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Firm Foundations

Creation to Christ

Lesson 10 - Adam and Eve Disobeyed God

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The portion of the Bible we’re going to study today relates one of the most critical events in all history. We need to understand the background of what took place; that’s why we took time last week to review.

Now we’re going to do another brief review which will lead us into today’s lesson.

1. Where did God place Adam after He created him? In a beautiful garden called Eden which God Himself prepared for Adam.

2. What two very important trees did God also place in the garden of Eden? The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

3. God told Adam that he must not eat of the fruit of which tree? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

4. What did God say would happen to man if he disobeyed and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? God said that man would die.

5. What did God mean when He said that man would die?

a. Man would be separated immediately from God, the source of his life. He would no longer be in friendship with God.

b. His body would die when his soul and spirit were separated from his body.

c. Man’s body, soul, and spirit would be separated from God forever in the place which God prepared for Satan and his demons.

6. Whom did God create for Adam after He placed Adam in the garden of Eden? God created Eve to be Adam’s wife.

7. Why did God create Eve? Because there was no animal that was a suitable companion for Adam and because God loved him, He did not want Adam to be alone. God wanted man to have children.

Life in the garden was pleasant for Adam and Eve; everything was perfect.

- They had everything that they needed.

- God was their friend; He loved them, and they were very happy.

- God had put Adam in the position of manager over all of God’s beautiful creation. Since there was no disease or sickness or pests or weeds or thorns, Adam’s job was pleasant. He only needed to go to God for direction, and God would tell him exactly what was best to do.

- God had given Adam and Eve a variety of plants and fruits and vegetables to eat.

- Financial worries were unknown because finances were unknown—everything they needed was already provided!

- Adam and Eve were able to communicate with God and with each other.

They had not sinned, so there was no hindrance to their communication with God or with each other. They had never argued or hurt each other with words, nor had they done anything wrong.

- They had perfect friendship and fellowship with God and with each other.

But what about God’s great enemy, Satan?

- Satan knew about God’s warning to Adam concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

- Because Satan hates God, he wanted to destroy the man and woman that God had made.

- Therefore, Satan planned to deceive Eve.

This wasn’t just a snake talking to Eve.

- Satan himself had entered into the snake.

- He disguised himself as a snake so he could deceive Eve.

- The serpent was more clever than any other animal which God had made. Satan is a deceiver.

- He didn’t allow Eve to know that he was the one talking through the snake.

- The more you learn from God’s Word, the more you realize how deceitful and wicked Satan is. He knows that he is lying.

John 8:44 says that Satan is a liar and a murderer.

His name means “deceiver” or “accuser.” That’s exactly what he tries to do.

- He tries to make what is good appear useless or evil.

- He tries to make what is evil appear good.

- He tries to infer that God is lying, but he knows only too well that what God says is absolutely true.

This is what Satan did to Eve: he deceived her by coming to her in the form of a snake. Up until that time, the animals had not been harmful in any way to Adam and Eve or to each other, so Eve was not afraid. Satan’s motives and his deceitful tactics haven’t changed; he’s still trying to deceive and destroy people. He doesn’t use a serpent like he did with Eve, but he uses whatever means and tactics people will accept.

- Many times Satan deceives people by speaking lies right into their minds. When Satan comes to speak to people, he doesn’t let them know that he is the one who is speaking to them. They think that the thoughts in their minds are their own. But it is really Satan who is putting the thoughts into their minds.

Explanation:

Actually, Satan himself can only be in one place at one time. But, you may remember that many of the angels followed Satan in his rebellion against God. God removed Satan and his rebellious followers from their positions of service to God in Heaven. These rebellious angels, or spirits, now roam the earth unseen and work with Satan against God and against men. These spirits are the ones whom Satan uses to tell us lies in our minds.

Satan will speak to you even when you are listening to God’s Word.

- He may put a question into your mind such as, “Why should I believe the Bible?” Satan doesn’t want anyone to know or to believe God. He hates God and he hates God’s Word, the Bible, even though Satan knows that it is true! Sometimes Satan uses other people through whom he speaks his lies to us. These people may be knowingly following Satan, or they may just be deceived, like Eve. Satan tries to make following these people look very attractive to us, even though it is the way of eventual death. He tries to make us feel:

- That we will miss out on something if we don’t follow long.

- That it is more important for us to follow a wrong leader or a wrong crowd rather than to risk losing our friends by doing what we know is right.

- Or Satan may reach us through another area of our own pride. We may not want to identify with the crowd but instead we want to be more wise than everyone else and to be very self-sufficient. Satan has brought many people to destruction through the lie that says man can be independent of God and do as he pleases because he is so intelligent and capable.

- In recent days, we are hearing a great deal about Satan worship and similar practices. Most people have no desire to follow these things that are obviously satanic. But many people are becoming involved in more subtle things that actually have Satan as their focus.

Beware of:

- Anything that makes you look to a power other than God for answers to life.

- Anything that exalts or gives a good, pleasant, or attractive connotation to anything that is really evil.

- Games or music or other entertainment that exalt killing or lying or stealing or filthy language or immorality.

- Anything that denies God’s existence or even “waters down” the Bible.

All of these kinds of things are really authored by Satan. He is the one behind them, no matter how innocent or popular or harmless they might seem.

Why did Satan ask Eve this question?

- He already knew the correct answer.

- He didn’t care what God had said.

- He was testing Eve so he could trick her.

- He was attempting to cast doubt on God’s Word—this is one of Satan’s favorite tactics.

Satan had already succeeded in confusing Eve. Her answer was not what God had said.

- God didn’t say they could not touch the fruit.

- He had said they must not eat it.

God’s command was for both Adam and Eve.

- God first gave this command to Adam.

- Adam apparently told Eve what God had said.

- But, even though God did not give the command directly to Eve, the command included Eve.

- Whatever God said to Adam included Eve.

- Consider:

The words in the Bible were spoken to people many years ago, but they are still God’s words to each one of us today. God doesn’t have different messages for different people. His message is the same to everyone—to all races and nationalities; to men, women, and children. Whatever He says to me in His Word, He also says to you.

Now Satan was calling God a liar. He was no longer casting doubt; he was denying the truth— another of his favorite tactics. Satan himself is really the liar.

- He said the opposite of what God had told Adam.

- He was saying that what God said was not true.

- Consider:

God had said: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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 surely die” God meant that Adam and Eve would be cut off from God, the one who gave them life. God said, “You will die.” Satan said, “You will not die.” Satan was lying.

What was really behind Satan’s lie?

- Satan had rebelled against God’s authority. He sinned when he wanted to take God’s place. He didn’t want to obey God any more. He wanted to be independent of God and rule his own life.

- Now Satan was suggesting to Eve that she should rebel against God. Satan was suggesting that she should eat the fruit so that she could be like God in knowing what was good and what was evil. Satan wanted Eve to believe that she wouldn’t need God to tell her what was right and what was wrong.

But here is the truth:

- God didn’t make people to live by their own ideas and thoughts.

- God made us to be guided by His own Word.

- It doesn’t matter what I think, what you think, what other people think, or what Satan and his demons say.

- The important thing is what God says.

Satan deceived Eve, and she believed him.

- She believed that Satan was telling the truth.

- She believed that she would be wise like God.

Even though Adam knew that God had said not to eat, he deliberately disobeyed God’s command.

- Adam turned away from depending on God. He wanted to be independent of God. He wanted to decide for himself what was good and what was evil. Instead of God being first in Adam’s heart, Adam now made himself first. He wanted to be his own boss and do whatever he wanted to do. Adam didn’t want God to rule over him anymore.

Did God have the right to rule over Adam?

- Yes, God was his Creator.

- Everything he had came from God.

Does God have the right to tell us what to do?

- Yes, all that we have comes from God; He gave us our life.

What did God say would happen to them if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

What did God mean by “die”?

- They didn’t drop dead immediately when they ate the fruit.

- They were still walking around.

- They were making themselves coverings out of leaves.

- Does this mean that God’s Word didn’t come true?

- Was Satan right after all?

No! They were separated from God immediately when they ate the fruit.

- God always does what He says.

- He never changes.

- He doesn’t forget His threats to punish disobedience of His commands.

Why did their sin separate them from God?

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you.”

- Because God is holy and righteous, He will not continue in friendship with those who disobey His commands.

- He hates everything that is wrong and punishes all disobedience of His commands by death.

- Romans 6:23 says, “...the wages of sin is death....”

Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were cut off from their friendship with God.

- Their relationship with God was dead.

- They were no longer in oneness with God.

- They had taken sides with God’s great enemy, Satan, and they, too, were now the enemies of God.

- Illustration:

Imagine how horrible it would be if a friend of yours turned away from you and began to follow an enemy who hated you and even wanted to kill you. How heartbreaking it would be to realize that the one who was your friend had become your enemy!

- Consider:

This is what happened when Adam and Eve turned away from their friendship with God and began to follow Satan. Satan is God’s great enemy, so when Adam and Eve turned away from God and followed Satan, they, too, became the enemies of God. A branch doesn’t die immediately when it’s broken off from the tree that was its source of life. The process of dying may take many days. But in time the once-green leaves become dry and brown—they are completely dead. The same thing happened to Adam and Eve. Death wasn’t evident in their bodies on the day they disobeyed God. They were still breathing and walking around. But they had died to God. That part of them which was made in God’s image so they could know, love, and obey Him was immediately separated from God when they disobeyed His command. They were now separated from Him and had become the enemies of God. Their bodies would also eventually die, and they would go to the place of everlasting punishment which God prepared for Satan and the evil spirits.

These were the signs that they were now separated from God:

- First, their attitude toward their bodies changed immediately. Before they disobeyed God, they were naked but unembarrassed. Now they were separated from God, and their minds were no longer under God’s control.

- Their minds became evil, and their attitude toward their bodies changed.

- They were embarrassed by their naked bodies.

- Secondly, they tried to provide their own needs. Before they were separated from God, they looked to God to provide everything they needed. But now they tried to do things for themselves.

- They clothed themselves with fig leaves.

- They no longer trusted God to give them what they needed.

- They were trying to live independently of God.

- Perhaps they reasoned that if they clothed themselves, God wouldn’t notice that anything had happened.

- But God does not accept us based upon our outward appearance.

- Consider:

Just as Adam and Eve tried to make themselves acceptable to God by putting on clothes, many people today think they can make themselves acceptable to God by the outward appearances of respectability. Here are some examples:

- Becoming church members

- Being good parents

- Endeavoring to be law-abiding citizens

- Holding membership in civic and charitable organizations.

- I Samuel 16:7 says, “...man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

- Adam and Eve not only tried to cover their nakedness, but when God came to visit Adam and Eve, they also tried to hide from Him.

- Consider:

Do you have friends whom you enjoy visiting? God loved Adam and Eve, and so He came at the close of the day to talk with them. Before they were separated from God, they loved Him and wanted to talk with Him. But when God came after they had disobeyed Him, Adam and Eve hid. Their attitude toward God had changed. Because of their disobedience to God, they were no longer His friends. When God first made Adam and Eve, they were of one mind with God. But this was no longer true. They were now of one mind with Satan. They could no longer know and understand God. They didn’t love God anymore, and they were under Satan’s control. Now they were on Satan’s side. Because they had disobeyed God’s command, they were ashamed, and they were afraid of God.

- Consider:

When children deliberately disobey their parents, do they want to be near the parent they have disobeyed? Can they look their parent in the eye? Are they happy to be with the one they’ve disobeyed?

Sin—disobedience to God—brings fear and causes people to turn away from God.

- When God created Adam and Eve, they didn’t fear anything. There was nothing in the world to fear. God was their friend. No animals would hurt them. All the world was good and beautiful. Sickness and death did not exist.

- Disobedience to God is the reason that we have fear in the world today. Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God, there has been terrible fear in the hearts of men and women. We may not like to talk about our fears, but each of us has them.

- A few examples:

Sickness

Death

Financial ruin

Enemy attack

War.

- Read the paper or listen to the news; we are a society full of fears. Is the water really drinkable? Is the food safe to eat? What will be the outcome of the arms talks? What’s going to happen in the stock market? Or, more personally, will I be able to pay next month’s bills? Will cancer strike in our home? Is it safe for the children to go to the playground?

Do you realize that Adam and Eve did not have to fear any of these things or anything else when God first created them?

- Do you think that Adam and Eve should have been afraid of God? Would God really punish them for their disobedience? Or is God like many people who only make idle threats?

- Consider:

How often we hear in the news of some terrible threat that comes to nothing. Political leaders threaten war but are not ready to follow through with what they have announced they will do.

- Consider:

Or, on a much more personal level, we have known parents who threaten to punish their children for the next episode of wrong behavior. But when the next time comes, the offense is overlooked because the parent is too busy or too tired to carry out the threatened punishment. Do you think God is like that? Did God merely threaten Lucifer and the angels when they rebelled? No! God always does exactly as He has promised to do. He is not like us who often fail to do what we have said we would do. God is faithful and does not change or waver or neglect to do what He has promised.

- Had Adam and Eve been warned of the consequences of sin?

Yes! God had clearly warned them. He had shown them His lovingkindness, but He had plainly told them the terrible thing that would happen if they disobeyed Him. The Devil did not “make them do it;” they themselves chose to sin.

What should Adam and Eve have done in response to God’s command?

- They should have obeyed Him out of love.

- And they should have obeyed Him because He had clearly warned them of the punishment for disobedience.

- But Adam and Eve went ahead and disobeyed God in spite of all of His kindness and His stern warning to them. Now Adam and Eve had good reason to be afraid of God. Why? Because they had disobeyed Him and He was their Creator.

- They depended upon God for everything.

- The very breath that they had in their bodies was given by God.

- All that they had came from God, and yet Adam had deliberately disobeyed God’s command.

- God always punishes those who disobey any of His commands.

Were Adam and Eve able to hide from God?

No! God saw Adam and Eve when they were trying to hide among the trees.

Can anyone hide from God? Is there anywhere we can go where God is not already there?

No! God is everywhere.

- No one can hide from Him.

- The darkness and the light are all the same to Him.

- Illustration:

When people do things that they know are wrong, they usually try to do them when other people cannot see them. People do evil things in the dark. But God always sees and hears everything. Nothing can be hidden from God. God has heard and seen everything that we have said and done from the day that we were born.

What you have just read is no simple tale about a man and a woman and a snake.

- It is the tragic event of man’s separation from God.

- Adam and Eve were separated from God because of their sin.

- They were separated from Him immediately, just as He said they would be. This is one important thing we can learn from this story: God always tells the truth.

- His Word is true.

- He always does exactly what He says. But in contrast to God who always speaks the truth, Satan is a liar and a murderer.

- He said Adam and Eve would not die if they disobeyed God, but he knew that they would.

- He deceived, lied, and tempted Adam and Eve because he wanted them to die.

Beware! Satan is still the same today.

- He is not the character with the pitchfork and red suit who is easy to identify.

- He is the Deceiver, the enemy of our souls.

- He will use any method to keep us from listening to God’s Word.

- He doesn’t want us to listen to God’s Word because he wants us to be separated from God forever.

QUESTIONS:

1. When Satan came to deceive Eve, did he come and talk to her face to face so she could see him and know who he was?

2. What did Satan use to disguise himself when he spoke to Eve?

3. God told Adam that, if they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would definitely die, but Satan told Eve they would not. What was Satan suggesting God to be?

4. What did Satan tell Eve would happen to them?

5. Does Satan still try to deceive and trick people?

6. How does Satan speak to people today (not specific instances, but what channels does he use)?

a.

b..

7. Does Satan want you to listen to and believe God’s words?

8. Why doesn’t Satan want people to hear and believe God’s words?

a.

b.

9. God said that Adam and Eve would die if they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan said they would not die. Who spoke the truth?

10. Satan is very strong. Was it all his fault that Adam and Eve sinned?

11. Adam and Eve didn’t fall dead immediately when they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had said they would die for their disobedience. What did He mean?

a.

b.

c.

12. What did Adam and Eve do when they realized they were naked? Why did they do this?

13. What did Adam and Eve do when they heard God coming to see them? Why did they do this?

14. Is it possible to hide from God?

Suggested Daily Bible Readings:

Day 46: Leviticus, Chapters 1 and 2

Day 47: Leviticus, Chapters 3 and 4

Day 48: Leviticus, Chapters 5 and 6

Day 49: Leviticus, Chapters 7 and 8

Day 50: Leviticus, Chapters 9 and 10