The Garden of Eden

Creation and The Garden of Eden

In the first three chapters of the book of Genesis, we find the description of the Garden of Eden and what transpired there. I want to remind you that this Book, Genesis, was penned by Moses around 1500 BC, but was authored by God. In this account we will see Gods Nature and intention toward men. We will see Gods Power and we will see Gods Justice.

Genesis:1:26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

The "us" and "our" used here refers to Gods triune nature . God is a spirit that manifests in three aspects to mankind, Father/Son/Holy Spirit, only one of these aspects is physical, that of Son. Men are triune in nature, Spirit, body and soul, only one of mans aspects is physical, our body. We truly are made in Gods image and likeness. Men are the only beings created in HIS image and Likeness. Men were created to have dominion over this planet and all the living creatures on it, men were given all authority over all living things, with the exception of other men. God created men in the spirit, formed a body for men and breathed His life into them, giving them a soul and making them unique from all other life forms. God clothed man in His Glory, or presence. God made man to be the authority over all other parts of creation, except other men.

Genesis 1:27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

God is telling us in this verse that his nature embodies all human gender aspects, both male and female. Men were created in the spirit as male and female, God knew he was going to separate Adam into two physical beings, Adam and Eve.

Genesis 1:28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Food for thought: Why did God say replenish? To be "re" anything something must have previously been. To renew a subscription you must have had a subscription. To replensih, or populate by mulitplication, earth must have at some point been populated. This is one of many small mentions God makes to a different creation. He has not shared this in a complete manner, so we have to assume that this information is not necessary to us at this time. The Bible is full of revelation, some of which was masked from men in times past, but in the fullness of time, God reveals to that generation of people what He needs them to understand.

Genesis 2:1: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Host means a "mass of people", and God said he finished all the hosts of heaven and earth on the 6th day. ALL the host of heaven and earth, were finished. No more people, No more species of animal, no more angelic beings were to be created. So we can see and know we were all created in spirit, but we had yet to have a physical expression. Picture all the beings that God created as a cast of a play all prepared and ready to enter the stage but none allowed to enter (be born, or manifested physically) before the proper time. We each enter the stage of the play called mortal existence at Gods appointed time, to begin this journey of choice. We are not humans on a spiritual journey, we are spirits on a human journey!

Genesis 2:7: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The word soul used here in Genesis 2:7 is a Hebrew word for The Self, The Living Being (Strong's#5315 Nephesh)

Your body is physical, your Soul (mind, will and emotions) is the control center of the body, but your spirit, the "you" or "self" part of you , is God breathed. We are spirits that God created in His image and likeness in Genesis 1:27, but God has also formed or was to form for us a Body, and breathed or was to breath into us a soul (Mind Will and Emotions) thus making men different from all the other created things. Men are made in Gods' image and like God are triune in nature: God = 1.Father/creator 2.Son/Saviour and 3.Holy Spirit/ teacher and comforter. Men= 1.Body, 2.Soul, and 3.Spirit. In this we see that we are eternal. Our bodies die and return to the earth but our spirits and souls can never die as they are made in the image and likeness of God and as such are eternal, without physical end, just exactly like God.

One other point I would like to make here, is about our voices, Men are the only physical beings that were given a voice and a language. If you look at the first chapter of Genesis, you see God created by SPEAKING....8 times in the first Chapter Genesis states "Gods Says and then God SEES"....God SPOKE everything into existence. God gave men voices, and with those voices the ability to also speak things into existence. Good or bad men speak their lives or situations or allow others to speak their lives and situations into existance for us. All things that exist are created first in the spirit and then are manifest in the flesh. (Hint, why do you think these cults built up around "positive" thinking seem to work?) .

When man fell he lost the grace, the glorious presence, the covering and the blessings of God, but man did not lose his voice. Men still have their God given voices. Later when we examine what happened at the Tower of Babel, we will see that God had to confound (confuse to separate) mans language to stop them from committing acts of pride and arrogance in attempting to exalt themselves. But First we will continue our visit to the beginning of creation.

Ge:1:31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Please note: God SAW EVERYTHING that HE had made and IT WAS VERY GOOD! If everything was very good, we have to realize that God did not create disease, or death. There was no poison or sickness or defects in mankind or any other part of creation! God never intended man or any other creature to be sick, to suffer or to die. These features entered into the world on the coattails of rebellion and sin. Look around you, anything you see that is not good, was not in Gods original plan for mankind, but entered as a byproduct of sin. Now....

On to the Garden!

Genesis 2:4: These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

THIS ONE VERSE IS KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE ENTIRE ACCOUNT OF CREATION

"THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS" refers to the entire account of Moses, the first five books of the bible, which were originally one large scroll with no divisions! This verse refers to the entire first five books of the Bible and not to merely what happened in the Garden! Understand this and you will begin to see the entire picture that God wished for us to see! Cains line is part of the generations, as are the lines that are listed after the flood. It is all one narrative.

"GENERATIONS" According to Merriam Webster's means descendants, MEN, PEOPLE (account of men and their descendants)

"WHEN THEY WERE CREATED" This phrase is PAST TENSE "THEY WERE CREATED" (Strong's Concordance Created=(Qal) to shape, fashion, create (always with God as subject).) They WERE Created!. NOTE PLEASE that all were people in spirit, created on the 6th day but all the physical generations of people were Not YET FORMED. (Strong's concordance = Formed (Yatsar) "of individuals at conception".) We have to understand the creation of the Spirits of Men and the formation of their bodies are two separate events!

Had God wanted to say These are the generations of the heavens and earth AS they were being created, he very easily could have said just that, But He didn't!

I often wonder what Bible study in Heaven will be like. I think there will be lots of People saying to God "But I thought you MEANT" and God will say over and over "READ WHAT I SAID!" "DO NOT READ INTO WHAT I SAID, READ JUST WHAT I SAID!!"

God plainly states that He created everything exactly as He intended, and He did this within a definite period of time, six days (defined by Evening and morning) which puts a BIG Kink in the "theory" of Evolution. We do not see God saying I will start with a one celled creature and let it evolve into more complex creatures and they in turn will evolve into more complex creatures until we peak out with man! The "theory" of evolution is merely an attempt by sinful man to live a life free from the burden and worry of having to face an intelligent, just God and give account of their lives! If we began with a big bang and then just haphazardly evolved willy nilly then where is the accountability? No where! But God tells and shows us over and over throughout the Scriptures that nothing is hidden that will not be revealed! God states that at judgement a book will be opened and all of our works will be recorded and we WILL GIVE ACCOUNT! There is no easy way out! We must Obey and bring our lives into line with what God asks!

Genesis 2:5: And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew : for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

PLEASE NOTE: Just like man existed in spirit before he had a body, Plants and herbs existed BEFORE they grew! Everything we see, feel or hear existed in the spirit realm before it was manifest in the physical! We need to have a view to the reality of the Spirit world and not just the material world! After all God is a Spirit! And SO ARE WE!

Genesis 2:6: But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

There was no "weather" as we know it in the Earth before the Flood of Noah's day. The Earth was a sealed system much like a terrarium, it was self watering. It was of a constant temperature and that was perfect for men and all life!

Genesis 2:7: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2:8: And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Interesting side note here, verse 7 says God formed a body for man, and verse 8 says after God had formed Adam, God created a garden and He put Adam in the garden. I believe the earth existed physically at the close of the 6th day, and that there were other people placed into existence OUTSIDE of the Garden shortly after Adam, (this is sort of obvious later, when we encounter verses concerning Cain's Judgement and His obtaining a wife.) ..I believe that the Garden and Adam, are used as a teaching aid. It is much easier to teach a lesson when you have a specific background (the Garden) and objects (Adam, the Forbidden tree, the serpent etc.) for that lesson. God is using the Scriptures to TEACH us. God is not limited to what he tells us in the Word, God may have lots and lots of things He chooses NOT to share with us at that or this time! DO not limit God!

Genesis 2:9: And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Here we see God forming GOOD things for mankind, trees that bear good fruit and that are pleasant to look at. We also see the beginning of God teaching man about obedience, let's read on...

Genesis 2:10: And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
Genesis 2:11: The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
Genesis 2:12: And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

Note: Bdellium is noted in the Strong's Concordance, as a yellowish brown gum resin, upon further investigation I found that it is a tree of the same family as myrrh, a substance well valued in the middle east at the time of Christ. Indeed it was one of the gifts brought to the new born Jesus by the Kings that followed the star to Bethlehem. Merriam Webster's defines myrrh; a bitter gum resin and costly perfume which exudes from a certain tree or shrub in Arabia and Ethiopia, or is obtained by incisions made in the bark: as an antiseptic it was used for embalming . In Exodus Myrrh was a principal ingredient in the Temple Anointing Oil, which was used to consecrate and make Holy anyone upon which it was poured. Why, I wonder, did God include a mention a perfume resin obtained from a tree, in the same sentence as the mention of Onyx Stone? Maybe because this particular resin only exists in the area of Arabia and Africa, further indicating the location of the Garden of Eden? Onyx, just a mention here, Onyx is a precious gem used in the breastplate of the High Priest, also called the Urim and Thurmin these stones were used to determine the will of God. It seems the Priest was to cast lots and in some fashion (Urim means light) So possible they lit up or glowed but at any rate they determined for men the will of God in a particular situation.Or just possibly the connection is that both the Bdellium Resin and the Onyx were mentioned as they figure greatly in the later practice and worship of God, as does Gold?

Genesis 2:13: And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
Genesis 2:14: And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

God paints for us a rich and information filled word Picture of this Garden, and of the surrounding areas. We have a river running through the Garden and God even tells us where it flows after it leaves the confines of the Garden. If you picture Eden as the only formed portion of earth, these verses come against that concept. There were lands outside of Eden and God describes them here! Behold God's creation! God is showing us a land beyond the Garden of Eden, and as we progress you will see that there were people in these lands. These lands were rich in metal and gem stones and trees that bear costly resins. We see here that God created precious metals, rich resin and gem stones for His man, long before he would have any use for them! God gives us the location of the Garden, by the description of the rivers, and the fact that the Bdellium is found only this area, as somewhere in Mesopotamia! Coincidentally, this area today has been nicknamed by archeologists and paleontologists as the "Cradle of civilization". Based on verses that are up coming I want you to expand your thinking about God creating men. Previously, religion has taught that Adam and Eve were the first and ONLY people, even though God does not say that Adam was the only man formed. While I will accept Adam and Eve as the First humans FORMED I can not accept that God was not also creating people outside of the Garden. The reason for this will become evident as we go further in the Word.

Remember that Adam and the Garden of Eden are used by God as specific objects to TEACH us what happened to men, how men fell from grace. If I wanted to teach you about how a seed of corn germinates and sprouts I would not sit you in the middle of a cornfield and have you look at thousands of corn stalks and tens of thousands of ears of corn simultaneously! I would remove you from the field and sit you down with one ear of corn and show you ONE seed and a small portion if ground.

Ge:2:15: And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Ge:2:16: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Ge:2:17: 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.

Here God gives Adam the rules, God says Adam I want you to dress and keep this Garden, Take care of the trees and plants, prune them and harvest them and be a good overseer. God tells Adam he may freely eat of all except one of the trees. God gives Adam ONE RULE, one tree that He is not to eat from. Remember Adam, at this point is as he was at his Creation. He has male and female qualities, He is the image and likeness of God himself. And like God, who is the Ruler of all, Adam is given his position as ruler of the garden, God is the parent, and God set a rule for His son Adam. Not only did God set the rule He also gave the penalty for breaking that rule. God stated the penalty for eating the fruit was death. Now many people think that because Adam lived to be 930 years old physically that God somehow was either wrong or was lying to Adam. Again it is necessary to understand Adam was made in the image of God and indeed he did upon transgressing against God, die. This death was a spiritual death. No longer would Adam enjoy life in close proximity to God no longer would Adam enjoy the benefits of Gods Blessing or Glory. At the point that Adam ate the fruit He did indeed Die in the spirit, but as with creation that existed in the Spirit before it manifested in the flesh, so too Adam's physical Death manifested later than his Spiritual death It was never in Gods plan for men to die! Physically or spiritually! Death is not good. People fear and resist death! God pronounced everything that he had made in the six days of creation as Good. Death did not exist until sin entered the world.

Ge:2:18: And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

I believe that God saw that Adam was now like God himself had been before He decided to create mankind. God was longing for a family. God saw that it was not good that Adam be alone and decided to find a helper for him that was "meet" or suitable. God wanted nothing less for Adam than God wanted for himself! So in Genesis 2:19 God began to "FORM" animals. (Get that distinction, Form (Yatsar) and Create (Qal) these are not the same action...)

Ge:2:19: And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

FIRST Look...GOD Formed the animals out of the ground. The animals were already created in spirit. OK, Now stop here, and consider what this verse says. Adam was given the job of naming every beast and bird. Think about that! There were hundreds of thousands of types of beasts and birds, yet Adam had the capacity to CREATE and RECALL the names of them all! Compare what must have been Adam's intellectual capacity with what mans has become after 6,000 years of deterioration under the curse of sin and death! I don't know about you but If God put 100 animals in front of me and said name them and remember what you named them with out a system of writing I would have a very BIG Job on my hands! It is not hard to extrapolate from this alone that Adams mind and capacity for creative thought and data retention were many many times greater that ours is today! Boy, sin has had its ravages on mankind both spiritually and physically!

Ge:2:20: And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

God realized that animals were not going to make a good "equal" for Adam or that Animals were not "MEET" as a companion for Adam. I wonder if this was the same realization God had after creating the Angelic beings? Did God realize that Angels while wonderful creations were just not an appropriate type of being to be a family to God? Did He realize that Angels and Animals while being very very good creations and having very noble purposes were just not going to be able to be friends or family members to God or to Adam? (Food for thought here)

Ge:2:21: And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Ge:2:22: And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Ge:2:23: And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Here we see God solving the problem of a suitable mate for Adam. God realized that Adam needed a mate that was of the same origin as he was. Just as God created Adam of "God" Stuff, God created Eve of "Adam" stuff. God took from Adam a rib and with that physical piece, God formed a body for Eve. He also separated from Adam all of the Gender aspects associated with the female. Now God is not "winging it" here, Please remember that God knew this was going to happen....Back in Chapter 1 verse 27 we see God creating (in the spirit) MALE and FEMALE. Also remember God is not discovering these things as He goes along, Genesis is our primer, our textbook, He is TEACHING US what happened! He is illustrating How and Why He created, what he created.

Ge:2:24: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Here we see Gods Plan for the Family! In fact here is the first mention of a father or mother. This is prophesy, of what would have been, had the fall not taken place. This is marriage as God intended it to be. The TWO Become One (Again, remember male and female were once one) and they leave their parents, creating children as per God's instruction to be fruitful and multiply. God created Male and Female for the express purpose of being mates. God did not create males to mate with males or females to mate with females. This aspect of the human sexual nature is a result of the fall which gave man a sin nature and the influences of satan and his demons on the minds, wills and emotions of people. This is also a type and shadow of the relationship God planned for mankind and him! How often in the Scriptures Old and New Testament, are men referred to as Gods Bride? OFTEN Believe me! God is foreshadowing here for us His intended end for mankind! God wills that Mankind will once again be reunited with him spiritually and live as one, by choice of will and not by force.

Ge:2:25: And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Adam and Eve had no concept of shame, remember they were in a perfect guilt free place. Adam and Eve had no need for clothing. Adam and Eve lived in a perfect environment. Year round the environment was pleasant. We cover ourselves with Clothing for a variety of reasons, Bad weather being one of them, but we originally sought clothing from a feeling of shame. An awareness of our nakedness. Nakedness from the beginning of recorded Biblical history has been considered shameful. Prior to the fall, man had no reason to even know what shame was, man was content with all the God gave to him, and required nothing more. Adam didn't even ask for a mate! God saw that Adam was alone and gifted Adam with a mate.

Watch now, as here comes trouble! Satan, that fallen rebellious angel is about to enter the garden and begin what has been 6000 years of pain and misery for man. And we will see that Man gave satan the right to do it! Remember that Adam had dominion (rule and reign) over all the creatures. Satan came to Eve and Adam as a serpent, with a voice, hence we know this was no ordinary serpent! He was also not a serpent as we know serpents, this serpent walked upright! I am going to give you a description of how satan appeared to Eve from a later part of the Old Testament, so you can understand why this creature fascinated Her.

Ezek:28:13: Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Ezek:28:14: Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Ezek:28:15: Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Now just imagine this. Here we have Satan occupying the body of a serpent Covered with precious stones that glittered and shined, He has musical instruments built into him! He appeared to be perfect and nobel and beautiful. I wonder, did the Serpent come along playing beautiful music for Eve? Tabrets are what we today call tambourines and pipes are flutes, I wonder did satan draw her attention with a rich melody floating over the soft air in the garden? Did Eve follow the beautiful new sounds she heard? Eve had never heard music before, save for the music of the babbling waters and chirping birds. Did satan transfix her with the unearthly sounds of music?

Ge: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?

Notice his first subtle twisting of the truth, formed in an innocent question that required Eve, in order to straighten out this misconception, to enter into conversation with him! HATH GOD SAID YE SHALL NOT EAT OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN? Eve must have been shocked considering the implication of the question! Eve must have thought "What? Does He think that God would starve us?" So she answered:

Ge:3:2: And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

Ge: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.

Ge:3:4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

There he did it! Satan called God a liar and cast doubt in Eves mind as to Gods Veracity! What a terrible sin satan committed there, but sin is what satan does, and how well he does it! Had Eve been less innocent and more obedient she might have nipped this problem in the bud by calling Adam and reporting the lie of the serpent. Adam might have taken dominion over the serpent and ordered it out of the garden! But alas, that is not what happened, lets move on....

Ge: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.

"What?", Eve must have thought, "Be as Gods?" She had probably never given a moments thought to being as God! She knew who God was, Her and Adams Father, She knew God was great and powerful and came to them in the evenings to talk and have a good happy time of sharing and fellowship. She knew God was the creator of all they were or had, but to be AS god? This must have been a very new concept to her. A concept that seemed quite attractive. Note here, sin is not just something we stumble into, sin is premeditated or thought about before it is actually commit it! Lets get into Eve's thoughts:

Ge: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, did Eve or Adam forget what God had said about that tree? No! Did they do what they should have done? No! They were intrigued, they liked the idea of being wise as Gods and they bought into the serpents lie, that God was wrong, that they surely would NOT die! Eve after all the time spent with God, observing His power and love, took the word of a nicely dressed, wandering minstrel whom she had never before laid eyes on over that of God! This is nothing less than HIGH TREASON! I also wonder and intend to ask God when I get to heaven, Where was Adam during this conversation? He seems to have been right there when she ate the fruit as she also gave it to him, Was He there the whole time satan talked to Eve? And before you get to angry at them, think about it...Would you have chosen differently? Do you choose differently every day of your life? Do you obey God? or Do you do what ever you please thinking that it will profit you in some way....Yes, far from critiquing Adam and Eve we should all realize that we probably, given the same circumstance, would have eaten that fruit just as they did.

Ge:3:7: And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

I believe that at this moment all of the worldly knowledge of good and evil entered into their beings, that they were flooded by wave after wave of realization, The reality of what they had done, of who they had been and sadly who they now were, but most painfully who God was and what they had done to Him! Shame....Shame entered on the coat tails of a rebellious sin committed against a Holy Loving God! How painful that must have been! But however painful that must have been, it surely pales in comparison to what happened next!

Ge:3:8: And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Imagine! Hiding from your best friend, your father, your creator whom you have always loved and who has always loved you! Hiding in fear from a God that had never done a thing but bless and care for you! What a sick, lost feeling they must have had! They now intellectually possessed the wisdom and the knowledge of good and evil, but emotionally they are crippled with fear, fear of their father, of the one they once loved and trusted! Sin has very serious consequences! Very Serious!

Ge:3:9: And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Ge:3:10: And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Ge:3:11: And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Ge:3:12: And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Here we have the very first recorded case of Buck passing! Adam blames the Woman and God for giving him the Woman!! Boy, talk about trying to wiggle out of a bad situation! But it was a successful ploy, at least for a moment, as God then turns his attention to the Woman and says:

Ge:3:13: And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Passing the buck caught on quickly, Huh?

Ge:3:14: And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

So here we see the first of the consequences of sin. The serpent whom satan used is cursed to crawl on his belly, eat dust and be known as the most cursed beast God ever made. But this is merely a physical curse. Satan spiritually was allowed by God to continue to be the Adversary. Adam, to whom God had given dominion over the earth, had through obedience to satan over God, given that dominion to satan! God is not a liar! God honors his word! (If I gave you a book and said you are the sole owner of it, would I be justified to step in and say you can not give that book away?) He gave dominion to Adam intending for Adam to hold on to it and cherish it, but as we see Adam gave that power over to satan, which was exactly what satan intended all along, and incidentally that was exactly what God knew would happen and herein we learn that in spiritual reality satan serves Gods Purpose! Satan gives man choice, and since God is seeking people to love him by choice what better way then to give them something to choose besides God. How did you think that old snake got in the Garden anyway? Do you think he sneaked past God? NO! God is in CONTROL! With the entry of the snake came choice between good and evil obedience and disobedience. Will we learn from Adam and Eve's mistakes?

Ge:3:15: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This verse is a two fold blessing. First it is the first recorded Messianic Prophesy! and Secondly it explains the status of women throughout history on this satan ruled, sin infested planet!

Do you know what the word enmity means? It means an active hatred. Synonyms are: Hostility, Animosity, expressed bitterness or resentment, Now get a picture of what this curse from GOD on the woman means. It means that hence forth she and satan and all of her children and satan will have an adversarial relationship. God has made Woman and her seed (children) targets for satans anger and hatred. And She, of course, will hate him for all that he caused to happen through lies and deceit. When we later read God telling men to love their wives and protect them as a weaker vessel, it becomes very understandable why. God knew that women and children would suffer at satans hands throughout history on the planet. For more on this subject go to: www. Godswordtowomen.org

Part two of that verse is the promise that there would come a seed from woman that would CRUSH (Bruise = Strong's#7779 to crush) satans head and Joyfully that prophesy was fulfilled in Jesus Christ!

Ge:3:16: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

This sure make sense of the mess we have on the planet today. Women staying in violent battering and abusive relationships because their one desire is to that man. They put themselves and there children's safety or happiness, beneath that drive to make that relationship with that man work. Sadly all women, past present and future born on this planet before accepting Christ are born under the same curse Eve received, and happily you can be freed by your RE BIRTH In Jesus Christ! Jesus died to FREE us from the CURSE!

Ge:3:17: And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Ge:3:18: Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Ge:3:19: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Verses 17,18 and 19 Tell of Adams curse. He was cursed to have to work to sustain his life, whereas before the fall God provided all thing for him. He was cursed to hard labor to do that in a hostile environment. Thorns and thistles are not edible plants and came as a result of the fall. And the last, most devastating part of that curse, was death, Adam would have to physically die, as would every living thing after Adam. God did not lie to them. First they "died" spiritually as they were separated from God and next they would die physically and be separated from everything in life that they knew.

Ge:3:20: And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Now this verse is very interesting and I am going to ask you to just be patient and let what I am going to show you sink in before you call me names:)

The word "mother" in the Hebrew is Strong's #0517 and means point of departure or division.) Now You can read this verse with today's cultural context overlaying it and assume that Eve is the physical Mother of all living which makes us accept that the human race began through incest, which God clearly denounces all through the Bible, OR you can look at this in a spiritual sense. To do that lets look at Jesus..... 85 times in the New Testament Jesus is called and calls himself Son of Man. 46 times Jesus calls himself or is called the son of God. Now WHY would Jesus call him self son of man? We know for a fact that he is the only begotten SON OF GOD. How in the world could he be the Son of MAN?

Ro:5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Ro:5:13: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Ro:5:14: Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Ro:5:15: But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

That my friends is the answer! Jesus truly is the Son of GOD in spirit, but the SON OF MAN in that his physical sacrificial DEATH brought NEW LIFE to all MEN! He became to first "man" born free from the Curse of sin and death at his point of resurrection! He point of departure from death!

Adam and Eve represent fallen man, and all that would come forth from men from that point to the point that Jesus came and did his atoning work on the cross, were born with that fallen nature! Adam blamed Eve to God so it is not a big stretch it imagine that Adam held some resentment towards Eve and Naming her "EM" further shows the anger He felt toward her. He called HER the point of departure or division.

Now Adam called Eve "mother " of all living, (Strong's # 0517 em = point of departure or division) And indeed Eve's first bite of that forbidden fruit was the departure point of all living as she was the first to bring the curse of sin on all that would ever be born. Eve was the point of departure from Physical and Spiritual Life to Physical and Spiritual Death as Jesus was the Departure from Physical and Spiritual Death to Physical and Spiritual LIFE!

The next verse is also very important.

Ge:3:21: Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Please understand that this was the first animal sacrifice for sin. Adam and Eve lost their spiritual covering which was the glory of God, but God used the skins of animals to cover the manifestation of their sin, which was their nakedness. Also important to realize is the brokenheartedness Adam must have felt! Here were animals that he had named, and cared for and spent time with, and they were now dead and their skin was hanging on his and Eve's backs. This must have been terrible for Adam and Eve, this must have been so painful and so shameful that I do not know how they stood the shock and sadness of it.

Ge:3:22: 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 for ever:
Ge:3:23: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Ge:3:24: So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

This is Gods final face to face interaction with Adam and Eve. God booted them out of the Garden. They had eaten the forbidden fruit, they now had the knowledge of evil and good, and they had died spiritually, they had to leave so that they would NOT eat of the Tree of Life (eternal Spiritual Life) and they would not be able to continue life eternally as a sinners, unabated by death.

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