused and God’s stern consequences are minimized to the point of maybe – maybe you die. God said, “You shall surely die.” And this exactly what Eve missed and what Satan attacked.
(Eve) – You shall not touch it. This is not what God said. In saying this Eve becomes the world’s first legalist. She took God’s grace and made it harsh and untrue. God didn’t want her to eat it, she was in fact allowed to touch it.

(G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission, p. 396)

Second, Eve removed herself from admitting she had a personal relationship with God. Moses mentions God as the LORD God – Yahweh Elohim. This is the Lord, his personal covenant keeping name. Eve fails to identify with the Lord. To her at this moment he is only God, perhaps even just god. This is how Satan addressed the Lord, he only mentions God, and Eve does the same thing.

Here’s my paraphrase of the truth-versus-lies conversation between Eve and Satan:

Satan: What did God say? i”m telling you, there’s more to this story, and he is in fact holding out on you.

Satan: Think about this, what are you not allowed to eat.

Eve: We may eat, we just only eat from all the other ones .

Eve: God told us to to touch it or eat it. If we do, we die.

Satan: You will not die.

Satan: When you eat it, you’ll know what he knows, and understand the things He hasn’t told you. You’ll be like him, knowing deeper things, such as good and evil.

For our purposes, here’s what Scripture reveals: there is a devil whose ultimate goal is death, and his primary weapon to achieve it is lies.

Eve’s first mistake was listening to Satan; her second was misquoting God’s words. She got God’s instructions wrong and even added to His command. It’s a subtle but powerful distinction. God allowed them to touch the fruit; they simply couldn’t eat it.

Deception

It may not come quickly to mind, but outside of the gospels and the book of Acts, the rest of the New Testament is written to combat deception. It’s a serious issue and a dominant theme the New Testament church constantly addressed.

A partial outline of New Testament thinking on deception:

Do not be deceived (1 Corinthians 6:9)
Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words (Colossians 2:4, KKJV)
But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)
For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived (Titus 3:3)
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
Little children, let no one deceive you. (1 John 3:7)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:18,25)
For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 4).
For by your sorcery all the nations were deceived (Revelation 18:23).
Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image (Revelation 19:20).
and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more (Revelation 20:3).
The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10).

Satan’s Trap

Eve chose disobedience freely, but how she arrived there—and how Satan trapped her—has been a subject of reflection since the days of the ancient rabbi’s, and apostles spoke loudly on this issue as well. The spiritual power at work here calls for a deeper look at deception and the evil allure of lies. “Through deception, Satan convinced her of a lie; without that lie, he would have been powerless. He couldn’t make her disobey, but through manipulation and falsehoods, he persuaded her to rebel against God. Satan’s lies aren’t just random claims without emotional impact; they target our beliefs about what will bring us happiness” (Comer, p. 59, 61).

Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, defined sin as “unwillingness to trust that what God wants for me is only my deepest happiness.” Here lies the devil’s primary goal: to shake our trust in God and His truth as revealed in Scripture. When Satan can make us doubt God and, instead, trust our own intuition as a guide to the good life, he gains the upper hand. In a tragic twist, sin destroys our ability to experience true happiness by exploiting our God-given desire for it through lies and deception (Comer, p. 61).

The Significance of the Tree

The tree symbolizes the blessed benefits of God’s boundaries. At first, this might not seem obvious. After all, the Garden of Eden was stunningly perfect—Adam and Eve lived in paradise, bore God’s image, and had every need met by Him. Yet, even in this perfection, God placed limits around their lives for their good. Before sin ever entered the picture, God’s “no” was already necessary.

This truth carries profound implications. Mental health experts often help patients recognize the importance of external limits before they can develop internal ones. Without boundaries, no person—or anything in existence—can truly thrive.

The tree also unmistakably represents God’s presence. It appears not only in Eden but also in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 2:7, those who conquer gain the privilege Adam and Eve never received—they can eat from the Tree of Life. Revelation 22:2 describes the tree in the heart of the city, standing on both sides of the river. In Revelation 22:14, those who have washed their robes earn the right to eat from the Tree of Life and enter the city. Conversely, Revelation 22:19 warns that those who distort God’s prophecy lose access to the tree altogether.

Trouble In God’s House

v.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.

v.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.

v. 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.

v.9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

v.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.”

v.11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

v.12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

v.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.”

Eve’s Desire

Eve’s desire wasn’t wrong at first. The phrase “something to be desired to make one wise” in Chapter 3 connects to the word “pleasant” in Chapter 2. This kind of knowledge is inherently good. But in this instance, God placed limits around it to protect Adam and Eve.

The plain reading of the text shows Adam standing right next to Eve while she speaks with the serpent and takes a bite of the fruit. Yet Adam did nothing. His inaction was both a sin and a profound failure, one that would ultimately require Christ’s coming to redeem humanity.

Paul Explains What Happened

Adam’s sin—failing to protect Eve and crossing God’s boundaries himself—brought the entire human race into original sin. In essence, all humans are Adam and Eve, even though we weren’t in the Garden. Place any of us in their situation, and we too would bite the fruit. No one is better than Adam and Eve—except for one. We’ll get to Jesus in a moment.

Paul lays out what happened to Adam and Eve and what it means for everyone who has ever lived (Romans 4:12-21). For clarity, I’ve left out two verses referencing the law for now.

Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned
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.
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.
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.
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.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Imputation

“When we say that God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us it means that God thinks of Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, or regards it as belonging to us. He reckons it to our account. The doctrines of Scripture develop the idea of placing upon another the guilt or righteousness of someone else.”

Wayne Grudem says it this way:

When Adam sinned, his guilt was imputed to us. God the Father viewed it as belonging to us, and therefore it did.
When Christ suffered and died for our sins, our sin was imputed to Christ. God thought of it as belonging to him, and he paid the penalty for it.
Christ righteousness is imputed to us, and God thinks of it as belonging to us. It is not our own but Christ’s righteousness that is freely given to us.”

(Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 726)

Open Eyes

Scripture recounts Eve’s conversation with the serpent, vividly portraying her deception. However, it says nothing about Adam being deceived. Paul underscores this point: “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor” (1 Timothy 2:14).

Afterward, Adam and Eve realized their nakedness and were shocked by it. Once, their nakedness carried no shame. Now, everything had changed. Their reaction revealed their spiritual condition and their immediate separation from God.

A mature Mediterranean fig leaf measures about 10 inches long and 8 inches wide. Without needles, they likely tied the long stems together to make coverings. Their naked bodies, created perfectly by God, were now clothed in a crude and almost laughable attempt to hide—such is the disorienting nature of sin.

In The Cool Of The Day

Theologians widely agree that the Garden of Eden functioned as a Temple or Tabernacle. It was where God presented Himself to enjoy fellowship with His children. This idea is supported by the presence of cherubim guarding Eden with a flaming sword. Adam and Eve’s role was to expand Eden’s beauty across the entire planet, creating a world where God’s presence could roam freely.

That beauty, however, is now shattered. Their relationship with God is destroyed, and they hide from the One they know to be perfectly good.

Paul’s words, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), serve as a powerful commentary on Genesis 2:17: “You shall surely die.” Similarly, his message in Ephesians reflects the reality of Genesis 2-3 and points us to the gospel:

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:1-5).

God Knows

Until now, all Adam and Eve had known was love, truth, and the glorious presence of God. The image of God walking in the cool of the day is clearly an anthropomorphism, a metaphorical picture. It portrays divine romance—the deep affection of a Father delighting in His children.

What stands out is their attempt to hide among the trees, away from God’s presence. But God already knew what had happened. Still, He called them out, drawing them near so they could begin to grasp His plan of redemption.

God Wants Answers

Adam’s role was to act as High Priest and protector of God’s realm. This is what Eden was, the realm of God. The place where he could freely bring his presence and enjoy his children. Realm is often associated with a broader understanding of the Kingdom of God. Genesis 2 reads like a tutorial—God teaching Adam how to carry out His plan. Naming the animals was part of Adam’s preparation, a way for him to practice his God-given authority. Adam had the power and authority to drive the serpent away immediately but failed to act.

Question #1 – Where Are You?

Notice Adam speaks up here, Eve is silent, and for the moment Adam is doing the right thing.

Adam’s Confession: “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Notice Adam spoke the truth.

Question #2 – Who told you and what did you do? Did you do what I told you not to do?

Here is God’s exact question. “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Adam’s Confession: The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Adam blames God for his circumstance. The woman he says, was not Adam’s idea but God’s, and if she was never created we would not being having this conversation.

He does admit he ate it.

Question #3 – “What is this that you have done?”

This question is now directed at Eve,

Eve’s Confession: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Eve spoke the truth.

The Great Plan of Redemption Unfolds

v. 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.

v.15 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.”

To The Serpent

It is crucial to understand what the Lord says—and does not say—to each character in the Garden of Eden. Most importantly, Yahweh Elohim curses the serpent but not Adam and Eve. While the Lord proclaims a plan of salvation and redemption for humanity, no such promise exists for Satan.

Observations on Genesis 3:14

The Serpent’s Identity:
The serpent appears to be more than a member of the animal kingdom. Instead, it seems to be a divine or semi-divine being capable of manifesting a physical form. Our modern association between the words “serpent” and “snake” often blinds us to the supernatural element Moses is describing. For example, snakes do not eat dust, so something deeper is happening here.
Alternate View:
Some argue that Satan possessed a physical reptile (Hughes, p. 84), leading God to curse both the physical snake and Satan. This interpretation suggests that modern snakes are a result of this curse. However, the text itself does not seem to support this conclusion.
Humiliation of the Serpent:
The serpent’s humiliation involves a permanent loss of status: “On your belly you shall go.” This phrase signifies deep degradation.
A Rare Curse from God:
God directly curses the serpent, an act that Scripture records only twice: here in Genesis 3:14 and in Genesis 4:11, where He curses Cain for murdering Abel.

Observations on Genesis 3:15

The First Gospel (Protoevangelium):
The curse on the serpent includes a prophecy: one of Eve’s offspring will destroy him. This declaration is often called the Protoevangelium, or the first gospel. Church Fathers like Justin Martyr and Irenaeus taught that “the seed of the woman” refers to Christ, who will crush Satan’s head.
Enmity and Warfare:
The word enmity conveys intense hostility, often describing the hatred and warfare between nations (Matthews, p. 245). The language evokes the image of two warriors locked in a life-and-death struggle.
Seed as an Individual:
When the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek 250 years before Jesus, the word seed (zera in Hebrew, sperma in Greek) was understood to refer to a single individual. This grammatical insight aligns with Paul’s teaching in Galatians 3:16:“Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ.”
Christ’s Victory Over Satan:
Paul completes the prophetic picture. Satan “strikes” Christ’s heel through the crucifixion, but Jesus crushes Satan’s head through His death and resurrection. Believers share in this victory:“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).

Biting Serpents

As written about earlier, the sin of the serpent was taking the place of God, and declaring God is not good. This is the foundational spirit inside Satan. There is an interesting story reflecting both New and Old Testaments found in John 3:14. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

The backstory to Jesus teaching is found in Numbers 21: 4-9. God’s children attack God goodness immediately after affirming their faith with a vow, and God directly led them to do this. The text says they became impatient and spoke out against God and Moses, and the final dagger in their words “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

If there is a line not to cross, they just crossed it.

God sends serpents to bite them, and commands Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, lift it up, and whoever looks upon it, shall live. Jesus uses this to speak about the power of the cross to defeat sin and Satan.

v. 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 your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

To The Woman

Eve was not given the same final condemnation as the serpent. She did however receive severe consequences, and this one is just the beginning. Two things now become much more difficult for her to experience well. The first is child birth, which will now be associated great pain. Take note of the word multiply, other translations use greatly. Her pain is not just present during child birth but multiplies. A large part of Eve’s divine mission was child birth, so now her calling is made more difficult, but she will in fact succeed at it, this promise is from God and placed subtly in the text. It is her seed that must live so the promised one can redeem humanity and restore Eden.

And the second is marriage, which now comes with an underlining tension about headship and equality. There is no doubt about it, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were equal before God. Yet there were roles, with Adam having a distinct headship place alongside his wife. This doesn’t mean abuse or lower status for Eve, it means protection and freedom for her, in the ideal setting of Eden. Woman will desire a good strong man, yet having the ongoing desire to control a man who doesn’t want to be controlled by his woman.

The word desire has its fair share of controversy. Some see it to mean Eve’s sexuality because the same word is found in a romantic and sexualize passage in Song of Solomon. I would caution against going too far with this, the Song of Solomon passage is a single reference. The words desire is found only one other time in Genesis 4::7 and the reference is cousin to our current passage, where desire and rule are found together.

Scripture lays out the modern difficulties of marriage outside the bliss of Eden. Sex is marriage is not as easy to enjoy and experience as intially perceived. Marital enjoyment will now take work as well. Yet the daughters of Eve will desire to have these two things, enjoy sexual experiences with their husband, and babies to fill their quiver.

v.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;

v.18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

v.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.”

To The Man

It seems God chose not to record for us all of the conversation between Adan and Eve about the apple. In fact we don’t see them speaking to each other before the bite. Eve is never directly recorded addressing Adam, yet here God says Adam listened to her voice. Most likely there was some degree of bantering between the royal couple.

The Lord makes sure Adam knows the reason why a curse is brought upon the ground his feet stand upon – I commanded you not to do it, and you did it.

The ground is cursed, Eden is now ruined. Everything worked together beautifully in Eden, now such sweetness and beauty is lost. Life will now be hard. Nothing will come easy. Work in any manner will be exceedingly difficult. Upon Adam will fall the curse of sin and disobedience Romans 5:18, 1 Corinthians 15:21.

In God’s economy, everything grows. Thorns and thistles point to the fruit of the curse, an abiding examples that something is wrong and not as is meant to be.

Adam likely didn’t know what a thorn or thistle was because he’d never seen one.

Dust

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