Genesis 3 The Fall

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Genesis 2: 15-17

What is the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”? Why does God give the punishment of death if Adam and Eve eat from the tree? It represents choosing our own truth over God’s By eating from the tree out of their own free will, Adam and Eve are not only being disobedient to God, they are breaking their side of the Covenant (vow) with God. God’s side: He will give humanity everything they need to be joyful and have abundant life. Humanity’s side: be obedient to God, their Father It would be a common understanding in ancient times that breaking a covenant brings death, but because the covenant is with God, the author and source of life, this death is not only meant as literal, but spiritual.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Genesis 3: 1-7

“Serpent was the most crafty of all the wild animals” Hebrew word used to describe the snake in Genesis: nahash It is used in the Old Testament in reference to: powerfully evil creatures “Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls “a murderer from the beginning,” who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Fathers. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” In its consequences the gravest of those works was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God.” (CCC 394) Why does Genesis describe the serpent as “crafty”? The serpent represents Satan, the most powerful evil creature. Satan is a fallen angel, but still maintains his qualities of an angel; therefore is pure spirit, but superior to man in intellect and power.

How does Satan tempt the woman? Satan questions God’s authority. He begins with a question to plant doubt, and then lies to the woman (“You will not die.”) He tempts with pride. He tells Adam and Eve that they can be their own god, replacing absolute Truth, with relative truth. Absolute Truth: definitive, universal, unchangeable Relative truth: differs from person to person, changes with time Basically saying… “I know better than God.”

Where was Adam? Failing in his duties… 1. God’s son: He disobeyed his Father, and allied with his Father’s enemy (aka Satan) 2. Priest His job was with “serve and guard” but he did neither by letting the nahash (powerfully evil creature) in. 3. Prophet He is called to preach God’s Word, but in this case he said nothing. This is the sin of omission – when you should have done something but chose not to. 4. King He is called to have dominion over the animals, and like all humanity, have dominion over sin. He doesn’t have either (let the snake tempt and trap him into sin.) 5. Bridegroom As a bridegroom, his job is to protect, honor, and serve his wife (i.e. get her to Heaven). Adam allows Eve to be trapped into sin.

(Genesis 3: 8-13) When they heard the sound of the LORD God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. The LORD God then called to the man and asked him: Where are you? He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid.” Then God asked: Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat? The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman: What is this you have done? The woman answered, “The snake tricked me, so I ate it.” Blame game!

The three punishments (all have individual & relationship consequences) (Genesis 3: 14-19) Then the LORD God said to the snake: because you have done this, cursed are you among all the animals, tame or wild; On your belly you shall crawl, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel. To the woman he said: I will intensify your toil in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. To the man he said: Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you! In toil you shall eat its yield all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. The man gave his wife the name “Eve,” because she was the mother of all the living.

(Genesis 21-24) The LORD God made for the man and his wife garments of skin, with which he clothed them. Then the LORD God said: See! The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil! Now, what if he also reaches out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life, and eats of it and lives forever? The LORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken. He expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life. “garments of skin”: an animal has died in place of Adam and Eve for breaking the covenant God does not want them to “live forever” in their state of sinfulness (or they would be damned forever)

Before Original Sin Adam and Eve were given 3 types of gifts: ◦ Natural  Intellect, will, body, soul ◦ Preternatural  Infused knowledge (greater knowledge of the supernatural),integrity (perfect harmony between reason and the emotions), incorruptibility of the body (not subject to sin, death, and disease) ◦ Supernatural  Life of grace (participating in the life and love of the Trinity)

“Man was created in the state of natural perfection; he was supplied with all knowledge necessary for the proper conduct of his life,for the instructing and ruling of offspring. The first man was supplied divinely with knowledge of all things that man has an aptitude to know. Further, since man is made for a supernatural end, the first man was endowed with supernatural faith, and with knowledge of supernatural truths necessary for the supernatural direction of his life and his efforts. But the first man was not given knowledge of things needless to know, which he could not know naturally, such as the secret thoughts of others, or knowledge of events to occur contingently in future time.” –Summa Theologica

Consequences of Original Sin Preternatural & Supernatural gifts are lost ◦ Instead of infused knowledge we have obscured knowledge – this means we can know Truth (God) but it is much harder ◦ Instead of integrity we have concupiscence –, we are inclined to sin (as a result of loss of grace) ◦ Instead of incorruptibility of the body, our bodies break down, we have disease, etc. We need baptism to restore supernatural gifts; we cannot fully restore preternatural gifts