Adam and Eve lost the Covering

 

Adam and Eve lost the Covering

 

Genesis 2:17 "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."

To “die” has the basic idea of separation. It can mean spiritual separation, physical separation, and/or eternal separation. At the moment of their sin, Adam and Eve died spiritually, but because God was merciful they did not die physically until later (5:5). There is no reason given for this prohibition, other than it was a test (see note on verse 9).

There was nothing magical about that tree, but eating from it after it had been forbidden by God would indeed give man the knowledge of evil, since evil can be defined as disobeying God. Man already had the knowledge of good.

“Thou shalt not eat” is in strongest Hebrew form of prohibition.

“Surely die”: The construction emphasizes in the strongest way the certainty of death upon eating. (Note 3:4 and Satan’s “Ye shall not surely die.”)

In the Bible there are three deaths:

(1) Physical death, separation of body and spirit;

(2) Spiritual death, separation of the individual from God; and

(3) Eternal death, the final estate of the lost person in the “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:10, 14; termed the “second death,” separation from God forever).

So many false religions base their belief on the few words above. Adam truly brought physical death upon all of mankind when he ate of this Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam's peace died, Adam's hopes died, and Adam's innocence died. His mind was troubled because he now knew that his body would return to the dust.

The error is in believing that the spirit of Adam died. The spirit never died. The spirit never dies. It is eternal. It will live either in heaven or hell. It is eternal. It did not mean that our bodies in their present condition will live forever. It meant Jesus had purchased our eternity for us.

This day, then, that you shall surely die just means that Adam brought physical death to all mankind, and Jesus brought life eternal. The wages of sin is death. Jesus paid the wages and bought everlasting life for each of us if we believe.

Read 1 Corinthians chapter 15 from verse 44 on.

Some people do not believe that God ever threatens punishment, but that is exactly what He did in the Scripture above.

Genesis 2:25 "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

(Adam and Eve were covered)

“Both naked … not ashamed”: With no knowledge of evil before the Fall, even nakedness was shameless and innocent. They found their complete gratification in the joy of their one union and their service to God. With no inward principle of evil to work on, the solicitation to sin had to come from without, and it did.

Their outward nakedness was a sign of their integrity. They lived and moved without guilt, shame, or fear of exploitation or threat. Naked in the Hebrew sounds like the word subtile (in 3:1), thus tying the two chapters together. Satan will concentrate his shrewdness on their integrity.

So many problems in young marriages today are caused by interference from parents who are not willing to cut the apron strings and let their children form families of their own. I believe this happened a lot because the parents are disappointed in the lives they have made for themselves, and are trying to live again in their children.

The order we should put our lives in is: God first, husband or wife next, and then other members of the family.

This "nakedness" spoken of here was probably literal and figurative. Adam and Eve were bathed in innocence. They were not aware that they were naked, because they had not eaten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Husbands and wives even today should be so close that there will be no secrets. We should truly try to walk without deceit.

Genesis 3:4 "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:"

(Not a Physical death, separation of body and spirit; It was a Spiritual death, separation of the individual from God)

Here Satan blatantly denies God with the same strong Hebrew expression God used (in 2:17).

Once the serpent had her listening, then he called God a liar (indirectly of course). The devil is the liar, and always has been. God is truth.

Genesis 3:7 "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."

(Adam and Eve lost the Covering)

“Opened … knew …sewed”: The innocence noted in 2:25 had been replaced by guilt and shame (verses 8-10), and from then on, they had to rely on their conscience to distinguish between good and their newly acquired capacity to see and know evil.

The sense of guilt is immediate (2:25), and they attempt to make themselves presentable, to cover up their nakedness (verse 21).

As I said before, (part of what the serpent said was true) their eyes were opened to realize the terrible sin they had committed. They suddenly were not innocent (they had sinned). The first awful thing that they discovered, was that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves to cover their nakedness, as we are about to see.

Genesis 3:8 "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."

(Adam and Eve ran from the Presence of the Lord.  Sin cannot exist in the Lord’s Presence)

“Voice”: Better translated “sound” as it appears in theophanies (a visible manifestation to humankind of God), in the Old Testament (Psalm 18:13; 29:3-9; Jeremiah 25:30; Ezekiel 1:24; Joel 3:16).

God appeared, as before, in tones of goodness and kindness, walking in some visible form (perhaps Shekinah light as He later appeared in Exodus 33:18-23; 34:5-8, 29; 40:34-38). He came not in fury, but in the same condescending way He had walked with Adam and Eve before.

“Cool of the day” may be understood as the “spirit of the day,” as the Hebrew word for cool is the same for spirit. The day is a judgment day in the context. No small wonder that as the sound of the Lord God was traversing back and forth in the garden seeking out Adam and Eve, they actively “hid themselves” from His “presence,” acknowledging that their intimate fellowship was broken (4:14; Psalm 139:7).

This is the first specific time it is mentioned that Eve heard God's voice. God had come for fellowship. Guilt and shame entered, and man and woman hid from God. Just as it is today, there is no place to hide from God. Be sure, your sin will find you out.

Genesis 3:9 "And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?"

(The Calling on each of our Lives from the Almighty)

“Where art thou”: The question was God’s way of bringing man to explain why he was hiding, rather than expressing ignorance about man’s location. Shame, remorse, confusion, guilt, and fear all led to their clandestine behavior. There was no place to hide; there never is (see Psalm 139:1-12).

God always seeks out man, in the sense that He solicits a response from His Creation now separated from Him by sin. Thus, God comes asking questions, not making accusations.

Genesis 3:10 "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself."

(No Covering)

“Heard thy voice”: The sound of 3:8, which probably was God calling for Adam and Eve. Adam responded with the language of fear and sorrow, but not confession.

Adam heard the “sound” of the Lord God and “was afraid” (as most men are afraid of God today), and began the age long process of “hiding himself” from his Maker.

So many times, guilt of sins causes us not to come to God. We feel we have done something so bad, that God will not listen and forgive.

You see, in verse 10, Adam's guilt and sin had caused a separation from God.