Genesis

IT is hardly too much to say that this chapter is the pivot of the Bible, for if we take it away the rest of Scripture becomes meaningless. With the exception of the fact of Creation, we have here the record of the most important and far-reaching event in the world s history the entrance of sin. The record in this chapter, like that of the Creation, is variously interpreted. Many speak of it as mythical, by which is often meant that which is unreal, untrue, and impossible. Others use the term myth as indicating an elementary method of conveying moral and spiritual truth, even though the narrative itself is not historical in form. The former view is naturally to be set aside by all who believe in the fact and veracity of a Divine revelation. The latter interpretation of myth does not seem to be quite satisfactory on any intelligible principle of Divine inspiration. The truest method of interpretation is that which regards these narratives as pictorial records of actual fact; solid history in pictorial form. It is inadequate to speak of the narrative as poetic or merely symbolical, lest we should give the impression that the story is not concerned with actual fact. Allegory, too, is identical with the truth illustrated, and does not necessarily presuppose any historical basis. What we must insist upon and ever keep in view is that, whether allegorical or pictorial, the narrative is expressive of actual fact.

The chapter is so full of spiritual truths that it is impossible to deal with everything in detail. It must suffice to call attention to four great realities of the spiritual life which are here brought before us for the first time in the Word of God.

The practical character of the narrative is clearly seen in the reference to the serpent as the immediate cause of human sin. Inasmuch as Satan is not actually mentioned in the chapter, we are surely right in regarding this reference to the serpent as a pictorial and symbolical reference to Satan himself, a view which is confirmed by later passages of Scripture, such as 2Co 11:14 ; Rev 12:9; Rev 20:2. There is no reference to the problem of how and when Satan sinned. The one point of stress is laid upon sin in relation to man, and we are taught very unmistakably two great truths: (1) That God is not the author of sin, and (2) that sin came to man from without, and was due to a power of evil suggestion and influence other than that which came from man’s own nature. Even though we fall short of identifying the serpent of this chapter with the personal Satan of later Scripture, we may still regard the teaching of the Fall story as suggesting the personification of an evil principle from without, which in later times is seen to be more than a personification, and nothing less than an actual being (Orr, Image of God in Man, pp. 219 ft.).

Mark its subtilty. The stages of the temptation should be carefully noticed: (a) The serpent first of all excites the woman’s curiosity by speaking to her; (b) then lie raises a suspicion of God by the question that he puts to her (Gen 3:1); (c) then he proceeds to inject a threefold doubt of God of His goodness, by reason of the restriction (Gen 3:1); of His righteousness, in the assurance that they shall not die (Gen 3:4); and of His holiness, in the assurance that, so far from dying, they shall be as gods (Gen 3:5). (See Candlish’s Lectures on Genesis, in loc.) (d) Thus he incites the woman to unbelief, and (e) leads her eventually to disobedience. It is very noteworthy that the temptation is associated entirely with doubt of God’s Word: "Hath God said?" This is characteristic of sin at all times; the doubt, the denial, and the disbelief of God’s Word. First Satan distorts the Word, and then he leads the woman to doubt it, and last of all he denies it. It is also significant that Satan and the woman in their conversation use the term God and not Lord God. This inadequate and defective reference to God was doubtless part of the explanation of the temptation and the Fall. It would not have served Satan s purposes to have introduced the specific covenant term Jehovah when raising questions about the veracity and faithfulness of God’s Word.

Observe its success. The stages of the woman’s attitude have often been pointed out: (a) She heeded the temptation, and listened to Satan’s questioning of God’s Word and his new interpretation of that Divine utterance. In her reply to his question, she perverted and misquoted three times the divine law to which she and Adam were subject: (1) She disparaged her privileges by misquoting the terms of the Divine permission as to the other trees. (2) She overstated the restrictions by misquoting the Divine prohibition. (3) She under rated her obligations by misquoting the Divine penalty. And thus she was easily exposed to the temptation to question, doubt, and deny God. (b) Her curiosity was roused, perhaps, by Satan demonstrating before her the apparent futility of heeding God, for we are told that she saw that the tree was good for food as well as pleasant to the eyes, (c) Then sprang up physical craving, and she desired to disobey, with the result that (d) she took and ate, and gave also unto her husband and he did eat. Her fall was consequently due to dalliance with temptation. She did not repel, but yielded to it. Had she resisted at the very outset she would not have fallen; for it is a universal law that if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. Nothing is more remarkable in the whole history of man’s moral life than the powerlessness of the devil to overcome us apart from our own assent and consent if we resist, he flees; if we yield, he wins. It is this simple fact that constitutes man’s ultimate responsibility for his actions. He never can say, I was overpowered in spite of myself. All that he can say is, "I was overpowered because of myself."

The reality of sin is undoubted. The chapter is clear as to the fact of a Fall. There is such a thing as moral evil in the world. Human nature, with its constant tendency to retrogression and degeneration, clearly proves this. However and whenever it has come about, we know the universality and persistence of evil to-day, and the world has never had any other adequate explanation than that which is afforded by this chapter. Traditions of the Fall are almost as numerous as those of creation (Pulpit Commentary, p. 59). There is scarcely any part of God’s Word which is more in accord with the known facts of history and science than the story of this chapter. We have recently been told that the doctrine of a Fall from original righteousness is only found in this chapter and in the theology of St Paul, and yet it is surely obvious that the facts of sin and its universality are presupposed in every part of the Old Testament.

If a Fall were not narrated in the opening chapters of Genesis, we should still have to postulate something of the kind for the Bible s own representations of the state of man (Or, ut supra, p. 201). We may also add that the same postulate is necessary to account for the tendencies to evil seen in the natures of little children throughout the whole world.

The root of sin should be understood. The foundation of all sin lies in man’s desire for self-assertion and his determination to be independent of God. Adam and Eve chafed under the restriction laid upon them by the command of God, and it was in opposition to this that they asserted themselves, and thereby fell. Man does not like to be dependent upon another, and subject to commands from without. He desires to go his own way, to be his own master; and as a consequence he sins, and becomes lord of himself, that heritage of woe.

The responsibility of sin needs constant emphasis. The possibility of sin is involved in the fact of personality. Unless man was to be an automaton, with no opportunity for character, there must be granted the possibility of sin. It is at this point we realize the solemn fact of personal accountability. Whatever may be true of environment and heredity, they never can blot out the distinction between right and wrong, or rob man of his responsibility. Nor must we for a moment suppose that sin was any inherent tendency or primal necessity of human life. Adam had liability, but not a tendency, to sin. Our Lord had neither liability nor tendency, though of course His temptation was real, all the more so because of His sinless nature (Heb 4:15 R.V., not A.V.). We today, as fallen, have both liability and tendency. Any modern theories of evolution which make sin a necessity of human development tend thereby to blot out the eternal distinction between good and evil. In view of certain aspects of modern evolutionary thought, man had no alternative but to fall; and to add to the confusion of thought and morals, we are also told that this failure was not a fall, but a rise a fall upwards so that we must now, it is said, speak of the ascent, not of the fall, of man. In opposition to all this the Bible teaches us that sin was not a necessity, and there never will be any clear Christian thinking until this necessitarian theory is entirely banished from our minds (Orr, ut supra, pp. 158 and 298).

Be sure your sin will find you out is the great principle written clearly and deeply on this record of the first sin, as, indeed, of every other since that time. What was the punishment associated with the sin of Adam and Eve? The narrative shows this plainly.

They soon had a sense of guilt. At once their eyes were opened, and they became conscious of the shame associated with their wrong-doing. The reference to nakedness and clothing indicates the profound shame that actuated them, and at once they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. Fear was the result of their guilt; the old experiences of innocence and fellowship were at an end, and now they were guilty before God. Conscience, that element of the Divine image and likeness, was already at work, and their sin was indeed finding them out.

Then followed a sentence of condemnation. God soon dealt with this wrong-doing, and there was a threefold condemnation. All subterfuges (Gen 3:10) and all cowardly attempts to blame others (Gen 3:12-13) were unavailing, and man stood face to face with the holy God, conscious of guilt and unspeakable shame, (a) The serpent was first dealt with, and judgment passed upon him (Gen 3:14-15); (b) the woman was next judged, and condemned to sorrow and subjection (Gen 3:16); (c) the man last of all was dealt with, and sorrow, hardship, toil, and death were made his portion (Gen 3:17-19).

Last of all came an act of separation. It was impossible for man to remain in the garden, and in a state of fellowship with God. Sin and Paradise were incompatible, and so the Lord sent them forth, driving them out, and placing the guard with the sword that turned every way. Mark the significance of this phrase. There was no possibility of a return to the old life. Paradise was lost, and by no human effort could it ever be regained. Separation is always the result of sin. "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God (Isa 59:2). And thus the threefold punishment of guilt, condemnation, and separation accrued to man because of his sin.

The chapter, however, does not end with sin and its punishment, and we pass on to consider the fourth great reality.

The announcement of enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between her seed and his seed, is the first message of Divine redemption in its antagonism to, and victory over sin. This is indeed the Protevangelium, and is the primeval promise which is taken up again and again henceforward in Scripture, until He comes Who destroys him that has the power of death, and casts him into the lake of fire.

Redemption is not only promised in word, it is also pictured in deed. Man attempted to cover his shame by the leaves of the fig-tree, but this was far too slight a covering for so deep a shame. No human covering could suffice, and so we are told with profound significance that the Lord God made coats of skins and clothed them. This Divine clothing took the place of their own self-made clothing, and now they are clothed indeed. The mention of skins suggests the fact and necessity of death of the animal before they could be used as clothing, and it is more than probable that in this fact we have the primal revelation of sacrifice, and of the way in which the robe of righteousness was to be provided for them.

Looking on to the New Testament, we cannot but associate with this chapter the great Pauline chapter, Romans 8, which ends very significantly with three questions triumphantly asked by the Apostle, and it should be carefully noticed that these questions exactly correspond to the three aspects of punishment mentioned above.

Thus, where sin abounded grace did super abound, and as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, so now grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

God’s question to Adam still sounds in the ear of "every sinner"; "Where art thou?" It is the call of Divine justice, which cannot overlook sin. It is the call of Divine sorrow, which grieves over the sinner. It is the call of Divine love, which offers redemption for sin. To each and to every one of us the call is reiterated, "Where art thou?"

The answer to the question must be either: in Adam or in Christ. These are the only two places where we can be. If we are still in Adam, we are still in sin, and therefore in guilt, condemnation, and in danger of eternal separation. If we are in Christ, we are already pardoned, accounted righteous, subjects of His grace, and heirs of eternal glory.

Note. For all modern evolutionary and philosophical questions connected with this chapter attention is earnestly called to the very able and scholarly book by Dr Orr, already quoted and referred to.