King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Thursday, January 02, 2024
Chapters: Genesis 3-5
Message: The Fall of Man
Hello My Friend,
There are two things that come to mind when reading the chapters for today, one; there is absolutely no excuse as to why people do not know that God exists, they just choose not to believe, [Psalms 14:1-3 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.]
And two; there is absolutely no excuse as to why those who do know God exists to end up in hell, they just choose not to accept Him, [Hebrews 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.]
And I will add one more, there is absolutely no excuse for knowingly living in sin without repenting, and we cannot blame anyone else, but ourselves for getting caught in any mess caused by sin, [1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.]
After God had created everything for life to be sustainable on the earth, He encouraged them to be fruitful and multiply, including man. God, placed Adam and his wife in the Garden of Eden, they had everything they needed and were free to do whatever they wanted with one exception, stay away from the tree in the middle of the garden. As we continue in the reading of Genesis, we learn how sin came into the world, what consequence it brought to all of us, and of a promise. First, we learn that there was a serpent who made his way into the garden and was eyeing the woman for quite some time, apparently they had been talking a while because a conversation came up.
[Genesis 3:1-5 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.]
Now, everyone was aware of that command, the animals, the people, and the angels. I say the animals because when the Bible says that we were all of one speech, I believe we could understand the animals too because Eve had a conversation with a snake and was not at all surprised. The word subtle means sly; artful; cunning; crafty; insinuating; so he was a beautiful creature, more charming than the other serpents, and at this point this was not creature that we know as a snake. However, the woman did not quite get it right, What God actually said was this, [Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.]
So, whether or not she just added to what Adam told her or Adam told her, she thought that she would die if she touched the fruit, and by the way it was not an apple. Again, they did not know what death meant because that was something that they never saw. However, they would soon find out when the woman not only grabbed a piece of fruit off the tree, she took a bite and when she realized nothing happened to her she gave it to Adam, then he took a bite.
[Genesis 3:6-9 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?]
There are three phases to temptation before it becomes sin, 1; We see it. 2; We think about it. 3; We desire it. Everyone in this triangle had a desire that led to their sin, it was Satan’s desire to get revenge on God, it was Eve’s desire for God’s knowledge, and it was Adam’s desire for Eve that led to their fall. The funny thing about desire is that God will give us the desires of our heart as long as they are reasonable requests. These of course, were very unreasonable, [1 John 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.]
Oh, their eyes were opened all right, they knew exactly what they had done, they looked at each other, and what they saw was more than their naked bodies, they saw their sin. Just like anyone else who tries to cover up their sin so that no one finds out, that is what they did. Since there was no such thing as clothes at the time, they found some big leaves and made some coverings for their private parts. They were filled with so much guilt and shame that they tried to hide themselves in the woods to keep God from finding them. However, when God came into the garden their response told Him everything.
[Genesis 3:10-13 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.]
Did God know where they were? Of course He did. Did God know what they did? Yes, He did knew that too. Why did He ask them? He was trying to get them to acknowledge what they had done. Why did God put the tree in the garden to begin with? It was for the same reason He places things before us, to prove us. You see, that tree only became a temptation when she started obsessing over it, God, will never tempt us with evil, it only becomes evil when it becomes something we desire, [James 1:13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.]
Instead of admitting they sinned, Adam blamed it on his wife, and even went as far as saying that God was partially to blame because He gave her to him. Then the woman blamed the serpent for enticing her into taking the fruit off the tree to begin with. Until we admit that we have sinned against God He will not forgive us of our sin, [1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.]
God, was not accepting any of their excuses, right at that point the entire earth was cursed and every living creature on it as well. The serpent, while God knew exactly who was behind the deception was cursed with its own curse, the woman was cursed as well, but there was a ray of hope of the curse being broken.
[Genesis 3:14-16 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.]
I know it is a little hard to understand what [it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.] means in regards to Jesus, but the best way to explain it is this way. God declared a war between the children of woman and Satan, meaning all mankind. The serpent, meaning Satan, will bruise or afflict her children, but will not overcome them because through her a child would come to overcome him, that child being Christ of course, [Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.]
God, knew all this was going to happen and still had a plan to redeem man because after all, they are His most precious creation. However, that did not change the fact that sin was committed and that it would be the death of them. This was not a physical death, it was a spiritual death in which God took His Spirit from man. And here comes the curse given to Adam and the earth as well.
[Genesis 3:17-19 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.]
When God first created vegetation He made life self sustainable, but now man would need to do the work in order to sustain their lives physically. His body was now mortal, and destined to return to the earth from which it was originally created. That is the wages and the curse of sin, [Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.]
Both Adam and his wife received the first Gospel proclamation in silence for they believed the promise and arose from their fall with repentance. This is shown even in the name which Adam applied to his wife, Eve, which means, the source of life;.
[Genesis 3:20-24 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.]
Although it is not written here, God, killed the very first sacrifice, showing Adam what he needed to do for redemption, but He also clothed them as well. There were three reasons behind this; One; To shelter them from the heat, cold, and other elements which they were now to be exposed to. Two; To remind them of their fall. Three; Mercy and grace; He showed His care of fallen man and of His mercy toward them through a sinless sacrifice, [Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.]
I do not care what you believe, every person born wants God in their lives, it is their hearts that change as God loses respect for their halfhearted efforts. When God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply that is what they did. In fact, they had hundreds of children in a short amount of time for the purpose of populating the earth rather quickly. This is why God allowed them to live for hundreds of years before they died physically, however, two of their sons had the most influence at the time and they were Cain and Able.
[Genesis 4:1-5 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.]
This is what the process of time had done for the population, it created people of all sorts of colors of skin, but they were all of the same race. From the beginning race was never a factor in determining ones faith as we are all a part of one human race. Cain’s name means, acquisition, he was a man of the earth, his offering to God was given out of pure repetition, it was not from the heart and for that reason God rejected his offering. Abel’s name means, ascension, he was a man of God, his sacrifice was one of confession and repentance. These men chose their professions, but Able, gave the better sacrifice because his was sincere. Jesus said this when He saw two men in the Temple.
[Luke 18:10-14 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.]
You see, it has never been about the offering, it is always about the faith, which is what God explains to Cain when He confronted him about his disposition, [Genesis 4:6-9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?]
Let me tell you, sin is constantly knocking at the door when our heart is not right with God, and it takes the strength of the Spirit to overcome it too. Why was Cain so angry that he killed his brother instead of just obeying God in the first place? Since they cannot attack God, they attack the ones who are faithful to Him, [John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.]
Cain, was not really interested in living the way God wanted him to live, he just wanted all the blessings from God, and that is what He has no respect for. So, instead of taking what God said to him and improving the matter, he made things worse, he became envious of Able and killed him. Even after he killed his own brother, God, gave him the opportunity to repent, but he still did not.
[Genesis 4:10-14 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.]
At that moment, he still had the opportunity to repent, instead he walks away from God all together, and now his children would become known as the children of men. God used another son to bring up a generation that would be faithful to Him, Seth.
[Genesis 4:16-17,25-26 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. 26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.]
This is when the people truly started looking to God. God does not want us to come to Him out of obligation, or just to get out of hell, He wants us to come to Him willingly, and when we do, we will give Him our very best, and He will accept it. It really is sad to think of all the people born and only a fraction of them called upon the name of the LORD. Chapter five gives an account of all the sons born from Seth that would walk with God, at least, to some extent.
[Genesis 5:1-6 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: 5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. 6 And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:]
Adam, was made in the likeness of God, their children before Seth were called Adam to signify that they were of one flesh by nature. Afterwards they would be called Adam by union of marriage as a token of their being of one flesh. Seth, and that includes all of us, are made in the likeness of Adam. This is when things began to change drastically, God, gives a little more info on Enoch and what was going on during the twelve hundred years or before he was born.
[Genesis 5:19-25 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. 21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:]
Enoch, was one of two people that did not die to get to heaven, God, just took him up into paradise. Now, we can speculate as to why he never saw death, but there was a reason behind all this. Enoch, was removed to a better world. As he did not live like the rest of mankind, so he did not leave the world by death as they did, [Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.]
In regards to the prominent figures within the two thousand years of creation, Enoch, is known as the seventh from Adam, in other words, the seventh generation, it was Enoch who pointed people in the direction of following God and this was during a time when there was no written word about God. Enoch, would go on to raise Methuselah, who was actually the oldest living man of all time. Methuselah, Lamech, who was Noah’s father.
[Genesis 5:28-32 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. 30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: 31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. 32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.]
Noah’s name means rest, he was born during a time when there was a severe drought. Since there was no such thing as rain back then as water would come up out of the ground to water everything, it was comforting seeing some kind of vegetation after what seemed to be very rocky and thorny ground they were planting in. Jesus, is always there to give us some rest from our labor, [Matthew 11:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for giving me life, and for the life that You have given me. While I do not always understand the temptations placed before me, I do understand that I am Your precious child through my faith alone in Your Son, and the devil cannot touch my soul because it belongs to You. I do want to live my life to please You, I want to value life by living it guided by Your Word, walking side by side with You in the cool of the day. Lord, give me Your power to love life, no matter where You place me, give me Your strength to sustain life by being a witness and testimony of how living a repentant life leads to Your Son. Keep my eyes on Your Son that I might not be tempted by the evils of this world and that I might be ready for the day He comes for me. I pray this in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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