The beginning of marriage and Sin
Genesis 2:8-9 The Lord God planted a garden toward the East, in Eden and there
He
placed man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow
every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life
also in the
midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:16-17 The Lord God commanded the man saying, From any tree of the
garden you may freely eat but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
you
shall not eat, for in the day that you shall eat of it, you shall surely die.
I have no idea how many trees there were in the garden of Eden. But let’s just
imagine
there were 1,000 trees in the garden of Eden. God would allow Adam to pick from
any
999 trees. Man had so many choices that he would never get tired of eating the
same
thing. There was no problem avoiding one tree when you can choose 999 other trees to
pick
from.
Adam lived in the Garden of Eden with no sin and had a relationship with God
that no
man has since known. Can you imagine hearing God walk through the garden? Even
though he was without sin and God provided abundantly for him, he was
incomplete.
His relationship with God was not enough.
Genesis 2:18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man be alone; I will
make
a help meet for him.
Genesis 2:22-23 The Lord God had fashioned into a woman the rib He had taken
from
man and brought her to the man. The man said, This is now bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.
Genesis 2:25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
The fact that woman was formed out of man was significant. It provided that
connection that was not found either in man’s relationship with God or God’s
creation.
Genesis 3:1 says, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field
which
the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea hath God said ye shall
not eat of every tree of the garden?
How was the serpent subtle?
1. Don’t you think that Satan’s target was Adam? Satan could have gone
directly to the man and provided him with the temptation to sin. He was
subtle in first getting the wife to sin and then using the wife to get
the husband to sin. Satan’s attack in the garden was an attack on
God through marriage and damaging the relationship
Adam had to his wife. Satan’s tactics are much the same today.
2. He was subtle in changing the focus from looking at what God had given
Eve, the 999 trees to choose from, and focusing on what she did not have, the
one tree that was forbidden.
Gen 3:4-5 "The serpent said to the woman, you shall not surely die, 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. "
3. "The devil was subtle in that he uses God’s words but changes the meaning,
tells
them God is lying to them and that God is trying to deceive them because He does
not want man to be like God knowing good and evil."
Gen 3:6 "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 desirable
to make
one wise, she took from its fruit and ate, and she have gave also to her husband
with
her and he ate. "
Gen 3:7 "Then the eyes of both of them were opened and
they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves
together and made them loin coverings."
Satan’s attack one marriage is very successful. Many who have gone through
divorce
or adultery have had their relationships with God and their ministries damaged
if not
destroyed.
