THÈ X I N G ’ S BUS I NE SS
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June, 1942
but by man, and is maintained by him. -Second, there was folly (vs. 9, IQ). Thé folly is revealed in man’s fleeing from the only One who can help-,liim oüt of his sih and shame. God called to thé man—and mark well whom, where, to what, and why God hailed. The. effect of the call was that -man was conscious of it; “I heard thy voice” ; he was afraid of it: “I was afraid, because I was naked.” (Thip was a lie. Man had been naked before this time and had been 'unafraid, jju-t. his fear game when he sirmed and wàs then required to m ek the holy God when he himself was a criminal and a rebel.) ' •~y Third, note the final, condition- of man in. ' sin (vs. 11-13), Man iyas shown to be morally wrong, too proud to confess his fault. He- was also spiritually wrong, virtually blamiilg. God for the sin because God had given him the woman. III. G od ’ s P rotection . / 23, 24) In His divine wisdom, God set’ a- barrier before the tree of life so that no one could approach unto it. For the sinner, “life” was thenceforth to be fbund only through God’s Son. But, even so, man has endeavored to find whàt he calls “the elixir of life(” .rpre- ferring to live on in sin-, sorrow;,’ and. déath rather than to accept God’s pro vision of etéjmal life by faith in Christ. Points, and Problems . The first, chapters of Geneffls raise many interesting and difficult ques tions. This is especially true about the temptation arid fall of man as de scribed ,in chapter 3. 1. What was "thef tree of the knowl edge of good and evil*? The uribeliev- ing scoffers reply that we have here just one more fairy tale. They think they find a parallel in Gulliver's Travels where. the .writer tells of a country in which the children learned their lessons by having them written on wafers,- and then e a t i n g the wafers! This ridicule has driven cer., tain interpreters to the -opposite ex treme of denying to the “tree” any literal c>r historical character. The Genesis story, they warn us, must- be viewed “ spiritually,” not literally.: - • The true view is the most natural one, in my opinion, and may be state.d as follbws: First, the context o f ;the story demands a literal tree. All the details of the story demand literal'ity. There is a garden. It is to be dressed and cared for. There are two people. There are animals. The rivers are even named. Second, the story nowhere suggests that there was anything magical about the tree mentioned. It was just one of the trees of the garden which God had .selected for
JULY 12,1942 ADAM AND EVE: TEMPTATION AND SIN •G enesis 3 •■
said . . .?” has a tamiliaf ring, We are told we do not understand. the Word- and, it does not mean, “Ye shall surely die.” And we are told we will be better off when, we disobey that Word, implying that love is not be hind every command of God, " In passing, it should be noticed that while the woman contended that God' had spoken (v. 3), she added to the utterance of the Lord, altered it, and finally denied what God had said. The. same course is followed by leaders óf numerous “isms” as- well as' by the destructive critics of today. II. M an ’ s R esponsibility (6-13) While Satan could bring sin to the world, he could not bring it into the world apart from man’s consent, This is man's final responsibility for the presence of sin in the world. Instead of finding fault with God because of the prevalence. of sin all ,aho\»t him, man should, blame his own deliberate choice. . The modern thought that “man had no alternative than to fail, 'and hence the failure was not a fall,” is absolutely against Scripture teach ing, and savors of Satan’s questioning of the faôt, the truth, and the love of God’s revelation to man. The fact that “he did eat” (y, 6 ) lies at the. foundation of all the suffering, sorrow, and death in. this wdrld, and it also reveals the true nature' of sin. The acts of lying, stealing, murder, and so forth are mérely the results of the Original sin which consisted bf unbelief of the truth of God, All sins are- involved and embraced in the basic sin of unbelief, or doubt, which is the true nature of sin (cf. John 16:7-9; Hèb. 11:6;' 3:15-19(:'4:l-3), ..-The results of sin were quickly manifest (vs. 7-13). First, there was shame (vs. 7, 8 ), revealed in the loss of the boldness of innocency, felt in an accusing conscience, and seen in the loss of self-respect. The fig leaves were merely an attempt at self-right eousness because of the shame, and the shame issued in separation from God. It should be noticed that the separation that exists between God and man was instituted, not by God,
,v Genesis 3:1 Now tlie serpent was more subtle tjban any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto th.e woman, Yen, hath God said, Ye shall hot eat of every treè of the garden? 2 And thé woman said unto the ser pent» We may, eat of the fruit of the .trees of-the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which Is ih the midst of the garden» God hath said» Ye âhall not- eat of it» neither shall ye. touch it» lest ye die. 4' And the serpent said imto the wo man, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day yè eat thereof» then your eyes Shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods» knowing good and !evil. . 6 And witch the woman saw that the tree was gbpd for food» and that it was pleasant to the eyes» and aVtree to be desired to make one wise, she' took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her: and he dld- eat, 7 And the 'eyes of them» both were opened, and they knew- that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves togeth er» and made themselves aprons. . 8 And they heard the Voice of the Lord God- walking in the garden In the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the présence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the gar den. 9 .And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou'? / 10 And he said, I heard thy voice In the garden, and I- was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the mail said, The woman whom thou gavest to he with me, tfhe gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 ,And the Lord God said unto the woman. What is thiV that thou hast- done? And ' the woman saldf The serpent be guiled me, and I did eat. 23 Therefore the Lord God sent, him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of IÇden cherubim, and a flaming, sword which. tui'ned. every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. LESSON TEXT : Genesis 3:1-13; 23, 24. GOLDEN TEXTt «The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Esek. 18:4). DEVOTIONAL READING: 1 John 1:5 to 2:2. Outline and Exposition 1 1 I.-,: n p i . S atan ’ s W ork (1-5) B ERE IS the source of sin, as far .as man is concerned. God does not attempt to. satisfy our curiosity, but Hé does tell us all vyfe nded to know Ccf.-Deut. 29:291. Wè are. not left in darkness concerning Satan (Ezek. 28:12-19; Isa. 14:12-22), the ‘‘serpent,’* or “shining one.” We knpw he. was .that did dragon, called the devil Ccf. 2 Cor. 11:13-15; Rev. 12:9; 20:2). Satan’s attack was then, as it is to day, upon the Word of "God. His words, “Yeà, hath God said (y. 1> questioned the fact of a revelation from God. Satan Jiaji the effrontery to say, “Ye shall pot surely die” (v. 4.), denying, the truth of God’s revelation; and, “God doth know . . (v. S), doubting thé love that prompted the révélation. Likewise foday we are told ‘.hat the Bible is not the very Word of God, and the expression, “Hath God
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