Senior Class Notes – January 22, 2023

Winter 2022-2023 Unit 2 Session 1 – Does it agree with the Bible – Genesis 3:1-6, 13-16 PSG p. 98-107.

January 22, 2023

The Point: The voice of God never contradicts the Bible.

Inspirational Verse: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44).

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3 introduces a shrewd and crafty creature called the serpent, which turns out to be a diabolical liar – Satan “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9).¹⁸ Satan often begins his temptations by questioning God’s commands and suggesting that obedience is not necessary. Don’t fall for his trap! We do ourselves great harm when we believe that we will find greater blessing in doing our own thing than in obeying God. Obedience is necessary and always results in blessings.² Satan attacked God’s character in three ways:³¹

By creating doubt about God’s love – misquoting God’s instructions to Adam and Eve.
By denying the truth of God’s Word – telling Eve she would not certainly die if she disregarded the Lord’s command.
By accusing God of jealousy – suggesting that God was worried Adam and Eve would become like Him if they ate from this tree.

In this exchange, Eve shifted from heeding God’s will to obeying her own. It is the struggle that will plague all of humanity from this point forward. By manifesting himself in another form as a means to deceive someone into doubting and disobeying God, Satan establishes himself as a force to be reckoned with (2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9; 20:10). The serpent was a creature made by God but used by Satan (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8; Rev. 12:9; 20:2).¹³ This is a real snake (literally in the Hebrew). He is described as “more subtil.” The Hebrew word for subtil (arum) sounds like the word for naked in 2:25 (arumim).¹² With no introduction, Satan appears in the garden of Eden. This is the first clue in Scripture of creation outside the one Adam and Eve experienced. It is interesting to note that Eve expressed no surprise at the serpent speaking to her in intelligible language.¹⁷ The Hebrew word for subtil means crafty or shrewd in a negative sense “He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.” (Job 5:12), or prudent in a positive sense “The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.” (Proverbs 14:8).¹⁵ Yea, hath God said: More contemporarily: “Has God indeed said?” It emphasizes his (Satan’s) amazement that God would restrict man’s freedom of choice in the garden. Satan centers on a restriction, casting doubt on God’s word, and not emphasizing the fact that God had said in 2:16 they might “freely eat” of “every tree” “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”.¹³

Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: Before God Formed Eve, He told Adam “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17).¹¹ Eve’s reply reveals her carelessness with the wording of 2:16, as she disparages the privileges of God by leaving out the word that conveys the sense of “freely eat” and leaves out the word “every”.¹³ Question: Why had Adam and Eve not eaten of the fruit of the tree of life, since it was not forbidden to do so?¹¹ Genesis 3:22 tells us “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:”

Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the Midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. The woman’s claim that God said, neither shall ye touch the tree, lest ye die, goes beyond anything recorded in God’s instructions to Adam. Therefore either Adam had given his wife an additional command, or else Eve exaggerated the command as Satan tempted her to view God as selfish and overly restrictive. If Adam added to God’s command, he almost certainly had a good motive – after all, if Eve never touched the tree, she certainly wouldn’t eat its fruit. However, the sad truth is that when people add to the word of God, they create confusion and trouble.¹⁵ Eve did what so many people do even now: she revised and then rejected what God said. This sin always produces the same result – separation from God and, ultimately, death – unless sin is atoned for.³¹ Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it: Some interpreters suggest that the woman was already sinning by adding to the Word of God, for these words were not part of God’s instructions in 2:17. Scripture, however, always refers to the eating of the fruit as the sin, and never comments on Eve’s addition. Her words reflected the original command well enough, and indeed they would have ensured that the command would be kept.¹⁷ By adding to His command Eve exaggerates the limitations God had set forth. The lest ye die reveals Eve’s third error, toning down the penalty and certainly of death for eating the forbidden fruit. “Lest” expresses a fear of possibly dying when God had already expressed the certainty of it in 2:17!¹³

Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die: The serpent, recognizing the woman’s confusion, found a point of attack. Knowing that the woman would not surely die by merely touching the fruit, he boldly contradicted what she had reported to be God’s command.¹⁵ Here Satan blatantly denies God with the same strong Hebrew expression God used in 2:17.¹³ The first thing Satan does is deny God’s judgment and cast doubt on God’s command. To make this direct contradiction of God’s word seem reasonable, Satan invents a false motive for God. Thus, the serpent stands in direct conflict with God as He has revealed Himself.¹⁶

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. Satan’s words contained partial truth (your eyes shall be opened), a common tactic of his when tempting humans. He appealed to Eve’s desires, just as he later did with Christ in the wilderness, and as he does with all Christians (Luke 4:1-12; 1 John 2:16).³¹ It was technically true that their eyes would be opened (vv. 7 and 22). But the problem was that their eyes were opened to behold all things in the light of their own sinfulness.¹³ The devil then skillfully lied (John 8:44) by distorting God’s word “And sayest unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angel charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” (Matthew 4:6), implying that God had prohibited people from eating the fruit only to keep them from becoming as knowledgeable as He. The woman was now fully deceived “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” (1 Timothy 2:14).¹⁵ Ye shall be as gods: God’s fullness of knowledge was only one of the superiorities that set Him apart from the woman. But the serpent combined all of God’s superiority over the woman into this one audacious appeal to her pride.¹⁷ As Gods is better translated “as God,” which was true in that they would have a fixed moral nature like God; but it was fixed in sin, not righteousness. They knew good, but were unable to do it; and they knew evil, but were unable to resist it. There has always been the temptation to be like God. Here it suggests God is holding something back from Adam and Eve.¹³

Genesis 3:6 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. Since the woman did not die when she touched the fruit – in contradiction to what she had thought God said (v. 3) – she did eat. Though Adam was with her at the time, he did nothing to stop her. Perhaps he wanted to eat of it as much as the woman did, but fearing the consequences, used his wife as a “guinea pig” to make sure it would not cause instant death.¹⁵ When the woman saw: This was an evaluation process of the mind, for the tree was good for food (an appeal to appetite, or “lust of the flesh”); it was pleasant to the eyes (the same root word used in Ex. 20 in the law against coveting, as “lust of the eyes”); [Pleasant: Hebrew táavah – This Hebrew word is a noun designating a desire, longing, or craving. In addition to referring to desire itself, this word can also refer to the thing desired]. and it was to be desired to make one wise (the verb for desired is used in the law in Deut. 5 for coveting, and appeals to “pride of life,” cf. 1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”). With her may imply that the man was in close proximity all the time.¹³ When Adam ate of the fruit, sin and death became earth’s realities (Rom. 5:12).³¹ Sin’s Consequences – At first Adam’s sin does not appear to be all that significant. All he did was take a bite of some fruit. But Scripture takes it very seriously. Adam’s sin was one of disobedience and rebellion. God told Adam not to eat the fruit of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” under penalty of death (2:17). That action of eating the fruit changed Adam’s whole nature as well as his relationship with God. Adam became a sinner and as such he died. His spiritual death was immediate, the physical death progressive. Adam, who began the human race, then became the source of sin for the world. We are all sinners by nature because Adam sinned (Romans 5:12-14). We inherit sin from Adam in our natures in the same way we inherit many of our physical characteristics from our parents. Sin is a universal part of our spiritual inheritance.¹⁷

References: Winter 2022-2023, December 4, 2022 – February 26, 2023

(CWB) – Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry – Marshall, Morgan & Scott, Ltd. Copyright © 1960. Copyright 1961 by Zondervan Publishing House – Grand Rapids, Michigan.
(ESVSB) – The English Standard Version Study Bible, Personal size. Copyright © 2008 by Crossway. Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway.
(ETB) – Explore The Book by J Sidlow Baxter. Copyright © 1960 by J. Sidlow Baxter. Published 1960 by Zondervan Publishing House – Grand Rapids, Michigan.
(HISB) – The Holman Illustrated Study Bible – The Holman Illustrated Study Bible Copyright © 2006 by Holman Bible Publishers. The Holman Christian Standard Bible Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers.
(HRTB) He Reads Truth Bible Copyright © 2019 by Holman Bible Publishers Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Based on the Christian Standard Bible Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
(IMO) – On occasion, with the prayerful guidance of the Holy Spirit, I will make comments of my own, based on my understanding of the events. I will indicate such times with – In My O
(KJBC) – The King James Bible Commentary, Copyright © 1999 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. ©1983 by Old-Time Gospel Hour. Scripture quotations are from the Open Bible, King James version, © 1975 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
(KJSB) – The King James Study Bible, (previously published as The Liberty Annotated Study Bible and as The Annotated Study Bible, King James Version) © 1988 by Liberty University.
(LESB) Life Essentials Study Bible Copyright © 2019 by Holman Bible Publishers Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved. Based on the Christian Standard Bible Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
(NCBD) – The Nelson’s Compact Bible Dictionary Copyright © 2004 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. with Scripture Quotations from the New King James Version of the Bible Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982, 1990 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
(NIDNTT) – The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology Copyright © 1967, 1969, 1971 by Theologisher Verlag Rolf Brockhaus, Wuppertal. English Language edition Volume 1 Copyright © 1975, 1986, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A. and The Paternoster Press, Ltd. Exeter, Devon, U.K.
(NIVBTSB) – The New International Version Biblical Theology Study Bible Copyright © 2018 by The Zondervan Corporation. Text from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. previously published as The New International Version Zondervan Study Bible.
(NIVCBSB) – The New International Version Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible Copyright © 2016 by The Zondervan Corporation text from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. published by the Zondervan Corporation.
(NIVJSB) – The New International Version Jeremiah Study Bible, Copyright © 2016 by David Jeremiah, Inc. Using the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan.
(NIVLASB) – The New International Version Life Application Study Bible, Hardcover Edition. Copyright © 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton Il. 60189. Hardcover editions are published by Tyndale house.
(NIVMEB) – The New International Version Ministry Essentials Bible, Copyright © 2014 by Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC. Based on The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
(NIVSB) – The New International Version Study Bible Copyright © 1985 by the Zondervan Corporation text from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the New York International Bible Society.®
(NIVSB #2) – The New International Version Study Bible Copyright © 1985, 1995, 2002, 2008, 2011, 2020 by Zondervan Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546, USA. text from the Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.®
(NIVZSB) – The New International Version Zondervan Study Bible Copyright © 2015 by the Zondervan Corporation. Text from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
(NKJVBGTCB) – The New King James Version Billy Graham Training Center Bible © 2004 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. with Scripture Quotations from the New King James Version of the Bible Copyright © 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
(NKJVSB) – Holman Study Bible, New King James Version Edition Copyright © 2013 by Holman Bible Publishers Nashville, Tn. Text from the New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
(PSG) – Bible Studies For life – King James Version Adults Personal Study Guide Winter 2022-2023 Volume 10, Number 2.
(QNBD) – Quick Notes Bible Dictionary based on text from the King James Version of the Bible and cross referenced with the NIV and NRSV Bibles. Copyright © 1998 by George W. Knight and Rayburn W. Ray.
(SEC) – Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Dictionaries of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Testament words. Copyright © 1890 by James Strong. Based on the King James Version of the Bible.
(TDNT) – Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
(THBC) – Today’s Handbook of Bible Characters Copyright © 1979 by E.M. Blaiklock, published by Bethany House Publishers.
(TMEB) – The Ministry Essential Bible © 2014 by Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC P.O. Box 3473 Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473.
(TZPEB) – The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, copyright © 1975, 1976 by the Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan
(WIKI) Wikipedia – internet source.