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“Eve: The First Woman”
(Part II)
(Gensis 3:20)
I. Introduction.
A. Eve, the “mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20) became the
target of the tempter, Satan, yielded to his enticement to
disobey God, went to her husband, Adam, who also sinned,
and, together, they faced the consequences of their having
accepted Satan’s lies over God’s truth.
1. The end of Genesis 1 tells us: “Then God saw
everything he had made, and indeed it was very
good. . . .” (Genesis 1:31).
2. The chronology of what then occurred is unknown
to us, but maybe only a short time separated the
conclusion of creation, and the temptation of Eve.
From the biblical account, it would appear that
Adam and Eve had not conceived any children.
3. Whatever the actual time elapsed was, it is evident
that Satan wanted to strike at the head of the human
race and, if he could beguile Eve and thereby cause
Adam to sin, the devil could sabotage God’s perfect
creation and all humanity.
B. Satan came to Eve in disguise. By subtlety, he intended to
deceive her. What he told Eve was not only plausible, it
was partially true. Eating the fruit of disobedience would,
indeed, open her eyes to understand good and evil. The
innocent Eve made her vulnerable to the devil’s half-truths
and total lies.
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1. The serpent’s first words set the tone for all his
future dealings with humanity: “. . .’Has God
indeed said. . .’”? (Genesis 3:1). There is
skepticism included in the question. This is Satan’s
established way of raising doubt: he questions
God’s word, suggesting uncertainty about the
meaning of statements, doubt about the
truthfulness of what God has said, suspicion about
the motives behind God’s purposes, apprehension
about the wisdom of God’s plan.
2. Satan twists the meaning of God’s word (re-read
Genesis 3:1). Notice, in Genesis 2:16-17, in God’s
statement to Adam, the command is put in a
positive way (read). Now, the serpent casts the
command in negative language (“. . . ‘You shall not
eat of every tree of the garden.’”). God’s
expression of generosity becomes something
different – one of exclusivity, focusing on what they
couldn’t have as opposed to what they could, and
did, have. It was a deliberate misrepresentation of
the character of God’s command.
3. Did Eve know of the command? She most likely
heard it from Adam. It was given to him just prior
to her creation in the biblical account. This aligns
with the position of Adam as the representative
head of the whole human race. God held him
accountable for the command, and for Eve’s
instruction and protection as head of his family.
4. When Eve got away from her husband’s presence,
she became vulnerable to Satan’s lies.
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II. Yielding To The Tempter.
A. In the innocence of Eden, Eve was not aware that any
dangers existed. Even if (as was probable) Satan found
her looking at this forbidden tree, that was not a sin.
Contrary to Eve’s own statement in Genesis 3:3, God had
not even forbidden them to touch the tree.
1. We did, however, understand the severity of God’s
command; but, she softened God’s decisive tone
(“’. . . lest you die’”), whereas God had told Adam:
“you shall surely die.” This suggests, again, that
Eve’s instruction came from Adam, and not directly
from God.
2. Satan seized the chance to tempt Eve, and thereby
tempt Adam, as well.
B. Now, the serpent speaks again (re-read verse 4). (Notice,
Satan knew exactly what God had said to Adam). Satan
went on to confound Eve with his own version of what
would happen if she ate from this tree (re-read verse 5).
Here was a partial truth. If Eve ate, her eyes would be
opened to the knowledge of good and evil. She would
forfeit her innocence.
1. But, in these words of the serpent is the lie of all
lies. It’s the same falsehood that still feeds the
carnal pride of sinful humanity and corrupts
human hearts. It’s the fiction that has given rise to
false religions throughout human history. This one
lie is the foundation of a whole array of evils:
“. . . you will be like God, . . .”.
2. Disobeying the command of God did not make Eve
anything like Him. It made her like the devil,
corrupt and condemned.
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C. Eve was deceived – and she yielded to the tempter. There
were natural desires that contributed to her sin: her bodily
appetites (it was good for food), her aesthetic sensibilities
(it was pleasant to the eyes), and her intellectual curiosity
(it was desirable for wisdom).
1. There is nothing wrong with any of these natural
urges, unless they lead one to disobey God and sin.
The natural becomes unnatural, and good becomes
evil: (I John 2:16: “. . . all that is in the world – the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life – is not of the Father but is of the world.”).
2. Eve gave some to Adam and, when both had eaten,
Paul says in Romans 5:12: “. . . sin entered the
world, and death through sin, and thus death spread
to all men. . .”
D. But, why was Adam’s failure so decisive for humanity and
why does scripture treat Adam’s disobedience as the means
by which sin entered the world? After all, Eve actually
took the first fruit. She was the one who yielded to the
tempter, drawn away by his appeal to lust.
1. In I Timothy 2:14, Paul writes: “And Adam was
not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell
into transgression.” This puts Adam’s sin in the
category of deliberate disobedience, willful in a way
Eve’s was not. Eve was deceived, but Adam chose
to eat the fruit offered to him by Eve, having been
told directly by God not to do so.
2. More than this, Adam’s unique position as head of
this first family, and the first person of the entire
race, has special significance. Through “. . . one
man sin entered the world. . .” (Romans 5:12), and
through . . . “one Man’s obedience many will be
made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
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3. Adam was a type of Christ, but he disobeyed God
whereas God’s Son fully obeyed Him. Humanity’s
imperfection found its only remedy in Christ’s
perfection.
E. But, Eve’s sin was not excusable either. If not as deliberate
as Adam’s, it still had consequences. It subjected her to
God’s displeasure, a forfeiture of paradise, and an
inheritance of a life of pain and frustration. She had to live
with the curse of what she’d done.
III. Humiliation And Expectation.
A. Eve learned of evil by experiencing it. In a single moment,
innocence was gone, and shame took its place (read
Genesis 3:7). But, merely masking shame doesn’t deal
with the problem of guilt before God. And, the shame,
here, was followed by a sense of fear, and horror, at the
prospect of giving account to God for what they’d done.
1. They tried to hide – but this, too, is wholly
inadequate when dealing with an all-knowing God.
2. In Genesis 3:8-13 we get the story from the human
perspective, what Eve heard and saw (read verses).
3. When confronted with the truth of his sin, Adam’s
answer to God reflects his fear. But, Adam makes
no confession. It was pointless to plead innocence,
but he does not acknowledge his guilt, either.
Instead, he places the blame upon the one closest to
him, Eve, and, by implication, upon God Himself
(“’. . . the woman whom you gave to be with
me, . . .’”)
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B. So quickly was innocence lost, that Adam, first, then Eve
shift blame from themselves. God did not discuss Adam’s
accusation with him, but addressed Eve (verse 13). And,
she, too attempted to blame someone else, in this case the
serpent: “’. . .the serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” True
enough, but the serpent’s guilt did not justify her sin.
1. James 1:14: “But each one is tempted when he is
drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”
2. No matter what means Satan uses to tempt us, no
matter how subtle or cunning it may be, the
responsibility for the action still lies with the sinner,
and no one else. Eve could not escape her
accountability for having done what she’d been told
not to do.
C. There is no further discussion of the matter, only the
comprehensive curse pronounced by God on each of the
guilty parties, in turn. Eve’s curse is found in Genesis 3:16
(read).
1. The loss of paradise meant Eve’s daily life would
change, just as would Adam’s. Her toil, like his,
would become a burden. The work, the “thorns and
thistles,” and the reality of death would now all be a
part of her life.
2. One direct consequence for Eve would be the pain,
and sorrow, associated with childbirth. The second
consequence was in her relationship with her
husband. Eve’s part of the curse addresses the two
most significant relationships in which a woman
might naturally seek her greatest joy: her husband
and her children.
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a. In the world where sin had marred
perfection, sadness, pain, and difficulty
would now be a part of woman’s days.
And, in childbirth, the pain would be
“greatly multiplied,” significantly
increased over the normal woes of
everyday life.
b. In the world where sin had marred
perfection, the wise and loving leadership
of Adam, and the model of meekness and
modesty of Eve was now changed. Eve
would now, at times, resist Adam’s
leadership and desire to gain dominance
over him, while Adam, at times, would
suppress Eve’s desire in a harsh and
domineering way.
3. Sin brought the tensions between men and women
into the world.
D. In the midst of the curse, there was an expectation, and a
hope. Genesis 3:15 is called the “protevangelism,” or “first
gospel.” God gives people good news regarding Satan and
the destiny of even a sinful humanity. It was the “seed” of
woman that would destroy the evil one. Humanity would
not be left to domination by Satan forever.
E. How much of all this did Eve understand? We cannot say.
IV. Conclusion.
A. God, “made tunics of skin, and clothed them.”
(Genesis 3:21). To do this, God had to sacrifice animals on
their behalf. Thus, the first blood sacrifice was made by
God, Himself.
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B. In the promise of Genesis 3:15 is the concept that, one day,
sin and all its consequences would be vanquished, and guilt
eradicated. God would send His Own Son to undo what
Adam’s sin had done.
C. We remember Eve for having yielded to Satan’s
temptation. But, as “the mother of all living,” she was the
start of salvation itself – through her descendant, Jesus.