Blame it all on her! (Eve)

Just a quick note to let you know we have much to be thankful for -- our friend and sister in Christ, Carole, is recovering well from her surgery! Thank you to everyone who joined us in prayer for her!

 

Also, a note to Jessica Munden, who commented on our last post - thank you for stopping by. I wasn't able to respond to you directly, because your settings are on no-reply, but I wanted to let you know that you are appreciated. So glad you are participating in our studies!

 

Imagine with me if you will . . .

Imagine that you've just opened your eyes to a lovely morning; the dew is glistening on the soft, lush grass, and on the flowers around you. The trees arching overhead shield you from the sun, but its rays are peeking through and warming your skin. You don't have a stitch of clothing on, but you are neither embarrassed nor are you looking around for any to put on.

It's time to stretch, and rise, and walk about in the beautiful garden that is your home. Your husband is walking beside you, and he snaps a cluster of grapes off the vine at his shoulder, and hands it to you -- both to satisfy your hunger and sate your thirst, for these are grapes at their best; they are firm and juicy and full of flavor.

All of the flowering plants and vegetables that you see are ripe and healthful, and the animals pause to gaze at your solemnly as they stop grazing to watch you choose your breakfast. Laughing, you and your husband race to the pool formed by the stream; rippling over the waterfall, it fills the pool with cool, clear water, and a refreshing swim is a wonderful after-breakfast activity.

Soon, you hear a Voice, calling to you from nearby in the garden. You are not ashamed, but welcome the opportunity to walk and talk with your Friend (and Creator) again.

This is the idyllic world that Eve found herself in. "No worries" wasn't something they needed to say, because they had no idea what "worry" was. At this time, they didn't know what embarrassment was, or misunderstanding, or hurt, or envy, bitterness, grief, or guilt. Husband and wife had all that they needed and wanted; there was nothing that was not supplied for them. They walked with God, and they talked with Him face to face. He came down to talk with them in the cool of the day.

One day they ate a meal that would turn out to be a very costly one. It may have been one of the most expensive meals in history.
Let's dive in!

Our passage is the entire third chapter of Genesis. It's lengthy, so I'm asking that you read it and think on it, and we'll study next time.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
    and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. ²² And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” ²³ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴ 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.