Genesis 3:1–13

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passages of Scripture. Also read: Psalm 139:1–12; Isaiah 14:12–20; Ezekiel 28:11–19; 2 Cor. 11:12–15; 1 Peter 3:6–11.

1.         The story begins with a demon possessed serpent, which is somehow present even in the paradise created by Yahweh Elohim, the LORD God, speaking to the woman.

2.         A carefully crafted question is asked of the woman by the serpent. We note that the serpent did not use the full title Yahweh Elohim, only Elohim.

3.         The woman’s response is nearly correct except she adds, “neither shall you touch it,” which God had not said.

4.         The serpent contradicts what God had said and denies that death would be the result of eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge or good and evil. May we wonder how the woman even knew anything about death?

5.         The serpent misrepresents the intention of Elohim by saying that to eat of the tree will bring enlightenment even to the point of being like gods, and this rendering we find in the Septuagint, LXX, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.

6.         Now the woman, in looking at the fruit of the forbidden tree, sees it is good for food, a delight to the eyes, and will bring one wisdom—the deadly triple enticement. The meaning of “seeing” has been debated forever.

7.         The woman shares the fruit with her husband whereupon both shockingly discover they are naked. Such mystery here and with little understanding by scholars over the centuries. By some mysterious mechanism they devise a covering, and they suddenly “hear” the LORD God approaching, who calls out to the man and asks, “Where are you?”

8.         Is this an opportunity for the man to confess and repent? Perhaps it was, but the man says he was afraid and so he hid himself. And we do the same still; so then we identify with the man.

9.         He was naked: is this a way of expressing guilt? Then comes from the LORD God another chance to be honest and confess. The response is one of blaming, blaming the woman for the trouble.

10.       The LORD God turns now to the woman and asks her what it was she had done. She admits that the serpent deceived her and that she did eat of the forbidden fruit.

11.       Is this to be considered a confession or an excuse?