Meditations (Genesis 3:1-3)

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Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die.’”

Genesis 3:1-3 (LSB)

The Attack

The attack of the evil one, the one who was “more crafty than any beast of the field”, was against God’s Word. “Indeed, has God said?”

Did God really say that?

The attack is the same today. Did God really say that He created them male and female? Did God really say you shouldn’t murder? Did God really say that you shouldn’t steal?

Did God really say that two loving, monogamous, consenting adults cannot get married, even though they are the same sex?

Did God really say that evening and morning were one day?

Satan is a liar and the father of lies, and his children (all unbelievers) act with the same lying tongue.

The (Failed) Defense

The woman tried to defend against the serpent, but she failed miserably. She repeated the instructions from God, but then she added to it!

“…and you shall not touch it…”

Did God really say they shouldn’t touch it? No, He didn’t. The woman added that part.

But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first formed, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into trespass.

1 Timothy 2:12-14 (LSB)

Women today are still failing this test. Women “pastors” the world over are failing to rightly handle the Word of God and they continue to lead others into sin by their willful disobedience. The reason Paul gives for not allowing women to “teach or exercise authority over a man”, in other words, to be a pastor, is that the woman was deceived by the serpent.

Women were not made to be defenders and fighters. They were made to be a helper to man and to create and nurture life. This is no small role. This isn’t some comedic sidekick that God gave to Adam. The woman has a vital role in taking dominion over the entire earth!

How Should We Then Live?

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Ephesians 5:22-33 (LSB)

Men: fight, love, protect, lead.

Women: submit, respect, love, nurture.

Together: take dominion over the earth (or the tiny bit of the earth right in front of you). Serve God and make the world around you glorious for the Kingdom of God.