The Fall
Please read these verses in your own Bible or online (Bible Gateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+3%3A+1-7&version=NIV ).
The notes are from my own studies.
v 1: The serpent is a subordinate. Later in the Bible he is identified as Satan (“the Adversary” – opponent in a contest, conflict, or dispute.) She did not know he was an enemy. She had never had one before.
Eve was not surprised at his speech. (Did animals talk in Eden? That must have been amazing!)
Satan attacks God’s word by misquoting God, turning a positive (“you may eat of all but one”) to a negative (“you must not eat from any”). Sowing confusion or doubt is half the battle.
v 2, 3: Eve defends God, but also misquotes Him, adding “you must not touch”). She also doesn’t appear to know the name of the tree. Did Adam leave that out in his instructions?
v 4-5: Satan calls God a liar and questions His goodness. He suggests that God is withholding blessing. He presents the argument that sin is not bad and God is not good. (He uses the same argument today.)
“When you eat … ” (not “if.” Assumes she will.)
“You will be like God …” This was Satan’s own desire and the reason for his own fall (see Isaiah 14: 12-15 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+14%3A+12-15&version=NIV).
Adam and Eve already knew good and evil theoretically through God’s instructions. Now they were to know it experientially. And because they gained the knowledge of death, the Creator also came to know death.
v 6: “Good for food” appeals to physical appetite.
“Pleasing to the eye” appeals to greed and emotional desires.
“Desirable for gaining wisdom” appeals to pride.
Good, pleasant, desirable … but forbidden. Jesus was tempted in the same 3 ways (See Matthew 4:1-11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+4%3A1-11&version=NLT )
The Apostle John says that we are, too. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A16&version=NLT
Satan’s winning formula is as old as humanity. And it failed only the one time. But we always have a way of escape: Eve could have resisted, run away. But she didn’t. Eve saw, took, ate. God will taste poverty, weariness. shame and death before “take and eat” become verbs of salvation.
Then the tempted became the tempter: she gave some to Adam, “who was with her.” Had he heard the whole discussion? Why didn’t he say/do something? Adam was not deceived; he knew what he was doing was wrong. (And so do Adam’s children, most of the time. I remember when I was 5 or so, splashing in a mud puddle on my way home. I told a friend who said I was going to get in trouble, “I’ve done a lot of bad things, but I don’t remember them.” Apparently that was justification for the splashing. Of course I got in trouble. And I’ve never forgotten that puddle.)
v 7: “It is more than probable that they were clothed in [God’s] light before the fall, and when they sinned the light went out.” (Donald Barnhouse)
They saw themselves changed … for the worse. They felt shame and guilt (It’s good and proper to feel guilt when you are guilty. )
Fig leaves are large, broad, and flat, averaging 4-9″ long and 3-7″ wide. The top of the leaf is rough and sandpaper-like, while the bottom of the leaf has small, stiff hairs. The fig leaf aprons would probably have taken some time to fashion (the first thing humans made?) and could not have been the least bit comfortable.
Now all there was to do was wait. But not to wait in eager anticipation, but in shame, guilt and fear. I think we all know how that feels.