We can divide the rest of this chapter in 4 parts:
1. Coming Messianic Seed 14-15
2. Common Grace & Common Curse 16-19
3. Covenant of Grace 20-21
4. Expulsion from the Garden 22-24
1 & 3 are related to each other in that deal with special grace and the coming of Christ presented both prophetically and symbolically. This is grace that is specifically for God’s people.
Q. Who are God’s people in Genesis 3:15?
The seed of the woman is the description used for God’s people. They will be the one who benefits when the serpent’s head is crushed.
2 & 4 deals with the common purpose of all humanity. God established an order of common grace and extends His kindness to humanity in general rather than by destroying humanity as justice demands.
Q. Where do we see examples of common grace in this passage. The rest of the Bible?
The seed of the serpent is allowed to live, rain falls on the wicked and the righteous. God delays and restrains His judgment.
2. Common Grace & Curse
- Here God addresses Adam & Eve as representatives of the human race. These are judgments that are issue to all of humanity, not just those who are seed of the serpent or seed of the woman. Two judgments are issued against humanity.
Q. What are the two judgments?
- Pain in childbirth
- Frustration of work
Q. How do the judgments relate to the tasks Adam and Eve were originally given?
- Being fruitful and multiplying will come at a cost.
- Subduing and having dominion will be difficult.
- Death will still result in the end.
Q. We established that originally humanity was given the task of expanding the garden and filling it and the end result was that they would have access to the Tree of Life and enjoy God’s Sabbath rest. Humanity would share in God’s rule of His creation. After the fall, is this goal still achievable?
- Because God has established that our work will be frustrated, the work is no longer achievable. As Chris said last week, man has been demoted.
- However, while humanity will still suffer the curse, it is grace because death will be delayed, childbirth will happen, man will still be able to eke out a living.
Q. What book of the Bible deals with the outworking of this frustration?
- Ecclesiastes
Q. Can you relate this point of our work being frustrated to the sermon today?
3. Covenant of Grace
Q. What is Adam’s response to God’s judgment?
- He names his wife Eve, which corresponds to living. The Hebrew word havah sounds like the Hebrew word for live.
Q. What does this say about Adam?
- Adam has faith in God and His promise that humanity will continue and the serpent will ultimately be defeated by the seed of Eve.
- Notice Adam does this before Eve has had a child. The verse says she was the mother of all living, not will be the mother of all living, or I hope she is the mother of all living. This is faith.
- God confirms Adam’s faith by covering their nakedness with clothes of animal skins.
- The recognition of nakedness is the result of the serpent’s work, by clothing man God is undoing the work of the serpent. If you remember there is a pun in Hebrew where the serpent is described as arum or cunning and the man and woman realize they are arumim or naked. The word for skin used here is ar.
- The skins work as a picture of the prophecy of Genesis 3:15, almost like a sacrament.
Q. Why would I say that it is like a sacrament?
God does not remove their sin, but He removes one of the effects of their sin. This removal is tangible and gives Adam & Eve a sign that demonstrates a promise of God.
Q. What is the sign and what is the promise?
The sign is the skin and the promise is the defeat of the serpent.
- Since an animal had to die in order to make the skins, the action also communicates the suffering that must occur to defeat the work of the serpent.
4. Expulsion from the Garden
- Adam & Eve no longer have the access to God that they had in the garden.
- Man is also separated from the tree of life.
- The only way back is through the flaming sword of the cherubim, something no man could pass through successfully. The cherubim is set to guard the way to the tree of life. The word guard here is shamar, the same word that was originally part of Adam’s commission to tend and guard the garden. Adam’s job has been taken from him, further evidence of his demotion.
- The garden was a holy place and now humanity is restricted from it. You can think of the garden as being similar to the temple. Both are places where the presence of God dwells. Just as the priest was to guard the temple from anything unholy, Adam was to guard the garden. The temple is full of garden like imagery - flowers, trees, and fruit carved into the different surfaces.
- The tabernacle and the temple reflect this separation.
Babylonian equivalent of a cherub
2 Chronicles 3:14, "And He made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen and he worked cherubim on it."
The curtains that separates off the holy of holies have cherubim embroidered on them. The Holy of Holies is where God dwelled and so His presence is separated from humanity by the cherubim.
Hebrews 10:19-22, "Therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way the he opened for us through the curtain that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
- So we really see the gospel presented here. Humanity can no longer achieve their responsibility under the covenant. They have been demoted and all their work is frustrated. They are expelled from the garden and the only way they can get back is to pass through the sword of God’s judgment. The only hope is for the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent and to pass through God’s judgment. Our only response to our situation should be a belief, or faith, that God will bring this to pass as Adam demonstrated by naming His wife Eve.
Zechariah 2:3-5, "And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be glory in her midst.”
- In the Zechariah passage, the angels are no longer the antagonist. Fire no longer keeps people out, it is protective. The presence of God is no longer separated, He is glory in her midst. What a great phrase.
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