Tonight in our Bible study discussion, we looked at the Fall (Genesis 2:15-17 and Genesis 3:1-13). The snake approached Eve with the question, ‘Did God really say…?’, sowing doubt in her mind. Questions are not necessarily bad, but can often railroad us, especially when they are overstated, as this was (the serpent implying they were not allowed to eat from any tree, when actually, only one was forbidden.)
The consequence of sin was death, which from the Biblical point of view means separation from God firstly, and only secondly separation from earthly life. The serpent lied about this consequence, and as Jesus reminds us, lies are his native language. He caused Eve to doubt God’s love and care for them, something we too can easily do. The implications were that God did not love them or really want the best for them, and so the temptation was over whom to believe. This is still the case today.
The chapter also shows us the consequences of their subsequent confrontation with God. Adam blames the woman and God (after all, God gave him Eve!); Eve blames the serpent. Blame-shifting is often our default response when confronted by sin, but the truth is that sin is a choice we make. Adam’s sin was greater in that he made a straightforward choice to eat what Eve offered; Eve was deceived (i.e. she did not misunderstand; she was caused to believe something false.)
Next time, we will look further at the consequences of sin and the Fall.