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LESSON 4

*October 21 - 27

Paradise Lost

Read for This Week's Study:

Memory Text: 

*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, October28.

The Serpent

Genesis 3:1 introduces a new and, considering what came before, unexpected element-the serpent. Though the things that "creepeth upon the earth" (Gen. 1:25) were not specifically named, a serpent surely could have been among them. It probably wasn't even extraordinary that the serpent appeared in the Garden. However, that it was talking and that it enticed Eve toward evil, that's a new element not explained by anything in the previous two chapters, in which everything created was "very good" (vs. 31).

How do these texts, taken together, help us understand more about that serpent, who he really was and why he appeared? Job 1:6-11, Isa. 14:12-14, Ezek. 28:14-17, Mark 1:13, Luke 10:18, John 8:44, 2 Cor. 2:11, 11:3, 1 John 3:8, Rev. 12:9, 20:2.  

If someone were to have had only the first chapters of Genesis, they would have no understanding of who this serpent was and how he appeared in God's perfect creation. How could he speak? Why did he seek to deceive Adam and Eve? How did he get there?

What this shows is how important it is for us to use the whole Bible in order to understand truth. The appearance of the deceiving serpent implies a whole other scenario not revealed in the first two chapters of Genesis. (It does hint at it though. Where?) To understand better what was going on, people needed more revelation. In time, God provided it.

Also, one of the more unfortunate consequences of living in the modern age has been the tendency to downplay the reality of Satan, to make him simply a symbol for evil. It's considered foolish to actually believe in a literal, personal supernatural evil being. Popular culture has in many minds made him into nothing but another Hollywood figure, along with Batman, Spiderman, and Superman. Of course, that's always been Satan's tactic, to hide himself. In the Garden, he hid behind the serpent; today, he has more sophisticated methods. However he does it, the results are the same: People are deceived, at the peril of their eternal lives.

Do you ever find yourself doubting Satan's existence? If so, how can you be protected against this deception?

The Fall  (Gen 3:1-6)

How clear had been God's command to Adam? How did the tempter seek to confuse the issue with his question and obscure the exact meaning of God's stipulation? Gen. 2:16, 17; 3:1.  

According to Eve, what additional command, not recorded in Genesis 2:17, did the holy pair understand? Gen. 3:3.  

Having first questioned the divine stipulation, to what did the serpent now resort? Vs. 4. (Compare John 8:44.)  

Satan started out by mixing truth and error; once the bait was taken, he resorted to full-fledged error, blatantly contradicting God's explicit command. How often things work like that even today. Someone starts out with a doctrine, a teaching, that contains both truth and error but, later, when taken to its logical conclusion, it winds up as pure error. How crucial that we always be on our guard!

Genesis 3:6 states the reasons Eve ate the fruit anyway. It appealed to her physical (food), aesthetic (pleasant to the eyes), and intellectual (makes one wise) nature—a nature that God had given her. In other words, Satan took the gifts that God gave Eve and used them against her. If this worked so well with an unfallen being in Paradise, how much more so with fallen creatures?

What do these verses say to us in the context of our fallen natures? Rom. 13:14; Phil. 3:18, 19; 1 John 2:16.  

The reality of sin, of temptation, of the lure of the flesh, is an ever-present reality in the lives of all humans. The difference, however, is not to be enslaved to physical, mental, or even intellectual passions.

Make a list of texts that you could give to a Christian who feels weighed down and discouraged over his or her spiritual or moral state. What do they say, and what hope is found in them?

The Fallen (Gen. 3:7-24)

In the fulfillment of the serpent's promise, the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened, but their dream of enlightenment turned into a nightmare. This, the first of countless subsequent satanic schemes, demonstrates that the devil's promises of precious gold are delivered only in the form of tinsel. Deprived of the glory of holiness, burdened by the sense of guilt, their physical nakedness revealed in a consciousness of inner nakedness, the first pair sought to hide from God and to fashion their own covering.

In your own experience, or what you have seen happen to others, what other "wonderful promises" have turned into hellish nightmares? What principles can we learn from these sad accounts? See also Judges 17:6, Prov. 14:12, Mark 4:19, 1 Tim. 6:10.  

Look at the immediate results of the Fall. First, alienation arose between Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:7); then between them and God (vs. 8); nature itself suddenly turned more hostile (vss. 16-18); the relationship between Adam and Eve changed even more so (vs. 16); there was the reality of death (vs. 19); there was a change in how humanity related to toil (vs. 19); and Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden (vss. 23, 24). If only they could have seen in advance the consequences of their actions!

What's fascinating, too, is that the serpent told Eve that they would be like gods, knowing good and evil. He was right (see vs. 22). It obviously wasn't in God's will for humans to know evil; He wanted to keep them innocent and dependent upon Him, like children (see Deut. 1:39). God had given them only good (tov); everything that He created was only "good" (tov). The Creation in Genesis 1, which was "good" with no evil, taken together with Genesis 3:22, reaffirms the idea that God wanted only good, not evil, for humanity.

How can you preserve or (if need he) regain some innocence? What things are you doing that are, perhaps, making that goal more difficult? What changes do you need to make?

Hope for the Fallen

After the Lord came down to the Garden and all the participants were together, He issued His judgments upon them all.

Read Genesis 3:14-19. What was pronounced upon them? What were the immediate, as well as the long-term, consequences?   

Even before Adam and Eve heard about toil, pain, submission, thorns, and the judgment upon them for their transgression, God granted them words of hope and promise. Verse 15 not only offers the first glimpse of the gospel but also presents a compressed history of the conflicts between the family of the serpent and the descendants of the woman. The genealogies of Genesis develop the lines of those who chose "sonship," either with the devil or with God. And the rest of Scripture continues to depict the struggles between God's people and their enemies. The conflict announced in verse 15 points past the immediate actors in the drama and toward the entire conflict between good and evil as it was to be played out on the earth, a conflict that we ourselves are part of right now.

Compare Genesis 3:15 with Revelation 12:17 (see also Rev. 12:9, 20:2). What common elements are found in both texts? How do these verses show how the principles of the conflict first expressed in Eden will be manifested at the end of time?  

Despite the blatant transgression on the part of Adam and Eve, and despite their sorry attempts to justify their actions, the Lord offered them hope that although there would be enmity between them and the serpent, the serpent's head would be crushed; that is, it would be destroyed. Here we see the first promise of the gospel, of what Jesus would do for fallen humanity.

Keeping in mind today's lesson, read Hebrews 2:14. What hope does this text offer to you amid the struggles you face in your part in the great controversy between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent?

After the Fall (Genesis 4)

Genesis 4 very quickly gets into the story of Cain and Abel. Though many years passed since the Fall, the Bible quickly gets into some of its catastrophic results. The enmity predicted in Genesis 3:15 and hinted at in Cain's jealousy was manifested in full force in the murder of Abel. This murder demonstrated that Cain was a follower of Satan (see John 8:44).

Why did God accept Abel's sacrifice but reject his brother's offerings? Gen. 4:3-7. (Compare with Lev. 17:11, Heb. 9:22. See also Heb. 11:4.)  

Notice in Genesis 4:6 and 7 how God dealt with Cain. God tells Cain to do well, to obey, and thus he shall "be accepted." He says this, though, in the context of sacrifice, which is needed because no matter how well we do, it's still not good enough to save us. We see here, then, a balance between the law and grace and faith and works. Cain, apparently, understood neither, as reflected in the sacrifice he offered, as well as in his refusal to "do well" (see 1 John 3:12).

How does Romans 5:17-6:6 reflect the balance between faith and works as in the story of Cain and Abel?  

Cain discovered that people cannot hide anything from God (Gen. 4:9, 10) and that the divine Sovereign will right all wrongs. As punishment for his callous sin, the earth, which had been forced to drink innocent blood, would withhold its strength from the murderer (vss. 11, 12).

Meanwhile, verses 17 through 24 disclose a picture of rapid moral decline, as well as technical and cultural advances. Polygamy and murder characterize the family of Cain. Yet, the Bible writer does not attribute only evil to the descendants of Cain; their achievements are recognized. He notes that artisans, craftsmen, pastoralists, and agriculturalists descended from Cain.

The chapter concludes with a reference to Seth, who replaced Abel. Seth became the ancestor of the line of pre-Flood patriarchs who bridged the period between Adam and Noah.

Further Study:  

Discussion Questions:

A lot of unanswered questions remain regarding the Genesis account of the Fall. When you meet God face to face, what are some of the questions you might ask regarding this account? Meanwhile, why is it so important to trust God now despite having many unanswered questions? See also 1 Cor. 4:5, 13:12.      Discuss reasons we as Adventists believe that Satan is a real being of incredible deceptive power. Why is it important for us to hold to this belief?      Sing together, as a class, a hymn or song that acknowledges the victory and promises we have in Jesus.

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