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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
vine natu re;— the capacity to know God. They became slaves of sin and of Satan. Their knowledge was exchanged for ignorance; obedience for rebellion; vision for blindness; lib erty for slavery; life for death. Satan was cursed. His victory was tu rn ed into defeat. He was degraded from the highest to th e lowest plane. He will be the most m iserable of all in hell. There is no mercy for Satan. (6) THE SENTENCE UPON EVE, v. 16 “X will greatly m ultiply thy sorrow .” The order of th e curse is logical,— first Satan, then the woman. She had sinned first, was cursed first. H er punish m ent was threefold,— multiplied conception, childbirth w ith sorrow, subjection to h er husband. Headship is based in Adam (1 Tim. 2 :ll - 1 4 ; E p h . 5:22-25; 1 Cor. 11:7, 9.) The au tho rity of th e man over th e woman, given in creation, is perpetuated by th is edict. H er d ep artu re from this position led to th e fall. God has never changed the order although Christianity has placed woman on th e same p latform as man, as re gards th e blessings of the Gospel (Gal. 3:28) VThere is n e ith e r J ew nor G ree k ; th e r e is n e ith e r bon d nor fr e e ; th e r e is n e ith e r m a le nor fem a le ; fo r y e are a ll o n e in Ch ris t J e su s.” (7 ) THE SENTENCE UPON ADAM AND THE EARTH, vs. 17-19 ‘‘Cursed is the ground for thy sake.” The ground was cursed for m an’s good. It is b etter for man, in his lost condition, to labor th an to loaf, and it would be a good thing if the I. W. W.’s could realize this. This sentence was also threefold,— sorrow and strife in the life of man (v. 17 ), tho rn s and thistles to continue (vs. 18, 19), physical death (v. 19; Rom. 5:12-14, 20). (8) THE SUBSTITUTION, vs. 20, 21 “The Lord God clothed them .” Sin produced nakedness. God provided clothing. God’s method of dealing w ith sin is clearly seen here. They were still naked when clothed w ith leaves, so far as God was concerned. This is an im po rtan t lesson. Leaves are the delusion of th e devil. God slew the anim al— (upon which the curse had already come) and made clothes for Adam and Eve. This method has never appealed to man, w ith his fallen natu re. He would find some more esthetic method— some system of morals calculated to evade the fact th a t he is at h e a rt a vile sinner. Every false system of religion has been invented by Satan w ith the same motive, and he is not through yet. In them all the one essential element is lacking— th e enorm ity of sin and the enormous price paid as substitution. God does no t clear the sinner, b u t He clothes him. He cannot ju stify a sinful act, bu t He can and does justify the sinner (Rom. § :l-4 ; Gal. 3 :13 ; John 1 :29 ; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; 2 :2 4 ). Note the term s used in Scripture to suggest the tru th of this thought of God’s clothing man. (Psa. 132: 9,16; Isa. 61:10; Eph. 4 :24 ; Col. 3:10.) (9) THE SEPARATION, vs. 22-24 “ So he drove out the man.” It is impossible for this guilty pair to rem ain in the Garden and in a state of fellowship w ith God. Sin and God cannot abide together. Sin and God are incompatible. Sin and Heaven are impossible. Sin always means separation (Isa. 59:2) P aradise was lost to them. No hum an effort could regain it. So God drove them out and placed a sentry a t the gate of the garden. The gate is to be opened later. (John 10:9; John 14:16; Heb. 10:19, 20; Rev. 22:14) “B lessed are th e y th a t do h is co mm andm en ts, th a t th e y m ay h a v e r ig h t to th e tr e e o f life , and m ay en te r in th r o u g h th e g a te s in to th e c ity .”
Did we not possess such an account as we find in Genesis 3, of the fall of man from his original condition, we would have jto invent one, for w ithout such a n arrativ e the present awful condition of man in such strik ing con trast to the picture given in chapters 1 and 2 COMMENTS would have to be accounted for. PROM THE ' O ther Scriptures, however, should be COMMENTARIES considered in this connection (Gen- V. V. Morgan esis 6 :5 ; 8 :21 ; Psalm 14; Romans 3:10-23; v. 12-19; 1 Timothy 2 :1 4 ). Unquestionably Christ and th e Scripture w riters regarded the event as historical and literal (Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:13-15; 1 Corin thians 1 5 :56 ).—-Evans. It is hardly too much to say th a t th is chapter is the pivot of the Bible, for if we take it away the re st of Scripture becomes meaningless. W ith the exception of the fact of Creation, we have here the record of th e most im p o rtan t and far-reaching event in th e world’s history— th e entrance of Sin.— Thomas. Vs. 1-6. The stages of th e tem ptation should be care fully noticed: (a) The serp en t first of all excites th e wo man’s curiosity by speaking to h er; (b) then he raises a suspicion of God by th e question th a t he puts to her (ver. 1 ); (e) then he proceeds to inject a three-fold doubt of God— of His goodness, by reason of the restriction (ver. 1 ); of His righteousness, in the assurance th a t they shall not die (ver. 4 ); and of His holiness, in the assurance that, so far from dying, they “shall be as gods” (v. 5 ). (d) Thus he incites the woman to unbelief, and (e) leads h er event ually to disobedience. It is very noteworthy th a t the tem ptation is associated entirely w ith doubt of God’s Word: “H ath God said ?” This is characteristic of sin a t all tim es; the doubt, th e denial, and the disbelief of God’s Word. F irs t Satan d isto rts th e Word, then he leads th e woman to doubt it, and last of all he denies it. It is also signifi cant th a t Satan and the woman in th e ir conversation use the term “God,” and not “Lord God.” This inadequate and defective reference to God was doubtless p a rt of th e ex planation of th e tem ptation and th e F all. It would not have served S atan ’s purposes to have introduced the spe cific covenant term “ Jehovah” when raising questions about the veracity and -faith fu ln ess of God’s Word.—Thomas. There is no tru e security, save in a profound faith in the plenary inspiration and supreme au th o rity of “ALL SCRIPTURE.”— C. H. M. V. 1. “H ath God said ?” In her reply to his question, she perverted and m isquoted th ree tim es th e divine law to which she and Adam were subject: (1 ) She disparaged her privileges by m isquoting the term s of th e Divine perm ission as to the other trees. (2) She overstated the restrictions by m isquoting the Divine prohibition. (3 ) She under rated h er obligations by m isquoting the Divine penalty. And thu s she was easily exposed to th e tem ptation to ques tion, doubt, and deny God.S-Thomas. V. 15. “I will p u t enm ity between th ee and th e woman.” In th is chapter (3 :1 5 ) we find th e first Messianic promise. The Redeemer of the' race is to be of “ the seed of the woman,” th a t is, human (cf. Galations 4 :4 ; Matthew 1: 16-18). God’s gracious provision a t th e moment of m an’s awful sin is here set forth, and from th is time on th e entire Bible is occupied w ith th e development and fulfillment of this Messianic promise.— Evans. “Be sure your sin will find you ou t” is th e g reat prin ciple w ritten clearly and deeply on th is record of the first sin, as, indeed, of every other since th a t time. It was impossible for man to rem ain in the garden, and in a state of fellowship w ith God. Sin and P aradise were incompatible, and so th e Lord sent them forth. “ Your iniquities have separated between you and your God” (Isa. 59 :2 ). And thu s th e threefold punishment of guilt, condemnation, and separation accrued to man because of his sin. This Divine clothing took th e place of th e ir own self- made clothing, and now they are clothed indeed. The mention of skins suggests th e fact and necessity of death of the animal before they could be used as clothing, and it is more than probable th a t in this fact we have the primal revelation of sacrifice, and of th e way in which the robe of righteousness was to be provided for them. We know the universality and persistence of evil today, and th e world has never had any other adequate explana tion than th a t which is afforded by this chapter.—-Thomas. The resu lts of the fall may be summed up in the follow ing verses: Romans 5:12, 19; Romans 3:9, 10, 19, 22, 23;
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