His Grace in the Fall

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. ⁹  But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰  And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹  He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹²  The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³  Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴  The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
 cursed are you above all livestock
 and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
 and dust you shall eat
 all the days of your life.
¹⁵  I will put enmity between you and the woman,
 and between your offspring^[e] and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
 and you shall bruise his heel.”

“The contrast between human life inside and outside the garden depends on the pivotal episode in Eden, where sin makes its first appearance; disobedience impacted three areas of human experience: (1) the relationship of man to God, (2) the relationship of man to the environment, and (3) interpersonal relationships within the human family. Before the ruinous entry of sin, these three relationships were intact....Chapter 3, however, surprises the reader by introducing an unforeseen character in the garden. That this serpent will impact the first couple for ill is hinted at from the outset: he is “more crafty” (3:1) than the other beasts. By a play on words, there is a linkage between 2:25 (“naked,” ‘ārûmmîm) and 3:1 (“crafty,” ‘ărûm). The subsequent narration reveals that the harmony once known in the garden is shattered. (1) The garden, which once offered a setting of repose with God for the first couple, now is transformed into a hideout for the inept pair. (2) The subservient Eden suddenly declares war against its caretaker, forcing the man into the toilsome task of controlling his threatening environment. Not only does the ground oppose its human lord, but now there is enmity between the woman and the animal world, as shown by the serpent's guile. (3) Finally, the human family itself experiences the poison of the first sin. The solace of companionship turns to competition and confusion. The bliss and life of paradise in chap. 2 is matched by suffering and threat of death in chap. 3. Yet God reveals his grace in the midst of his judgment by preserving their lives. There is hope in the birth of the woman's seed (3:15), and God takes steps to clothe and protect the couple from the harshness of their new environment (3:21). The promise of blessing (1:28) will continue, but not in the garden. The man and woman no longer dwell in the garden where the “tree of life” is accessible; divine retribution expels them to the wiles of the “east side of the Garden of Eden”

“The fall of man was due to the love of knowledge and of wisdom. Satan is employing the same tactic today in order to retain the believer's soul as his operative center.”