The Bible Period by Period | Page 5

to fall upward. All the
motives-the satisfaction of natural appetite, the desire for knowledge
and power and the love for beauty were in themselves worthy. The
temptation was to better herself. Such it is always. Adam was not
directly approached, but he willfully disobeyed without being beguiled
as was the woman. The chief blame, therefore, fell upon him.
The Fall and Punishment. The fearful consequences of their sin are felt
at once. They are changed so that they are conscious of guilt and
endeavor to hide themselves from Jehovah. Thus they acknowledge
their unfitness for fellowship with Him. Their soul having lost
communion with God, they become corrupt. This is spiritual death.
They were banished from the garden and forced to struggle for food.
Their bodies became subject to pain and death by separation from the

animating spirit. They could not longer eat of the life-giving tree of the
garden. The earth was cursed so that instead of ministering to man's
pleasure and support, it would produce much to his hurt. The woman in
her unredeemed state was to be in subordination to her husband. The
sad story of downtrodden women in heathen lands of all times since
then, and even today wherever Christ is not known, tells something of
the awful results of her sin.
The Hope Offered. The gloom of this sad story of their punishment was
relieved by an element of hope. The man and his wife are not beyond
the pale of God's love. There is given a promise (3:15) which assures
the coming of one, who would contend with the tempter and would
finally crush his head and repair the damage of the Fall. All of the rest
of the Bible unfolds the plan and work of God in fulfilling this promise.
There is beginning with Cain and Abel and running through the entire
scripture a record of the conflict caused by the enmity between the seed
of woman and that of her seducer. This conflict is to end when Christ
the "seed of the woman" shall return to reign and shall cast his
adversary into the bottomless pit. Along with this promise he also
provided for them garments of the skins of animals such as were suited
to their new and hostile environment and in which most writers find a
suggestion of the covering of righteousness that comes to guilty sinners
through the death of Jesus. Then too there was erected at the east of the
garden an alter of worship not unlike that provided in connection with
the Tabernacle later and where God dwelt in mercy and could be
approached. Here was opened up a way by which they might after
being forgiven again have a right to the tree of life and live forever.
Some Teachings of this Story. Back of this story are many truths
worthy of most careful study. They constitute the basal facts of all
history and religion. The following are put down as among the most
vital: (1) Back of all nature is a personal Creator and Ruler who has the
tenderest solicitude and care for man, as the highest product of his
creation. (2) There was an orderly progress in creation from the more
simple and less important to the most complex and most important. (3)
All things were made for man and his comfort. (4) Marriage is a sacred
obligation growing out of the very character of man and woman who

were made for each other and each can, therefore, meet the deepest
needs of the other. (5) Sin does not originate in God but in man's
yielding to his baser instead of his nobler and diviner motives. (6) Sin
as a cause brings its own punishment, the worst of which is the
separation of the individual from harmonious relations with God, which
is spiritual death.
For Study and Discussion. (1) The condition of the material universe
when God began to prepare it for man's abode. (2) The six creative
days or periods and what was created in each. (3) The special emphasis
upon the presence and activity of God in the creation of man and
woman. (4) The divine interest in and preparation for the happiness of
man. (5) The home prepared for them. (6) The lessons about marriage,
its purpose, basis, etc. (7) The law and place of testing in the formation
of character. (8) The ills of life that are the results of some one's sin. (9)
The nature and results of the curse upon the man, upon the woman,
upon the tempter. (10) God's care for man after the Fall and the
provisions for his recovery. (11) The revelation of God made by these
three chapters. (12) The image of God in man.
Chapter II.
From the Fall to the Flood.
Gen. Chs. 4-8.