Genesis 3:13, commentary and pictures

God confronted the woman over what she had done, and she answered that the serpent had deceived her and she had eaten, admitting the act while naming deception as the means. Her answer blamed the serpent to shift responsibility for her sin instead of confessing it without excuse, implying that God Himself was at fault for placing the serpent in Eden. That eating was transgression of God's law given in Eden, and though it looked small and simple it opened the floodgates of sin, death, sorrow, loss of Eden, and ruin upon the world. God treats no command as insignificant and will punish transgression, yet mercy covers guilt when sin is repented of and forsaken, and the Son of God bore its penalty as substitute and surety to give fallen humanity another probation and access to God through faith. The history is given as a beacon of warning to sacredly respect God's Word, obey all His requirements at whatever cost, and shun even one departure from right because of its peril to self and to others.

Question, Answer, and Setting

God confronted the woman with what she had done, and she answered that the serpent had deceived her and she had eaten, naming deception as the means by which she was led into disobedience while admitting that she herself ate the forbidden fruit. Her eating belonged to the transgression of God's law and the fall from Eden by humanity's first parents, which opened the way for suffering to enter the world.

The serpent was the medium of the fallen foe, for Satan worked through the serpent to misrepresent God and to use the single prohibition as a means to suggest evil. He was the enemy speaking through the serpent, lying against God and bearing false witness of the Creator while exalting himself in preference to God. After his own fall he worked upon the minds of Adam and Eve and seduced them from loyalty to God, so cautiously that the sin was not detected until they disobeyed and fell, and the sinless pair believed the false statements made regarding God and could not discern the power leading them into apostasy. Even a divinely created mind that had walked and talked with God may be worked by another power, and the deception begun with Eve continues as his method of using false appearances, even the guise of departed friends, to deceive people and gain control of their minds.

Eve had separated herself from her husband against angelic caution that they would be safer together in daily labor, and she wandered alone. She felt a sense of danger but dismissed fear, trusting her own wisdom and strength to discern and resist evil, and she gazed with curiosity and admiration on the forbidden tree and questioned why God withheld its beautiful fruit. Instead of fleeing she lingered when the serpent spoke as if echoing her thoughts, and she was surprised and pleased by its musical voice and its praise of her loveliness, with no thought that the fascinating serpent could be the medium of the fallen foe. Adam censured and reproached her for leaving his side in folly and being deceived, yet both began to see the true character of their sin while flattering themselves and hoping that He who had given so many evidences of His love would excuse or pardon this one transgression or would not inflict so dire a punishment as they feared.

The temptation spread from serpent to Eve to Adam, for the serpent tempted Eve, she tempted Adam, and they both ate from the forbidden tree, breaking God's command and becoming sinners who partook of disobedience. That partaking means refusing light and disobeying the expressed will of God, violating a conscience that if kept pure would be worth more than the whole world, and making a bargain with Satan that sells the soul cheaply. It applies to everyone who after hearing truth turns from it because accepting it would retard success in business, choosing temporal gain over obedience that involves a cross and separation from the world in faith and practice.

Blame Instead of Confession

When asked what she had done, Eve answered that the serpent had deceived her and she ate, admitting the eating while shifting responsibility for her sin to the serpent instead of acknowledging it without excuse. Her excuse carried the implied questions of why God had made the serpent and allowed it into Eden, and so charged God with responsibility for the fall. In this she did as Adam had done, each charging God with responsibility for their fall.

That answer reveals the spirit of self-justification, which originated in the father of lies. It was indulged by the first parents as soon as they yielded to Satan, instead of humbly confessing their sins. Since then it has been exhibited by all the sons and daughters of Adam, who try to shield themselves by casting blame upon others, upon circumstances, or upon God, repeating the pattern begun in Eden whenever people blame others, circumstances, or God for their sins. They even make His blessings an occasion of murmuring against Him.

Such self-justification is not humble confession, not genuine repentance, and not a confession acceptable to God. Acceptable confession acknowledges personal guilt without deception or hypocrisy.

Nature of the Disobedience

Eating was disregard of God's prohibition and transgression of His law, and that law given in Eden with reward for obedience and penalty for disobedience is the basis of all right conduct and the transcript of His character, since sin is the transgression of the law. Adam disobeyed the express injunction of God and violated the law of Jehovah, and that transgression brought sin into the world with unutterable woe and a lower physical, mental, and moral condition for the race. God means what He says and no command of His law can be treated as insignificant, and the violation was the greatest loss and deepest injury that can be conceived, for it lost beautiful Eden and opened the floodgates of woe to the world. Adam's disobedience stands as a warning example, yet men deplore his fall while repeating the same disobedience by indulging appetite and passion in direct violation of God's law, making a succession of falls instead of stopping with Adam and becoming more and still more bold in disobeying. In God's wise plans fallen man has been granted another trial through the sacrifice of Christ alone, who came to save His people from transgression of the law by imparting His righteousness to those who obey it, because no one can overcome in human strength but only by faith in His death and His obedience to every requirement of the transgressed law. That example and its result should lead every soul to avoid sin and abhor it as the hateful thing it is, and to feel that it is better to suffer loss of all things than to depart from the least of God's commandments.

The act of taking the forbidden fruit looks simple and unworthy of notice, and the woman's eating after being beguiled was a very small sin in appearance, of the kind that looks as if one can recover from it. Adam failed to bear God's slight test, and that failure was followed by terrible retribution, for the apparently small transgression in eating closed the gates of Paradise against them and the holy pair fell and lost Eden through expulsion for their disobedience. Sinning against light and knowledge debased and corrupted the soul and opened the floodgates of woe to the world, with the result of eternal ruin for thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions of souls. No transgression is small and no departure from right is safe, and the fall stands as a beacon of warning against becoming careless in little matters and talking of liberality and not being so particular in regard to God's requirements, so the worldly side must be watched with constant vigilance, giving no place to the devil. That sin began a course that has ever since been increasing in volume and prevalence and is still increasing, and Satan has power to bewitch the mind so that people ignore that warning, keep defects of character instead of reforming, become more faulty, lose sight of the true Pattern, and deviate widely from Christ's perfect example, the only true standard.

There was no excuse for the transgression, for every need had been generously supplied, and the account is a lesson for all mankind that God's Word is to be sacredly respected and His requirements implicitly obeyed. Eve identified the serpent's deception as the reason she ate the forbidden fruit, but her experience and apparent pleasure did not make the act right, because she had disregarded God's command.

The deception worked through desire for knowledge God had withheld, for by listening to the tempter and disobeying God the first parents gained an acquaintance with sin and its results, lost what was worth possessing, and brought estrangement between humanity and God and separation between earth and heaven. Satan after his fall worked upon the minds of Adam and Eve and seduced them from their loyalty to God, and the deception was done so cautiously that the sin was not detected until they disobeyed God and fell. The sinless pair were beguiled and believed the false statements made regarding God, and were so fully seduced that they could not discern the power that was leading them into apostasy. Their transgression brought the penalty of death, the loss of Eden, and probation for Adam and all his posterity, and because God's law as a transcript of His character could not be changed to pardon them, Christ became man's substitute and surety.

A divinely created mind, even Adam's mind that had walked and talked with God, may be worked by another power, for they allowed themselves to be allured by the seductive influence of Satan's voice when God in His providence that foresees all things could have kept and directed them if they had heeded the warning against evil. By that disobedience in listening to the serpent and eating, Adam and Eve lost the right to their Eden home and came under the power of the prince of darkness, for that disobedience was taking the side of the great rebel, the enemy, against God. Choosing the same disobedience now forfeits the right to the Eden restored.

Fall and Its Consequences

Through that disobedience sin entered the world and death by sin, bringing guilt and sorrow and misery upon humanity and the curse with loss of original purity and blessings, so that through transgression people became subject to death. The deception of the woman by the serpent was part of Satan's successful temptation of the first parents, and the first sin brought that curse and loss.

What looked simple and unworthy of notice opened the floodgates of woe upon the world, with disappointment and sorrow and suffering, proving violation of God's law to be the greatest loss and deepest injury that can be conceived. Though appearing very small, as if one could recover from it, sinning against light and knowledge debased and corrupted the soul and brought eternal ruin for thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions, showing that no transgression is small.

The holy pair fell and lost beautiful Eden through expulsion for disobedience, driven from God's visible presence and losing their right to their Eden home. Eating what God had forbidden cost the right to Paradise, and the condition of the fallen race today testifies to the sure result of transgressing God's law. That sure result disproves that once in grace one is always in grace.

Humanity thereby forfeited its perfect and holy and happy estate, losing moral innocence with a lower physical, mental, and moral condition for the race and unutterable woe. Sin marred the divine likeness, weakened human powers, dimmed spiritual vision, and brought death, which is why restoration through redemption is needed. By listening to the tempter from desire for knowledge God had withheld, the first parents gained acquaintance with sin and its results and lost what was worth possessing, bringing estrangement between humanity and God and separation between earth and heaven. After the transgression the brightness of God's presence departed from nature and sin marred and defiled and degraded the earth, while disease and suffering and death increased.

The fall began a history of sin and of breaking God's law whose harmful effects accumulated through generations and have ever since been increasing in volume and prevalence. Even one departure from right brings peril both to the wrongdoer and to all whom influence reaches, because example has wonderful power and when cast on the side of evil tendencies becomes well-nigh irresistible. That breaking of the charm of obedience weakened the sense that obedience to God is necessary, so people came to think they could choose whether to obey. Men became more bold and more disobedient until the world was given to depravity, with a succession of further falls marked by increasing crime, disease, and loss of health and moral power. Each one who transmits inherited disease and weakness and vice repeats the Fall, passing it to children, with the serpent's track seen everywhere and the curse increasing as transgression increases.

After that fall Satan claimed to be prince of the power of the air and to have control of everything in nature, and his principles have been at work since humanity's beginning and remain active during human probation. God could have prevented him from sowing tares all around, but permitted him to sow tares and to work out his principles of evil, while at the same time protecting from his wrath those who desire to work out the principles of heaven.

Justice, Law, and Redemption

The eating of the forbidden fruit looks simple and unworthy of notice, yet it ventured to transgress God's prohibition and opened the floodgates of woe, bringing expulsion from Eden and the loss of the beautiful garden given to the first pair. That retribution proves God is exacting against transgression, means what He says, and treats no command of His law as insignificant. His retributive justice never fails, He exacts strict regard for His commandments, transgressors will be punished, and the wages of sin is death, as shown both in Eden and when the law was proclaimed at Sinai with definite penalty and sure punishment. The same disregard that God means what He says continues in the trampling of His law, and from that first disobedience sin grew steadily worse until the world was destroyed by the flood.

The law given in Eden with reward for obedience and penalty for disobedience is the basis of all right conduct, and its transgression introduced sin into the fair world God had created, after which men and women became more and still more bold in disobeying it. That divine law is the transcript of God's character, and therefore it could not be changed to pardon the first parents when their cautious seduction from loyalty ended in disobedience, death, loss of Eden, and probation for Adam and all his posterity. Instead it is magnified and glorified before all people like golden threads running through the gospel, while the blood of Christ remains the sinner's only hope. To protect the human family from repeating that transgression the light of that law with its positive promises to the obedient must be obeyed to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, and it is to be made known so clearly by rulers, by those in responsibility, and by parents urging obedience upon children that ignorance is no excuse for not knowing what it means to transgress it.

Mercy does not excuse the sinner or lessen guilt while sin is continued, but covers guilt only after sin is repented of and forsaken. The transgression required a penalty and revealed the justice of God, and that provision did not abolish God's law to give unconditional pardon, for the Father did not show benevolence at the expense of justice and did not set aside the principles of righteousness. To pardon without regard to justice would exalt the sinner in impenitence and sin and would encourage transgression instead of abating it.

For that reason God gave His Son from heaven to die to pay the debt of transgression, exalt the sacred character of the law, and make it possible for fallen man to keep the law through His merits and blood. The Son of God left heaven and was sacrificed to save humanity from sin's penalty, stepping in and pledging His own life as the penalty so that man might have another trial through the sacrifice of Christ alone. Because God's law as a transcript of His character could not be changed to pardon them, Christ became man's substitute and surety, and God delayed the full execution of the sentence because Christ would bear the wrath due to humanity, so that the guilty who are still fallen and under sentence of death may find refuge and life by faith.

The damage of that disobedience is the reason restoration through redemption is needed, for sin marred the divine likeness, weakened human powers, dimmed spiritual vision, brought the first pair under the power of the prince of darkness, and led to the loss of Eden. After the fall access to God and communication with Him is only through Christ, who stands as Mediator between humanity and its Creator. Overcoming is possible only by faith in His death and His obedience to every requirement of the transgressed law, for no one can overcome in human strength, and He came to save His people from transgression of the law by imparting His righteousness to those who obey it, while disregarding that law is disregarding Him. The loss of the right to Eden by disobedience to a command demonstrates the sure result of transgressing God's law, and the condition of the fallen race today testifies to its awful results and disproves the doctrine of once in grace always in grace.

Christ came to redeem that fall by resisting Satan where Adam failed, passing over the same ground where Adam fell and by His victory over the temptation of appetite in the wilderness redeeming the disgrace of that failure and fall. That victory places the human family on vantage ground with God, making it possible for each person to overcome in his own behalf through the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour. The contrast is between Adam becoming a law to himself, bringing discord and unhappiness into his life and making separation between him and his God, and Christ's life of perfect, constant obedience. Those who bend their footsteps heavenward and overcome as Christ overcame by perfect obedience set the example all can follow and will be brought back to the Eden home that was lost by that transgression.

Warning and Obedient Living

The full and explicit account of Paradise, the law given in Eden with its penalty for disobedience, the temptation and fall, and the punishment inflicted, is given as a beacon of warning not to repeat Adam's disobedience but to shun his example. Adam disobeyed the express injunction and violated the law, and that transgression brought sin into the world with death, unutterable woe, and a lower physical, mental, and moral condition for the race. The dire results show the consequences of transgression, that the wages of sin is death, that retributive justice never fails, and that strict regard for the commandments is exacted, as also shown when the law was proclaimed at Sinai with definite penalty and sure punishment. People must choose between repeating that disobedience and walking in humble obedience, for men deplore the fall while repeating the same disobedience by indulging appetite and passion in direct violation of the law, making a succession of falls instead of stopping with Adam. Their example and the result should lead every soul to avoid sin and abhor it as the hateful thing it is, and to feel in view of the sufferings sin is sure to inflict that it is better to suffer loss of all things than to depart from the least of the commandments.

The account is a lesson for all mankind that the Word is to be sacredly respected and the requirements implicitly obeyed, for there was no excuse for the transgression since every need had been generously supplied. God means what He says, and walking contrary to God causes Him to walk contrary to the disobedient, so the only safe course is obedience to all His requirements at whatever cost, because all His requirements are founded in infinite love and wisdom. Love for God is tested by having and keeping His commandments, and the human family must therefore obey the light that comes about the binding claims of the law and lift the cross in view of the whole world.

Even one departure from right brings peril both to the wrongdoer and to all whom influence reaches, because example has wonderful power and when cast on the side of the evil tendencies of nature becomes well-nigh irresistible. The verse stands as a beacon of warning at the byways leading from the path of life, showing that the strongest bulwark of vice is not the openly abandoned life but a life otherwise virtuous, honorable, and noble in which one sin is fostered and one vice indulged, which entices the soul struggling in secret against temptation and trembling on the verge of the precipice over into ruin. What looked like a very small sin in appearance, as if one could recover from it, yet sinning against light and knowledge debased and corrupted the soul and opened the floodgates of woe with eternal ruin for thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions, proving no transgression is small. Violation of the law is a terrible loss to the disloyal and the deepest injury, because the influence of every transgressor leads and sustains others in that same transgression, so the worldly side must be watched with constant vigilance, giving no place to the devil.

Eating what was forbidden cost the right to Paradise and the loss of Eden, for Eve's eating was intemperance in desire and indulgence of appetite. Food and appetite control moral tendencies and spiritual life, and unhealthful indulgence weakens physical, mental, and moral efficiency, hinders sincere piety and religious fervor, and makes it impossible to overcome temptation. Indulging depraved appetite weakens the power to resist evil and enables Satan to fasten evil habits and ensnare in the net of his devices, so preparing for Paradise restored requires bringing perverted appetite under strict control. Consciences need to be aroused to see errors in food and their moral influence, there must be decided reform in every family, and guarding bodily health guards spiritual health in cooperation with God.

The consequence of disobedience opening the floodgates of disappointment, sorrow, and suffering is to be kept before the tender minds of children to train them to be obedient to all the statutes and commandments. All have the privilege of learning from that disobedience that the law with its positive promises to the obedient must be obeyed to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. To protect the family from repeating that transgression the light of the law is to be made known so clearly that all can understand it, with parents making it plain and urging obedience upon their children, and ignorance is no excuse for not knowing what it means to transgress it. Adam repeated the history of the fall from a holy and happy estate to his children and children's children to the ninth generation, telling with the sufferings by which he was taught the necessity of strict adherence and with the merciful provisions for salvation, as a faithful witness seeking to stem the tide of evil, yet few gave heed and he was often met with bitter reproaches for bringing woe upon posterity. That first disobedience is perpetuated whenever responsible moral agents choose disobedience over the plain Word, and parents who refuse to change pass that disobedience on by example for their children to follow.

Choosing the same disobedience now forfeits the right to Eden restored, for the first disobedience was taking the side of the great rebel, the enemy, against God and losing the right to the Eden home. Therefore there is call for repentance for time and talents given to the enemy, taking a stand before the heavenly universe to choose the good and refuse the evil, and seeking the Lord without delay instead of remaining on the rebel's side. Those who bend footsteps heavenward and overcome by perfect obedience will be brought back to the Eden home that was lost and will point others there, rather than repeating the warning example. Refusing light and disobeying the expressed will, violating a conscience that if kept pure would be worth more than the whole world, is making a bargain with Satan that sells the soul in a cheap market. It applies to everyone who after hearing truth turns from it because accepting it would retard success in business, choosing temporal gain over obedience that involves a cross and separation from the world in faith and practice.

The inspired history showing the first parents as they stood in Eden in holy innocency enjoying communion with God and sinless angels, and tracing the introduction of sin and its results, recording disobedience and impenitence and just retribution, gives strength of intellect beyond philosophy and develops the powers of the mind by its grand subject, dignified simplicity, elevated theme, and sharp clear light from the throne. These grand truths of sacred history possess amazing strength and beauty and are as far-reaching as eternity, helping outline the fall and the consequences that opened the floodgates of woe, and this knowledge is more important than any other to be gained, which is why the Scriptures should be exalted in every school. Without this true and authentic history of the beginning of the world, the creation of man, his fall, and the introduction of sin, the mind is left to fables and conjectures and unreliable human theories, bewildered by false theories and subjected to superstition, falsehood and tyranny over the mind, with enfeebling of the intellect as the sure result of entertaining error. The fall is one of the great facts of creation and human history and a pillar of faith standing with creation, the atonement, and the perpetuity of the law, yet it is practically rejected wholly or in part by many professing Christians, and to deny it, cavil at it, and spiritualize and explain it away is infidelity and refusal to accept the Bible as the guide of life.