“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God has made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ”You must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ”You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”
‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’
He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’
And he said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?’
The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’
Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’
The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate it.’
So the LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,
‘Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.’
To the woman he said,
‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.’
To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must no eat from it.”
‘Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat you food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.’
So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”
Genesis 3:1-19; 23-24 NIV
This is the story of the origin of sin.
Exegesis is to critically examine scripture for the purpose of interpretation. We ask ourselves “Who are they and what can they represent? (Pastor Dharius Daniels).” We make scripture relevant to our lives by placing ourselves within the Biblical Narratives.
What are they?
Adam and Eve represent us. Sin is something that we genuinely want and/or we are curious about it. Sin causes us shame (they knew they were naked and hid) and suffering (hard labor with work for Adam and Eve pain during child birth). Sin locks out out of the life that we are meant to live with God (they were banished from the Garden of Eden). Most of all sin resulted in physical and spiritual separation from God (death).
Who can they represent?
The serpent is satan. The adversary is part of the origin story. He is created by God. We have to choose God and the life He desires for us. Satan is crafty and God allows him to come near us and influence our decisions but he can’t make us sin. We have to choose the sin.
“‘Stolen water is sweet
food eaten in secret is delicious!’
But little do they know that the dead are there,
that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.”
Proverbs 9:17-18 NIV
Sin is exciting and exhilarating; but it leads to death. The death may not be physical. As in, we drop dead. However, it does bring suffering to one of the five areas of life. Our mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, or financial well-being suffers when we choose sin.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
9:10 NIV
God gives us the choice to choose.
