Comments for January 2

A quick look at the word subtil (ch.3 v. 1). It is only translated subtil here, but there are 10 other occurrences elsewhere in the OT of the Hebrew word aruwm. They fit 2 specific categories. It is used by Eliphaz twice in his speeches to Job - translated crafty. Here the context seems similar to Gen 3. Job 5:12, 15:5. However, when we turn to the final 8 occurrences they are all in Proverbs, and used in just the opposite context - of a good characteristic rather than a bad - translated prudent. If you dont want to look up all 8 of these, look especially at the last two (which are identical) and consider in the context of Gen. 3. Proverbs 12:16,23, 13:16, 14:8,15,18, 22:3, 27:12.

ch.4:26 - The name Enos means frailty. It was a demonstration of Seth's understanding of the position of man before God, and the result of this realisation was that this family then began to call upon the name of the Lord. Our humility, which is required for salvation, can only come from a true recognition of the frailty we have when compared with the Lord God Almighty. Hence Seths choice of name was not an act of pessimism or discouragement, it was an act of recognition of the way to salvation.

3:7 The opening of the eyes of Adam and Eve caused confusion and distress whereas the opening of the eyes of the two on the road to Emmaus [Luke 24:31] caused joy and enlightenment.

Clearly the gospel record is wishing us to see this contrast by using the same language.

4:24 The way that Lamech claims that if Cain were avenged sevenfold he would be avenged seventy and sevenfold forms the basis for Jesus words [Matthew 18:22] where he turns the issue round and says that, rather than seeking vengeance seventy seven times forgiveness should be shown to that extent.

MASTERING SIN

It all began with one small wrong act that Cain was very able to put right. Cain offered a sacrifice of vegetables instead of the sacrifice of an animal and then became jealous that Abels sacrifice was favoured by God while his own sacrifice wasnt. It was here that the LORD intervened and warned Cain what would happen if he did not put his actions right. God said, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4 v 7).

Cains decision was to stay bitter. To ease his problem, Cain made a bigger one by killing his brother. Now Cain had two problems. He had offered an unacceptable sacrifice and not put it right, and had murdered his brother.

When the LORD confronted Cain about the death of Abel, he again tried to cover it up by lying. "Where is your brother Abel?" the LORD asked. "I dont know," Cain replied, "Am I my brothers keeper?"

If Cain had just taken Gods advice and put the first problem right, the rest of his sins would never have happened.

Sin desires to have all of us, but we must master it. Let us not fall into the same trap as Cain and add sin to sin until it masters us.

3:6 That Eve saw the fruit which was pleasant and took it is reflected in the way that the sons of God saw the daughters of men who were fair and so they took them It is not just Eve who had problems with her vision. So did the sons of God (Genesis 6:2)

4:16 Cain went out from the presence of the Lord because he had alienated himself - he was not of the believers (1 John 2:19)

Many people tend to view the introduction of the promise to the serpent in Genesis 3:15 as a "band-aid" to fix up the mess man had gotten himself into.

But a little careful thinking will reveal that God had factored Sin into HIS grand plan, long before the first creative fiat was uttered in Genesis 1.

For a start, 7 days were employed to do what HE might easily have accomplished in just 1 day or even instantaneously. The seven days we know, speaks of the 7,000 year plan that HE has in mind with this creation.

Secondly, there is no "OOOPs" in heaven! It is not as if Jesus Christ was a "Mr Fix-it" created to undo Adams faux pas. And neither was Jesus Christ "sitting on the sidelines" just in case He was needed. In other words, there was no Plan A and Plan B.

Jesus Christ was THE PLAN all along, but the Father is most definitely NOT the author of sin. The Serpent is the author of the first lie. Adam is the author of sin, even though Eve was the first to sin (?)... Or was she?

Adam was standing right there with her when she took of the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and ate of it.

It was he who had added to Gods commandment of Genesis 2:17, "neither shall you touch it.... lest you die." But God had said, ..."thou shalt surely die!!"

So in this matter of transmitting the message to Eve of the commandment given in Genesis 2:17 [for she was created after this event], Adam had added an element not given by God, and he had diminished the certainty of the punishment.

So when Eve touched the fruit and no ill effects were observed, the conclusion reached by both Adam and Eve was that God must not really have meant what HE said. Faith would have decreed otherwise... but what they did was not of Faith.

Their "death" was also immediate. "Dying you shall die" can describe a "process" which ends in the grave, but when the Elohim came to converse with Adam in the cool of the evening, they had need to "call to Adam"... not that they had lost Adam... Adam had lost God! He (and Eve) were now "dead in trespasses and sins", separated from their God because of their Rebellion... (note:- A rebel always knows a better way!)

3:18 Trace the idea of "thorns and thistles" throughout scripture. It was the thorns, the sins of the world, that lead Christ to His death

3:5 Knowing ‘good and evil’ is of itself little value. One has to be able to discern between good and evil as Jesus did – see Isa 7:15

4:2 Cain was a ‘tiller of the ground’ so he was doing what God has commanded (Gen 3:23) – but the fact that he was doing the work God gave Adam was no guarantee that he was faithful.

Gen 3:14  We note in this verse that not only was the serpent cursed, but also all cattle and every beast of the field. The serpent was cursed above the other cattle and beasts. That curse we are told, is that it would crawl upon its belly all the days of its life. When we go to John 8:43, we see another curse that the serpent received; "ye cannot hear my word" The serpent we are told has no hearing. What a wonderful blessing we have in that we can and have heard the spoken word. 

Abel's offering of a lamb had been accepted, whilst Cain's offering of produce from the ground had not (

Gen 4:4,5).

In

Gen 4:7 Cain is told by the Lord that he had an opportunity to put this right.
That opportunity would come in the form of sacrificing a lamb. The sin which lay at the door (readily available) was a sin offering. The Hebrew word for sin, chata'ah, implies this. Also, consider other scriptures that talk about sin but mean sin offering (Hos 4:8; 2Cor 5:21).
If Cain had humbled himself and sought a lamb from his brother Abel, he could have offered an acceptable sacrifice.

This, like the acceptable covering made by animal sacrifice of

Gen 3:21, pointed forward to the perfect lamb, Jesus who would, by his sacrifice, take away the sin of the world.

3:22 God rejected Adam's humanly devised covering, and provided them instead with "coats of skins". This required the slaying of animals. In this our Heavenly Father was teaching a lesson. Nakedness in Scripture symbolizes the state of sin (Rev 16:15). For sin to be covered and fellowship with God restored, a sacrifice provided by God was required. 

In her repetition of God's words, Eve shows that our tendency to place rules between ourselves and God has been there from the start.  Notice the difference in the highlighted parts of these verses:

ch.2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

ch.3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Eve puts her own spin on God's words and even attributes that spin to God himself.  Here is the start of what later became the teaching of the Pharisees.  Paul refers back to this incident in Col. 2 (I quote several verses as the NIV is so helpful here)

20  Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
21  "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?
22  These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
23  Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

What an exhortation to faith!

3:15 - A serpent introduced the seed of sin while the woman's seed refers to Christ who crushes the head of sin (a permanent blow ) while sin would strike Christ's heel (a non permanent blow).

3:16 The sorry state of the woman in childbirth presented here is contrasted wonderfully in Luke 1:28  when Mary is promised that she will be the mother of Messiah.

4:1,2  That ‘she’ conceived starts the hope of the promised ‘seed of the woman’. Normally it is the man who is presented as having sons, even though the woman bears them. That Eve was looking for the promised seed is borne out by her comment ‘I have gotten a man from the Lord’

The serpent's lie, Ye shall not surely die (3:4), is perpetuated by the apostate church today.  The belief that man has an immortal soul, and that at death his soul floats off to heaven, maintains this deceit.  The term immortal soul is never seen in the Bible.  However, the Bible clearly states that man dies (Psa 49:10, 146:4).  All men (mortal souls) are sinners and suffer the result of sin, which is death (Eze 18:4; Rom 3:23).  The only way to overcome this fatal disease, which we have inherited from Adam, is through Jesus (1Cor 15:22). 

HIDE
 
They hid. I have often thought that Adam and Eve were in such an enviable position to have direct access to God, to have him walking through the garden where they lived and to have open communication with him. But today I wondered how much I would really like it if God just came and wandered through my backyard or through my house any time he felt like it. He would see me at any time whether I was in the mood to walk with him or whether I was found in the midst of sin.
 
While I still envy the fellowship with God that Adam and Eve were able to share, there would certainly be plenty of times that I would want to hide just like them. We can all imagine how we would feel if God walked in at that vital moment to catch us in our worst position.
 
The reality is that God is here. While we cannot physically see or feel his presence, he is watching us all the time and he knows exactly what we are doing. It was not on his walk through the garden that God discovered they had sinned - he already knew. He knows us just as well too. Even though we cannot see him, we cannot hide from him.
 
With the help of God and the help of his son, Jesus, let us do all we can to be our best while he watches us our whole life through. Let us aim to stay pure and free from sin, so there will be fewer embarrassing moments that will make us want to hide from him.

3:10 When Adam and Eve were afraid and hid they showed the behaviour of anyone who views God with terror. Jesus drew on this – Matt 25:25 – when he talks of the man who hid his talent in the ground. Are we terrified of God or full of awe?

Gen 3:16  The second half of this verse is translated in an interesting way in the NET Bible:

"you will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you"

& well summarises the problems we wrestle with today. Neither position is correct, as shown by the apostle Paul's words in Eph 5:22-33. The word translated "control" here, or "desire"  8669  in other versions, occurs as "desire" in 2 other places in the OT. One is in Song 7:10 which has the usual sexual connotation, but the other is in Gen 4:7 where sin as a beast crouches at the door desiring to have Cain. The inference there is one of control & mastery.

Jesus has always been central to the LORD's plan and purpose.  He was in the mind of the Father before the world began (John 17:24).  As the outcomes of the events in Eden were already known to the LORD, Jesus was neither an afterthought nor a back-up plan - He was the plan.

3:6 The impulses that triggered Eve's attraction to the forbidden fruit are common to all humankind and underscore the world of flesh (1John 2:16).

3:18 Matt 13:22 explains that the ‘thorns’ are the cares of this life. Adam’s work could either turn him in upon himself, seeing gardening as simply a care. On the other hand he could see God working in his life for his salvation. Likewise our experiences can either drive us away from God or help us to see Him at work in our lives.

3:19 - there is no mystery regarding death. Mankind was created from dust and upon death returns to dust in the grave. There are no thoughts when dead, it is like sleep Psa 146:4. The only escape from death is that some will be resurrected, judged and mercifully through grace allowed to reign on the earth when Christ returns Dan 12:2; Matt 25:31-34; Matt 5:5; Rev 5:10

The relationship, based on faith and trust that man had with Yahweh was shattered.   Now Yahweh would be alien from man because he (man) broke that bond.  How could Yahweh be brought once more into a relationship with man?  Yahweh had already made a provision.  His only Son would become the mediator between Him and man (1Tim 2:5).  Jesus was the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice, which was foreshadowed by the sacrifice of Abel (Heb 12:24).  Jesus' shed blood would allow true believers to be in covenant relationship with Yahweh through Him.  But, this revealed process began right after the fall of Adam and Eve.  It did not, as some so-called Christians believe, begin at the birth of Jesus.

3:1   Nakedness passes into Biblical use as an indicator of being astray from God. The word translated ‘subtil <06175>  is closely related to the word translated as ‘naked <06174> in Gen 2:25.

Gen 3:17-19 First Principles>The Atonement
1. Death was the punishment for Adam's and Eve's transgression. Adam and Eve were the human race. The race sinned, so it was condemned to death Rom 5:12. We sinned in Adam because we belong to Adam's race. The human race was made sinful and men are sinners because
    1. We are descendants of Adam
    2. By actual transgression.
What is sin? It is disobedience to God 1John 3:4.
Because of sin, men die Rom 6:23 and this is the result of the fact that men are descended from Adam. By the offence of one, judgement came upon all men Rom 5:18. All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God Rom 3:23.
2. The principles of the Atonement revealed in Eden - go to Gen 3:15
3. The Principles were brought out in the Law, for example by comparison between the Passover sacrifice and Jesus' sacrifice - go to Exo 12:3
4. Jesus' coming in relation to the Atonement - go to Gal 4:4
5. The atoning death of Jesus - go to John 1:29
6. How can we obtain atonement? - go to Rom 5:8-11
First Principles> For more First Principles topics, go to Acts 8:12.

Gen 3:15 - the promised deliverer would be the seed of a woman, not the seed of a man Isa 7:14;Gal 4:4.

Gen 3:21;Rom 4:7-8;Isa 53:5;Rom 13:14;2Cor 5:1-4;Zech 3:3-4;Psa 85:2 - the concept of shed blood as a covering for sin. Putting on Christ for the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. 

Gen 3:22,24;Rev 2:7;Rev 22:1-2 - Here we have the tree of life (and water of life - echo of the word or baptism?), but a sacrifice would be required, and from a tree of death would come life Acts 5:30-31.

We have to worship on God's terms not our own - Gen 4:4-7;Hos 4:6;John 4:24;2Tim 2:15;2Tim 3:16-17;2Tim 4:3-4.

3:6 The process that eve went through from seeing to taking is reflected in the behaviour of Achan – Josh 7:21 and David in 2Sam 11:2-4 highlighting that Eve’s problem is common to all mankind.

GUARDS IN THE EAST

When God evicted Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, he wanted to make sure they would not return. It was in Eden that God had planted the tree of life, and God said, "He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live for ever." (Gen 3:22)

To make sure they would not return, God took a precaution. "After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." (v 24) It is interesting that the cherubim were placed only on the east side of the garden of Eden. No doubt Adam and Eve were sent out that way, but it is also interesting that later on, when the Tabernacle was built, the entrance to the tabernacle was always facing the east. It is also interesting that it was from the east that the glory of God came into and left the temple.

Because of Adam's sin, a guard had been placed on our access to God and to life. But through Jesus the east gate will be opened. It has already begun. The curtain with the cherubim woven into them that separated the most holy place and the holy place in the tabernacle and temple also faced the east. At the death of Jesus that curtain with it's images of the cherubim was torn apart opening up the way back to God and giving us the opportunity to gain life. No longer do the cherubim guard the way from the east.

So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence through our faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

3:16    here is reversal of the ‘desire’ seen here when the bride groom sees his bride – Song 7:10 – where the bride is the redeemed ecclesia.

Gen 3:15 First Principles>Promises made to the Fathers

This is the first promise was made when Adam had transgressed God's law in Eden, and revealed that one would be born whom sin would be overcome and through whom all the evil that resulted from sin would be abolished. This person is Jesus Christ, but to learn more about the promises to the Fathers, who are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, go to Gen 12:2.

Gen 4:16-17

“And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch…”

Atheists and Humanists love to use this passage of Scripture to discredit the inspired Word. Up until the death of Abel only four names are mentioned in the narrative account, but when Cain slew Abel and fled to Nod in fear of his life and married, it became obvious that more than just three people existed.

Genesis clearly records that all human beings are descended from one man and one woman. Therefore, there could not have been another race of people extant simultaneously. By comparing Scripture with Scripture, the answer becomes apparent. We read in Gen 4:3 that “In the process (or course) of time, it came to pass…” This tells us that Cain and Abel were born quite some time before Abel was slain. Then in Gen 5:3 we read, “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.” There is no mention of Cain and Abel. Adam is now 130 years old when Eve gave birth to another son, Seth, whom she saw as a “replacement” for Abel (Gen 4:25).

The period from Cain’s birth to Abel’s death may have been 100 years or more, allowing plenty of time for other children to be born of Adam and Eve, and for them to marry and have children. By the time Abel was slain there could well have been a considerable number of descendants involving several generations! This would explain why Cain feared them (Gen 4:14), for a stranger could hardly have cared less about the slaying.

The command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (Gen 1:28) would not have been possible if Adam and Eve had only two sons! The genealogical record of Adam in Gen 5 tells us that Adam “begat sons and daughters.” It would be a real stretch of the imagination to believe Adam never begat daughters before Seth. After all, Cain married a woman - a sister, or niece! The Law forbidding marriage between close relatives was not given until the time of Moses (Lev 18), about 2 ½ thousand years later!

It is testified of Eve that she is the "mother of all living" (Gen 3:20). Eve is unique in that everyone after her was physically created from women, but she was created from man.

Gen 3:11-12

“… Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”

The command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17) was given to Adam before Eve was created. Eve did not get this command directly from God, but was informed of it by Adam (Gen 3:3). Eve, being deceived (1Tim 2:14; 2Cor 11:3), chose to obey the serpent rather than her husband.

Adam, on the other hand, was not deceived (1Tim 2:14), yet chose to identify with his wife, rather than with God. Jesus said: “If any man come to me, and hate (love less) not his…wife…he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Our love and loyalty to God must come first. What a sad testimony of the last words of Adam recorded in Scripture: “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat” (Gen 3:12). Indirectly, he blamed God for his sin!

It is worth noting that his name is excluded from Heb 11, his son, Abel, being the first one listed (verse 4). Instead of being recorded as a man of faith, it was testified of him, “If I covered my transgressions as Adam… (Job 31:33), and, “But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant… (Hos 6:7).

This story is a great tragedy. They had paradise, but lost it. But in all this gloom came the hope of a promised redeemer (Gen 3:15). Paradise lost in Adam will be paradise regained in Christ.

3:16   In saying of Eve that her desire would be towards her  husband the Hebrew is saying that Eve would have a desire to dominate her husband. The very point that Paul picks up – 1Tim 2:12.

Adam's and Eve's responses to God when being questioned about their sin have often been characterized as their "passing the buck" (so to speak) - {Adam to Eve; and Eve to the serpent}. Is this the best way to look at this, or is there another better alternative?

• No, I do not think it means they are “passing the “buck” so to speak
• In Genesis 3:21 it says “the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” 
• We always say this was to show them what death really was, and that their sin required the shedding of blood to open the way for forgiveness. Heb_9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
• Not only that, it is over and over and over again, that identifying oneself with the animal to be slain as a sacrifice so sins could be covered, was to involve CONFESSION (i.e., Lev. 5:5, Lev. 16:21; Nu. 5:7), just as we are to confess our sins – before forgiveness can happen – 1 John 1:9.
• So I believe that what Adam and Eve were doing were NOT passing the “buck”, but just confessing truly because they were so scared, what really happened – in Geneses 3:9-10, Adam responds to God’s question where he is; and then in verse 12 answers God’s (the angel’s) question about eating the tree – he said exactly what happened; in verse 13 the woman is asked, and she said yes, she did, and she related that she was deceived by the serpent; verse 14 – the serpent is not given the opportunity to confess – because he is an animal and didn’t comprehend that.

Gen 3:15-19 Is the background information that helps us understand the words of the Apostle Peter (1Peter 1:19-20).  The prophetic words in Genesis 3, about the work of the Lord Jesus Christ were set out immediately after the fall of Adam and Eve.  Notice the order of events leading to the sentence of death on all mankind. 

Gen 3:14 the serpent was condemned to live on its belly and eat the dust all the days of its life.

v.15 then a deliverer was promised, a descendant of the woman who would overcome the power of sin and death.  It was only after this promise of hope and salvation was made to the first human pair that the judgements of the Lord were passed on the world.

Gen 3:16-19 the foundation of the world that is our daily experience was then set in place, pain in childbearing, suffering, toil, trouble and death. 

1Pet 1:19-20 These verses do not provide evidence that Jesus existed at or before the time of creation. The Apostle Peter recognised the significance of Gen.3:15 when he tells us that Jesus was foreordained (that is, known before hand) before the foundation of the world (the “kosmos” or arrangement of the world).  God did promise Jesus before our world of sin and toil and death came into being.  

Gen 3:7-11,21;Gen 4:1-6 - the leaves did not cover; God, not man, reached out and provided a covering of animal skins (i.e. shed blood) which points to the sacrifice of Christ who was offered for and is a covering for believers sins so believers can be forgiven and thus be reconciled to God; Cain already had the example from his parents experience that vegetation was not acceptable to God; even if Cain didn't know in advance his offering would be rejected and assuming he had no animals, he could have worked out an arrangement with Abel allowing him to properly offer to God.

3:19    ‘For dust thou art’ reminded Adam of his origins as stated inGen 2:7. We do well to remember that our origins are just the same, no matter how important we think we are. There was no more important man on the earth when God said this to Adam.

Gen 4:6,7.

In v. 7, God tells Cain - before his eventual murder of his brother Abel - "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." (N.I.V.) In what sense is the word "sin" being used here, and what is God really telling Cain to do?

There are a couple of decent possibilities: the first one somewhat more straightforward than the second. Here goes -

1. God in His foreknowledge would know what was in Cain's heart - his desire to rid himself of his brother by murdering him due to his jealousy over God's acceptance of Abel's offerings over his own. So in the second half of v. 7 God tells him if you do not do what is right (i.e. in offering an acceptable sacrifice to me), then sin is crouching at your door (i.e. like a wild animal), it desires to have you, but you must master it. That is, your one sin has already produced another in your mind and will potentially lead to the grave sin of murdering your own brother unless you do something about it now.

2. The Hebrew word for "sin" is "chattath", and according to what I have read, it is translated 169 times as "sin" and 116 times as "sin offering". Notice also that in Gen 4:4 it states of Abel that he brought of the "firstlings" (plural) of his flock in contrast to Cain who brought only "of the fruit of the ground" (no reference to it being the firstfruit even). Since the word "chattath" is used close to the same number of times for both sin and a sin offering, would the last part of v. 7, make sense if God is making a reference to a sin offering? Maybe...here's an attempt at a paraphrase if he is speaking of a sin offering.

Cain, you have already sinned in what you have brought before me. But now you have a second chance. If you choose to do what is right, a sin offering has been provided for you (i.e. by your own brother Abel - note the plural in v. 4 - firstlings) and it's crouching at your door. You now have the opportunity to take the animal and offer it and gain acceptance in my sight.

If this 2nd interpretation has any merit, it does fit well with Abel's being a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. For he had brought not only an offering for himself ("firstlings is used later on not only for sin offerings but also for burnt and peace ones as well) but also for his brother. Yet Cain refused to do the right thing on his own and when given a 2nd chance, not only didn't take advantage of it, but chose to commit the monstrous sin of fratricide. In Heb. 12:24 the writer speaks of "Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel." (Compare also Matt 23:35 where Abel's blood is again mentioned by Christ himself). So within this idea is a parable of Christ and the Jews - Christ represented by Abel and his willingness to provide his own brother a means of acceptance before God, and the Jews refusing what Jesus was offering and not only that but putting him to death. "His blood be on us and on our children". And so it was with the Jews of the first century, etc., and likewise was it true of Cain and his descendants.

CAIN, ABEL, & ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE (part 1):

1. Gen 4:2 - Cain was a tiller of the ground like his dad Adam and was looking down to the destiny of natural man which is the grave; in contrast, Abel was a shepherd as a number of holy men have been (John 10:14) and as such would be in a more ready, alert, and prepared posture much like the men God chose for Gideon (Judg 7:4-7).

2. Gen 4:3-4 - Abel offered the firstlings of his flock and the choice fat which was respected by God as was Abel; in contrast, Cain offered some fruit, not necessarily first fruits, best fruits, and not blood (Heb 9:22), it was an offering on Cain's terms in contrast to a cheerful giver (2Cor 9:7) or the poor widow who gave all she had (Mark 12:41-44). We read the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination (Prov 21:27).

3. Gen 4:5 - God didn't respect Cain's offering or Cain. Cain could have made a new more acceptable offering with a renewed dedication but he chose a darker path (1John 2:9) much like Joseph's brothers which echoes the Pharisaic brethren of Jesus who worshipped an inferior offering.

4. Gen 4:6-7 - we need to shut the door to master sin and not allow it an opportunity to enter.

5. Gen 4:8-9 - Cain seems to have premeditated the murder of his brother Abel and when questioned by God he showed no remorse. Like Abel's, Christ's murder was also premeditated by brethren and associated with an offering. Do we do all we can to build up our brethren or do we sometimes allow them to spiritually die, and do we offer life to our neighbors. When we do wrong do we repent or do we rationalize our faults (Jer 17:9)?

6. Gen 3:21 - our sins can be covered or clothed (Isa 61:10) with the sacrifice of Christ but we must seek repentance and select the door of Christ and life versus the door of sin and death (Matt 7:7-8). Cain would wander (Gen 4:12-17 "Nod"<5113> can mean "wandering") much like the Jews in the wilderness and later (Eze 12:15), and we can wander and stumble in darkness off the straight and narrow path of light as well (1John 2:10;Acts 26:18). Believers are to show and share the light not hide it (Matt 5:14-16).

7. Gen 4:10 - the blood of Abel and the prophets cried out for vengeance (Luke 11:47-51) while the blood of Jesus cries out offering believers hope of eternal life (Heb 12:24).

Much of the above gleaned from a talk given by Eric McKelvie June 23, 2013 in Moorestown, NJ, USA.

CAIN, ABEL, & ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE (part 2):

8. Gen 4:25-26 - "Seth"(<8352> can mean "compensation" as for the loss of Abel) had a son Enosh and men around that time began to call on the name of the Lord. The servants shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads in a time of millenial light (Rev 22:3-5). Because of God's love faithful believers should be called the sons of God (1John 3:1-2). We believe in the name of Jesus if we do things pleasing in God's sight, keep Christ's commandments and love one another (1John 3:22-24). Cain is an example of how not to act toward brothers (1John 3:11-12).

9. Gen 4:7 - (NIV) "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?...sin is crouching at your door"

Am I giving an acceptable sacrifice before God? Am I giving God my very best or do I give what I can conveniently spare? Am I stooped over looking down to the grave and unaware of what is going on or am I standing up straight watching and waiting for Christ's return? Do I let my light shine or do I cover it up? Do I properly bear the name of God by doing that which is pleasing in His sight?

Abel was a foreshadowing of the perfect sacrifice Jesus made for faithful believers and by his sacrifice we have opportunity for life if we are doing that which is pleasing in God's sight.

Rev 3:20 - "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

Will we open the door for sin and death or Christ and life?

Much of the above gleaned from a talk given by Eric McKelvie June 23, 2013 in Moorestown, NJ, USA.

Gen 3:8-13

Have you ever played the blame game, “Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?” The objective was to blame someone else as quickly as possible. As kids, we learned early in life how to play the blame game. Today, many of us still play the very popular blame game when we blame others for the decisions we make regarding our own lives. The problem, though, with this game is that no one wins.

The blame game or passing the buck began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Adam indirectly blamed God then the woman, the woman blamed the serpent and God dealt with every one of them individually and it did not work out well for any of them.  As long as they had somebody to blame, they did not look so bad and hoped to avoid personal responsibility. Please note that God did not ask the serpent why he deceived Eve, nor did the serpent have anyone to blame. Unlike humans, animals do not have a moral conscience. The shame of sin often leads us to blame others. We need to stop blaming others for our bad behaviour. Blame is a waste of time, and it will not absolve us from our personal responsibilities.

The blame game, aka, pointing fingers, has broken up countless families. The blame game is nothing short of feeling victimized, blaming others why we cannot behave as brothers and sisters of Christ towards one another, as we are commanded. There are no excuses to play the blame game. Our past mistreatments, real or imagined, are not justifiable excuses. We sometimes forget that we can be difficult too, that we have also sinned, and it is wise to be slow in judging others for their words or actions. Often people who find fault in others seldom find anything else.

We live in a world where people do not want to accept personal responsibility. They do what they do because of somebody else. God held Adam and Eve accountable for their own personal wrong-doings and past judgment on them individually as well as to the serpent.

I cannot over emphasize that we are responsible for our own actions and are without excuse (cf. Rom 1:20). It did not work with Adam and Eve, and it will not work for us. Every human being from all Ages has the testimony God testifies of Himself through Creation and the testimony of our own shortcomings as human beings. We are expected to understand that there are absolutes which we violate. This renders all inexcusable!  We are responsible and accountable for the choices we make (cf. 2Cor 5:10).

Nothing is more unfortunate and upsetting, as when our joy is overtaken by contention and strife. Many of us have gone through a lot of pain and sorrow in life, but made the right choices because we knew that our Heavenly Father would see us through. While it is inevitable that challenging situations and difficult people may come our way, we know that God’s love and power is greater than them all (Acts 8:37-39).

Gen 3

The serpent tempted Adam and Eve in three ways:

1)      The tree had fruits good for food. There were lots of fruits in the garden, but the serpent suggested that the fruits from this one particular tree were far better and catered to the lust of the flesh.

2)      The fruit was pleasant to the eyes. The lust of their eyes made them covetous in wanting more than what God gave or allowed them.

3)      The fruit was desirous to make one wise. They desired to be like God; the temptation dealt with pride.

Adam and Even failed in all these three areas. These three sins represented the areas of sin that affect all of us:

1)      We are more concerned in satisfying our physical needs than obeying God.

2)      Covetousness affects all of us in always wanting more and never being satisfied.

3)      Pride in believing we can attain our own achievements without God.

We read in Matt 4 that Jesus was tempted in all these three areas and succeeded where Adam and Eve failed. The parallels are remarkable and were intended to teach us how to resist both the inner and outer tempters! While Adam was not deceived by the temptations, he did not resist them.

1)      The devil tempted Jesus to satisfy his physical needs (lust of the flesh, vv. vv. 3-4).

2)      The devil tempted Jesus by appealing to covetousness (lust of the eyes, vv. vv. 8-9).

3)      The devil tempted Jesus with the sin of pride (pride of life, vv. 5-6).

Man’s problems began in the paradisiacal garden when Adam and Eve sinned. Jesus, the second Adam (cf. 1Cor 15:45-46), was tempted in all the points (Heb 4:15), was not deceived by the devil's lies, resisted the temptations, and succeeded in the wilderness of sin. He came to restore what the first Adam lost.  For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous (Rom 5:19).

3:16   The way in which Eve was to “sorrow” we see passed upon all the animal creation for god – Job 39:3 – uses the same idea to speak of animals bringing forth their young. Doubtless these two passages provide the basis for Paul’s comment – Rom 8:22 - about creation travailing  in pain.

The irony of God's curse on Cain!  In Gen 4:12 God told Cain that the land he tilled would no longer produce its crops for him.  In Gen 4:20 we are told that the descendants of Cain were 'those who lived in tents and raised livestock'.  So, they became farmers of animals not crops, but way too late for the curse on Cain's family to be lifted and in any case, this family chose not to serve the God who created them but made their own lives away from Him. It also seems that the city Cain built and called Enoch (Gen 4:17) wasn't used by the family in later years for them to 'live in tents and raise livestock'.  Did Cain try being an arable farmer in the land of Nod, and therefore able to live in a city, but found the land unproductive and was then forced to find another source of income for his family, living in tents and wandering about as God said he would?  No answers to these questions I suspect, but interesting thoughts on Cain's life after the curse was put on him.

Gen 2:1 The serpant was a beast of the field, in Gen 1:24 we see there are 3 types of animals, cattle (domesticated) the creeping thing (insects etc) and beast of the field (wild animal) Adam and Eve had become like a wild animal.

Why was Eve on her own? How far away from Adam was she? The garden was a sanctuary but clearly the serpant had overheard Gods instruction to Adam so serpants lived in the Garden? Either way we see perhaps our marriages are stronger and open to less temptation when our help meets are by our sides.

Tree of life.

1/ Isa 61:11 work of christ to glorify God,

2/ Every type of tree was in Garden... so all walks of life can reveal Gods fruit and glory.

3/ Trees grow upright... so shoudl we.

4. Tree of life was to give life for many.. Rev 22:2 many trees sharing one life.

Gen 1:24

Yahweh blocked access to the tree, WHY? It was punishment but in all Gods punishment they is mercy shown if Adam and Eve were to eat of the tree they would have been immortal sinners, surely an everlasting punishment ? The tree of life was now to be a WAY of life the tree of life for us is wisdom by applying the word of life in our lives. Prov 3:17, Prov 11:28, Prov 15:4

Our tree of life is the Lord Jesus Christ, he gives us peace. John 20:26 and he stands in the midst!

If we come to him he wont cast us out John 6:37 and we shall eat of that tree (figurativly) John 6:58

Though man was driven out of the garden,Gen 1:23 man was given a reminder that one day man will return 1Kin 6.and they will be as trees Isa 61:3

Gen 3:4

Surely the worst lie in mans history, "thou shalt not die" even the most unreligous person and the churches around believe something happens when we die, we go floating off into heaven or a reborn. How fortunate are we to beleive in the truth!

Gen 3:8 Adam was scared when faced with death but the second Adam went forth to die.

The serpant wasnt evil or possesed like the churches say, it was created very good like everything else. it was quick in thinking and reasoning its argument to him was vaild, no evilness in that way of thinking. Its only problem was its thinking was carnal it had no moral understanding so when faced with a commandment it invented a lie.

Just as Adam did when he blamed Eve.

Jesus was planned the Logos was there right from the beginning God knew Adam would fail, only the beggoton of God  could succed, Adam was created very good had no natural inclination to sin like us, he had direct instruction from the elohim, yet he still failed to have dominion over the carnal mind. If Adam couldnt do it then what hope have we? Jesus, a man like Adam after the fall yet begotten of God, one with the flesh and all its propensites as we have but a mind so fall of his fathers word he overcame the carnal thinking and refused the tree of knowledge of good and eveil and instead has eaten of the tree of life and who has gained immortality.

That is the one we look to to fill our minds with Gods word that we may TRY and overcome that carnal mind have have dominion over the beasts of the field and one day God willing also eat of that tree!

4:5 It is very often expounded as if it were a scriptural fact that Cain’s issue was that he offered vegetables rather than a meat offering. Yet there is no evidence of this. God tells Cain in v. 7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?” If God was demanding an animal sacrifice would he have not made this clear to Cain. Rather I would think God would want from any of us the fruits of our labour. The issue that God had with Cain’s sacrifice is expanded on in Heb. 11:4 “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.” Cain’s offering was not done in faith. It was not what he was offering it was how he was offering.  God says that sin is couching at the door, in no way can be extrapolated that this was a sin offering.  The fact that the word for sin appears many times in the context of sin offering is because what other word would you use when referring to the sin offering under the law. Many of the offerings under the Law which was to come were not just animal offerings. It is assumed that these were sin offerings  but they could easily have been a tithe offering. Lev. 27:30  33

30     And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD.

31     And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.

32     And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

33     He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

The sin that was truly threatening Cain’s offering may not have been of the best of his produce because he had little regard for the offering and it is this attitude of the heart towards God that was Cain’s downfall.  It would appear that Cain had a jealous heart towards his brother that was made worse in that God accepted Abel’s sacrifice because Abel was more faithful. Micah states it well as do others when he says Micah 6:7-8

7    Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8    He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Or as it states in today’s reading in Ps. 4

        ⁴ Tremble, and do not sin;  Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
        ⁵  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in the Lord.

4:2 Notice that Abel's name is listed first though he is not the first born. This seems to be the beginning of a scritprueal pattern where the first born is not the Godly seed. Also Cain seems to have followed in his father Adam's footsteps and become a tiller of the ground. Gen 2: 15-16
   15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
   16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
 

While Abel became a shepherd which could be seen as walking in the way of Christ. John 10:11
 

   11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
 

2:1   That God “finished” His creative works marks a point when the creation was finished. As His work stopped at this point we cannot accept the time scales of the evolutionist. The reason is that their chronology assumes that things have continued the same from the beginning of time. The end of creation, like the flood, mark a significant discontinuity which renders any assumption abut time based on a continuing process are faulty.

3:14    The word translated “belly” <1512> is only found here and in Lev 11:42. We should see some connection between the punishment on the serpent – namely that it is to move on its belly on the earth with the delineation of unclean beasts

Gen 3:19 After the fall of Adam, God said he was condemned to labour for his daily bread. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread….” .  The word sweat (Strong’s <2188>) occurs only twice in the Old Testament.  The second occasion can be found in Eze 44:16-18.  The sons of Zadok were forbidden to wear garments that would cause them to “sweat” while performing their service in the sanctuary. This divine requirement is antitypical of the time when the Adamic curse is lifted and the sons of Zadok will minister, when the Lord is in the earth.

The work of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us from the bondage of sin and death caused him to “sweat” as it were great drops of blood in Gethsemane (Luke 22:44). His labour, in total obedience to his father's will has made our deliverance possible from the condemnation that fell on our first parents.

THE EVENING STROLL

We often think of the pain, the toil, the shame, the bondage to sin, the suffering and death brought about by the sin of Adam and Eve - but one of the biggest blessings that was lost at that time was the intimate fellowship with God.

It seems a perfectly natural thing that the Lord God should be "walking in the garden in the cool of the day." (Gen 3:8). It is like this day was no different to all the rest where God would enjoy an evening stroll with Adam and Eve, admire the work that Adam had done during the day, where they could relax and enjoy one another's company.

It is the evening stroll that I enjoy most when I get to go out with my wife. No doubt it was the same for Adam, Eve and God... until now.

Because of sin, we are ashamed and hide from God, and the fellowship we might have had is broken.

Jesus began the great work of putting it all right again. The blessings that were lost through Adam and Eve, have been regained and multiplied in Jesus Christ. One of these days, fellowship with God, the quiet stroll in the evening, may become a reality again, when"The dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." (Rev 21:3).

Let's make sure we are there to share beautiful fellowship with our Creator.

GETTING RIGHT

One of the most intriguing things about the story of Cain and Abel, is that we are not told why Abel's offering was accepted but Cain's offering was not. All sorts of ideas have been presented, but the fact remains that the Bible does not actually tell us. All we know is that "the Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour." (Gen 4:4-5)

It is quite significant really, that we are not told, because at times we can all make mistakes or have wrong attitudes that displease God. If we knew the step by step of Cain's wrongdoing, we would only avoid that one mistake without examining our attitudes and actions for anything that might distance us from God. Not only that, but we need to be humble and learn from our mistakes, unlike Cain, who chose to get even instead of getting right.

We have all felt like Cain at some time in our lives. Having had our faults pointed out, we feel like getting mad instead of getting right.

So, no matter what our circumstances or our faults, let's choose to respond in a way that pleases God.

3:15    The bruising of the head of the serpent is alluded to many times in the rest of Scripture. One place which speaks of the priesthood of a risen Jesus is Psa 110:5

Gen 2:4 Notice here that the heavens and earth have been reversed. We also see the the memorial name used for the first time. In these chapters we see mans influence on the earth it wasnt good!

I watched David Attenoughs planet earth over the last few weeks, he mentioned that mans cities have "bought together day and night making light and dark closer" (having a diverse effect for animals) scripture tells us we must seperate darkness from light (spiritually) yet today man is bringing the two together! We must also bring earth closer to heaven in our way of thinking but through Adam and the events of Gen 2 they seperated heaven and earth, the division gets wider today.

Gen 2:8

Plant is better translated TRANSPLANT. Adam was created outside the garden and taken into the garden and planted there. Isa 5:2 1Cor 3:6-11 So are we he puts us into an enclosed area where he cares for us.

Gen 3:10

Mans first reaction to sin, fear/shame/concealment. Thats how man deals with sin, we fear the outcome, we feel ashamed for what we have done, then we try and cover up what we have done so noone notices. We dont get forgivness that way in fact this is an evil concience. We should not react this way when we sin we should first remember Gods love 1John 4:18  and replace fear with love. The father teaches compassion on those that fail 1John 3:17 we should be confident that God will forgive 1John 3:21 how many times do we think we dare not approach him?

Daniel shows the example Dan 10:12

Gen 3:22

“And the LORD God (Yahweh Elohim) said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil…”

The fact that Adam and Eve became like the angels to know good and evil, does not mean the angels at some time experienced evil. There is nothing wrong in knowing good and evil - attaining knowledge, and understanding of it is actually a good thing (cf. Job 28:28; Prov 21:16; Luke 2:52). In context, Yahweh already told Adam not to eat from the tree of life and warned him of the dire consequences. Adam knew the consequences, but did not understand the consequences of his willful disobedience in thinking he would be like a god. Instead, he became a sinner by nature, as did Eve.

Yahweh did not want Adam and Eve to know evil in the sense of participating in it. Parents want their children to know what is good and what is evil; they don’t want them to have to experience it to know it. Is the only way to know evil by participating in it? The angels know, yada, # <3045> good and evil, but this doesn’t mean that at some time in the past they participating in it. Yada carries with it a variety of applications, “knowledge, learned, understand,” and “used in a great variety of senses.” Likewise, in the Greek we have the equivalent, ginosko # <1097>. It too comes with “a great variety of applications and with many impl[ications], be aware, perceive, understand” (cf. Mark 6:38 cp. Matt 1:25).

Adam and Eve knew all the good around them, everything was very good, but they did not understand the consequences of disobedience. Adam and Eve’s mistake was to place their faith in the words of the serpent rather than the Words of Yahweh. The door of faith which they exited must be re-entered, and that is faith in Yahweh’s Words through the Christ door.

Gen 3

Why Did Adam Sin?

“ADAM was in the ‘very good’ state before he sinned. He was not in the state his descendants are in. They are heirs of death: he was not. They have the sentence of death ‘in themselves’ (2Cor 1:9): he had not. Paul had to say, ‘sin dwelleth in me’—‘I see a law in my members warring against the law of my mind’ (John 7:17,23). Adam could not have said this. You ask then, why did he sin? You will see the answer if you consider what his sin was, and what were the motives that led him to fall into it. He ate of the forbidden tree because Eve believed on the positive assurance of the serpent that it would make them wiser than they were, and place them on a level of equality with the elohim (Gen 3:5,6).

It was what men call a good motive acting with a wrong belief. They had not had that experience that would have taught them that the word of God must be true. A want of knowledge through a lack of experience left them open to believe that the suggestion of the serpent might be correct, and that they would ascend to a higher plane of being by eating the fruit which they were forbidden to touch. Sin, as disobedience, arose in their case from a wrong opinion concerning a matter of lawful desire, and not from what Paul calls ‘sin in the flesh’. It became sin in the flesh when it brought forth that sentence of death that made them mortal, and all their children with them: that is, this sentence, passed because of sin, affected their bodily state and implanted in their flesh a law of dissolution that became the law of their being. As a law of physical weakness and death, it necessarily became a source of moral weakness.

That which originated in sin became a cause of sin in their posterity, and therefore accurately described by Paul as ‘sin in the flesh’. It may shock you to think that such a condition attached to the Lord Jesus in the days of his flesh. But there is no cause where a full enlightenment prevails. He partook of our very nature that in him it might be redeemed or perfected. He did no sin, but he was physically ‘made sin for us who knew no sin’. He was sent forth in the likeness of sinful flesh that sin might be condemned in him: that through death he might destroy that having the power of death. It is so testified (2Cor 5:21; Rom 8:3; Heb 2:14), and we have nothing to do but believe the testimony, even if we could not see through it. But, in point of fact, reason discovers a sublime beauty in this the highest of the works of God with man.” – Robert Roberts

(Emphasis added)

Robert Roberts explains how Christ’s very mortality brought with it the sentence of death on him and on all of Adam’s posterity (cf. Matt 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-38). To believe otherwise, is to deny Christ's mortality, and if he wasn't mortal, he did not die! How dangerous to believe in the Clean Flesh Theory! Consider why babies die never having committed sin, but, as Adam's posterity, they have sin in the flesh, and the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23)!

3:19    The ‘sweat’ that Adam was to bring forth was a consequence of ‘hard labour’ by contrast the priests in the temple in the kingdom will be serving God – hence they were not to wear garments which produced ‘sweat’ – Eze 44:18

Gen 4:1 we come across the first use of the Name Yahweh here.

Rotherham translates Eves statement as I have gotten a man even Yahweh, Eve used these words because she believed her firstborn was a fulfilment of Gen 3:15. Eve was fully aware from what she had been told in Gen 3:15 that through her seed would come Gods son, and Gods son would be god in man 

see notes on Exo 6:2-3

Gen 4:2-4 Abel was a shepherd and brought the firstlings of his “flock” (<6629>) i.e. sheep or goats, as sacrifices to the LORD (Yahweh). His sacrifice included a particular feature “and the fat thereof”.  When we read the Law given to Moses (Lev 3:6-9) “the fat thereof” was a special feature of the peace offering. All the fat was to be included in the offering, it was a sweet savour to the LORD (Lev 3:16). This suggests that Abel’s offering was a peace offering to the LORD.  The peace offering, with certain additions of cakes could become a thanksgiving offering (Lev 7:11-12).  Abel’s peace offering predates the Law of Moses and so suggests he and his brother Cain were instructed in what the LORD required of them. Cain was told if he did well his offering would have been accepted if not sin was at his door (Gen. 4:6-7).

We have been instructed in what the LORD requires of us, so we must be careful not to choose to do things our own way. 1Cor 11:23-26 ; Matt 6:33 ; Mic 6:8.

4:3-4  Whilst there are differences between the sacrifices that Cain and Abel brought we know that the reason why God had respect to one and not the other does not relate to the sacrifices but rather to the attitude of the ones making the sacrifices Heb 11:4says that the missing element in Cain was faith.

Gen 4:4

Matt 23:24, Heb 11:4, & 1John 3:12 confirm that Abel’s sacrifice witnessed him as righteous.  This places him in the same company as Joseph, Matt 1:19; Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luke 1:6; Simeon, Luke 2:25; Lot, 2Pet 2:7; and others.

***Gen 3:4-5  - the serpent mixed a lie with the truth

***Gen 3:6 - the exercise of free will

***Gen 3:12,13 - passing the buck

***Gen 3:14 - serpents (not a supernatural devil) were punished, the KJV has no mention of "devil" in the Old Terstament though three times it mentions "devils" referring to idols

***Gen 3:16 - prior to Adam's sin he had an animal like innocence regarding sin, after Adam's sin he had an inclination to sin, we don't inherit Adam's sin, rather, we inherit Adam's inclination to sin which Christ who was tempted in all points as we are overcame (Heb 4:15)

***Gen 3:16-19 - the consequences of sin

***Gen 3:17,18 - reminds me of Christ being on the tree with thorns

***Gen 3:22 - "man has now become one of us" ("us" would refer to God and the angels knowing good and evil)

***Gen 4:1-2 - first the natural (the darkness of Cain) then the spiritual (the light of Abel); Abel echoes the Good Shepherd.

***Gen 4:7 - sin is personified

***Gen 4:9 - "Where<335>" can also mean "how"

***Gen 4:9 - some nerve it took for Cain to lie even to God (or the angel representing God).

***Gen 4:17, 22 - building a city and making tools represents the explosion of human innovation. Additionally, perhaps this suggests that evolutionary thinking regarding man having existed much longer than 6000 years would put unrealistic limits on man's potential for innovation.

***Gen 4:20 - Jabal (unlike Abel) wasn't murdered and thus could pass on animal husbandry.

4:16    That Cain dwelt in “Nod” – that is “wandering” highlights the restless nature of his existence which is alluded to by Jude – Jude 1:13

3:24the way in which access to the Garden of Eden contrasts with the “open door” – Rev 3:8

Gen 3:24

A reader writes: “i notice in genesis chapter 3 verse 24.he drove out when adam and eve were expelled from the garden of eden.the word DROVE WHICH IS 1644 IN STRONGS HEbrEW (GARASH) MEANS TO EXPATRIATE OR DIVORCE IE DIVORCED WOMAN OR PUT AWAY.EXAMPLE LEVITICUS 21 VERSE 6 TRANSLATED PUT AWAY VERSE I4 DIVORCED WOMAN.SO FROM GENESIS 3 IN THE WISDOM OF YAHWEH HE INSTITUTED DIVORCE KNOWING ALL THINGS AS TO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AFTER THE TRANGRESSION IN EDEN.”
My reply: As to Yahweh’s omniscience, this is a not debatable. Regarding Gen 3:24, based on the word “drove,” you conclude that a divorce took place. Who divorced who? To conclude this from the word, “garash,” baffles me, and does not fit the context of this chapter, that, in fact, what occurred here was after Adam and Eve sinned, they were driven out of the Garden away from the Tree of Life. There was no complete “cutting off,” which is what divorce is, of the marital bond as evidenced by the subsequent chapters. “Drove,” “garash,” # <1644>, “… to drive out from a possession… divorced (woman)… thrust out… put away.” Garash is used in Gen 4:14 in regards to Cain who was driven away after he murdered his brother, Abel! We can see that Strong’s Concordance’s entry for garash as referring to divorce, specifically a, “divorced (woman)” is inaccurate! Sent away or put away is never used in Hebrew to mean “divorce.” Then, in Gen 21:10, garash is used for “cast out.” The context has to do with Sarah demanding Abraham send away Hagar and Ishmael. Did Abraham divorce her? How? We read in v. 14, that the following morning he provided provisions for Hagar and his son, “and sent her away…” “Sent,” is # 7971, shalach! While Sarah wanted Hagar driven away forcefully (garash), Abraham sent her away gently (shalach). Clearly, garash is not about divorce, but about being expelled or banished, regardless of the gender. This applies also to Lev 21:7, “put away,” is garash. There was no law for divorce prior to it being given in Deut 24:1-4 by Yahweh through Moses.

“Put away” in Gen 35:2; 1Sam 15:6; 2Chron 35:15 Judg 10:16, etc. is # <5493>, suwr, and is not interpreted as, “divorce.” We need to be very careful, as to which is which, and examine the context! Hebrew makes the distinction very clear. We are at a disadvantage with English translations wherein the translators like to add colour to a black and white picture! In the Hebrew, put away/send away is not used in connection with divorce, but about either a forceful or civil departure! 

In Jer 3:8; ‘put away” is # <7971>, “shalach” “divorce” is # <3748>, “keriythuwth.” “Divorcement” in Deut 24:1,3 is keriythuwth. “Send her out” in these verses is # <7971>, shalach. Isa 50:1, “divorcement” is keriythuwth. Having established that in Hebrew two different words have different meanings, we come to Mal 2:16, For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away…”Putting away” is # <7971>, shalach, which in Strong’s is not interpreted to be divorce (keriythuwth), yet we find translators interpreting it as such!

We see the same thing happening in the New Testament wherein “put away,” # <630>, apoluo, and divorcement # <647>, apostasion, two very different Koine Greek words, clearly with different meanings, are interpreted to be one and the same thing by some. “[why did] Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement (<647>), and to put her away (<630>),” Matt 19:7? Why would they ask this if divorce existed already back in Gen 3? To “put away” is one thing, to “divorce” is quite another.

Strong’s Concordance is an invaluable resource to studying the Bible, but we still have to keep in mind that information sourced from it is not infallible, and necessitates our searching and studying the root meaning of the words both in Hebrew and Greek; comparing Scripture with Scripture. Thus, we draw our conclusions ultimately from the Bible. Dr. James Strong was a Methodist Theologian, Professor of Exegetical Theology. As brilliant as he was, he did not have the Truth! Therefore, it remains that we must be able to discern right from wrong, know the difference between right and almost right and use proper Biblical judgment.

Gen 3:24

A reader further writes: "ELPIS ISREAL PAGE 252 UNDER THE SECTION THE ALLEGORY.SINCE THE EXPULSION OF ISRAEL BY THE ROMANS JERUSALEM AND HER CHILDREN ARE IN THE SITUATION OF HAGAR AND HER SON WHILE WANDERING IN THE WIDERNESS OF BEERSHEBA .SHE IS DIVORCED FROM THE LORD AS HAGAR WAS FROM AbrAHAM AND BEING DESOLATE SHE SITS UPON THE GROUND AND BEWAILS HER WIDOWHOOD.BUT THERE IS TO BE A RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.”

My reply: Brother John Thomas explains at the onset that what he is about to write is an allegory. It is in this context that we must interpret what he writes. To speak in an allegory is to speak by implying something else. It is a metaphor. Metaphors convey hidden, not so hidden, or complex meanings through symbolic imagery creating a moral, spiritual or political meaning in conveying messages. Yahweh, Himself, speaks allegorically about His relationship with Israel (Jer 3:8)! By Brother Thomas' speaking in terms of an allegory, he is not implying that Abraham literally divorced Hagar. The apostle Paul spoke in allegorical, not in literal terms, as Hagar having represented Mount Sinai in Arabia, which answers to Jerusalem in bondage with her children.

In Gal 4:22-31, cast out in v. 30 is # <1544>, “drive out, expel, send away...” Paul did not use <630>, apoluo, sent, but the Greek word, ekballo, which in the Hebrew is equivalent to garash, as opposed to <7971>, shalach. Garash is used in Gen 3:24; Lev 21:7. The wife was forcefully sent away! These verbs in both Hebrew and Greek are not about divorce.