Daily Scripture Reading Genesis 3:8-24

We humans are very good at deceiving ourselves. We fail to accurately assess our strengths, weaknesses, and sins. We constantly look for ways to justify sin. There are many commands in the Bible which are clear, but we invent many excuses to pretend the Bible does not say what it actually says.

That is what happened in the garden of Eden. Yahweh told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent questioned Eve about this, and when she saw the tree produced good food, she ate from it, and gave some to Adam, who also ate it. They immediately knew they were naked. What happened next is a good lesson regarding what will happen to us someday when we stand before God and give an account of our deeds and words.

Gen. 3:8 ¶ Then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God in the midst of the trees of the garden.

Look at the word “heard”. Yahweh made a physical sound in the garden and Adam and Eve heard it. This indicates the extent to which Yahweh was physically present with them in the garden. They did not need to rely on faith to know God is real.

Now look at the word “hid”. On the one hand, it is somewhat comical they thought they could hide from God. On the other hand, their attempt to hide reveals the relationship they had with God.

Gen. 3:9 Yahweh God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

Gen. 3:10 And he said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Gen. 3:11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Gen. 3:12 And the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave to me from the tree, and I ate.”

Many people criticize Adam for blaming his wife; however, he told the exact truth. Yahweh gave the woman to him. Gen. 3:6 tells us the woman gave him the fruit and that he ate it. Adam did not say “The woman made me eat it.” Instead, he admitted he ate it.

Gen. 3:13 Then Yahweh God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

People also criticize Eve for blaming the serpent. However, once again, she told the exact truth. It is true that the serpent deceived Eve. (See 2Cor 11:3 and 1Tim 2:14.) Eve did not say “The serpent made me eat it.” Instead, she admitted she ate it.

This illustrates what will happen when we stand in front of God. Just as Eve used rationalizations to justify eating from the forbidden tree, when she was face to face with God, she admitted the exact truth. Likewise, we, and all humans throughout all history, use rationalizations to justify sin. However, when we stand in front of God someday, we will admit the exact truth. We will admit all our sins and failures.

Gen. 3:14 And Yahweh God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

Cursed are you more than any of the cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you will go,

And dust you will eat

All the days of your life;

It is true that snakes are the most despised creatures.

Gen. 3:15 And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

This verse is true on multiple levels. First, snakes attack the heels of humans and humans attack the heads of snakes. Second. Satan bruised Jesus on the cross, but Jesus defeated Satan on the cross.

Gen. 3:16 To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply

Your pain and conception,

In pain you will bear children;

Your desire will be for your husband,

And he will rule over you.”

All women have been punished for the sin of the first woman. That may seem unfair, and in some ways it is. On the other hand, Eve’s mistake was she looked at the fruit of the forbidden tree and decided to eat it because it was good food. In other words, she knew God’s command, but she rationalized it away. All humans do this, so in that sense all women deserve the same punishment inflicted on Eve.

Notice the last line, “he will rule over you”. Men are physically stronger than women; therefore, men have always ruled over women. The New Testament tells wives to submit to their husbands. In recent decades, feminism has been trying to overthrow the idea that wives should submit to their husbands. That is not only rebellion against commands in the New Testament, it is also rebellion against the punishment meted out by God to all women as a result of the first sin.

Gen. 3:17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

Cursed is the ground because of you;

In pain you will eat of it

All the days of your life.

Gen. 3:18 Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;

And you will eat the plants of the field;

Gen. 3:19 By the sweat of your face

You will eat bread,

Till you return to the ground,

Because from it you were taken;

For you are dust,

And to dust you shall return.”

All men have been punished for Adam’s sin. Our punishment is that we have to work in order to eat. Again, in some ways that is unfair, but all men have sinned; therefore, we deserve to be punished.

In recent decades, feminism has encouraged women to eschew motherhood and work outside the home. Radical feminists want women to do all the hard and difficult jobs that men do. Women who embrace this do not seem to realize that they are demanding the right to participate in punishment meted out to men.

Gen. 3:20 ¶ Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

Gen. 3:21 Then Yahweh God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.

Gen. 3:22 ¶ Then Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us to know good and evil; and now, lest he send forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever”—

Gen. 3:23 therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

As a result of eating from the forbidden tree, Adam and Eve had begun dying. If they ate from the tree of life and lived forever, they would be in a perpetual state of dying and yet never die. God, in His mercy, prevented them from living forever in a perpetual state of decay.

Gen. 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

We humans are very good at deceiving ourselves. We fail to accurately assess our strengths, weaknesses, and sins. We constantly look for ways to justify sin. There are many commands in the Bible which are clear, but we invent many excuses to pretend the Bible does not say what it actually says.

When God confronted Adam and Eve regarding their sin, they admitted the exact truth. Likewise, when we stand in front of God someday, we will admit the exact truth about all our sins and failures.

In what ways does your pastor and church pretend the Bible does not say what it actually says?

What are ways you justify sin in your life?

What are some sins and failures you try to deny here on earth, but will have to fully acknowledge when you stand in front of God?

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”