Just a Little Bite

Just a Little Bite

Genesis 2:15-3:24 (HCSB)

We are all tempted by different things.  It depends on the person and what they are tempted by the most.  Some people are most tempted by food.  Some people are tempted by possessions.  Some people are tempted by sex, power, and money.  The list goes on and on.  Me personally, I’m tempted by the desire to own more DVD’s.  A temptation I am sorry to admit I give into and have accumulated probably higher than I can count.

What people are tempted by can also depend on the situation they are in or where they are in their walk with God.  The story we are going to look at today involves two people who were tempted with something they were led to believe would make their lives better.  Because of their situation, Satan knew exactly what to use and what to say to get them to give into his crafty ways.

Satan may not be the smartest guy in the world, but he is most definitely top five.  Meaning, you and I are not smarter than he is; and there is no way, when we are being tempted, we can outwit him by ourselves.  We need God’s wisdom and discernment to overcome temptation so we don’t fall into sin.

Story Time:

After God created everything, he gave the man (aka Adam) instructions on how to live.  Life was pretty easy for Adam in the beginning, just three instructions by God.  Wouldn’t it be nice if all we had to live by were three rules?  Adam had to 1) take care of the land, 2) make sure everything ran smoothly and 3) eat from everything but one tree found in the middle of the garden.  Must have been nice to be the guy who got to come up with all the names of the animals.  Do you think he had a checklist to make sure he didn’t double up on a name?  There’s an app for that, right?

The Garden of Eden was full of everything Adam could possibly need to survive.  There was water, vegetables, and fruit.  The guy had more pets to take care of than the lonely old lady down the street with more cats than we have fingers.  Adam also had a special tree know as the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  God asked him not to eat its fruit.  God even told him if he did, he would die.

As Adam was naming all the animals God realized that Adam didn’t have anybody to hang out with.  According to verse eighteen (Genesis 2) he didn’t have a “helper as his complement.”  So God took Adam’s rib and created woman who Adam later named Eve.  Genesis 2:21 says, “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place.”  This has always put the idea of out there that men have one less rib than women.  The fact is both men and women have a total of twenty-four ribs, twelve on each side.  Maybe man had one extra before the world’s first surgery was performed?  Maybe when God took one to create woman, he snapped his fingers and formed a new one in Adam to replace the one he took?  But why even take one at all?  If man was made from dust then why not woman as well?  A thought we will talk about after the story is over.

Satan now comes onto the scene and asks a very simple but twisted question in verse one of chapter three,  “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”  Satan knows full well the answer to that question, but begins to plant the thought in Eve’s head of possibly eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Eve corrects him by saying in verses two and three, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden.  But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”  But of course Satan works his magic again by informing Eve the death God talked about will not be a physical one.  He tells her that she will become more like God in knowing good and evil.  BAM!  Satan delivers a whammy!  Eve gets hit with the temptation of obtaining wisdom like God.  Be like God and know what he knows.  Who could pass that up?! 

So when Eve realizes the fruit can make her smarter, her stomach starts to rumble and she takes a bite of that delicious banana.  I mean delicious plum.  No wait, delicious grapefruit.  Oh, I got it…apple.  She took a bite of a delicious apple.  The fact is, we don’t truly know what kind of fruit was on that tree, but we always default to an apple.  Why is that?  Here is my theory, and it is just a theory, fairy tales.  Tales like Snow White have used an apple to represent evil.  So why not use an apple to represent the evil poison (sin) used to destroy the relationship between God and us.  However, just like a fairy tale always has a happy ending, we will reveal the good news about this story later.

But where is Adam in all this?  Right there with her.  In Genesis 3:6 it says that after Eve took a bite of the fruit she “gave some to her husband [who was] with her, and he ate [it]”.  When they both took that sinful bite they gained the knowledge Satan talked about and realized they were naked.  They took fig leaves and made clothes for themselves to cover up their nakedness and then hid from God.  This has always made me laugh.  I mean, who plays hide-and-go-seek from God?  Wouldn’t he be the ultimate hide-and-go-seek player?

Adam explains to God they were afraid and hid when they heard him walking in the garden.  Here again is a part that has always made me laugh; God, who already knows the answer, asks how they knew they were naked and if they ate from the tree they were not supposed to eat from.  Instead of just saying yes, Adam starts the blame game.  He blames Eve.  Eve blames Satan.  It’s a mess.  The thing is, when we fall into temptation, nobody is completely blameless.  Satan is at fault for tempting Eve.  Eve is at fault for not obeying God.  Adam is at fault for not obeying God and not being the leader of his family and stopping Eve from eating the fruit.

Due to the fact that sin has now occurred, God has to dish out the punishments.  To each he gives the following:

Then the Lord God said to the serpent:

Because you have done this,

you are cursed more than any livestock

and more than any wild animal.

You will move on your belly

and eat dust all the days of your life.

I will put hostility between you and the woman,

and between your seed and her seed.

He will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.

He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;

you will bear children in anguish.

Your desire will be for your husband,

yet he will rule over you.

And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:

The ground is cursed because of you.

You will eat from it by means of painful labor

all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow

until you return to the ground,

since you were taken from it.

For you are dust,

and you will return to dust.” (Genesis 3:14-19)

God now has to make Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden because they have sinned.  He gives them clothes and blocks the entrance to the garden with cherubim and a flaming sword so they can’t eat the fruit from the tree of life and live forever.  Adam and Eve now have to work the land, grow their own crops and raise their own livestock.

My Thoughts:

A few things I think we can learn from Adam and Eve.  I think this short story most commonly known as the “fall of man” teaches us about sin, relationships and God’s love for us.

On the outside this seems like a sad story, and for the most part it is one, but if we slap a “to be continued…” label on the end it really perks up.  Why?  Because this is the beginning of God’s plan to send his only son, Jesus, to die for our sins.  Of course Jesus dying on the cross is also sad, but the reason behind it is the happy part.  Adam and Eve damaged our relationship with God by disobeying and eating the fruit.  Now that sin entered the world, it meant people could no longer be in the presence of God like Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden.  God is so holy and perfect he cannot be around sin.  In order for sin to be taken away, something has to die.  Which was why the Israelites had to sacrifice animals that were without blemishes and defects, because only perfect blood can wash away sin.  Enter Jesus.  Jesus offers himself as a sacrifice on the cross so his super perfect blood can be spilled and used to wash away sin.  Jesus’ blood being so perfect covered all sin till the end of time, hence the reason why we don’t currently sacrifice animals.  I know a set of twins who are highly thankful we don’t have to do that today.  It means a lot less crying for them.  But what it really means is Jesus restored the relationship between God and us.  Now with a prayer of forgiveness we can enter into God’s presence and be a part of him.  Jesus’ death on the cross is a sad thing to think about, but it is such a beautiful display of how much God loves us.

Not only do we see the relationship between God and man and his love for us, but we also see parts of how the relationship should work as a family.  Eve was made from a part of Adam, not from dust.  Meaning man is supposed to be both the physical and spiritual leader of his family.  Paul explains this very nicely in his letter to the Ephesians by saying, “Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives are to submit to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:22-25).  There is an equal balance of love and respect between a husband and a wife, but a healthy understanding man is the leader.  Have each other’s backs and help each other out.  But men, you need to lead, teach, guide and direct your family in the ways of the Lord.  If Adam would have stepped up in being the leader of his family, maybe Satan would have had to come up with another way to tempt them and make them sin?

As a pastor I have talked with a few people who feel bad when they are tempted and of course feel worse when they give into the temptation.  But here’s the thing…it’s not wrong to be tempted.  What is wrong about it is when we give into the temptation and therefore sin.  Now being tempted doesn’t feel good because we know what it can lead to if we give in, but we need to remember what it can lead to if we don’t concede to temptation.  Not falling into the temptation is hard, but rewarding when we don’t.  It brings us closer to God and makes our faith and walk with him stronger.  Plus it makes God happy and proud.  Bonus!  But, it’s so hard (said with a whiney 4 year old voice).  And you are right; it is hard – very hard.  But we have a God who lives inside our hearts that gives us the strength and wisdom to overcome temptation.  Remember this verse (one of my personal favorites) next time you are faced with temptation.  “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the things you are tempted by the most?  Why?
2. What are some steps you can take or preventative measures you can put in place to help you not fall into temptation?
3.  Even if we don’t give in, why do we feel so bad when we are tempted?
4. Read the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 10 out loud (don’t worry – it is not that long) and keep your Bible open there, the next few questions are going to be based on this chapter.  What can we learn from Adam and Eve in the garden and the Israelites traveling in the desert about overcoming temptation?
5.  What do verses 14 – 22 remind us about ourselves when faced with a situation?  Can we handle it alone?
6. Discuss what verse 23 means.  Keep in mind things in your life that may or may not be a temptation for you and how it could affect those around you.
7. Looking at verses 31-33 how should we go about our lives in all we do?
8. If you are married and your spouse is with you, turn and face them and respond to each other with answers to these questions.  Men – in what ways can you step up and become a better leader of your family.  Ladies – how can you support your husband to help encourage and respect his efforts of being your family’s leader?
9. One last thing…make sure you end in prayer.