Summary of Genesis 3:1-5:
The serpent questions Eve about what God said about the Tree of Knowledge. He tells Eve she will not die like God said when she eats the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Instead, her eyes will be opened and she will be like God, knowing good and evil.
BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 3, Day 2: Genesis 3:1-5
3) The serpent twists God’s words and makes it seem like God merely mispoke and instead Eve won’t die, but she’ll have knowledge instead. Satan turns the positive phrase into a negative, confusing Eve.
4) Evil, cunning, wiley, untrustworthy, one who should not be listened to.
5) Temptations make is seem like they aren’t so bad as they truly are. For example, an affair. Having sex outside of marriage can’t be all that bad. After all, many people do it. When we are tempted, we look for ways to justify it, and we often use other people and their behaviors to justify our actions when, in reality, we need to use Jesus and God as our example who were perfect, and not look to sinners.
Our desires play a big role. We twist God’s truth in our mind to the point that we justify our sins so that we can have what we desire. We put our wants over God’s.
6a) Personal Question. My answer: Temptation is often cloaked and can seem harmless. It speaks in tongues to confuse you until you give in.
b) Currently, I face the temptation to put myself above others. Selfishness if you will. I get very protective of my time and find it hard to give to others.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 3, Day 2: Genesis 3:1-5
It’s so easy to give into temptation. This is when having the full armor of God is a must in order to stay above the fray and come on on God’s side. This is why bible studies, such as BSF, are important, as well as attending church, reading God’s word, etc is so very important in our lives.
End Notes BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 3, Day 2: Genesis 3:1-5
Ezekiel 28:13-19 tells us that Satan was in Eden. Many other passages associate a serpent or a snake-like creature with Satan (such as Job 26:13 and Isaiah 51:9). Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 speak of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan.
Satan as a serpent makes the idea of Moses saving Israel by lifting up a bronze serpent all the more ironic (Numbers 21:8-9), especially when Jesus identifies Himself with that very serpent (John 3:14). The serpent (a personification of sin and rebellion) is made of bronze (a metal associated with judgment, since it is made with fire). The lifting of a bronze serpent is the lifting up of sin judged, in the form of a cross.
Ezekiel 28 tells us Satan, before his fall, was an angel of the highest rank and prominence. Isaiah 14 tells us Satan’s fall had to do with his desire to be equal to or greater than God, to set his will against God’s will.
One of man’s greatest mistakes is believing he is smarter than Satan. We can’t outsmart Satan, but with the power of Jesus, we can overcome him.
Most likely the serpent in the Garden did not look like our modern day snakes. It may have had wings and probably did not crawl on its belly.
It Was God’s Plan for Satan to Attack Eve Before Adam
Satan brought his temptation against the woman because he perceived she was more vulnerable to attack. She did not receive the command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil directly from God but through Adam (Genesis 2:15-17).
Adam didn’t do an effective job of communicating to Eve what the LORD told him. This failure on Adam’s part made Eve more vulnerable to temptation.
- Satan will often attack a chain at its weakest link, so he gets at Adam by tempting Eve. The stronger ones in a “chain” must expect an attack against weaker links and support them against those attacks.
MIND BLOWING: It was also in God’s plan to allow Satan to tempt Eve this way. If Adam would have sinned first, and if he had then given the fruit to Eve, she might have a partial excuse before God: “I was simply obeying the head of our home. When he gave me the fruit, I ate it.”
Eve’s Mistakes:
- Talking to the serpent in the first place. We need to not let sin have a chance at all.
- Ignorance. She does not seem to know the name of the tree, calling it the “tree in the middle of the garden”
- She did not know Adam’s words exactly. She added in touching the fruit.
- Eve doubts God. Not knowing the exact command, Eve is confused. Instead of seeking Adam for help, she makes the fateful decision to eat instead.
- Eve forgets the consequences of the sin.
Adam is responsible for Eve’s ignorance on not knowing about the tree and the consequences.
Satan’s reasoning had truth in it (their eyes would be opened). Every good lie (if you can call it good) has truth in it.
Satan tempts Eve with what made him fall: You will be like God.
We are servants, not gods.
