Genesis: Lesson 3. The Fall: A Sad Story

 Lesson 3

Reading: Genesis 2 : 4 – 3 : 24

A toledot normally starts with a summary of the previous account. Notice that Genesis 2:4 indeed starts with a review of earlier events.

Notice, however, the shift in focus as we continue reading. In the Introduction, there was only God at work: God made something wonderful. In the follow- up account the focus is on the human response: They mess up the wonderful things that God has made. In response to God’s amazing blessings, they rebel and listen to his enemy! As we continue in our Genesis study we will notice that this pattern keeps coming up; like a theme in a musical.

The Garden is described as a perfect place, like a Wonderland from a fairy tale! It is a picture of blessing and prosperity. For Middle-Eastern people (with a fairly dry climate) it is a picture of blessing: four rivers flow from it! Is this normally possible? Note that we are looking at a real place with real

people; yet the biblical description is artistic and symbolic. 

M C Escher: The Fall of Man (1927)

God gives the first humans a “tree of testing”. Adam and Eve must keep this tree holy (separate) out of respect for God. Taking from this tree is sacrilege (treating a holy thing as unholy), distrust (of God’s warning), and disobedience (against God’s command). The relationship between God and his image is broken when the humans break this trust and disobey God’s word.

This break has consequences for all the earth and for all life, because in God everything was held together (Colossians 1: 16, 17). So, in the human rebellion everything started to break apart: within humans (psychologically), among humans (socially), between humans and creation (environmentally), and among God’s creatures. We see the effects taking place in the story: the break with God results in separation between man and wife. Man blames his wife, while he ignores his own responsibility.

So, we have here history’s first court case, and God Himself is the Judge! At the end of history there will be another court case; here Jesus will be the Judge! Read Acts 17: 14 – 31. In this first case, man and woman are allowed to speak, while Satan (the Enemy, represented here by the serpent) has no say. God promises that He will always separate Good from Evil to preserve His creation. Yes, Satan will continue to bring damage to the people of God, yet in the end he will be crushed! God Himself will bring him down, and in doing so He will restore his rule and restore his kingdom!

The Nature of Sin: three true stories

A number of years ago I was teacher at a small school for alternative education. The students at this school somehow did not fit into the regular school, so they were given special accommodations in shorter days with later start time, free bus tickets to get to and from school, and extra lenience about being late or absent. Almost all students were addicted to drugs, while alcohol and sex were common abuses. Hardly any of these students lived at home to experience regular family life. Most of them did not eat breakfast and had to prepare their own food. Many of them were so hooked on drugs that their whole life seemed to be centered on it. Drugs had become their gods; it was the only thing that kept them going and gave them meaning in life. They frequently boasted of their great experiences and freedoms, provided by the drugs. Yet, their personalities and aspirations had been sucked out of them: they lived shallow lives in small downtown neighborhoods. Most of them would not live long or happy lives, and indeed they talked as if there could not be meaningful life after one turned thirty. They lived in delusion and deception: the drugs that had made great promises of excitement and tremendous freedom; in the end they failed to satisfy. Meanwhile, however, they had been robbed of all dignity, self-respect, hope, love, and purpose in life.

As a western teacher in Asia I have noticed there are many single, western, divorced men, who choose to work here mostly to have cheap access to sex with young women. For some of them it has become the primary focus in their lives. “What else is there in life?”, said one colleague who lived together with a Chinese girl who could have been his granddaughter. He and other colleagues love to advertize their lifestyle to other men. Yet, every now and then I notice their loneliness. In declaring that love is equal to sex, they have reduced a wonderful relationship in life. True love in marriage results in a deepening relationship of harmony where two people support each other in such a way that both are developed and matured in wisdom in a way that would have been impossible as individuals. The unbreakable trust and faithfulness creates a secure foundation for a rich and balanced growth. Bill Clinton tried to convince us that unfaithfulness in marriage does not mean one is unreliable as president of the U.S. On the other hand, the Chinese movie “Jet Li, Hero” tells us how the emperor in his wisdom declares that marital unfaithfulness in his enemies would have rendered them incompetent in their attempted assault on him. Unfortunately, most Chinese today sacrifice such authentic relationships and choose the shallow fast-food version of sexual relationships.

In the western world of the past century most people rejected theism (they claimed there is no personal Creator-God). In today’s setting a growing number has become skeptical about atheism; they somehow know or become convicted that there must be something else to life than just the material reality. They become interested in ‘spiritual things’ and many become intrigued about mediums and their revelations. Spirits communicate with people, and many –in their amazement that such things are true- begin to put their trust in these spirits, their mediums, and their messages. This new discovery promises great powers and potentials, and indeed some mediums do amazing things! Yet, slowly many get trapped,

and they lose more than that they bargained for. As the spirits take control of the mediums, they slowly turn from master to slave. In the end they lose everything. At first, the promises were great, but in the end it turned out to be a grand deception. This, too, is the work of the Great Deceiver, the enemy of God. He promised the first humans that they could be like God, but the end result was that they lost most of God’s glory, and unless God prevents it, they become more and more like animals (Romans 1: 18 ff).

Food for Thought

1 Nature (tree, serpent) plays a role in the deception and rebellion.
Therefore, nature also suffers from its curse. How does Romans 7 describe this curse? What is the solution to the problem?

2 Is it bad to speak of “Mother Earth”?
How is the first human made, and what does it mean when God says: “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return”

3 Man was called to guard, protect (Hebrew: shamar) the earth. Was evil already present outside the garden?

4 Some have suggested that the “very good” story ends in a song (and epilogue), and so does the “bad” story. What are these songs, and how are they opposites?

5 Look at M.C. Escher’s picture of “The Fall” (at the beginning of the lesson). Why does the serpent not look like a snake?

6 In the Hebrew language there is strong similarity between “serpent” and “dragon”. In the last book of the Bible, Satan is often pictured as beast, monster, or dragon. How does Chinese tradition view the dragon, how is it similar as or different from the biblical picture?