December 1: Evil

This week’s study covers evil entering the world (Genesis 3:1 - 4:16).  We looked at the stories of the fall of Adam and Eve and their children, Cain and Abel.

Here is a recap of some of the main points we learned:

-       Satan is a deceiver.  He confuses Eve by making her think that God was withholding something good from her.  She is confused to the point that she forgets the details God’s command.  She indicates that she is not to even touch the fruit (see Gen. 3:3) when that was not part of God’s instructions (Gen 2:16).

-       The immediate results of disobeying God were:

Ø  Separation of Adam and Eve (they sent separately to cover themselves)

Ø  Knowledge of nudity and the resulting embarrassment

Ø  Separation from God (they hid from God in the garden)

Ø  Death/Sacrifice (God had to kill an animal to clothe them)

-       The long term results of disobeying God were:

Ø  Snakes will crawl on the ground and have to eat dust (meaning other animals that crawl in the dust) and snakes and women will hate each other

Ø  The offspring of the snake and the woman will fight.  The offspring of the snake will die (wound to the head) and the offspring of the woman will be wounded (bruised on the heel).  This is the first prophecy of Christ.  Evil will harm Christ on the cross, but he will defeat it.

Ø  Man will have to work and toil to provide for himself and his family

Ø  Childbirth, which should be a joyous time, will be filled with pain for the woman

Ø  There will be disharmony in marriage.  The woman will desire to compete with her husband, but he will be the leader in the relationship.  This is evidenced in that Adam names Eve after the fall in same way that he named the animals.  (I want to note that the woman is still made in the image of God.  Man’s role is over her in marriage, but this in no way equates her with the animals.  It just defines her role in marriage.)

Ø  Sacrifices for sin need to be a sacrifice and not merely an offering.  Cain’s “offering” of grain was not a sacrifice as was the first born of Abel’s flock.  The foreshadows as to why Christ had to pay such a price for us to sooth the righteous anger of God.