5 Genesis 3
EVE
HER
E
STORY : GENESIS 2:15 — 3:24
ve stretches her arms as she wakes from a deep sleep . She sits up , and she feels uneasy . This new feeling grows as she remembers what happened earlier in the day .
Adam also awakens , and his eyes meet Eve ’ s . Eve can ’ t hold Adam ’ s gaze , and she looks away , remembering . The serpent had looked so beautiful and seemed so wise . Eve , then Adam , had listened to it and eaten fruit God had forbidden .
Eve restlessly stands . She catches Adam ’ s eyes again and senses another new feeling : embarrassment . She ’ s naked . Her hands move to cover her body . She feels guilty , not just for what she ’ s done but for what she ’ s now become . Looking at Adam , she knows he feels the same .
As the sun goes down , they hear God walking in the garden , and both quickly hide . If God can ’ t see them , perhaps he won ’ t know what they ’ ve done . But when God calls to them , they have no choice but to answer him .
God gives a name to what they have done : sin . Adam places the blame on Eve : she made me do it ! Eve blames the serpent : he lied to me ! And God pronounces the words that will change the course of history . The beautiful serpent will now slither along on the ground . Women will experience pain in childbirth and a separation from their husbands . Men will fight with the earth to grow food .
Buried within God ’ s judgment is an amazing promise . Someone to come will crush the serpent and will offer a way out of the sinful course of history ( see Genesis 3:15 ). A child , born of a woman , will come and take the sin of the world to the cross , offering a way back to God .
woman , “ Did God really say , ‘ You must not eat from any tree in the gar den ’?”
2 The woman said to the ser pent , “ 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 mid dle of the gar den , and you must not touch it , or you will die .’ ”
4 “ You will not cer tainly die ,” the ser pent 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 , know ing 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 de sir able for gain ing wis dom , she took some and ate it . She also gave some to her hus band , who was with her , and he ate it . 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened , and they re al ized they were na ked ; so they sewed fig leaves to gether and made cov er ings for them selves .
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the gar den in the cool of the day , and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the gar den . 9 But the Lord God called to the man , “ Where are you ?”
10 He an swered , “ I heard you in the gar den , and I was afraid be cause I was na ked ; so I hid .”
11 And he said , “ Who told you that you were na ked ? Have you eaten from the tree that I com manded you not to eat from ?”