The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. Genesis 3:6-7
How do you know that a person is trustworthy? When do you decide you can believe and follow or obey someone? When do you decide you can confide in someone else? If you and I were having coffee today, we would probably conclude that we can trust someone when they have proven their trustworthiness. After having a history with someone where they have proved that they can be trusted, you are very likely to believe that you can trust them with confidential information. What happens, however, when we forget someone's proven character and trustworthiness? Someone can be completely reliable and trustworthy, but if we do not remember their trustworthiness in the past, we may be hesitant to trust and follow them, and the results can be detrimental. The story of Genesis 3 is the perfect example of this.
In Genesis 3, we find Adam and Eve, the only two people on earth, in the Garden of Eden. This was a special, perfect place for them to live and interact with God, animals, nature, and each other. They only had one instruction: not to eat from a certain tree in this garden. Things were going well for them for some time, and they were following God's instruction. Things fell apart when a serpent, who could talk because Satan had entered it, came to Eve. This serpent tempted Eve to eat from this tree God had forbidden them to eat from. "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" (verse 1). He caused Eve to doubt God's trustworthiness and truthfulness. "You won't die!" if you eat from the tree (verse 4). If you eat from the tree, "you will be like God, knowing both good and evil" (verse 5). Eve doubted God's truthfulness and care for her and ate the fruit, and Adam ate it too. When this happened, the monsoon of sin entered the world, altering the course of the world forever.
As we think about the story of Eve and Adam, I think about everything God had done for them. He had created this beautiful world for them and created a beautiful place for them to call home. He interacted with them directly and withheld nothing good from them. You see, they forgot God's goodness and everything He had done for them. They said, "no" to God, and faced a monsoon as a result.
Have you ever felt yourself in a similar situation? Have you found yourself tempted to disobey God because you forgot all the ways He had proven Himself trustworthy to you? My friend, don't be like Eve or Adam, forgetting God's trustworthiness. Remember that God is trustworthy. You can trust and obey Him.
Are you struggling to trust God? Do you have a hard time believing He is trustworthy? Is that holding you back from obedience to Him? Take a journal out or a notebook and remember how God has proven Himself trustworthy. Complete this statement in your notebook or journal: "I can trust God because…" Remember His goodness and trustworthiness to you.
The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
“Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.
Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
