Genesis 3:14-24 - Walking The Old Paths

Transcript

Walking the Old Paths, Episode 17 transcripts
Summary
In this episode we will look at the penalty of sin upon the serpent, the woman, and the man, the mercy of God upon man, and the end of the dispensation of innocence and the beginning of the dispensation of conscience. We will also see the Protoevangelium or the “first gospel” in Genesis 3:15 where God gives the first promise of a Redeemer that should come by the seed of the woman.

Resources mentioned: https://livingwaters.com/hells-best-kept-secret/

Transcription
When you’re standing before the creator of all heaven and earth, and he is telling you what you did, your mouth is going to be stopped. Okay? When it comes to the end of the of this world and all the, um, ungodly men who are not saved stand before God at the Day of Judgment. Their mouths are going to be stopped. God is going to show them their sin, and there’s no excuse.

Welcome to the Walking the Old Paths podcast. I’m JP, your host on this journey through the Bible. Each week we embark on a systematic study of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.

It was a beautiful morning in the Garden of Eden. The birds were singing and playing in the mist that came up from the earth. Sheep were grazing on a nearby hillside with a pack of wolves. Adam kissed his wife and told her that he was going to go trim the hedges in the south 40 that day.

Eve decided she wanted to go shopping for some home decor for the cute little cottage they were living in. She told Adam I saw some beautiful flowers near the midst of the garden the other day when we were out walking. I think I will go pick some for that pretty vase we have in our dining room. Okay, have fun sweetie, said Adam.

So Adam picked up his Milwaukee garden tool set he got at the Eden Depot, and they said their goodbyes and off they went in their own directions. A little while later, Adam was happily working on the hedges, whistling How Great Thou Art, when suddenly there walked out a serpent from between the hedges where he was working. Oh, you startled me, Mr. Serpent, said Adam. Please forgive me, master, Adam, said. The serpent replied.

Now the serpent was beautiful and mesmerizing in his movements. The way he walked and moved as he spoke almost seemed hypnotic. Lovely weather we are having. Adam said as he regained his composure.

Yes. Very lovely. Although the sunrise could have been a bit better with a little more orangish hue to the sky. But what do I know? Said the serpent.

Oh, yeah, I guess so, said Adam.

Where is your other rib? I mean your other half. Didn’t she want to help you trim the hedges today? Asked the serpent.

No. She wanted to go gather some flowers for the cottage. Women, you know.

Oh, yes, I know, said the serpent as he chuckled slyly. Did you see which direction she went?

Adam replied. She said she was going to the midst of the garden.

Oh how nice! I am headed there too. There is a particular tree in that area I love to climb and play on, said the serpent with a forked tongue.

Speaking of a tree, I forgot to remind Eve this morning about the one tree we are not to eat from. You know it, right? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Oh, yes. Now that you mention it, Master Adam, I think I do recall there being a tree called that. If I happen to see her, I will be sure to remind her, said the serpent, as he walked away with a mischievous smile.

What a lovely creature, so willing to help, Adam thought to himself as he went back to the work on the hedges.

This is, of course, a fictional narrative and not scriptural in the least, just meant for humor and to get a couple points across. But, you know, we have paused here on our walk through the old paths because of the importance of this chapter.

In our first lesson, we talked about the serpent and the man and the woman and their characteristics, uh, the roles of a biblical man and the roles of a biblical woman.

And then in lesson two of this chapter, we talked about the deception and the fall of man. And we learned a lot about ourselves in that episode, and it was a tough pill to swallow. Our natural pride wants to believe that we are perfect, and every choice and decision we make is the right one.

But we are our parents’ children. All of us can be traced back to that first man and woman, Adam and Eve, and all of us have inherited the same sin nature that was brought into the world when Adam and Eve sinned.

There were a lot of lessons to be learned from those first 13 verses in Genesis three. And I hope, guys, that you spent some time meditating on them this last week. Uh, we need to know ourselves and our enemy. God gives us that in Genesis three. Uh, the question is, will we learn from it?

Now, as we come here in chapter in the verse 14 of chapter three, we are looking at we’re coming into the second covenant or the Adamic covenant. Now, the Adam Adam Adamic covenant is an unconditional covenant, meaning that it depends upon God. It conditions the life of fallen man and was made before the expulsion from the garden, consisting of a curse and a promise.

Now the contents of this covenant is the curse of Satan in verse 14. We have the judgment of the woman in verse 16, the judgment on the man in verse 17, and the curse of creation on in verse 18, and also the promise that falls in verse 15.

Now as we get here into this, that we’re looking at, first of all the judgment upon the serpent. And the first thing that I noticed here is that the serpent was present for this encounter between God and man. Uh, the serpent probably had been watching with glee. You know, as Adam and Eve fashioned their fig leaves together. And then when they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the midst of the garden, how they hid themselves. I’m sure he was in the shadows watching this. Um, because he is here, present when God encounters him.

Now, this that makes the second thing that I see here is that God didn’t question the serpent as he did Adam and Eve. You know, when he came upon Adam, where art thou? And he questioned him. And then Adam, you know, blamed his wife. So then next God, uh, questions Eve, but and then Eve, uh, blames the serpent.

But but he God does not go now to the serpent to ask what he has done. He right away jumps into judgment upon him. And so he read. “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:” [Genesis 3:14]

Now the first judgment was upon the serpent creature. Now, apparently prior to the fall, the snake was able to walk. We see that God pronounces judgment upon the serpent and upon thy belly thou shalt thou go. Of course, we know that the serpent was being indwelt by Satan, an ability that we looked at of the demonic angels back in lesson 15.

Now, if anyone should think that God is not fair in judging the snake for the sin of Satan, let’s remember that no creature other than man is capable of resentment towards the creator. Beside this, God is the potter and we are the clay, and he is alright to do as he pleases there. You know, the the Bible tells us in Romans 9:21, “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

We see also that the serpent was cursed above all cattle. Now, of all the creatures we we look at, it’s the snake that has the most dread. Uh, the snake is viewed by man as something that is loathsome and is regarded with fear.

But even still, all the creatures partook of the curse when Adam and Eve sinned here in the garden. Romans 8:22 “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

And something interesting too. Um, if you remember in the story, I just gave that fictional narrative there. Uh, where there was a sheep grazing on a nearby hillside with the wolves because, you know, in those days, the, they weren’t meat eaters. Everything ate grass. And this, again, will be restored in the Millennial Kingdom when Jesus Christ returns to this earth to reign for a thousand years.

And we read in Isaiah 65:25, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.”

So we noticed that you know the wolf and the lamb, they’re going to lie down together. The they’re all going to eat grass. But the serpent here: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. You know, that is quite interesting, that even in the Millennial Kingdom here, that serpent still is under this curse that God gives and dust thou shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. Um, because it’s a representative of Satan who, during that time of the millennial reign of Christ, is bound for a thousand years, and he is not able to deceive, uh, God’s people on the earth. Uh, so, you know, we have that representation here of that, the physical snake still eating dust from the the ground.

Now we come here in verse 15 to the promise that is given. “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.”

Genesis 3:15 is known as the protoevangelium. It comes from two Latin words meaning the first gospel. This is the first prophecy concerning the Messiah who would be bruised by Satan but would ultimately prevail over Satan.

Now there are several things we can note here. In this protoevangelium, the the first gospel and that is that we see both comings of Christ are found in this verse. Now we we see this from our perspective now after the first coming of Christ. Obviously, this is a hidden, uh, was a hidden mystery. It was not seen. But we see God when he first came to this earth, Jesus Christ as man manifest in the flesh, he was bruised. His heel was bruised by the serpent at the crucifixion. And then yet to come is Christ’s second coming. And ultimately, when Christ shall put Satan down and cast him into the lake of fire.

Now the late doctor J. Vernon McGee had this to say about Genesis 3:15, and I quote, The most prominent thought is not the ultimate victory that would come, but the long continued struggle. This verse reveals the fact that now there is to be a long struggle between good and evil. This is exactly what you will find in the rest of scriptures.

The Lord Jesus made this statement in his day concerning the struggle ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own. For he is a liar and the father of it. The devil is Satan.

The Lord Jesus Christ made the distinction between the children of God and the children of Satan. John again mentions this conflict in 1 John 3:10: “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”

Thus we have brought before us the fact that there is a conflict. Here is a struggle, and here are two seeds in the world. There will be the final victory, but the long continued struggle is important to note. Every man must face temptation and must win his battle.

Before Christ came, the victory was through obedience in faith. After Christ came we are to identify ourselves with Christ through faith. What does it mean to be saved? It means to be in Christ.

We also see here that there that God is going to put enmity between the woman and the serpent. Now, at the beginning of Genesis three, Eve trusted the serpent and felt as though, uh, that he had his her best interests at heart. Uh, Satan used her to get to Adam. See if he could create a chasm between man and God, uh, then he would win and this world would be his.

See, man was given that dominion over the earth and not over, and it wasn’t Satan. Satan was fallen down here. But man still had dominion in his state of innocence. But if Satan could get Adam to eat of that fruit of the forbidden tree, then Adam would lose that right to dominion and it would become Satan’s.

Satan may have used Eve to get to Adam, but now God is going to use the woman, uh, to bring in the Savior who will crush the head of the serpent.

Now we also noticed that it says her seed. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. Um. We see here that God is pointing to the fact that the seed would come from the woman, and not from the man. He didn’t say from Adam’s seed. And if we know if we take note in the scriptures, when of genealogy, we always look to the patriarch that was, you know, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You know, it says this person begat this person. But God here is saying that it’s going to come through her seed, not through Adam’s seed.

Now, could God be alerting, alluding here, to the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ? That’s a possibility. That the seed that would bruise the head of the serpent was going to be God Himself, to manifest in the flesh. It is something to consider.

And then ever since this, um, God pronounced this promise, here we see that there has been war between Satan and the people of God. As, uh, J. Vernon McGee had mentioned in his commentary on that verse.

Um, as we. If you remember, in episode five, we talked about the progressive mention principle, and the example we used was Genesis 3:15, uh, the promise of the Messiah. And we traced that promise seed all the way through the Old Testament until we came to Jesus Christ there in the new.

Well, Satan has been at war ever since God pronounced this promise in Genesis 3:15. Satan is at enmity with God in his people Israel. As we walk the old paths, we will watch how Satan has tried to stop the coming of the Messiah. And now, since he has failed at it, he knows his time is short and he is at continual war not only with Israel, but with all those who are in Christ. This will continue until the Lord Jesus bruises the serpent’s head and casts him into the lake of fire forever and ever.

And now we come here to verse 16, and the judgment upon the woman: “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.”

Now there are three judgments that God pronounces upon the woman. First is the pain in pregnancy and then we see painful toil in childbirth. And third, the struggle for the rule in marriage.

Now we see as it reads here I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and that conception. These words “greatly multiply”. Here’s something we kind of miss in our translation. But when we look back at the original language in Hebrew, we see that God uses the same word twice. He repeats it. It’s “râbâh râbâh”.

In other words, it’s, He’s saying, multiplying, I will multiply. Now, where does that sound familiar? Well, we saw it back in verse two. Or excuse me back in chapter two, verse 16 and 17, where God, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:” “’âkal ‘âkal” “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.” Or “mûth mûth”. If you remember, there’s this repetition of the word.

What we see here is a figure of speech called a polyptoton. It is a repetition of the same part of speech in different inflections. So here, as we look in verse 16, I will greatly multiply, “râbâh râbâh”, multiplying, and I will multiply.

Remember, Eve had misquoted God in Genesis two and in verse three, 3:2 and 3:3, when she said, “And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:” In other words, she say, we may we “’âkal”. But God had said “’âkal’âkal”.

And again in verse three of that of chapter three here “neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” She took away one of those “mûth”. Uh, when God had said mûth mûth.

So she’s changing or omitting the emphasis here. When God is saying, you know, freely you may eat, and also surely you will die if you eat of this tree, here. That is it’s, I’m sure that this was not unnoticed by Eve when God pronounces greatly multiply “râbâh râbâh”. Uh.

And that’s what this is. Thy sorrow and thy conception. Pain and pregnancy. Here. Uh, the Hebrew word “itstsâbôn” is sorrow. Uh, that is worrisomeness. That is labor or pain. Um, it is a and then we see also the conception here is a Hebrew word that means childbearing or pregnancy. It’s the pregnancy period, uh, that the woman goes through.

And we noticed that, you know, I mean, even today, you know, that there is pain during pregnancy. They’re, you know, they’re sick, uh, having all sorts of problems with food and, um, morning sickness, and it’s very uncomfortable for it. And that was one of the curses upon the woman. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception.

In other words, it was not meant to be that way. Uh, Eve was to have an enjoyable, easy pregnancy. Um, and but since the fall, that has changed now. And, you know, I mean, it’s pretty well noticed that, you know, of all the creatures on the earth who struggles the most in pregnancy and that is the woman.

And then we also see that in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. In other words, painful toil in childbirth. Now the word sorrow there is a different Hebrew word, “etseb”, but it comes from the same root word as the one earlier: “itstsâbôn” in sorrow in thy conception.

But both mean painful toil, and I’m not really sure what the difference is in between those two words. Um, but they do come from the same root word. And then in sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children. That means to bear young there. So. And again, women have problems in childbirth. Um, there’s much pain to that.

And then we see here the third thing. “and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Now that meaning there is, that the woman will want to rule the husband, but the husband, by God’s design will rule the woman. There’s going to be this conflict in marriage where you have one wanting to rule, the woman wanting to rule over the husband. But the God given design here is that the husband will rule the woman.

And that has been the case historically. Um, and of course, you know, man, because of this sinful nature, always we take these things, uh, to an extreme and a length that God did not intend. Right. And the woman has suffered quite significantly throughout history, uh, by man. And, uh, you know, we acknowledge that, of course, that’s that’s bad. That’s not God’s, um, design for for us.

But again, remember, there’s two seeds in this world. There’s the seed of God. Uh, those that, uh, by faith have, um, accepted Christ as their Savior. And then there’s the children of the devil and those that are, um, without Christ and. So of course, if if we who are saved struggle so much in life to follow God’s commands, you can’t expect the lost to follow any of those commands. Of course, they’re going to do everything that is contrary to it naturally. I mean, naturally, if we’re not watching ourselves as Christians, we tend towards that which is evil, that which is wicked, and that which is sin. It’s our natural nature. But we have a new nature, don’t we? And that is by Christ. And so it is possible for us who are Christians to live differently. Why? Because we have the Word of God. We have the Spirit of God in us, and we’re able to follow him when we choose to do so.

It’s the fact of we tend to not choose to do so, or we tend to lose sight of him and and His word. And if we’re not in his word, we’re not studying his word. How are you going to know what to do? Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments.

But if you’re not even reading the Bible, how are you going to know what commandments those are? How are you going to know what God’s truth is and his plan for your life? Unless you read the word?

The interpretation here, though, in this is based upon the identical Hebrew words in the grammar that’s used in Genesis 4:7. Um, and it reads, “And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” And I will look at that actually deeper next week when we get to Genesis chapter four.

But we see here that the conflict is that man will have a he will have a sin and its desire to rule over him. And it’s the same Hebrew word and Hebrew, Hebrew words and grammar that is used there is used here. And the desire should be to the husband, and he shall rule over thee.

You know, Eve took the lead in the rebellion and disobedience to God’s command in the Garden of Eden. You know, it says that she gave all she gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Now, part of her punishment is going to be the struggle in marriage. The man is to have, uh, the rule over the woman. But her natural inclination will be the desire to rule over him. Um, this, of course, as I said, has caused much marital strife and discontent. Um, and as I said, women, for the most part of history have suffered greatly in this predicament.

The solution, of course, is a godly home, uh, with a man of God and a woman of God walking in obedience to God and His design and commands in the marriage relationship. The Christian home and design, if followed, is the best solution for both man and woman to flourish in their God given roles.

You know, we read in Ephesians 5:22-25, and I’ve read these already a couple times, but it’s worthy to mention again, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” That’s your job: wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church”. Christ is our example. We’re to look to him. Wives, you’re to be obedient unto him, unto your husband, just as us, the church, are to be obedient unto Jesus Christ.

And it says, “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” It is a, we each have our roles. Uh, the husband is to love his wife and cherish and nourish as his own body. And wives, submit yourselves under your own husbands. You know.

What are you going to do? I mean, most marriages struggle quite a bit in this area. Why? Because again, naturally we’re going to tend to the opposite. And it’s by choice and intention that it can be different and that it can be God’s way. But, you know, it’s a it’s a daily thing that you’re going to have to commit yourself to. I’m going to, uh, submit myself unto my husband. Uh, even when it’s difficult to do so, even when I’m not being reciprocated, the love that he should be giving me.

And vice versa. Husbands, love your wives even when it is difficult to do so. When we get to the Proverbs, we’re going to understand quite a few, um, problems that Solomon must have noticed and experienced because of his multiplied wives. But he said it’s better to dwell on the corner of the housetop than to dwell with a, you know, a bitter wife. And. Or a nagging wife.

And we experienced those things, don’t we? But what are we to do? We’re to love our wives as Christ loved the church. You know what? We’re not very lovely, are we church? Uh, we are quite sinful, and we are constantly prone to wander from God. Yet God loves us.

And God is always working for our benefit and good. And at times, yea, that requires him to correct us. Yep. That’s something that we don’t talk about much these days is it. That whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth even as a son in whom he loved the father, the son, in whom he loveth. So, you know, we should expect – you sin, and you’re God’s child, He’s going to take you to the woodshed and give you a good whipping. Okay?

I have been there. I’ve been to God’s woodshed many times, and I’m thankful for it because he’s brought me back to him. He’s, Josh, you’re deviating here from the old paths, and you’re not heeding me. I’m going to have to take you, give you a whipping, get you corrected, and get you back on track. Just as a loving parent is going to do with his child.

Your child is a sinful little creature, no matter what you may think. They are a sinful little creature and they need correction instruction. Uh, we talked about that, and, um. Oh, my, uh, leaving a Godly Legacy episode I had on Thanksgiving. Go back and listen to that. A great lesson, but, you know, children need that correction. And we too, as Christians, we need correction. Uh, and it is not pleasant at the moment. Right. But we need it.

And husbands, you know, part of your leading your wives is going to have to be to instruct them and correct. I’m not talking about taking your wife and whipping her. You don’t take your wife to the woodshed. That’s not right. Uh, but we we sit down, and we have to sometimes, do the hard thing, which they’re not going to want to hear and talk to them about an attitude or something that they’re doing is that is not right leading, leading down the wrong path. Uh, that’s your job as the as the leader of the home.

The the question is, is are you going to be courageous enough to do it and in a loving manner because you don’t want your and your wife is how she responds, I guess, is really up to her. Um, if she’s a wise woman, she’s going to heed it. She’s gonna think about it. And, uh, it’s not going to be pleasant.

I can I can tell you and assure you that that will happen. And it it’s immediately it’s going to be taken as offensive. And she’ll probably bring up every past sin you’ve ever done in your life. Um, but that’s part of loving your wife. It’s not letting her do everything or go any direction that you want. If you are a godly husband and and a biblical husband, you’re going to be able to do those things.

Now, if you’re not, you don’t know what to instruct her on. Uh, you need to repent yourself and get in the Bible and start seeking God and asking him to first correct your behavior, your attitudes, your problems, your sin before you’re going to be able to help your family. And you who are distracted in this world from the things of God. Uh, get your heart right. Okay.

You have to focus on the Lord and quit worrying about, you know, how your favorite sports teams are performing when you’re neglecting the word of God. Now, if you’re not neglecting the word of God, by all means, you know you. I’m just using that as an example.

But don’t neglect the Word of God. Put God first, that everything comes second and everything will be in its proper order.

Okay, moving on here. Now we come to the judgment upon the man: “And unto Adam,” verse 17, “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.”

Now the first thing, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife. Eve may have been deceived, but Adam ate that fruit full well, knowing what he was doing. He chose his wife over God. Adam failed in his responsibility to lead and protect his wife. Just as we just got done talking about there in Ephesians chapter five, Adam failed in this, you know, and it’s been passed down to every one of us. And I don’t need to repeat this over and over again. But man, you really gotta step it up. Us men of God, we have to step it up and realize the, the problem that we have in being weak, alright. And not wanting confrontation just because it’s going to be unpleasant. We, confrontation is necessary at times. Let’s put it that way.

Adam should have confronted his wife. Stop, Eve! Don’t touch that fruit. Don’t eat it. God told us not to. What did Adam do? He, uh. He joined in his wife in that rebellion, knowing full well what he did. And, God, here’s the second thing. God reminds him of this command. He says. Um, to him, of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it. In other words, Adam, you have no excuse.

We do this with our children. We, when they are needing correction, we take them into their room and we talk to them. We say, you know, here I told you not to do this, but you’d you didn’t listen. And they come up with every excuse under the book. Uh oh. I didn’t hear you, I didn’t understand you. No, there’s no excuse. I specifically told you now just because you chose to either, um, forsake that command or whether you are coming up with some excuse that I didn’t hear right or I wasn’t listening, that’s on you, I commanded you, you disobeyed.

Adam, he doesn’t respond to God in this, and rightly so. When you’re standing before the creator of all heaven and earth, and he is telling you what you did, your mouth is going to be stopped. Okay? When it comes to the end of the of this world and all the, um, ungodly men who are not saved stand before God at the Day of Judgment, their mouths are going to be stopped. God is going to show them their sin, and there’s no excuse. They will know it and they will have to take their punishment deservedly.

Um, we see also that there is a curse upon the ground. You know, um. “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.”

This is the same sorrow “itstsâbôn” as the woman in her pain and toil and pregnancy. Only Adam’s is going to last his entire life. You know, uh, it was to be a life of hard, difficult, wearisome labor. Cursed is the ground for thy sake.

Uh, this was part of the punishment here, though, that will be apparently relieved after Noah’s flood. And when we come to Genesis 8:21, we’ll read, uh, when Adam or when Adam and Noah gets off of the ark and he offers sacrifices unto the Lord, the Lord said, “And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.”

Which brings us here to verse 18: “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.”

Now the ground here in the Garden of Eden produced wonderfully easily. Uh, there was no weeds. There was no thorns and thistles to choke it out. But we’re seeing here in the curse that not only is the ground not going to produce as it once did, but now there’s also going to be this constant struggle with thorns and thistles fighting for the nutrients that Adam’s food is going to need. All right. The the fruit of the trees and all the berries and things like that, making his labor all that much more difficult.

But God is going to at Genesis eight, uh, when Noah and them, get off the boat off the ark, uh, he’ll he’ll relieve that somewhat. He says he’s not going to curse the ground anymore for man’s sake. So this part of it here is a temporary thing.

Uh, but as we see, you know, the ground still struggles, right? We we still have the thorns and thistles and the weeds that are constantly coming up. If you are a gardener, you definitely know this struggle. It is nearly daily you come out, you weed your whole garden. It looks perfect. You get up, the next morning, you come out. What has come? There’s sprouted up new weeds all over again. So there still is that struggle is just not as severe. Um, God is making his point here with Adam in this.

And we see also in verse 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.”

You know, for the third time God connects Adam’s judgment with that which is necessary to sustaining life, that is, eating. Um in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread until thou return unto the ground.

It was an eating of the forbidden fruit that brought sin into the world. And now God will remind Adam of it every day for the rest of his life. You know he has to eat. And every time he picks one of those fruits of the tree to eat, he’s gonna be reminded of the one fruit that he was not supposed to eat. And all that hard and difficult and wearisome toil that he is going to experience each and every day for the rest of his life, will be a constant reminder of his disobedience here.

And God, lastly, here, lest Adam thinks of himself more highly than he ought tells him, for dust thou art for, and unto dust thou shalt return. You know, if if you think so highly of yourself, Adam. Just remember, you’re dirt. You are made from the earth. And you know what? You’re going to return to the earth.

And that is how it’s going to be for the rest of us to someday we are going to return to the earth. We try to do all we can nowadays to preserve bodies, uh, so that they don’t decay down to dust. But it doesn’t matter if it takes a hundred years. A thousand years, whatever. Into dust you. You came from dust, and unto dust you’re going to return.

Now, some observations here on Adam and Eve’s judgments. Um, it is interesting that in our culture today, here in America, we as a society have tried to remove the judgment that God has placed upon the woman and the man. Modern medicine does all it can to make the pregnancy go as smoothly as possible, and childbirth childbirth as painless as possible.

Additionally, man is not the sole provider in the home as he has historically been. The burden of providing for a wife and family has been eased for the man. For the past two decades, the majority of homes in America are now dual income homes, where both the man and the woman are out in the workplace.

What does this do? Well, this leaves our children to be raised in daycare centers and in public education system. The results have been a godless society heading further and further into moral depravity and decay. Sin is waxing worse and worse, while the love of most grows colder and colder.

And we come to verse 20 here in this next section, we see here our merciful God. And in verse 20 we see that Adam, we see Adam’s faith here. “Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.”

Um, the word their wife is “ishshâh”. Remember back when, uh, God, man, Adam said, you know, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Ye should be called “ishshâh” because she was taken out of man.

So “ishshâh” means woman or wife. Uh. Adam called his “ishshâh” name Eve. And Eve means life or living. Literally, Adam called his wife’s name life. Um, I like what Adam Clarke, uh, had to say in his commentary. Um, and I will quote that to you here. “It is probable that God designed by this name to teach our first parents these two important truths:

“1. That though they had merited immediate death, yet they should be respited, and the accomplishment of the sentence”, uh, “be long delayed; they should be spared to propagate a numerous progeny on the earth.

Number “2. That though much misery would be entailed on his posterity, and death should have a long and universal empire, yet One should in the fullness of time spring from the woman, who should destroy death, and bring life and immortality to light. Therefore Adam called his wife’s name Life, because she was to be the mother of all human beings, and because she was to be the mother of Him who was to give life to a world dead in trespasses, and dead in sins.” End quote.

We move on here to verse 21 and we see the response of God here “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

First, we notice, you know that the crude fig leaves that Adam and Eve had sewed together, um, to cover their nakedness was unsatisfactory. It was God who had to provide a covering, and I like what John MacArthur had to say here.

He said, “It is appropriate that those bearing the guilt of sin should cover themselves. God himself demonstrated this when he killed animals to use their skins as a covering for the fallen couple. This was a graphic object lesson showing that only God can provide a suitable covering for sin, and that the shedding of blood is a necessary part of the process. The first physical deaths should have been the man and his wife, but it was an animal, a shadow of the reality that God would someday kill a substitute to redeem sinners.”

You know, I imagine that when God killed the, he doesn’t say what animal he killed, um, but I, I imagine it probably was the lamb. You know, the the lamb is used as an example of Jesus Christ. You know that, um, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. And I imagine that’s probably what happened here back in the Garden of Eden, as God had to kill a lamb right in front of Adam and Eve.

This is what death looks like. This is what sin is going to cause, and this is what it’s going to take to clothe your sin, your nakedness. And God, so God’s, uh, slew that that lamb or whatever animal it was, and he made, um, coverings for them. God had to do that.

And it’s really representative of what God has to do for us. Us sinful creatures that cannot get ourselves right with God. We cannot earn heaven. No matter how hard you try, no matter how good you think you are. You have all, all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. We cannot be reconciled to God on our own. We cannot enter into his presence on our own. We cannot go to heaven when we die on our own.

Therefore, God, in the fullness of time, had to send forth Jesus Christ to be born of a virgin, to live a sinless life, and to be the sacrifice that pays for our sins, that we could be declared righteous in God’s sight and and become sons of God through faith in him. And it was all shown and proven in that God, the Lord Jesus Christ, was resurrected on that third day. He is alive. Friends, he’s in heaven right now, seated at the right hand of the father. Um. And making intercession for us.

My how we need to keep that in mind, and how we need to remember that we do need intercession, no matter how much we want to believe that we can do things on our own. We can’t. You know, God just says, what I’ll have to do is just step back and we’d see we’d just be plunged into chaos. Uh, but God always has his hand over this earth and and is restraining evil, and and he’s strengthening believers, and, uh, that we can reach others. And friends, we need to be reaching others with the gospel. Give out the gospel, friends.

But God had to make those coats of skin for Adam and Eve. And you know what? God had to send His Son Jesus Christ to die for us, that our sin might be covered, that we might be declared righteous in his sight.

Now in verse 22, more of the mercy of God: 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.”

Um, God, we see he’s speaking once again to the other members of that Trinity. You know, behold the man he’s become as one of us. Uh, but we see that this expulsion from the Garden of Eden is really an act of mercy upon Adam and Eve and the rest of us pitiful offspring.

Had Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Life, they would live forever in sin, while they could have eaten from that tree of life and live forever. That state of living forever in sin would mean eternal separation from God. So God, in his mercy saved us from this fate. Eternal life would now come through Jesus Christ, who would make us righteous in God’s sight and restore our relationship to him.

This verse here speaks immensely to the goodness of God. Thank goodness that God did this for us.

“Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”

Where Adam was made, he is going to return. Eve, she was not made outside of the Garden of Eden. Um, and we we we don’t know if she ever was outside of the Garden of Eden until this point. Her home had been in that garden, and now she is to wander in the wilderness with Adam.

“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.”

There was apparently only one way, uh, one entrance into the Garden of Eden, here at the east. And that is where God drove man out. And it is where God placed a guard.

Now we see here the word cherubims. And what is a cherubim? Uh, that is an angelic being, okay? And we see it several times, uh, used throughout the Old Testament. Um, obviously right here is our first, um, glimpse of it as guarding the Garden of Eden’s entrance. We also see in Ezekiel that these cherubims fly above the the throne of God, um, and seemingly cover that glory of the Lord that is shining about it.

Um, they interestingly as well, uh, which we discovered when we were talking about the serpent in lesson 15, it was, that Satan is described as being an anointed cherub in Ezekiel 28:14, before he was cast out of heaven. And, um, I’m sure this probably had significance and meaning to Satan when he saw it too.

God made it so that there was no possible way any man or woman would be able to enter the Garden of Eden, or have access to that tree of life. And this, of course, you know, up until the flood would have been in place. And after the flood, I’m sure was buried, covered, destroyed, whatever. Uh, so no man again is going to be able to find that now. You know, this this tree of life as if somehow you would want to live in sin forever and ever separated from God.

Um, of course, the wicked and unbelieving, now they will live forever and ever separated from God in a new body as they’re resurrected for that judgment to at the Great White Throne. Uh, so they they might they’ll get their wish, I guess, and that, uh, but I, I would not want that myself.

And I praise God for, uh, his work on my heart and calling me, you know, uh, and, um, saving me. And, I mean, when, when we get saved friends, uh, you’re not your own anymore. You know, you know, belong to God. And, uh, what are you doing with your life? God. God didn’t just save you to go and live for yourself anymore. And now you belong to him. Ask him what it is that he wants from you, and ask him to guide you in your in your life and just go with it. I mean, God is he is going to be so good to you and and when you’re in his will. I mean, it’s a wonderful place to be. Uh, being close to God and and being able to listen and hear from the Holy Spirit through His word.

And particularly as you are obedient to God’s Word, uh, you will notice that you become more sensitive to the Spirit of God leading your life, speaking to you, um, helping you along the way, uh, helping you to face life’s challenges and difficulties and trials and struggles and tribulations. God can do, will do that for you. He. He. It’s. He predestined us to be sanctified in him. Uh, to be set apart and to become like him.

Uh, the question is, are you going to walk in it? You know, stand in the ways and see and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? God, show me the good way and help me to walk in it.

You know, we’re we’re going to be confronted with things in this podcast, right? Things that we we don’t agree with. Um, that you might not agree with me on. And all I ask is that you just stand in the ways and see, ask for those old paths and ask God for the good way. And if he shows it to you, then walk in it. That’s what you need to do.

Uh, we have to be careful of our of our views, our presuppositions that we have on Scripture and be okay with being confronted with a different idea, a different thought. I might not be right, but you need to ask God about that. Here’s what JP said, Lord, um, is this correct? You know, reveal it to me through your word. Okay. And always through the word. I tell my teenagers at church, you know, don’t ever take anything I say as being truth. Always test it against scripture. Alright. Be as the Bereans did. And and and search the scriptures daily, whether these things be so. That’s what you should do.

I I’m not infallible. Okay. Uh, it’s very possible that I’m going to say something that is incorrect. Uh, whether I knowingly or unknowingly, and hopefully I’m not when do with any sort of evil intent. But if I do it in ignorance, I pray God correct me on these things. And, um, you know, if I come across something like that. I’m going to be humble enough, hopefully to tell you so. Alright. And, um, Because, you know, as we grow in the Word of God, our understanding deepens.

And but we want to be consistent, you know, in our interpretation of Scripture, don’t we? Uh, that is a that is key to understanding the Bible from a literal, grammatical, historical, cultural context where you had to have good hermeneutics. Okay, that’s in Bible interpretation and be consistent in it. That’s all I ask. Okay.

If you disagree or if I say something that I’ve deviated from, uh, good Bible interpretation, let me know of it, you know, and then I will look at what I said and see once if I need some correcting in my direction as well. But just practice good Bible interpretation, be consistent in it in Scripture, and be willing to listen to the Holy Spirit.

We’ve had some tough lessons here in chapter three, no doubt such a strong, pivotal chapter. I mean, there has been so many amazing things that I have seen in this and I’ve meditated upon, you know, even as we were talking about with Eve and how God said, I will greatly multiply, you know, confronting what she did and diminishing from what he said.

Oh, man, that one hit me the other day when I was driving, and I was thinking about that. I mean, what happens if I diminish what God has said? Uh, and I’m like, Lord, help me to, uh, just preach the word and teach it as you have spoken it. You know, when there’s emphasis that needs to be made. Help me to do it even when it’s hard to do so. I mean, I might lose listeners over some of these episodes that I have taught on. Why? Because they’re super confronting. They’re super difficult to handle. Uh, we are confronted with our sin and our weaknesses, and we don’t like necessarily the way God has designed things, even in the marriage home.

Uh, today’s popular opinion is that we’re equal, but we’re not. Are we okay? The man is set as to be the head of the woman. Boy, that’s a hard truth to swallow. And then the top on the top is that we don’t do it correctly either. But yet we’re still supposed to be obedient unto the word of God, to our our spouse, even when they’re not performing, and, uh, the way that God has instructed them to do. Those are difficult things, brethren, sisters and brothers.

Uh, as we get to the end here, we are coming to the end of one dispensation, and we came to the end of the one dispensation we’re entering now into the dispensation of conscience. Now the as I had given a lesson on these dispensations back in episode two and three, this one here is we’re entering in this dispensation of conscience is characterized by permissiveness, and its duration is from the fall here to the flood. And it concludes in that worldwide flood.

Now the word conscience means with knowledge. This period of human history covers some 1500 years and is found in four chapters in Genesis. Uh, it begins with man in the fallen state having knowledge of good and evil, and now guided by his conscience. And these dispensations prove each one of them, uh, man’s failure, and be able to somehow live by it. So even in the dispensation of innocence that we just came out of. Man wasn’t able to live in that was he? Easily deceived, easily led away. Well, Eve was. Adam chose it. Um. And so failure. Right. And again. Okay.

Can man live by his conscience now? Uh, can can he be good by conscience sake? No. He can’t. Again, we’re going to see that man is going to fail in this. God will bring judgment; we’ll enter into another dispensation.

One by one, God is showing us that it’s only possible through Jesus Christ that we can be right, that we can be made righteous. We can’t do it on our own. We can’t do it in innocence. We’re not going to be able to do it by our conscience. We’re not going to be able to do it by government or by law. All of those will fail. God’s just merely showing them to us. Each one of these.

There’s there’s such a logical progression through Scripture that we see here and purpose behind everything. There’s order in everything, man. God is so good and just amazing in how he orders everything. Uh, man, isn’t the Word of God just so wonderful to read and really dive into? And friends, I hope you are studying your Bibles daily. I am going to push that, push that, push that, that you need to be in the scriptures daily. This podcast is just a help. It’s you know, God has given us, uh, pastors and teachers. It’s for the, you know, benefit of the church, right?

But nothing will ever replace your personal devotion time with God, and you will be so much more benefited if you read it systematically, starting in Genesis, moving all the way through revelation and repeating over and over again, with a notepad in hand and pen in hand, uh, making notes and observations and applications. What is God speaking to you? Okay. Uh, practice your good Bible interpretation as you go through and as you’re learning these tools that we need to rightly divide the word of truth.

Well, rather we’re kind of getting long here, so I’ll wrap this up. But, you know, once again, um, you know, always support your church. Get out to church this Sunday, support your pastor, pray for your pastor, pray for your church family, your missionaries.

Um, are you are you getting out there and doing evangelism? Are you giving out the gospel to others? That’s part of your job, okay, that is our God’s command to us. And yes, I know most churches probably do not have some sort of evangelism, uh, calendar schedule that they, they do as a church together. Um, you’re going to have to go talk to your pastor about it and ask him. Pastor, I want to learn how to give the gospel out. Will you take me? Will we will we go do this? Or, you know, if you are seasoned in it, can you start a ministry in your church where you go out?

Your pastor, though it is his job as the shepherd to lead the flock. And honestly, if the shepherd isn’t doing it, why would the flock do it? Okay, so there’s a there’s a huge burden upon the pastor to be the leader in this. But to be honest with you, this podcast is is not for the pastors. It’s it’s for us common folk. All right. Me included. And, um, so it’s not for them. It’s this is for you as the person who sits out there in the pew.

And regardless of your pastor’s leadership or lack thereof in evangelism, you will need to step up and do it. Because, again, you’re not responsible for what your pastor does or does not do. You’re responsible for what you do or don’t do before God, and what in regards to what he has commanded you.

So start simple. Give out a get some gospel tracks and just hand them out. Okay. Here, did you get one of these? Read it when you have time? That’s a great place to start.

Um, I think everybody should go to Living Waters and.org [livingwaters.com] and watch The Way of the Master series. Or at least Hell’s Best Kept Secret [https://livingwaters.com/hells-best-kept-secret/]. So you know how to use the law in reaching the lost, bringing the knowledge of sin so that they understand why they need to be saved.

Uh, that is a good resource to start with. That’s what got me started, uh, 22 years ago now. And, um, and I highly recommend it. I don’t I’m not a big fan of systems or methods that where you say the same thing over and over again. But I do think you need to learn how to use the law. You know, the Bible says that the law was our schoolmaster to bring us into Christ. You need to learn how to use the how to use the law to bring people into Christ.

But, um, do what you can to help this podcast get out, you know, invite your friends to it on Facebook. Um, wherever you’re social media, you use, um, like our posts and share them. That’s super helpful. It helps with the algorithms and, um, liking and following us on on your podcast platforms and just do what you can to get the Word of God out. That is our job today. So finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you.