p. 141 | International S. S. Lessons

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 1, 1894

International S. S. Lessons.

"So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading." —Neh. 8:8

LESSON II.—SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 1894.

ADAM'S SIN AND GOD'S GRACE.

[NOTE.—The questions which follow are merely suggestive for the student on the leading points of the lesson; it is presumed that the thorough student will think of many more as he studies the subject. References, where verses alone are given, always refer to the lesson scripture printed above. All other references are given in book, chapter, and verse. The text printed is that of the Revised Version, not because it is especially preferred, but because it is not found in every family, as is the common version.]

Lesson Scripture, Gen. 3: 1-15.

Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die;
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
And the Lord God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life;
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Golden Text.—"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. 15: 22.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

Which was the most subtile of all the beasts? Verse 1. Note 1.
What question did he ask the woman? Note 2.
What did the woman reply? Verses 2, 3.
What was to be the consequence of eating? Verse 3, last part, also chap. 2: 17.
What did the serpent reply? Verse 4, note 3.
Who was the one working through this serpent? Answer.—"The old serpent, he that is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world." Rev. 12: 9.
How did the woman receive his words? Verse 6. Note 4.
What does the apostle say of this? Answer.—"The serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness." 2 Cor. 11: 3.
What did he say God knew? Verse 5. Note 3.
What effect did the eating have upon Adam and Eve? Verse 7. Note 5.
How did they feel in the presence of God? Verse 8.
What question did the Lord ask? and what was Adam's reply? Verses 9, 10.
What questions did the Lord then ask? Verse 11.
What excuse did they respectively offer? Verses 12, 13.
What curse did the Lord pronounce upon the serpent? Verse 14.
What did he say of his future relation with the woman and her seed? Verse 15.
What is involved in this? Note 6.
How only, and through whom alone, does life come? Golden text.

NOTES.

The serpent.—This lesson treats the scripture above as the simple inspired narrative of what actually occurred. The serpent was no doubt an upright creature, or one which did not grovel in the dust, beautiful, wise, subtle, a fit instrument for the devil to use. That he once maintained a position which he does not now, is indicated by his sentence. He should henceforth crawl upon the earth. The original word for "serpent" is nahash, from its glossy appearance.
Yea, hath God said.—There is a sneer in the language. Did God really say that? Can it be that he would say such a thing? It was said to weaken her confidence in God. He came to her alone; she should have been with her husband.
Ye shall not surely die.—God had said, "Thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2: 17. God made life dependent on righteousness. In doing his will "is continuance." And therefore, in his love for man, God declared that outside of trust in him and obedience to his ways was death. Satan contradicted absolutely, and with baleful lie he brought his devilish appeal to selfishness; for God doth know that your eyes shall be open, that ye shall know good and evil; that ye shall be like God. He would have Eve believe that God was selfishly keeping all this wondrous knowledge from her. And yet the majority of the race believe Satan still; for every false religion on the face of the earth is founded on the falsehood told by Satan in Eden; and the root of every apostasy and rebellion which ever arose is all found in the selfish desire of the human heart to be as God. Well, Adam died, and men have died ever since that time, but mankind have, in order to make Satan true, devised a theory that the "real man," "the immortal soul," does not die; in other words, that man is more alive at death than he was before, and that these dead men are gods, demi-gods, demons, saints, spirits, etc. But the entire man was involved in the transaction; the entire man sinned; the entire man died; and God shut him away from the tree of life, lest he should put forth his hand and eat and live forever. Gen. 3: 22-24. God would have no eternal sin nor sinners. Man was of the dust; man returned at death to the dust. Verse 19.
She took of the fruit.—Satan appealed, as he does in every temptation, to selfishness. He made Eve believe that she was losing honor and knowledge, and that God was cruel in keeping these from her. She therefore desired, that is, she coveted. She then took what God had forbidden, and therefore transgressed the eighth, sixth, fifth, first, and other commandments; and the wages of sin is death.
The eyes of them both were opened.—Yes, they knew sin in the wrong way. God desired them to know it in the only right way—by faith. By faith they would have learned more and more of God, his goodness, power, and wisdom, till finally, with a fully developed character, they would have known by the divine Spirit within the intrinsic good or evil. They refused God's way; they learned it by sad experience. They knew that they were naked.—Previous to this, even as the angels of God, they were clothed in garments of glorious light, emblematic of the purity within. The light and glory departed with the righteousness. No wonder they were afraid of God.
I will put enmity, etc.—When man sinned, he yielded himself wholly to Satan, and would never have had a worthy desire for good had it not been for the mercy of God. In yielding to Satan man yielded his dominion, the earth (Gen. 1: 28; Luke 4: 5, 6), his purity of character, and his life (Rom. 5: 12). God in his mercy would give man even better opportunity to perfect a righteous character. He puts "enmity" in man against Satan, or, in other words, an element by which man might see, appreciate, accept, and coöperate with the divine power, upon which the Spirit of God could work. To every man who will believe God, the power and grace of God will give repentance of sin, will forgive sin, will extirpate sin, till at last every soul will be gathered in, through the suffering and trial (the bruising of the heel), to eternal triumph (the bruising of the head of Satan forever.)