- Passage
Genesis 3:12-14
“The man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’ The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; on your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life”
This is 75th Lecture on Genesis.
In the last lecture, God asked a question of Adam regarding having eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The reason God asked as He did was because He wanted to hear an honest answer from Adam.
Since Adam committed sin, he was afraid, and so he used fleshly thought as he gave his answer.
God’s question was, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” Adam’s answer is in Genesis 3:12.
It says, “The man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.'”
Adam admitted eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, at the same time that he also mentioned his wife ate it too.
As if he was admitting his fault, he was actually shifting the fundamental responsibility to his wife.
Of course, it was a fact that his wife, Eve, ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil first.
Just as Adam said, Eve ate it first, and she gave it to Adam.
However, God didn’t ask Eve; it was Adam that God first asked the question.
God respected Adam as the highest authority in ruling over all the creatures both in the first heaven and in the Garden of Eden.
Of course, his wife Eve was also included.
The position as the highest authority also carries the highest responsibility.
It is because the highest authority is followed by highest responsibility.
God knew the fact that it was Eve that ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil first.
In addition, Eve was the beloved wife of Adam.
However, Eve was also a being under the authority of Adam.
God was trying to give Adam a chance to maintain his integrity as the highest authority holder.
God gave him the consideration that even if he had to resign due to a grave fault he’d be able to retire with honor.
Even in this moment, however, Adam mentioned his wife to reduce the scope of his responsibility.
How untruthful and weak he was!
Moreover, he didn’t just say, “My wife gave it to me and I ate it.”
He said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.”
What kind of thinking was contained in Adam’s response?
He was shifting the responsibility onto God.
What he meant was this; since I ate what was given by the woman that God gave me to be with me, if God hadn’t given her to me, it wouldn’t have happened.”
By shifting responsibility not only to his wife but also to God, he intended to avoid the responsibility by any means.
After committing the sin of disobedience, Adam actively used fleshly thoughts. He changed to be like that in such a short period of time.
Now, what about Eve?
Genesis 3:13 says, “Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?””
Since Eve belonged to Adam, Adam had full responsibility. Yet, Eve couldn’t be free from the charges either.
Moreover, it was Eve that was deceived first by the serpent to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In addition to his, she caused Adam to also eat from the tree.
Now, what did she say to God?
She said to God, “the serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Eve didn’t admit her fault, either; she was, too, putting blame on the serpent.
Since she said, “the serpent deceived me,” it means she admitted the fact that she was deceived by the temptation.
She tried to put all the blame on the serpent, but she herself admitted the fact that she was deceived and tempted into eating from the tree.
Generally speaking, when people do something wrong, many of them response the same way Eve responded.
“He deceived me, and I did it.” “She made me angry and so I erupted in anger.” “I suffered loss because he deceived me.”
In most cases, these are common responses.
It means that, even though they were at fault, there was someone else who made them do it.
Only when their fault is revealed and they cannot escape the accusation, then they try to mitigate their responsibility by dragging others into the case.
In this case, it is obvious that the one who was the instigator- that is, the one who tempted, deceived, or made people angry- is also at fault.
However, you should realize that putting blame on others and avoiding responsibility that a person ought to accept in itself is great evil.
Even if they succeed in shifting responsibility to others, it doesn’t make their fault disappear.
On top of their fault, they add another evil of blaming others.
By the way, have you not behaved like this before?
For example, have you repented and prayed before God in a way something like this?
“God, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it. Please forgive me.”
It is not true repentance.
First off, you must fully admit your fault, and make a decision not to do it ever again.
God the Father accepts the prayer of His children who repent like this, and He forgives.
The same applies to a case when you have to apologize to someone. ‘
Many people apologize with a condition attached.
For example, during the hearings in National Assembly the first time, a nominee was questioned concerning an alleged corruption, his response was something like:
“If there was fault, I apologize.” Or “If you found rudeness in my response, please accept my apology.”
In this kind of answer, earnestness was not found.
The nominee didn’t honestly admit his fault but he seemed compelled to give apology, and it made viewers feel uncomfortable.
As its result, the nominee couldn’t be appointed.
This kind of ‘conditional apology’ doesn’t contain the sincerity of someone apologizing for guiltiness.
It rather makes the fault of guilty party vague and instead of admitting fault it sounds somewhat like confronting the victims.
Don’t you also use such expressions as these?
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t know.” “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it.”
“If it has caused you any troubles, I will apologize.” “Excuse me if anything…” “If I really made a mistake, I’m sorry.”
I hope that you can honestly admit your fault and also take the full responsibility not only inside church but also outside church.
If you do so, believe me that it will make others trust you more.
Moreover, as a result, you can become very successful in the world as well.
Actually, I was told that there was an article in an issue of 2007 Forbes magazine, “Want to increase income? Say you are sorry.”
According to the article, the employees who received annual 6-figure incomes were twice as apt to say that they are sorry than those who made 30,000 a year.
Those who can calmly admit their fault are courageous and honest, and so they are more probable to be successful.
On the other hand, it is difficult for people who try to hide or reduce their fault by shifting the blame onto others or the situation to advance- and they may even go backward.
In order not to cowardly sit back in any given situation and not to use fleshly thoughts, you should accomplish a sincere heart.
Last July, in Group Leaders Seminar, I explained 9 reasons why you don’t stand on the rock of faith.
Hot-temper, Ill feelings, hatred-jealousy-envy, lies, judging and condemning, changing of mind, adulterous mind, greed, and betrayal!
It’s been almost 3 months since then. You have cast off most of them, haven’t you?
If you still have any, I urge you to quickly cast them off and accomplish a pure and beautiful heart.
I hope that you will give no chance to the enemy devil and Satan to tempt you.
I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that God the Father may bless you as much as He pleases.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Psalm 9:7-8 says, “But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.”
God the Father doesn’t judge people by their look or by their words.
He searches the inner heart of people, and executes precise judgment in justice.
Regarding Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God made judgment in justice.
He talked first to the serpent, and second to Eve, and lastly to Adam about what punishment He would give.
Genesis 3:14 says, “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life.”
The first thing you should pay attention to is the word that “Cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field.”
It means that not only the serpent but all cattle and every beast of the field were also cursed.
Among them, the serpent received a curse worse than any other.
By the way, you should understand precisely what the expression ‘all cattle and every beast of the field’ referred to.
All the cattle and every beast of the field on the earth fall into these categories.
Among the animals in the Garden of Eden, it applied only to the serpent.
Not only the serpent that tempted Eve, but all the serpents in the Garden of Eden were also cursed and driven out to the earth.
According to an encyclopedia, there are about 2,800 species of snakes.
At that time in the Garden of Eden, there were many kinds of snakes as well.
All of the snakes were cursed together and driven out to the earth.
Therefore, since then, animals with the shape of a snake have disappeared from the Garden of Eden.
Of course, there is no animal in the shape of snake anywhere in Heaven.
When dinosaurs committed sin, not only the leaders but all dinosaurs were driven out.
It was because all of them had the impure heart to follow the leaders.
It was the same with the snakes in the Garden of Eden.
But then, what was the reason that it was only Adam and Eve who were driven out among the people in the Garden of Eden?
Adam’s descendants in the Garden of Eden didn’t even have the thought to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
They didn’t even think about disobeying the order of God.
For this reason, only Adam and Eve were driven out to the earth.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”
It means that the creatures – all the animals of the earth – were all cursed together.
And it was not only the animals that were cursed. The plants of the earth also were cursed.
Genesis 3:17-18 says, “Cursed is the ground because of you,” and “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you.”
I will explain it again when we get to this verse shortly, but you should notice in this verse that ‘cursed is the ground.’
The basic materials from which all the creatures were formed were the ground and water of the earth.
The water of that time was the ‘water of life’ which contains life force.
When God commanded with His word, the ground and water were combined at a certain ratio to create each and every creature.
The ground which was basic material to form the creatures was widely varied in its type and characteristics.
There is ground that is soft and gentle, ground that is strong and rough, ground that Is rich and decays and changes, and even ground which is poisonous. Depending on which ground a creature was made from, the nature of the creature was decided.
For example, I told you before that the ground, which was used to form the serpent, allowed for it to become crafty when it came in contact with darkness, or it could have become wise in contact with light.
Likewise, depending on the characteristics of the ground that formed animals, each animal has a different nature.
Under the rules of spiritual light, nature was manifested in goodness and with beauty.
All animals were gentle so that they neither fought with each other, nor hunted weaker animals.
Each of them lived until their life span was over, and they went back to the ground after they died.
However, due to Adam’s sin, the ground, which was the basic material of all creatures, was cursed.
As its result, the original characteristics of the ground itself were revealed.
And this fact brought many changes to nature.
First, the characteristics of animals came to be revealed as they had become.
Many animals revealed characters of violence, craftiness, cunningness, and cruelness which had been hidden in their nature.
Of course, there were animals which were still gentle.
There was no big difference to such animals as cows, lambs, and doves.
Another change was that animals with poisonous characteristics came into existence.
For example, there are species that have strong venom among snakes, frogs, spiders, blowfish, and jellyfish.
In case of frogs, there is a species with venom that is strong enough to kill a man when touched.
That is a ‘poison arrow frog.’
This name was originated from the fact that people applied its venom to the tip of arrows.
There were many people who were seriously harmed after they were bitten by poisonous snakes or spiders, or after they ate improperly prepared blowfish.
Yet another change to animals and plants was the fact that their appearance was changed; for example they came to have thorns, spikes, quills and bristles.
There are many plants that have thorns; the thorns came into being from this moment.
The appearance of many animals changed to become violent and aggressive.
Since the law of the jungle began to dictate the ecosystem, animals had to hunt for their own food and they had to protect themselves at the same time.
One noticeable great change was the emergence of pathogenic microbes.
Pathogenic microbe refers to all germs and viruses that cause diseases in their animal or plant host.
Of course, microorganisms didn’t come into existence all of a sudden at this moment.
They were also created during the 6 Days of Creation.
It was because a kind of plant and/or animal was needed to disassemble the dead bodies of animals and plants after they died.
The basic materials to construct this microorganism were also of the ground and water.
After the ground was cursed, harmful microorganisms came into being.
The examples of pathogenic bacillus are tuberculosis germs, tetanus bacillus, and cholera bacillus.
The examples of diseases that are caused by virus are influenza, colds, AIDS, polio, smallpox, and foot-and-mouth disease.
There is a bacterium that generates poison inside a food and causes food poisoning.
Parasites live on or inside other animals or plants.
They are such shameless organisms.
Among these parasites, there are more heinous species.
Let me introduce a couple of them.
Snails originally existed in the water or in the damp shade in order to prevent the body moisture from evaporating.
However, when a helycostyla SP (certain kind of land snail) is infected by a certain parasite, it crawls up on a rock.
And it is easily spotted by seagulls and eaten by them.
Why does it do such an absurd act like committing suicide?
The reason is because of the parasite that is inside its body.
This parasite can propagate when it ultimately enters into the body of a seagull.
That’s why this parasite uses the snail to enter into a seagull’s body.
There are ants which are used by parasites in a similar way.
When ants are infected by parasites, they keep crawling up to the end of leaves.
And then eventually, they are sucked into the intestine of a lamb or a cow.
These ants are also used by parasites which have a goal of entering into the intestines of plant-eating animals.
Normal healthy-looking fish keep coming close to the surface of water and become prey to birds when they are infected by parasites.
There is a species that uses spiders in a similar way.
Let me introduce a story which was covered by Nature magazine.
An ichneumon fly lays eggs inside the body of a spider.
When a larva hatches from an egg inside the spider’s body, the spider begins to do act unusually.
It suddenly builds an x-shaped web which can survive even in strong winds.
A usual web that we can commonly observe has a spiral shape.
Once an x-shaped web is constructed, the ichneumon fly larva kills the spider, and grows into a pupa in the center of the web.
Scientists experimentally removed the larva of an ichneumon fly from the body of a spider.
The spider built the x-shaped web for another couple of days, but then it went back to constructing a normal spiral looking web.
The spider seemed as if it lost its mind and then recovered it.
When the ground was cursed after Adam committed sin, tiny insects and even hard-to-see microorganisms revealed their evil natures.
All the animals and plants of the earth revealed their hidden nature like this.
Moreover, as the sin became more rampant in the world, animals became more evil.
This is why as the end of the world comes nearer, much stronger poisonous germs and viruses come into existence.
In the next lecture, I will tell you what happened to the serpent which was cursed worst.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this lecture, you saw how Adam and Eve tried to escape from the charge after eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And then, I explained what happened after the curse came upon the ground due to sin.
Since then, the hearts of this earth and people became more and more devastated under the rules of the enemy devil and Satan.
However, 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
God the Father can heal even the people’s hearts which were devastated by sin.
Yet, such grace and strength of God can come upon those who humble themselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from their wicked ways.
Therefore, I urge you to earnestly and diligently seek the face of God until you fully recover the lost image of God the Father.
May you quickly come into the spirit and the whole spirit by the grace and strength that God pours onto you, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
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