Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

• The Bible begins with one commandment, “Do NOT eat of the tree of good and evil”, and ends with one commandment, “Do NOT take the mark of the beast.” The consequences of both are eternal damnation.

Genesis 3

The Temptation and Fall of Man

Genesis 3:¹ Now the serpent was more cunning (crafty, manipulative) than any beast of the field which the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) God (‘ĕlōhîm) had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God (‘ĕlōhîm) indeed said (Did He really really say?), ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

Genesis 3:^2-3 And the woman said to (answered) the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God (‘ĕlōhîm) has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

• ►Note: The first commandment in scripture is “Do NOT eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.” All other fruit in the garden was a virtual buffet.

• ►We know Adam and Eve sinned and ate the fruit, but the story wasn’t over.
  • I Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

• ►Before Adam and Eve sinned, even before God created the heavens and the earth, God already knew they would sin. The Father already had a solution: the death of His only begotten, perfectly sinless Son.
  • Revelation 13:8: The very first “Passover”

• ►”How often God is blamed for all the suffering in the world. It’s like praising Satan for allowing all the good that happens.” ~E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly,

• ►Why should God stop all the suffering in the world? Every time He does, man uses God’s blessings in immoral ways. God does not want to be an enabler of evil.

Genesis 3:^4-5 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God (‘ĕlōhîm) knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God (‘ĕlōhîm), knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened,

Genesis 3:^7b and they knew that they were naked (vulnerable); and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

– – – – –

• ► Metaphorically, the tree of life in the Garden of Eden is Jesus.
  Metaphorically, the book of life in Revelation is also Jesus.

• ► Scripture points out they covered their nakedness with “fig leaves,” which would have to be the leaves from a “fig tree”. The fig tree is scripture’s symbolism for the Jews and the Jewish nation, whose center of worship is Jerusalem, leading to speculation that Jerusalem once was the center of Eden. (Matt 24:32-33)

– – – –

Genesis 3:⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) God (‘ĕlōhîm) walking in the garden in the cool (literally: Spirit) of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

• ► What was the “sound of the Lord God”?
  • Creatively, I can imagine with the bite of the fruit, that spring is finished and the passion of summer is also at its end as Adam and Eve try to hide their sins with fig leaves. The season of “The Fall of Man” is clearly visible. The leaves on the trees are drying up, falling to the ground. The trees are nude, revealing a landscape of unknown emptiness. Adam and Eve may hear the sound of rustling leaves being stepped on, crushed under the sound of the footprint of their Creator. Ultimately, their own fig leaves are destined to wilt before the onslaught of an icy winter.
    
    The winter of pain begins.
    
• ► There is no further mention of seeing God, only hearing Him.

Genesis 3:⁹ Then the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) God (‘ĕlōhîm) called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

Genesis 3:¹⁰ So he (Adam) said, “I heard Your (God’s) voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Genesis 3:¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

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

Genesis 3:¹³ And the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) God (‘ĕlōhîm) said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

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Genesis 3:¹⁴ So the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) God (‘ĕlōhîm) said to the serpent:

“Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:¹⁵ And between your (the serpent indwelt by Satan’s) seed and her (Eve’s) Seed;

He (Jesus, Eve’s descendant from the virgin Mary) shall bruise your (the serpent’s) head (a deadly blow), and you (the serpent) shall bruise His heel (non-deadly: vain attempt to kill).”

Genesis 3:¹⁶ To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

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

Genesis 3:¹⁸ “Cursed is the ground for your sake (because of you);

In toil (hard work, sweat) you shall eat of it (from it) all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:¹⁸ Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,

– – – – –

Genesis 3:¹⁸ And you shall eat the herb of the field.

Genesis 3:¹⁹ In the sweat of your face (stress) you shall eat bread (literally: bread/meat/food) till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust (aka clay) you are, and to dust (red clay) you shall return.”

Genesis 3:²⁰ And Adam called his wife’s (‘iššâ) name Eve (ḥaûâ h2332), because she was the mother of all living.

Genesis 3:²¹ Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm) made tunics of skin, and clothed (covered) them.

Genesis 3:²² Then the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) God (‘ĕlōhîm) said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us (plural),

Genesis 3:²² to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) God (‘ĕlōhîm) sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.

• The Garden of Eden was an earthly paradise.
  
  • Where is the Garden of Eden? Is it accessible today and is the Tree of Life still there?
    
    • In Ezekiel it is called the Garden of God.
    • Note, there were two trees in the Garden: the tree of good and evil and the tree of life.
    • Eden represents perfect rest (ease), just like the sabbath, the day of rest, the number seven, and the promised land (Israel) where another Lamb was killed, the Lamb of God, and where Jerusalem means the city of peace. During the millennium when Jesus rules on earth it will be a thousand years of ease and peace, just like Eden. Jewish sages say it will be the 7,000th year of man’s history. Read: What the Sabbath Means to Me.
      
    • Why did God put the tree of life and tree of good and evil in the Garden of Eden?
      
      • The tree of life is life giving. The tree of good and evil brought death. One is Grace, the other, Law. Law hates Grace because there is no justice. Grace hates Law because there is no mercy, they can only live together in the Garden of sinlessness, Eden. Both mercy and obedience are necessary for a society of eternal perfection. But once the tree of good and evil is indulged, obedience is broken and death ensues. Can the tree of Life (Grace) exist with Law? It cannot unless Justice is demanded. The Law demands death for the slightest infraction, and the life is in the blood. Therefore; something innocent must die for something guilty by the shedding of blood.

Genesis 3:²⁴ So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim (angels) at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life (vs the tree of good and evil).

• The Hebrews, in speaking of the different quarters of the heaven, always suppose the face to be turned towards the east. Hence “before,” or “forwards,” means the east; “behind” is the west; the right-hand is south, and the left hand, north.
  ~ ATS Bible Dictionary

• The East is symbolic of holiness. The tabernacles’ entrance faces east.
• It is widely believed that when Christ returns, He will enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate, which is the same gate He entered during His triumphal entry in Matthew 21:1-11. This belief is supported by various Second Coming prophecies that depict the Messiah returning from the east, including Psalm 24:7-10, which declares that gates in the Old City of Jerusalem will open to receive Him. The Gate is also seen as a pre-fillment or type of the future Millennial Temple, where the Lord enters through an eastern gate according to Ezekiel 43:4. ~The Eastern Gate in Prophecy

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Symbolic Dictionary for Genesis 3

Eyes Opened: To see something unseen
Fig Leaves: Temporary Protection, like the law
Fruit: From Above
Ground: World, Worldliness, Base
Herbs: Vegetables, Of the Ground, Worldly
Man: The Physical Representation of a marriage (whether good or evil)
Naked: Vulnerable, Needing Protection
Sea: Sea of People masses flowing like water
Seed: Fruit of the Parent, Descendant
Serpent: Lying Predator, Satan
Skin: Covering
Thorns: Curses
Trees: Men/Nations
Tree of Life: Giver of Eternal Life
Tree of Good and Evil: Choices – Obedience vs Disobedience, The Law
Woman: The Spiritual Representation of a marriage (whether good or evil)

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