Sermon Tone Analysis

*Genesis 3:1… *Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.

And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

 

*Commentary*

            Immediately following the first marriage between man and woman and their subsequent placement in the Garden of Eden, the embodiment of sin appeared on the scene.

Lucifer (the “shining one”) is said to have been an anointed cherub who was in Eden, and in both Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 he is said to be the power behind the various pagan kings who oppose the Almighty God.

When God looked out over His creation and declared it “very good” in Gen. 1:31 it was just that, but the potential for sin was just around the corner as this fallen angel sought his chance to rule.

Lucifer’s fall from heaven had already occurred by the time the events of Genesis 3 had transpired, and like a lion on the prowl seized his opportunity to pounce on the prey: Eve.

The word for “serpent” here (also “snake” or “viper”) is representative of all snakes in the beginning.

The serpent is said to be “crafty” – a word that is synonymous with “clever.”

It pertains to being tricky and cunning with a focus on evil treachery (cf.

Job 5:12; 15:5).

This serpent was /more/ cunning than any “beast of the field” created by God.

Now the beasts of the field were originally created on the sixth day of creation in Genesis 1:24.

On that day God also created the cattle and the creeping things.

In the modern day snakes are equated with “creeping things,” but in the beginning they were apparently grouped in with the “beasts of the field” (lions, tigers, dinosaurs, etc.).

The fact that the serpent is made to “crawl on his belly and eat dust all the days of his life” (Gen.

3:14) as the curse for successfully tempting the woman to sin shows that the serpent was not originally created as a slithering “creeping thing.”

Furthermore, his ability to speak shows that either the serpent was originally given this ability (more crafty than the beasts of the field), or that it was simply a metaphysical occurrence with Satan speaking through it.

The fact that the serpent was cursed gives credibility to the distinct possibility that it /could/ speak in the beginning.

Certainly there was no problem in Eve’s mind as she carried on a conversation with this serpent.

She was either ignorant to the fact that he wasn’t supposed to be speaking, or she was alert to the reality that this was a normal occurrence.

Revelation 12:9 reveals that the serpent is indeed Satan (“the accuser”), the fallen cherub Lucifer (“shining one”).

His words in Genesis 3:1 show how cunning he really is: “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

Satan shrewdly attempted to plant doubt in Eve’s mind about God with this subtle question.

God had said, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat” (2:16-17), but Satan’s version contradicted the point as he attempted to show how God /restricts,/ and he cast suspicion on God’s goodness.

It was Satan’s goal to rule (Isaiah 14:13-14), and he apparently saw the woman as his best opportunity to gain that power.

*Food for Thought*

            The first step into sin was doubt.

Eve began to doubt God’s goodness from a creature that planted a question in her mind about God.

It’s no different today, for all who ignore God or blaspheme His name do so because they doubt His goodness (and His existence).

What things or people have placed doubts in your mind about God? Do you see Him as restrictive or even evil?

Like a parent who won’t allow his children to play with matches or guns because they’re unsafe, so is our God who places restrictions on us for our own good.

Thank Him for that instead of questioning His goodness, whether you understand it or not.

Remember that the freedoms God gives far outweigh the restrictions.

Both are given to us out of love and for our happiness.

*Genesis 3:2-3…* And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’”

 

*Commentary*

            After Satan had planted a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind, causing her to doubt God’s goodness in Genesis 3:1, she revealed what she knew and what she believed about the freedom and prohibition originally given to Adam in 2:16-17 about the fruit of the trees.

In analyzing her response, there are at least three problems in the above passage.

First, she /omitted/ from God’s command.

God had told Adam in 2:16 that he could freely eat from /all/ the trees in the garden, save one.

Eve omits the word “all” when she says, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat…” This may show that she was already beginning to doubt God’s goodness.

Second, in v. 3, she recounts the /restriction/ of God that they not eat of the tree in the middle of the garden.

She puts greater emphasis on the restriction and little to no emphasis on the great freedom to eat from /all/ the rest of the trees.

In doing this, Eve makes no attempt to defend God’s goodness but goes along the path of doubt the devil is leading her down.

Finally, she /added/ to God’s words.

Whereas God had told Adam not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in 2:16, Eve adds, “…or touch it.”

God made no such prohibition, and the fact that Eve adds this phrase reveals that she had apparently already begun to feel that the restriction was a bit harsh.

Since she thought it was harsh already, she just added to the harshness of it.

The seed of doubt that Satan had planted was not only in rich soil in Eve’s mind, it was growing too.

The Bible clearly speaks about the dangers and the futility of adding and~/or subtracting from God’s Words (cf.

Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32, Proverbs 30:5-6; Matthew 15:6-9, Revelation 22:18-19).

Eve both /added/ to God’s Words and /subtracted/ from them because she did not completely trust in them.

Satan indeed came to the right person when he began his wicked scheme to take away from man what God had given over to him.

It’s as if he clearly knew that he couldn’t take it from God, but he had a hunch he could take it from man.

Once God made man in His Own image and gave him dominion over His creation, Satan pounced, and he went straight to the weaker vessel who was seemingly already doubting God’s goodness.

If the Garden of Eden was as large as many scholars believe, and given that there was only one tree that was forbidden, why was Eve so close to that one forbidden tree?

Her doubt of God’s goodness, and her lust for that which was forbidden led her into sin.

It’s just as James said: /“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’

For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death”/ (1:13-15).

Eve’s sin was conceived when she doubted God, because it was then that she subtracted from God’s words.

Then she subsequently added to them.

It all began when she was standing around in the one place she shouldn’t have been.

*Food for Thought*

            What do you believe about God’s Word as found in the Bible?

Do you take it with a grain of salt?

Do the traditions of men override God’s Words for you?

There are many passages in the Scriptures that are difficult to obey because they’re passages that tend to rub us the wrong way.

However, the weakness that led to sin in Eve’s life is also the very weakness that leads to sin today: adding to and subtracting from God’s Words because we doubt their truthfulness.

Man did it and led the human race into sin.

Let that be a reminder to us of the seriousness of God’s Word.

*Genesis 3:4-5…* And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die!” 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

*Commentary*

            After Eve displayed her ability to doubt God by both adding to and subtracting from His commands in vv.

2-3, the serpent become keenly aware of the fact that he had her right where he wanted her.

In v. 3 Eve admits that she is aware of the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit.

Even though the command to abstain from it was originally given to Adam without Eve being present, Eve had obviously been informed and knew the directive.

She wasn’t ignorant.

Now the serpent lowers the boom.

He moved from suggesting that God was restricting her full freedom to a boldface contradiction of God’s directive.

Whereas God promised Adam would die if he partook of the fruit of the forbidden tree, the serpent said otherwise.

This is the first lie in the Bible, and it’s what Jesus referred to in John 8:44 when he spoke of Satan as the father of lies.

Satan’s statement, “You surely shall not die!” is the first lie, and it not only insults the goodness of God, it also calls God’s character into question by calling Him a liar.

Verse 5 is the serpent’s explanation to Eve as to why God lied to her.

It’s almost as if Satan saw the woman’s head tilt in curiosity.

She, however, gives no defense of God’s character, and like a fish toying with bait in the water she followed the serpent’s reasoning not knowing that the hook would pierce her soul, her husband, and every life that would come from her (all humans).

The serpent falsely told her that God’s prohibition of the one tree in the garden was to keep her from being like God.

He said that just eating the forbidden fruit would open her eyes and make her just like God – knowing good and evil.

Satan was attempting to make God out to be some jealous God who doesn’t want anyone to be like Him lest they be a threat to Him.

Once he was able to plant this seed of doubt about God’s impeccable character and sovereign holiness, he was able to expound on the lie that God’s love is defective, and His character is flawed.

Satan knows that God tolerates no rivals (cf.

Isaiah 42:8).

He of all created beings knows this, and he also knew that he himself could not prevail upon God, his creator.

So he took his knowledge of God and preyed upon one whose knowledge wasn’t so great, namely Eve and then Adam.

They fell for it hook, line, and sinker, and in so doing handed over what God had given to them to Satan.

It’s why Satan could offer it all to Christ if he would only bow to him (Matt.

4:9).

Edward J. Young, in commenting on Genesis 3, sarcastically says this: “Modern psychology, we can hear the tempter saying, has brought to light the deep recesses of the human soul.

That soul is a very tender thing, and to restrain and bind it by the imposition of the categorical law is to harm it.

The soul should be free to develop and to express itself, and this it can do only through freedom and love.