Session 3: Week 3 

Genesis 3:14-19

¹⁴ Then the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. ¹⁵ I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. ¹⁶ He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children in anguish. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you. ¹⁷ And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. ¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹ You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

Herein begins the sentence proclaimed by God upon the serpent, Adam and Eve for their rebellion and disobedience. First the serpent was cursed and it seems that its legs were removed, causing it to eat dust. Interesting to think that snakes might have had legs, but maybe this is referring more to the enemy in that his mobility has been limited on the earth. Only God really knows, but it’s interesting to think about.

What other things could this signify?

Some say that Genesis 3:15 is the first time we encounter the Gospel message in scripture. The first part of sharing the Gospel (good news) with anyone is to tell them there is bad news. In this case the bad news is that God has put enmity (hostility) between the snake and the woman and between their seed, meaning their descendants. The idea of the “seed” leads into some very provocative teachings with regard to the Nephalim (we read about that in Genesis 6) and other controversial subjects that are prevalent online and in certain teaching circles. (Talk about the ministries I’ve encountered and Proverbs 3:⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.⁸ It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.)

If you want to use the new Discussion Board that would be the perfect place for more conversation on this.

Ok, back to the good news. While the serpent strikes the heel of the woman’s seed, the woman’s seed strikes the head of the serpent’s seed. Many say this is talking about Yeshua/Jesus’ blow to satan when He went to the cross and God raised Him from the dead, conquering sin and death forever. This is not just good news – it’s great news. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul tells us this is the true essence of the Gospel message.

Back to Genesis 3: The serpent travels on its belly in the dust and the man is upright as he walks on the earth. This fact brings good news based on how each of our species moves on the earth. It seems that mankind has been given the upper hand and the ability to bruise the serpents head, which seems to be much more crucial than bruising man’s heel. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

Next God tells Eve something very provocative. He said that it was going to hurt a lot to have children but she’d desire her husband and he’d rule over her. To my mind this means she wouldn’t be able to resist the sexual advances of her husband even knowing the consequences of child-bearing. I hope I don’t get too lewd here, but to my mind there is something very dominating about the act of procreation and I wonder if God had other ways that Adam and Eve were to be fruitful and multiply before the fall. I’ve never thought of that before. Intriguing indeed. Maybe there were supernatural gifts that Adam would be given, like forming his children out of the dust of the earth, like God did. Now that’s quite a thought. It’s not impossible I guess.

This could also point  to the idea that Adam and Eve would no longer be co-rulers and equals, but Adam would rule over Eve. We see this alot in society in very unhealthy ways.

Next God tells Adam that the ground is now cursed because he gave up his authority and listened to Eve who was deceived by the serpent.

In Romans 8 the Apostle Paul talks about when this will be corrected and God uses Him to direct our minds to the future

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it—in the hope ²¹ that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. ²² For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. ²³ And not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.²⁴ Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

What does it mean to eagerly and patiently wait for the redemption of our bodies and the time when all of creation is set free?

Revelation 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. ² I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. ³ Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. ⁵ Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” ⁶ And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life. ⁷ The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son. ⁸ But the cowards, unbelievers,^[f]vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

I love this passage in Scripture. Remember that our main purpose in these Bible studies is to get to know God more. What does this passage in light of what we’re reading in Genesis 3 teach you about God and His ways?

Genesis 3:17-19 continues to outline the curse that fell on both Adam and the earth.

First it was going to take “painful labor” for Adam to work the land and get food. This was so different that what he had experienced when God had been the provider. Think about it. Adam and Eve could walk through the garden and the food was just there for them. Then when they disobeyed God Adam was going to have to “painfully labor” to get food.

Pain was the predominant theme of the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Eve would experience pain in childbirth and Adam would experience pain in providing food for his family.

Why do you think God instituted such a drastic outcome to their disobedience?

Each day we have choices to make. Choices to obey God’s Word or not. I believe that there’s an element of the pre-fall existence that comes into our lives when we embrace the new life that comes by being born-again by God’s Holy Spirit, through our faith in Christ.

How have you experienced that in your life?

This passage ends with God’s humbling reminder to Adam that he is dust and will return to the dust. God wanted Adam to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that though he had eaten of the tree he was nothing like God. In fact the opposite was now true. The serpent had lied to him and he had bought it hook, line and sinker.

Looking back at this story from our vantage point after the cross we can thank God that Yeshua/Jesus has become the second Adam and He has reversed the curse that God put on Adam. Let’s read about that in 1 Corinthians 15

⁴⁵ So it is written: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth and made of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ Like the man made of dust, so are those who are made of dust; like the heavenly man, so are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, we will also bear the image of the heavenly man.⁵⁰ Brothers, I tell you this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and corruption cannot inherit in corruption. ⁵¹ Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality. ⁵⁴ When this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵ Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?⁵⁶ Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! ⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

God shows us His order here. The natural first and then the spiritual; earth then heaven. Adam then Yeshua. We experience that in our lives too. Our natural birth and then our spiritual birth. As we walk out our lives after that it’s all about a restoration of the divine qualities that Adam and Eve lost by their disobedience. We look to Yeshua as our model and seek to become imitators of God as instructed in Ephesians 5:1-2. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; ² and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

One last question this week:  How much of this do you think is God’s work in us and how much do you think is our responsibility?

/https://www.jashow.org/about-dr-john-ankerberg/

Session 3: Week 2 

Genesis 3:6-13

⁶ Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. ⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I heard You in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” ¹¹ Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” ¹² Then the man replied, “The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ So the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”  

Reading this passage I can’t help but think about God’s Word to us in 1 John 2  ¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.

Lust can be defined as an intense longing for something. We mostly use the word lust in relation to sexual cravings, but it can apply to anything. It’s interesting that here in the garden of Eden we see Eve lusting after eating the fruit of the tree.

Let me remind you of what Genesis 3 verse 5 says: 

⁵ “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Maybe she was really lusting after the promised wisdom that would come by eating the fruit.

What other kinds of things do we lust after?

I don’t know about anyone else, but lusting after food is a struggle that’s still very real in my life. I’ve been through various levels of correction from the Lord regarding eating and I’ve seen great victory through my asking God for the manifestation of the beautiful fruit of the Holy Spirit of self control in my life. Still though it seems like this is an area where there’s a constant temptation in my life. I think at this point what I’m going to do is write out 1 John 2:15-17 on an index card and keep it in front of me and quote it out loud when I hear the voice of temptation regarding food.  Remember, that’s how we have the victory over temptation – we speak the Word of God – just like Yeshua did in His temptation in the wilderness that we read about in Matthew 4.

How can you help other people know how to fight the temptations they face in life?

What kinds of things are a delight to the eyes in today’s society that become a temptation for us?

Eve saw the food. It was delightful to look at. She saw it as desirable for obtaining wisdom.  What kind of wisdom do you think she though she would obtain by eating it?

OK, let’s go back to Genesis 3:7

.This 

 This is really interesting – “they knew they were naked”. The Hebrew word translated as naked is Eyroomim.

עֵירֻמִּם

This word  Eyroom means naked or helpless.  It comes from the root word עָרַם ʻâram, aw-ram’; a primitive root; properly, to be (or make) bare; but used only in the derivative sense (through the idea perhaps of smoothness) to be cunning (usually in a bad sense):— beware, take crafty (counsel), be prudent, deal subtilly. Does that sound familiar? We looked at this last week.  The word for subtle/cunning as we talked about last week is עָרוּם (Aroom).  We talked about that word from Genesis 3:1.

  וְהַנָּחָשׁ, הָיָה עָרוּם, מִכֹּל חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה

Now the serpent was more subtle/cunning than any beast of the field.

Now this week we’re reading how Adam and Eve saw that they were Eroomim which means naked or helpless after falling for the snake’s deception and disobeying God’s instruction. 

So this could be extremely important.  It seems to show us that we take on the attributes of the things that we allow to tempt us.  Now that’s profound!

No wonder Scripture admonishes us to fix our eyes on Jesus. God wants us to take on His attritubes!

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

When we focus on Jesus and the glory of the Lord, we are set free from the attributes that come from humankind being transformed into the image of the Nachash (the snake) – (subtle and cunning); and we’re transformed into Yeshua’s image, which ultimately is the restoration of our being changed back to the image of God.

What does that image of God look like?

In verse 8 we read that Adam and Eve hid themselves from God. In verse 10 Adam tells God that he hid because he was afraid. Now we see that fear had come into their hearts because they were naked. By becoming subtle/cunning/craftiness (the attributes of the evil power tempting them) they also invited fear into their hearts.

Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Fear comes when we dread punishment for a wrong doing. Fear is something Adam and Eve never knew before, because their relationship with God was without fault. They had nothing to fear. Perhaps that was what their enemy meant when he said they would know good and evil. Before they ate the fruit of the tree all they knew was faith.  Faith is defined as complete trust or confidence in someone or something.  When they disobeyed God they knew fear, which was a consequence of the evil of disobedience.

How do faith and fear compete for prominence in our lives?

It’s interesting that fear caused man to hide from God. How do we see this play out in the lives of people today?

In verse 7 we also see something very interesting when Adam and Eve make loin cloths to cover their nakedness.  This is a manifestation of man feeling obligated to do something to cover their sin of disobedience. Before they sinned they lived with God without any sense of obligation. They just “were” instead of feeling like they had to “do.”

How does this play out in our own lives?

Then in verses 11-13 we read of a very sad story. We see the abdication of authority of mankind. We see Adam turning his God given authority over to Eve and we see Eve turning over her God given authority to the deception of the serpent.

To abdicate means to fail to fulfill a responsibility or duty.

What are some keys at work in the world today that help turn this around so that men and women fulfill their God given responsibilities and duties?

How do you see this played out in your community?

Session 3: Week 1 

3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. ³ But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

There are three major players here in the beginning of Genesis 3. The serpent, the Lord God and the woman. There’s also an unseen force at work that is using the serpent – more about that in a moment.

Since our study is aimed at developing a greater intimacy with God let’s review what we learned in Session 2: Week 2.

אֱלֹהִים  יְהוָה  The Lord God is the English translation for the Hebrew Yehovah Elohim

יְהוָה (the letters Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay) is God’s holy and personal name; the one He revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.

The Lord God is the Creator of all.  He is El Elyon (God Most High); El Shaddai (All Sufficient God); and Adonai (Master). He is all, knowing, all wise, all pure, love, just, good, righteous and holy.

As we completed Session 2 I encouraged you to read A.W. Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy.  Did anyone read it and what effect did it have on your relationship with God?

Here’s the link as a reminder: http://www.ntcg-aylesbury.org.uk/books/knowledge_of_the_holy.pdf

The second character in this chapter is the serpent.  The Hebrew word translated as serpent is Nakhash,

נָּחָשׁ

Nakhash refers to a spell or an enchantment. This creature is not the devil, persay, or Lucifer (a made up name that is nowhere in Scripture) as so many people assume and teach. A power came over one of God’s creation and the enemy (demonic forces) used the snake to tempt Eve in order to bring about mankind’s destruction. Our understanding of this can help us overcome temptations in our own lives, as we’ll see moving through the story.

Just to give you a little clarity:  Satan is actually a title given to adversarial demonic entities that harass people. Remember that the term Elohim refers to spirit beings in heavenly places.  I believe some of those beings rebelled against God and though they’re still subservient to God their aim to to usurp God’s authority and gain mastery over and the worship of mankind.

OK, back to Nakhash. Some say that the noun Nakhash comes from the sound that a hissing snake makes. The verb means to conduct divination or read an omen, which were common practices in ancient times and sadly, still are in the Church even though the Bible condemns such actions. (Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 18:10, 2Kings 17:17 and 2Kings 21:6)

In what ways do we see people in the Church practicing divination or reading omens?

How does this cause the enemy to gain mastery over them and steal their worship away from God?

Observing signs is like practicing divination? That’s a new thought to me.  I remember a season in my life when I looked to signs to follow what I thought was God’s will.  The path I was led down eventually opened a door of incredible temptation and ultimately into blatant sin.

Do you ever look to “signs” to discern God’s will and what can you learn from this regarding that?

The third character in Genesis 3 is the woman. She’s the one God made by taking a rib from Adam.  She was created as a helper to man. Man and woman were created in God’s image and blessed. God intended them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky and every creature that crawls on the earth. (Gen. 1:27-28)

The nachash was subtle/cunning… עָרוּם

This is an important clue for us that will help us identify how evil powers come against and tempt us.

What are some ways you’ve experienced the subtlety and cunning of the enemy in your own life?

The Nakhash then addressed the woman and challenged God’s instruction, showing us one of the key components of the strategy of the enemy’s temptations. “Did God really say?”

We have an adversary that wants to usurp God’s authority in our lives. He wants to rule over us as our god and King. His first order of attack is against women. He wants to influence our decisions and actions. He succeeds when we don’t stand on the authority of God’s Word and we fall into the temptation, for which there is always grave consequences.

This is also the reason that it’s very important for men to know the Word of God with clarity and accuracy and help their wives and sisters in the Lord to do the same. This helps everyone stand against temptation.

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

Here we see the woman talking to the serpent regarding what God said. That’s the first wrong move that she made. We’re not to try to talk or reason our way out of temptation. What did Yeshua do when faced with temptation as we read about in Matthew 4? He spoke the Word of God! Eve did something very different. She said something that God never said. Maybe Adam was the one who told her to not even touch the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. In his good intentions he might have been setting up a boundary to protect her and to keep her from sinning, but maybe that very boundary was something that caused her to fail the test.

Could it be that her succumbing to the temptation was a result that she was relying on what someone else had told her regarding what God had said, vs. hearing from God directly and speaking His Word in the face of temptation?

That’s very reminiscent of religion today. In Judaism the rabbis are the ones who read the word and then interpret it for the people, setting up multiple rules and regulations to attempt to keep the people from sinning against God. But does it work?  Hardly! This happens in the Body of Messiah as well. We all need to be students of the Word of God and be able to speak it out loud, using the Word like the Sword of the Spirit that it is. We can’t rely on what others tell us God has said. We must have a personal knowledge of God and His Word by having a personal relationship with Him. The real protection against temptation and sin comes out of our desire to obey God because we know Him, love Him and fear (respect/honor/revere) Him. In temptation we must speak the Word of God. That’s the only way we’ll gain victory over demonic powers that may come against us.

This is the reason there’s a battle raging against people’s study of the Word of God and their spending time with God in prayer.

What does this teach you about the importance of daily Bible study and prayer for the purpose of developing a personal relationship with God in your own life?

How can you help other people understand the importance of cultivating a relationship with God through the study of His Word and in prayer?

Let’s continue on in Genesis 3:4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Here we see why we can’t enter into a conversation or reasoning match with the enemy. He will always lie to us in order to trick us to do his will. In many ways he’s smarter than us (more cunning and subtle) and the only way for us to really have the victory is by using God’s Word against Him. If Yeshua had to do that how can we think that we’ll have victory any other way. It is written!! (See Matthew 4:1-11)

What does it mean to know good and evil?

Why do you think that by eating of the tree man would die?

Your homework:  Think about a way that you’re being tempted right now. Ask God to give you a verse of Scripture that you can use by speaking it out loud in the face of temptation.

.

Scripture Verses About Temptation

There is no Lucifer (Now You See TV)

Please be careful to not be enticed to spend more time thinking about the enemy and dark forces rather than setting your mind on God, which brings perfect peace. Isaiah 26:3 I only put this link up as I promised some of you I would. Use caution and discernment.

Session 2: Week 5

.

Genesis 2:16-25

¹⁶ The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; ¹⁷ but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

.

Why do you think יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (Yehovah/Elohim) put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden (verse 9) and then command the man not to eat from it? 

.

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

It’s interesting that after giving the commandment for the man to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil we’re told of a helper being made for him. This seems to allude to the fact that Eve was created to help Adam obey God’s commands.

How does this apply in marriage relationships today?

.

¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. ²² The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

This seems to teach us that for the man and woman to function together the way God ordained, the man would have to give of himself to the woman and then the woman would help the man obey God.

How is this played out in healthy marriages? 

What are some hindrances to seeing this manifest in healthy ways within a marriage relationship?

It’s in Genesis 2:22 that we’re told of God creating the woman. The number 22 is my favorite number because there are 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and that’s the language God chose to reveal His plans and love to us; and when you take one of the 2’s and mirror it against the other 2 you get a:

That being said, I think it’s pretty neat that this verse about the creation of a woman is numbered 22. ?  God loves us women! And, He loves the men too, for creating us from and for them.

.

²³ The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” ²⁴ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

This idea of the divine unity (one flesh) of the man and woman demonstrate to us an aspect of Elohim, our divine Creator since we are created in His image.

The unity is seen in Jesus/Yeshua who was “One with the Father.” (John 10:30) (Ephesians 5:31-33)

This unity is also a picture of God Himself, who has an infinite number of attributes that contribute to the totality of the perfection of His being.

In what ways do we see the enemy of our souls try to break this divine unity between a husband and a wife?

.

²⁵ And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

.

This last verse of Genesis 2 is extremely important; and gives us a key to God’s will for our emotional well being.  In it, we’re told that the man and his wife had no shame.

.
What is shame?

• a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety
• the susceptibility to such emotion – have you no shame?
• a condition of humiliating disgrace or disrepute
• something that brings censure or reproach;also :  something to be regretted

The root of the Hebrew word translated as ashamed means “acted shamefully, became anxious, been put to shame, utterly dejected.”

God created man and woman unashamed.

Shame was the result of man’s disobedience to God, that we’ll read of in the next chapter; and if not for the work Jesus did on the cross, all of us would have to live with the overwhelming shame of sin.

Once we’re born-again, the price has been paid for God to take away our shame and we become new creatures who have the blessing and privilege of walking through life restored and unashamed.

It’s our choice, however, to lay down the things in our past that have brought us shame. By doing so we’ll walk in the joy of being unashamed; and conversely by refusing to do so we’ll remain prisoners of strongholds that the enemy sets up in our minds to bring us defeat and hamper our walks with the Lord.

What in your life do you need to lay down at the foot of the cross in order to experience freedom from shame?

If you find that you’re still burdened by things in your past (or present) that bring you shame it’s important to study the Word and come to a knowledge of the truth about what God says regarding guilt and shame.  Remember that the knowledge of the truth will set you free. God wants you to be free from all shame and guilt. That’s what Jesus died on the cross for!

Since the goal of this Bible study is to get to know God more intimately we’ll close Session 2 with an introduction to A.W. Tozer’s book “The Knowledge of the Holy.”  If you will spend time reading it during our break next month I promise your life will be changed, and your walk with the Lord enriched and empowered.

 In what areas do you think that your thoughts about God need to change?

Let’s echo A.W. Tozer’s prayer as found in Chapter 7 of “The Knowledge of the Holy.”

“We worship Thee, the Father Everlasting, whose years shall have no end; and Thee, the love-begotten Son whose goings forth have been ever of old; we also acknowledge and adore Thee, Eternal Spirit, who before the foundation of the world didst live and love in coequal glory with the Father and the Son. Enlarge and purify the mansions of our souls that they may be fit habitations for Thy Spirit, who dost prefer before all temples the upright and pure heart. Amen.”

DEAFEATING GUILT & SHAME

Session 2

Week 4

Genesis 2:8-15

⁸ The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

עֵדֶן  (spiritual perfection)

70+4+50=16

1+6=7

It seems here that God only planted the garden after He created man. The garden in Eden was the perfect provision of abundant food for man.  The garden was probably a reflection of heavenly things on earth.  I’ve heard it taught that man’s job was to extend the rule and reign of God to the entire earth, by turning the rest of the earth into a fruitful garden, demonstrating the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

It was man’s fall to the temptation of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that thwarted these plans.

What are your thoughts about that theory?

¹⁰ Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

People say that the geography of the rivers gives us a clue as to where on earth the garden of Eden was located, but some say the flood totally changed the typography of the earth.

Who knows, it may have even been found in another dimension than the one we currently live in here on earth…

Let’s look at the meanings of some of the names mentioned, as names in the Bible give us greater understanding of what God is communicating.

The first river – a picture of the sacrificial system that is the foundation of the law

פִּישׁוֹן   Pishon – increase; overflowing – changing; extension of the mouth

חֲוִילָה  Havilah that suffers pain; that brings forth

I love the fact that the Word says here that there’s gold in Havilah. Yes, gold comes through the pain and suffering in our lives. We saw it in Messiah’s life.  The resurrection only came after and through the crucifixion.  It’s the same in our lives.  That’s why the Apostle Paul encourages us in James 1:2-4

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Gold has also come through the foundation of the sacrificial system that God ordained through the Israelites and fulfilled through Messiah’s sacrifice.

When have you seen God turn something that was painful in your life to gold?

The name of the next river gives us a clue into how God turns our pain into gold – and it’s a picture of Messiah’s sacrifice.

גִּיחוֹן Gihon valley of grace

כּוּשׁ Cush the name of a son of Ham, apparently the eldest, and of a territory or territories occupied by his descendants. The Cushites appear to have spread along tracts extending from the higher Nile to the Euphrates and Tigris. History affords many traces of this relation of Babylonia, Arabia and Ethiopia.

The third river – a picture of the cross – the pivotal judgment that came swiftly at the instruction (voice) of God

חִדֶּקֶל Hidekel active/rapid; sharp voice, sound (Tigris?)

אַשּׁוּר  Ashur (Assyria) who is happy; or walks; or looks

The fourth river

פְרָת Perat – break forth/rushing; that makes fruitful (Euphrates)

Putting together the meanings of the four rivers that flow out of Eden to water the earth and their surrounding areas we might get a sentence like the following:

An increase of overflowing suffering and pain flowing into a valley of grace actively looses a rapid sound that causes a breakthrough of fruitfulness that makes those who look upon it and walk in its ways fruitful and happy.

Sounds like the cross of Christ to me.

How does looking at the meaning of the names of the rivers and areas inspire you?

What does it teach you about God?

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

As ‘born-again’ Kingdom Ambassadors on earth, how do you think God’s instruction to Adam to “cultivate it and keep it” applies to us today?

WHERE WAS THE GARDEN OF EDEN LOCATED?