Listen:  80 Question 3

The account of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden is recorded in Genesis 3:1-6 which says, “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?  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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. 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.”

This portion is so full of learning for us.  We have no doubt that the serpent is Satan himself as we read in Revelation 12:9, “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.”  Notice Eve’s reply to Satan’s question concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  She said in verse 6, “…God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”  Is that really what the Lord had said?  Let’s read Genesis 2:17 where the Lord said, “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.”  It seems that Eve did not know exactly what the Lord had said.  He did not tell Adam and Eve that they could not touch the fruit, and He told them that if they ate of it, they would surely die.  Perhaps through indifference, Eve had not kept the words of the Lord in her heart.

At this point, realizing Eve’s weakness, Satan was bold enough to contradict the Lord’s words and tell Eve a direct lie.  We read in Genesis 3:4, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.”  Eve partook of the fruit and then shared it with Adam.  Let’s consider Eve’s thoughts as she looked upon the forbidden fruit.  We read in 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.”  Now, let’s compare that with the words of 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.”  Eve exhibited these worldly traits in her disobedience to the Lord.  She saw the tree was good for food, which is the lust of the flesh.  Eve thought the fruit was pleasant to look at, which is the lust of the eyes. She desired the fruit to make her wise, which is the pride of life.  Eve’s fleshly desires made her blind to the Lord’s strong warning to not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Notice that eating of that fruit was not evil in itself.  It was the fact that they were told not to eat of it that made it evil to partake of it.  Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord when they ate the fruit and immediately suffered the consequences.

We read in Genesis 2:17 that the Lord told Adam that, “…in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”  Did Adam and Eve die when they ate the forbidden fruit?  Yes, they did.  The phrase, “thou shalt surely die” is better translated, “dying thou shalt die.”  Adam and Eve not only died spiritually, but from that moment they became mortal, and continued in a dying state until they died physically. As children of Adam and Eve, this death has been passed down to every one of us.  Every moment of man’s life may be considered as an act of dying, until soul and body are finally separated in death.

God’s governmental judgment upon the serpent, Adam, and Eve is found in Genesis 4:1-12.  I encourage you to read this portion.