City Life Starter

By Megan Meier

The Word

^“1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?’ ² And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’’ ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ ⁶ So 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ⁸ And 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… ²¹ And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

Genesis 3:1-8, 21 (ESV)

Reflection

In healthcare, we have a phrase called, “stop the line” if a co-worker is about to do something that could potentially harm the patient (keep in mind, no healthcare worker ever intends to cause harm to a patient), like give a medication they are allergic to, give treatment to the wrong patient, or amputate the wrong limb (I wish I made that up). Someone says “Stop the line” and the situation analyzed. This prevents big problems, even disaster, later. Adam and Eve did not wake up that morning and say, “Let’s disobey God and mess up everything for our descendants.” It was a series of choices that lead down that destructive path. 

First, the serpent questioned what God said (v. 1), a very common tactic of the enemy. We can’t prevent Satan from whispering suggestions, but we can properly arm ourselves with a thorough knowledge of God’s Word.

Second, Eve misinterpreted God’s Word. She said God forbade them from eating the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, but there were two trees in the middle (Genesis 2:9), the forbidden tree and the tree of life. A stranger to the Garden would have asked which one? Then Eve added to God’s Word (v. 2), God only said do not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17), He said nothing about not touching it (although abstaining from the tree entirely would have been a good idea). Did Eve intentionally add this condition or misinterpret God’s Word? Misinterpretations of God’s Word is a weak spot the enemy can and will take advantage of (and in many terrible ways, he already has).

Third, the serpent mixed a lie with the truth to make the sin look appealing (v. 4-5), a partial truth is no truth at all. Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened to the knowledge of good and evil when they ate the fruit, but their relationship with God would die and they would later die a physical death.

Fourth, instead of running from the serpent and the forbidden tree, Adam and Eve stood right there, desiring what they were not to have.

And fifth, Adam was next to Eve during the whole interaction with the serpent and he failed to protect his wife. He would later partake of eating the fruit as well.

In each of these five situations, the line could have been stopped and disaster averted.  

Like the emperor in The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen (a good story where if someone had the courage to stop the line, a huge problem would have been prevented), Adam and Eve became aware of their vulnerability. They knew they did wrong, and when they heard God in the Garden, they hid from Him. But it’s not possible to hide from God. After a series of curses were declared because of their disobedience, God clothed them in skins, the very ones of their animal friends. God’s children will be constantly reminded of the heavy price to be paid for sin, as we’ll learn next week. 

Application

The path of sin isn’t typically a one-and-done deal, it’s a series of choices, one sin slowly snowballs after another until it becomes a full-blown avalanche. Every single choice leads to a path. What kind of path are you on? Do you need to “stop the line” in your life? How will you do it? Start with studying the Absolute Truth in the Bible, anything contradictory to it is a lie. If there is something in the Word that is confusing you, don’t let it slide, keep researching and seek answers from those more knowledge of Scripture. And it’s not too late to join the Hermeneutics class we’re offering at church!

Prayer

            Dear Lord, grant me the wisdom to thoroughly examine my life for any sin that needs to be purged, and the courage to do it. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.