Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
Note: For more information relevant to this present passage of Genesis three, see the accompanying Appendix (PDF download) that deals with the following topic: Was There Death Before the Fall?
1. How is the serpent described in Genesis 3:1 (printed below?) How is this trait expressed (contrast God’s command recorded in Genesis 2:16-17, printed below, with the devil’s question to Eve?)
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field that Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1)
And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, From every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) but you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17)
The serpent (as he is employed by the devil) is described as being “more subtle than any beast of the field that Jehovah God had made” (3:1). The first thing the devil does is seek to disorient Eve and throw her into confusion. The Lord’s command is very clear and straightforward: “And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, From every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) but you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). But the devil’s initial question to Eve is very vague and elusive: “Now the serpent … said to the woman, Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1)
2. In what way does the devil contradict God? Compare God’s command (given in Genesis 2:16-17 printed above) with the devil’s statement in Genesis 3:4 (printed below). What is the devil implying about man’s relationship to God?
But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die (Genesis 3:4)
God had expressly declared to Adam, “in the day that you eat of (the forbidden tree) you shall surely die.” The devil contradicts God’s word by falsely assuring Adam and Eve, “you shall not surely die.” The devil implies that man is independent of God our Creator. According to the devil, God may declare that you will surely die as a consequence of disobeying His Word, but such is not the case. The devil is falsely assuring Adam and Eve that they have an existence that is independent from God and God is not able to carry out His threat, He can’t touch you. But in contrast to the devil’s lie, note Acts 17:28 where the apostle Paul tells us, “in him (God) we live and move and have our being.”
3. What were the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience? Note, especially Genesis 3:7-16 (printed below)
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (8) Then they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves among the trees of the garden from the presence of Jehovah God. (9) And Jehovah God called to the man, and asked, Where are you? (10) And the man said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself. (11) And Jehovah God said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree, the one of which I commanded you not to eat? (12) And the man said, The woman whom you gave me to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of that tree, and I ate. (13) And Jehovah God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. (14) And Jehovah God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed beyond all cattle, and beyond every beast of the field; upon your belly shall you crawl, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. (15) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (16) To the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing: in pain you shall give birth to children; and your desire shall be for your husband, but he shall rule over you. (Genesis 3:7-16)
The relationships the Lord intended for the man were tragically destroyed. The horizontal relationship between man and man was now characterized by shame (compare Genesis 3:7, which describes their naked condition after their sin, with Genesis 2:25, which describes their naked condition before their sin), accusation (Genesis 3:12) and conflict (Genesis 3:16). The vertical relationship between man and God was now characterized by alienation, guilt and fear. Verses 8-10 become a preview of the last judgment. The Lord God comes visibly into the midst of His creation (verse 8). The Lord summons man to appear before Him (verse 9) and man is compelled to appear (verse 10). The Lord systematically pronounces sentence against each of the offenders.
4. Compare the Lord’s act as described in Genesis 3:21 (printed below) with Adam and Eve’s previous act described in Genesis 3:7 (printed below).
And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife garments made of skins, and so he clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (Genesis 3:7)
The Lord demonstrated His mercy and His desire for man’s salvation when He made a covering for Adam and his wife. Earlier, they had futilely sought to make their own covering out of fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). But now the Lord, in His mercy, gives His divine provision (Genesis 3:21)—a provision that required substitutionary sacrifice. Note Hebrews 9:22b, (“without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”) and 1 Peter 1:18-19 (“you were redeemed…with the precious blood of Christ.”)
5. Explain how the sentence of judgment the Lord pronounced against the serpent (see Genesis 3:15 printed below) contained the promise of the gospel for Adam and Eve.
Addressing the serpent, Jehovah said: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)
Contained within the sentence of judgment the Lord pronounces upon the serpent there is the promise of the incarnation: the Savior will be of the offspring of the woman. Here is also the promise of salvation by the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ the Savior: the serpent shall bruise the Savior’s heel. In one sense, that was a deathblow because a venomous serpent normally strikes his victim in the heel. In another sense, that was a non-lethal blow, being only a blow to the heel and not to the head. Finally, here is the promise of complete victory and salvation: the Savior shall crush the serpent’s head (a fatal blow).
