The Strand Study Bible

GENESIS GENESIS intrusion during the pre-flood era of this world, which produced “… mighty men which were of old, men of renown ” (Gen 6:1-4). The New Age Encyclopedia notes: Mythology is a collective body of myths – stories about gods or other superhuman beings… 5 NOTE – After Satan’s encounter with Eve in the Garden of Eden, mythology opened up the door to polytheism (the worship of many gods, as in “ ye shall be as gods ”), which eventually opened the door to Hinduism , Buddhism , Mormonism and The Mind Sciences , which includes New Age ( Rev 17:7 ). 3:7 Since the very beginning, man has misinterpreted God’s plan for saving him by attempting to cover his nakedness and filthiness before God with fig leaves (his own means; self-righteous). It didn’t work then ( vs 10 ) and it doesn’t work now ( Isa 64:6 ). Only CHRIST’S righteousness (Rom 3:21-26) can adequately cover the nakedness and filthiness of man ( Gen 3:21 ). 3:8 The reason Adam and Eve hid themselves is because of the shame and rejection they felt after they sinned. John Bradshaw in Healing the Shame That Binds You notes: The Bible describes shame as the core and consequences of Adam’s fall. In Hebrew, Adam is equivalent to mankind. Adam symbolizes all human beings. The Bible suggests that Adam was not satisfied with his own being. He wanted to be more than he was. He wanted to be more than human. He failed to accept his essential limitations. He lost his healthy shame. The Bible suggests that the origin of human bondage (original sin) is the desire to be other than who we are…to be more than human. In his toxic shame (pride), Adam wanted a false self. The false self led to his destruction. 6 Interestingly enough, God did not create the self-image that mankind is so obsessed with today; man did, due to his sin. F.J. Huegel in That Old Serpent – The Devil notes: When you get to the roots of sin, whatever its outward expression, you find “self”–simple, unadulterated, simon- pure selfishness. 7 Before the fall, man had no problem communicating with his Creator; he had no problem with self-esteem or self-worth. He didn’t even care whether he was naked or not. The reason mankind has an inferiority complex (a warped psyche; a poor self- image) is because of a fear of rejection and/or shame (vs. 10), due to sin. NOTE – God did not avoid man or his sin (vs 8-9). Man, in his sin, avoided God. Self-image is the by-product of sin. Thus, to agonize over one’s self-image is to practice pride and to allow what we think of ourselves ( Mt 22:39 , Rom 12:3, I Cor 4:6, Gal 6:3, and I Tim 2:9-10), or what someone else thinks of us (I Sam 15:22-30), to supersede what God thinks of us… and God thinks pretty highly of us (Jn 3:16), especially His own (Rom 8:35-39). He even loved us before we existed (Titus 1:2), and after we sinned (Rom 5:8). The key to minimizing the drama that the pride of self-esteem produces is to practice humility ( I Ki 21:29 ). 3:10 The fact that Adam admitted he was still naked , even after covering himself with fig leaves (vs 7), proves that he recognized the insufficiency of his own attempt to cover his shame. John Bradshaw in Healing the Shame That Binds You notes: In itself, shame is not bad. Shame is a normal human emotion. In fact, it is necessary to feel shame if one is to be truly human. Shame is the emotion that gives us permission to be human. Shame tells us of our limits. Shame keeps us in our human boundaries, letting us know we can and will make mistakes and that we need help. Our shame tells us we are not God. Healthy shame is the psychological foundation of humility. It is the source of spiritually. 6 3:12 Go ahead and blame others and their reaction to your choices ( The woman whom thou gavest to be with me ), but life’s about choices, not somebody’s reaction to those choices. THE ADAGE IS TRUE: Justifying your wrongs don’t make you right Katharine Hepburn in Me: Stories of My Life notes: 62 Blaming others ( she gave me of the tree ) for our own irresponsibility is as old as the Garden of Eden. M.R. De Haan II, in his little booklet called What About Those Who Have Never Heard? , tells of a story that showed up in his local newspaper. It described the actions of a couple of men who tried an unorthodox method of trimming a row of bushes. Since they didn’t have hedge clippers, they tried lifting a lawn mower and using it like a trimmer. Unfortunately, one man was seriously injured when he lost his grip on the mower. Their misfortune became a part of the daily news when the injured man tried to sue the manufacturer for failing to label the machine with a warning against using it as a hedge trimmer. 9 NOTE - When Adam was confronted with his sin, he immediately passed the blame onto the woman, who immediately passed the blame onto the serpent. Yet, when the Serpent (Satan) was confronted with his sin, he offered no excuse. The closer you are to truth (God) the less you can make excuses. Satan, though not right with God, does walk in the very presence of God (Job 1:6-7). Because he walks in the very presence of such great light, there is nowhere to hide the truth and thus pass the buck. 3:13 If, as creatures of choice, we allow Satan (God’s first creature with choice) to “beguile” us (as he did Eve - II Cor 11:3) into trying to invent some kind of happiness for ourselves apart from God, we will find ourselves (as did Adam and Eve - Gen 3) unhappy and without God. 3:14 We know snakes don’t eat dust ; they eat rodents, other reptiles, and insects. Skeptics and infidels, however, love to use this verse to point out the supposed “discrepancies” of the Scriptures. “ Dust thou shall eat ” is simply a pun. It’s another way of saying that snakes are built low to the ground. It’s like saying, “She’s cute as a button.” We know people aren’t buttons. It’s simply a play on words ( Deut 1:10 ). What’s amazing is how much time and effort skeptics and infidels actually waste trying to prove the Scriptures inaccurate. If something isn’t true and it doesn’t affect eternity, why waste precious time fighting it? We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers – but never blame yourself. It’s never your fault. But it’s always your fault, because if you wanted to change you’re the one who has got to change. 8