Bible Study Lesson from Genesis 2:15 – 3:24
Almost everyone, even non-Christians, have heard at least part of the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.
But, have you heard the rest of the story?
Who is at fault?
- Eve?
- Adam?
- the serpent?
- all three?
Find out in this Bible study lesson from the Book of Genesis.
Adam and Eve – The First Sin of Man in the Garden of Eden
Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
The man 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.” – Genesis 15:15-23 NASB
Adam and Eve – The First Sin
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” – Genesis 3:1-13 NASB
Who’s Fault Was It?
Most of these stories I’ve heard from the time I was a youth, and most of the photos, books and movies about Adam and Eve generally tell the story that:
Eve listened to the snake, ate the fruit, and tempted Adam into eating it too.
To some extent this is true but there are sections which refute this version of the story.
Yes, the serpent did trick Eve by quoting God’s Word but with a little bit of a twist.
The Smart Devil
Satan is really brilliant at taking the Word of God and using it to his advantage.
So, Eve easily fell into his trap and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which God commanded her not to eat.
Was Adam an Innocent Victim?
If you listen to the general stories and most of the movies showing Adam and Eve – yes, he was innocent.
But, if you read closely in these verses from Genesis you’ll find that Adam was not all that innocent.
Let’s look at this statement ..
“She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”
Adam was right by her side the whole time!
I didn’t read one single sentence in this passage which said that Adam protested or warned Eve not to eat the fruit.
It even looks as though Adam was standing back, arms crossed, waiting to see what would happen to Eve when she took her first bite.
When nothing happened to Eve, Adam may have said something to the effect of; “Why not?”.
Adam and Eve both sinned when tempted by the serpent.
The Warning from the Garden of Eden Story
This lesson from the Bible is a warning to us that Satan is very crafty and will come to us as a friend, twist God’s Word, and tempt us with all sorts of sinful pleasures.
We have to be careful who we listen to and obey because we are not innocent either — are we?
Love in Christ
– Bob
If you would like to discover the love and life-changing experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to read John 3:16 for more information.