Genesis 3 Step 3 Mine (Part 3)

Genesis 3 Step 3 Mine (Part 3)

by | Jan 28, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Genesis 3

 NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.

Welcome back! Here’s what I discovered from comparisons, causes, and conditions/methods in Genesis 3.

Last Week’s Work

COMPARISONS

I noticed two relevant comparisons this week, death/life and evil/good:

  • Eve told the serpent God said they’d die if they even touched the fruit; it said they wouldn’t (vv3-4).
    Pain (v17) and toil (v19) last till Adam dies.
    Though she’s responsible for unleashing death (v6), Eve’s described as the mother of all living (v20).  
  • The serpent said they would be like God (v5), knowing good and evil (v5).
    Eve saw only good qualities of the tree before they ate (v6), but after came the bad things, e.g., the vulnerability of nakedness (v7), and fear (v10) leading to their voluntary separation from God by hiding (vv8, 10).

CAUSES/MOTIVATIONS

Focusing on Adam and Eve’s eyes being opened and the personal impact of good and evil on them, I discovered these cause statements:

Verses 4-5:
Action: “’you will not surely die.’”
Connector: “for [because]…
Reason: God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
This doesn’t make sense to me: they won’t die because their eyes will be opened? But how would that keep them alive?

Verse 10:
A: “’I heard… you in the garden, and I was afraid…
C: “because…
R: I was naked…’”

Verse 17:
A: “cursed is the ground…
C: … because…
R: … of you…”

Verses 17-18:
A: … cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field (v18).’”
C: “‘Because…
R: you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you [not to] (v17),

Verse 19:
A: “‘By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground…
C: for [because]…
R: out of it you were taken…’”
C: for [because]…
R: you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

Also, in v23, I found a connector I didn’t mention in the instructions last week (my bad!). It’s therefore. When you find therefore in a sentence, the normal rule for finding the action statement and its reason is reversed: the action is usually located after the word therefore, and the reason comes before it. So here, the action is in v23, “the LORD God sent him out from the garden…” Why did God do that? From v22, to prevent Adam from “… [taking] also of the tree of life and [eating], and [living] forever.”

CONDITIONS/METHODS

Looking carefully at the actions described in the verses I’ve been focusing on, here are the conditions and methods I discovered there:

  • After they disobeyed, Adam and Eve discovered “… they were naked (v7).” This condition led to Adam’s fear, which they dealt with by [method] sewing fig-leaf loincloths (v7).
  • Adam reports he was afraid (v10). This condition led them to [method] hide from God (v10).
  • The serpent deceived woman [method] with his words (vv4-5, 13); the woman disobeyed by [method] dwelling on the tree’s attributes, then eating and giving some to the man who also ate (vv 6, 12).
  • God responded this way [method]:
    cursing the serpent, forcing it to crawl and eat dust all its life, and endure defeat by the woman’s offspring (vv14-15).
    increasing the woman’s pain in childbearing; placing Adam over her (v16).
    cursing the ground; forcing the man to work to eat from it all his life; then return to the ground (vv17-19).
  • God’s method for covering their nakedness: animal skins (v21), which seem far superior to fig-leaf loincloths (v7)!

Dig-In Challenges

This week, I’ll begin collecting the information I need to make sure I understand Genesis 3 correctly, and I invite you to join me working through these refining steps:

  1. PRAY. Of course!
  2. REFINE by skimming the book of Genesis to determine which of the following types of writing appears most often in it: instruction, law, letter, narrative, poetry, or prophecy. Then reread Genesis 3 to see if you can find any of the other types in use in our study chapter. Write what you find on your Scripture study sheet or in you journal.
  3. REFINE: Next, research the book’s historical context by referencing an Introduction to Genesis found in your bound Bible immediately before Genesis 1 or checking out this one from the ESV online.
  4. REFINE: Last, examine a few key words and/or phrases from your study using an interlinear Bible tool. This type of Bible details the Hebrew words and phrases the author used, including their meaning in context. I like Biblehub.com’s Hebrew tool for this research. To use: Click the blue arrow to the left or right of the verse citation (“Genesis 3:1”) to scroll to the verse containing words you want to review, then click the number in the Strong’s column that corresponds to the English word or phrase you’re researching. Note anything the Spirit highlights in the information provided.

This “refining” step is more involved than the “mining” we did earlier, but I encourage you to use these tools and dig as much as you can this week. I pray the Spirit will bless your efforts, my friend!

GO TO WEEK 6 >

Genesis 3 Step 3 Mine (Part 3)

Genesis 3 Step 5 Align

by | Feb 18, 2025 | 1-24, DISO studies, Genesis 3

 NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.

It’s so hard to believe we’re almost through this study of Genesis 3. I hope the Holy Spirit has shown you much treasure in the past few weeks. Here’s what he’s directing me to take from my work:

Last Week’s Work

LESSON(S) LEARNED
In my review of my study notes, I noted these main lessons:

  • Through trickery, the serpent of old—the devil/Satan (Rev 12:9)—managed to separate mankind from God and direct our attention away from Him.
  • Yet the serpent’s punishment rendered it lower than mankind, crawling on his belly and conquered by the woman’s offspring.
  • That child of Eve, Jesus, covered all sin through His death once for all (Hebrews 9:26). In doing so, He defeated the devil, saving all who put their faith in Him for salvation.
  • But the evil one can still tempt us to sin when we hide or otherwise willfully separate ourselves from God, using fear and clever manipulation against us.

CONVICTION

  • Like Eve, I’m not always in God’s presence; I hide from Him or physically or mentally go where I know He doesn’t want me to be.
  • When I’m separated from Him, I’m most vulnerable to the lies and deception that can make even paradise seem unsatisfactory.
  • I need to better recognize the devil’s voice in my head and remember, he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), he’s already beaten, and when I stay close to God he is powerless.

CORRECTION

  • In my review, the Spirit drew me to Jesus battling Satan in the wilderness when he was tempted to turn stones into bread: particularly to His use of Scripture in Matthew 4:4, “… It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” I wondered where in Scripture Jesus would have gotten that saying, so I followed the cross-reference to Deuteronomy 8:3 (emphasis mine), “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
  • By this, I know God’s Word is life—the opposite of the result Adam and Eve acquired by eating the forbidden fruit. The devil will always try to trick me, but I believe the Spirit is equipping me to respond to his temptation by tuning out anything that doesn’t reflect God’s Word.

ACTION PLAN

Going forward, my action plan is to

  • Practice recognizing the devil’s deception,
  • Stay connected to God and his people, especially when I’m tempted to separate myself and/or give in to fear, and
  • Increase my knowledge of God’s Word. The more I know it, the less I believe I’ll be hungry for things that don’t satisfy me!

Our Next Study

Next week we’ll start another “blast from the past” study from the Old Testament, Joshua 2. If you’ve been with me for a while, you probably know those web files were lost when my site went down in late 2023. By studying the same chapter again, I hope to refresh my mind about the earlier study, but also discover new treasure from the text: treasure the Spirit knows I need for today. I hope you’ll join me, my friend!