(Study Guides 1-8 by Joanne G.Hagemeyer)
Don’t think “Genesis Chapter 3 – The Fall” but rather “Chapter 3 – The Attack.”
The man and woman didn’t just fall in the Garden like some over ripe fruit that reaches a point where it separates from its stem and plops, or falls to the ground. That is inevitable. The man’s fall was not.
Life ahead in the Garden of Eden was properly planned for a long and well-lived life in fellowship with the woman and with God. When God created the human couple on Day Six of Creation God evaluated the situation. It was very good. That included the man.
But something catastrophic happened. It was the hateful attack by Satan on the woman and the man at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I learned something about the level of that hate from a painting by Michelangelo at the base of the wall of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in Rome—Satan, gleeful at the crucifixion of the Lamb of God. Described as a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44), the Devil was delighted at the downfall of these two human beings.
Exercise #1: Describe what life held in store before Satan’s attack.
Read Genesis 1-2
1. a. Name each area of creation that is good.
b. Describe what God blesses. What does it mean to be blessed? (Use a Bible dictionary for help)
2. a. From Genesis 1:26-27, how would human beings be an image of God on earth?
b. According to Genesis 1:28-30, in what ways did God bless human beings?
3. What authority did God assign to each domain, and what authority did God retain?
4. a. What further blessings are described in Genesis 2?
5. Compare Genesis 2:7 with 15-16, Genesis 2:19-20, and Genesis 2:18 with 2:22-25. Describe the man’s relationship with God, with the earth, with creatures, with woman, and within himself (see Genesis 2:25).
When God judged the three at the Tree, God grouped the man together with Satan in his words of judgment. God treated the woman apart from these two rebels because she did not rebel on purpose. She disobeyed only after being deceived.
God made six points in addressing the serpent. And then God used those same six points and exact wording, even to the repetition of sounds when he addressed the man. The way this passage is written out in Hebrew adds to the meaning of the words that are used. This repeated pattern of six common elements tied the two of them together in God’s evaluation of their intent and acts.
Exercise #2: Identify the change in the man.
Read Genesis 2-3
1. By comparing each of the following passages, identify how each of the man’s relationships has changed because of what he had done.
a. With God: Genesis 2:7-9 with Genesis 3:12, and 22-24.
b. With the earth: Genesis 2:8, 15 with Genesis 3: 17-19.
c. With creatures: Genesis 2:19-20 with Genesis 3:21.
d. With the woman: Genesis 2:19-20 with Genesis 3:12, 16, and 20.
e. Within himself: Genesis 2:25 with Genesis 3:7.
2. Consider the shift of value in the name the man gives to the woman in light of Genesis 3:15, and the name the man retains for himself: Adam means “human being.” What do you think the man wanted to retain power over?
3. Compare the Hebrew verb radah, found in Genesis 1:28, with the Hebrew verb mashal, found in Judges 14:4. In what way would the man now rule, particularly with regard to the woman?
See below for links to resources for further research.
1. Dr. Joy Fleming’s doctoral research: The e-book summary in 48 pages (https://www.amazon.com/Man-Woman-Biblical-Unity-Theology-ebook/dp/B0792MSWBP/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546467124&sr=8-1&keywords=Joy+Fleming+Man+and+woman)
2. Bruce C. E. Fleming’s Workshop video summarizing Genesis 3 with slide presentation (https://youtu.be/g0_gvC28CdA)
3. Join the Tru316 Project! (https://www.patreon.com/Tru316Project)
4. Enroll in the Monthly Mentoring Program by subscribing at the Underwriter level! (https://www.patreon.com/Tru316Project)
5. Podcast weblinks: www.TheEdenPodcast.com or www.Tru316.com
[Sistine Chapel, Last Judgment | Michelangelo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]
