October 20, Genesis 3
"What is this that you have done?" - Genesis 4:13
You recognize the initials NTSB, don't you? The National Transportation Safety Board is the government agency that investigates airplane crashes and train wrecks. You hear about the NTSB in news reports about tragic events. At the site of the disaster, the reporter stands in front of smoking wreckage, telling us that the NTSB is searching for the black box, the flight recorder that will give them clues about what went wrong with the aircraft. When the investigation is complete, the NTSB releases its findings. The goal is to study the evidence to learn what caused the crash, fix the potential problem on other planes and make travel safer for us all.
Genesis 3 is about a different kind of crash. It reports the disaster that occurred when the first human beings disobeyed God, and the heartbreaking results of their failure. If we study this report of that tragedy, we should be able to determine what went wrong, why the human family is so broken and troubled and how we can avoid the awful consequences of this kind of crash in our own lives.
Like the NTSB folks, let's work backwards from the aftermath of the crash. Adam and Eve were hiding in the bushes, ashamed and afraid of God with whom they had previously enjoyed close fellowship. God confronted them with some tough questions. He is not gathering information for himself. He knew where they were and why. But they needed to realize where they were and why. (Most parents will recognize this line of questioning. We've done it with our kids.) The couple had enjoyed a paradise home, but now they’re expelled from the garden. They’re driven outside, to wrestle a living from the cursed ground, not just pick their favorite fruits from the trees. We don't know how childbirth might have been before the fall, but now the process is going to be painful and difficult. They had previously not even needed clothing; now they need fur coats to protect them from extreme weather conditions. And the specter of death is now hanging over them. What God warned has happened. Death is no longer a threat; it becomes a reality in their lives. Their access to the tree of life is cut off. Their physical life didn't come to an end that day. But the process of death began within them. Their innocence died that day, and their relationship with God was damaged in a way they could never repair.
What went wrong? Why did this crash happen? Chapter 3 data reveals Adam and Eve’s faulty actions. It shows how Eve looked at the forbidden fruit, found it appealing and desirable. She ate it and gave it to her husband, who ate it with her. Then the guilt, shame and fear flooded their previously innocent hearts and minds, and the consequences rained down on them. It's a clearcut case of human error. They disobeyed God, and as a God of truth and justice, he did exactly what he warned them he would do.
Why did they do it? They were misled by false advice. Like a faulty gauge or indicator giving inaccurate information to a pilot, Satan's evil counsel influenced Eve to disregard what God said. How did he do it? First, Satan questioned God's word: "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat...?" After Eve replied, he moved to the next step: he denied God's word: "You will not surely die." He then proceeded to plant doubt about God's goodness in his victim's mind: "God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened...." And he suggested an attractive alternative outcome: "and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Eve believed the lie, acted on the lie and suffered the consequences.
There's a ray of light and hope in this dark scene. As God sentenced the guilty couple, he also gave the first hint of his plan to save humans from their tragic failure. One day a child born of woman would deal Satan a mortal blow. The plan would unfold over many generations, centuries and prophecies. But there was already a plan, and God would bring it to pass.
Do you pity Adam and Eve? Do you shake your head at their gullibility and the ease with which Satan ruined them? We need to remember what this record of the fall teaches. It is as true for us as it was for Adam and Eve: Disaster follows disobedience which comes from believing Satan's deception.
Copyright © 2021 by Michael B. McElroy. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—October 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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