—Genesis Chapter 3!DO 272810/90

—Bible Classtime with Grandpa!

1. Let's pray! (David: Thank You Jesus! Jesus, we pray for this class time, that You'll help us to learn from Genesis 3 what we need to learn. Show us some new things‚ or some things we haven't heard before out of this‚ Jesus. Help us to really listen & get a lot out of this time that we have in Your Word. Thank You for Grandpa taking the time to teach us, in Jesus' name. Amen! Thank You Lord!) Amen! Thank You Lord! We may get all the way through it, but it's a big Chapter & there's a lot in it!

The Serpent Deceives Eve!

2. Genesis 3:1: "Now the Serpent was more subtle 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 every tree of the Garden?" He was deliberately teasing her, wasn't he?

3. Verse 2‚ "And the woman said unto the Serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the Garden: 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."

4. Now, here's a contrast between the Word of God, which she quotes‚ & the word of the Serpent. So what is the Devil trying to do here?—And what does he do with everybody? He's trying to make her do what? (Techi: Doubt!) Doubt God's Word. (Techi: And he's putting in a half-truth, because they wouldn't die right away, but they would die later.)

5. Verse 5, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof‚ then your eyes shall be opened, & ye shall be as gods, knowing good & evil." Now apparently there was some good about this tree. It did open their eyes, & the main thing it opened their eyes to was the difference between good & evil. Get it? So far, all they had known was good, but after disobeying, they would also know evil.

6. This is like a demonstration. It's not exactly an experiment, because God knew what was going to happen & He knew the end of it. In an experiment you try different things because you don't know how it's going to come out, but God knew how it was going to come out & what they'd decide when He gave them the choice. First of all He gave them the choice between believing & obeying Him, right? (Kids: Yes!)

7. All right, verse 6: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, & that it was pleasant to the eyes, & a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, & did eat, & gave also unto her husband with her; & he did eat." So she led Adam astray, right? The woman was the first to sin, & the first to tempt another human being to sin. She caused not only her own fall, but his fall, too. Isn't that sad? But it all worked out good in the end because otherwise we wouldn't have Salvation & know God's Love & forgiveness through Jesus.

They Saw that They Were Naked!

8. Verse 7: "And the eyes of them both were opened, & they knew that they were naked." Before they didn't know there was anything wrong with being naked, because there wasn't anything wrong with being naked! But obviously, this is part of the evil knowledge from Satan, that he made them think that it was bad. And Satan's crew has been making people think that nakedness & sex is evil ever since! (Techi: The church people probably twist that & say, "See, they learned all about good & evil, so they understood that sex is evil.")

9. Yes‚ even the Catholic church teaches that the Fall was because of sex!—That first they were tempted with sex‚ & then the Fall was when they actually engaged in sex. The Catholics obviously think sex is evil. They forbid their priests to marry & therefore often make Sodomites out of them, sad to say.

10. Continuing with Verse 7: "And they sewed fig leaves together & made themselves aprons." (An apron was a loincloth or girdle which apparently covered only the loins, or the front of one's body.) That was the first bikini!—Ha! I'll never forget a cartoon I saw once. This girl representing Eve was looking at this fig tree & she said, "It's funny, somehow or another I expected the leaves to be bigger."—Ha! I don't know why they didn't take elephant leaves of the elephant plant! (Techi: Yes, that's pretty silly, isn't it?) They could have used just one leaf from an elephant plant. But fig leaves are only about a couple of inches long, maybe an inch & a half wide. (Techi: Maybe it's a better mesh, it covers you better.) I don't know‚ maybe it was just the handiest leaf. (Techi: How did they sew it together? With grass & stuff?) Well, I guess so. They apparently weaved it together. (Techi: That must have taken a long time.) Yes, especially for people who had never sewn or made clothes before!

11. Verse 8, "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day." Now remember, He & Adam had been used to taking walks—probably Eve‚ too, of course—in the Garden in the cool of the day. This was the embodiment of God, which was probably Jesus.

12. "And Adam & his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the Garden." As though they could ever hide themselves from God! (Techi: Was it because they knew that they had disobeyed God? Or because they were ashamed that they were naked?) Well, you'll get Adam's excuse here pretty soon.

Passing the Buck!

13. Verse 9, "And the Lord God called unto Adam, & said unto him, Where art thou? And he said‚ I heard Thy voice in the Garden‚ & I was afraid, because I was naked; & I hid myself." So God said‚ "Who told thee that thou wast naked?" Aha! See? This shows you that it was the Serpent who was condemning their being naked, right? (Kids: Yes!)

14. "Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" Now listen to Adam pass the buck! (Verse 12:) "And the man said‚ The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, & I did eat." (Techi: "Whom Thou gavest unto me!" It's Your fault, ha!) Yes, that reminds me of what I told you about grades in school. Whenever a student got a good grade, he'd say, "Hey! Look what I made!" But if he got a bad grade, he'd say, "Look what the teacher gave me!"—Passin' the buck!

15. Verse 13: "And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said"—she passes the buck too—"the Serpent beguiled me‚ & I did eat." (Techi: Ha, that's so funny!) That's the beginning of making excuses for doing evil. Isn't your first reaction sometimes self–defense? Or if you tell people about their faults or something, one of the first things they do is blame it on somebody else!

The Serpent Cursed!

16. Verse 14, "And the Lord God said unto the Serpent"—He's going to punish the Serpent first because it was his fault first—"because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, & above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, & dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." And sure enough, they say that some snakes have vestigial* hips‚ like they once had hips or legs. (Techi: Don't they have little bumps or something there too?) I guess that's what it may be. (*Vestigial: Remaining as a vestige or remnant; no longer fully developed or useful. A few snakes, such as boas & pythons‚ have vestiges of hind legs or hipbones. A vestige is a remaining trace of a body part that an animal has lost.)

17. Verse 15, "And I will put enmity between thee & the woman, & between thy seed & her seed."—In other words‚ He made snakes the most evil beast of all as a result, & nearly everybody is afraid of snakes, except for a few crazy people! Women are especially afraid of snakes. (Techi: Didn't that also mean Mary & Jesus?) Yes‚ we get to it right here. "And it (the Woman's seed) shall bruise thy head." Who did that? (Kids: Jesus!) Right! "And thou shalt bruise His heel." A head wound is much more dangerous & crushing than just a stone bruise on the heel, right? When I used to run around barefoot a lot in Florida as a kid, sometimes I'd get stone bruises on the bottom of my feet. So Satan bruised Jesus' heel by crucifying Him, but Jesus bruised Satan's head by getting the victory over death.

Curse Upon Women!

18. Verse 16, "Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow & thy conception." Women often undergo quite a bit of pain in childbirth today, don't they? Do you think they're going to have pain in childbirth in the Millennium? (Techi: No!) I think I brought that out in one of my stories. (See ML #1560, "Born in Heaven!") Of course, women who love the Lord & are His children are not under the Curse, & the Lord promises them, "she shall be saved in childbearing."—1Tim.2:15.

19. "And thy desire shall be to thy husband, & he shall rule over thee." (Techi: So before that they were equal?) Before that they were equal. (Techi: So in the Millennium they'll be equal too?) In Christ & in the house of the Lord‚ His Family, in spiritual things they're equal. But now He made the man the boss! And boy, how System women today hate that. That's why they have that whole so-called Feminist movement. (Techi: Oh, I see, it's a curse on women.) It's a curse & they're trying to get rid of it in the flesh.

20. Having so many children can be difficult in some ways, if you ask any mothers who have had a lot of children. But it's also a blessing in a lot of ways.—If you're the Lord's. But what about these worldly women having a lot of kids? They're doing their best now not to have kids, & to kill'm by abortion if they get pregnant.

21. So they're trying to get out from under the way God has ordained things to be: The authority of the man over the woman, & pain in childbirth & multiplied conception. When children are the Lord's children, they're a blessing. We thank the Lord for each child He gives us because, "Children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward!"—Psa.127:3. The Lord rewards & blesses us with so many children because our Family is the best place in the World for them to be raised—with mommies & daddies & brothers & sisters who want them & love them‚ who will really "bring them up in the nurture & admonition of the Lord," like the Bible says! (Eph.6:4) PTL!

22. But in the World, for ungodly people, to have a whole lot of children is like a curse to many of them, & many of their children grow up to be little curses too, little monsters‚ because they don't raise'm in the Lord. They don't like having children because it's difficult, raising them is expensive, takes their time & interferes with their selfish lifestyle. To us they're a blessing & the Lord even eases our childbirth pain. He does that for our girls all the time. So the Lord can make it easy. After all, we are relieved of lots of curses‚ being the Lord's Family & His Children. We don't have all the troubles that the poor worldlings have.

23. Women today are trying to get rid of these curses without the Lord. They interfere with the course of nature by taking birth control pills, & literally become murderesses by having abortions, killing their babies. So women are going directly against God in those things.

Man's Punishment!

24. Verse, 17: "And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, & hast eaten of the Tree, of which I commanded thee, saying‚ Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life."

25. Up until this time‚ what had they eaten? (David: The fruit off the trees.) They didn't have to do anything to plant those trees or grow'm or anything, except just to tend & take care of the Garden. Maybe that included pruning & things like that. (Techi: But there were no diseases or anything.) Right. But now Man is going to have to eat of the ground; in fact, he's going to have to plow & weed & plant. It's a tough job! "And in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life."—That's the World, not us.

26. Verse 18: "Thorns also & thistles shall it bring forth to thee." Thorns & thistles were not in existence until the Fall of Man, see? No weeds! "And thou shalt eat the herb of the field." From now on, instead of just picking fruit off the trees, he's going to have to eat what? (David: Herbs of the field.) And what are those? (David: Vegetables!) Right. (Techi: So they didn't eat vegetables before that?) No, they didn't eat herbs, they just picked the fruit off the trees. Of course, there may have been herbs, they may have been in existence. (Techi: They could have eaten them too.) It seems that this is part of the Curse, though‚ that "thou shalt eat of the herb of the field." From now on Man would have to eat grain & vegetables & things like that, & not just easily pick the fruit off the trees. (Techi: Because Man can't survive on fruit alone, now we have to have vegetables too.) Right!

27. Verse 19‚ "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." So they're also going to eat what else? (Techi: Bread!) Right! On our test I will want you to tell me all the things that Man was going to have to eat after the Fall. Remember these things I'm bringing out to you now while I'm teaching you this lesson. OK? (David: OK!)

28. And what does it mean, "by the sweat of thy face"? (Techi: They'll have to work hard.) They're going to have to work hard, right. They're going to have to cook, bake bread & things like that. "Till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, & unto dust shalt thou return."

29. That's the Scripture which Pastors usually quote at funerals. First they usually have the funeral in a funeral parlor, then they go out for the burial ceremony where the Pastor says a few more words. You've probably seen it in several movies. He'll take a little bit of dirt in his fingers from the dirt pile that the diggers have dug out to bury the coffin, & he'll quote that Scripture & throw it on the coffin.—And everybody there does the same thing. The Catholics particularly have that ceremony & I think the Anglicans do it too.

Mother of All Living!

30. Verse 20, "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." She was the mother of everybody that has ever lived. She's your great‚ great, great, great‚ great, great grandmother also!

Coats of Animal Skins!

31. Verse 21, "Unto Adam also & to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, & clothed them." So Who was the First Person to make fur coats? (David: God was!) (Techi: The Lord!) Yes, the Lord! To show you how all these things that are going on nowadays are of the Devil—these environmentalists or "animal rights" activists want to "save the crocodiles" or "save the rattlesnakes" & "don't allow anybody to kill animals for their fur coats!" They forget that they like to eat beef steaks themselves! It's a part of the Eastern religions not to eat meat. Most Hindus in particular won't eat meat.

32. (David: Grandpa, I was just wondering, is every species important to the balance of nature‚ or can nature do without some?) Well, obviously some of them are going to be eliminated when the Curse is lifted. For example‚ there will be no more thistles and weeds and things like that. We're going to get along without a lot of things that are a curse today, in a way.

33. Although it does say "the child shall play on the hole of the asp."—Isa.11:8. An asp is a very vicious little poisonous snake. It's the one that Cleopatra committed suicide by. (David: Maybe it means that the asp won't be there any more!) I think it means that it'll be harmless then. It will no longer be poisonous. (Techi: Will the snakes be there?) It says "the hole of the asp," so he must still be there if he made a hole! It just means that it'll all be harmless. He says, "Nothing shall hurt nor destroy in all My Holy Mountain," meaning "in all My Holy Kingdom."—Isa.11:9.

34. (Techi: Grandpa, did the Devil possess the Serpent?) Well, there are a lot of theories about that. Apparently, snakes were not like they are today, & the Devil probably did possess the Serpent & speak through it to Eve. (Techi: Could the Serpent already talk even before the Devil possessed it?) Well, Man did communicate with the animals & beasts of the field in those days. (Techi: Does it say specifically that they couldn't talk to them any more after the Flood?) No, but it says the Lord put enmity between Man & the beasts then.—Gen.9:2-4.

35. (David: And Grandpa, you know how it wasn't until after the Flood that they started eating meat? Well, their fur coats wouldn't have lasted forever. So after the Lord made them these, do you think that Man continued killing animals for their fur coats even though they didn't start eating them until after the Flood?) Well, it got pretty cold. Man was supposed to dominate everything & rule over it all, so there's no reason why he couldn't kill animals if he needed the furs. (Techi: How did they kill them?) Oh, Honey, now don't go into that! Probably just the same way they kill them today, with weapons. They no doubt had to start making bows & arrows & slingshots. (David: Yes, & they had to make the ploughs for the field!)

36. (Techi: So I guess the Lord didn't object to killing animals.) No, not if you needed to. Not if you need fur coats. Obviously, He did it Himself! (Techi: Do you think He transported it into Heaven first? That would have been nice.) The animal? (Techi: Yes.) Oh no, He did it right there on Earth, no doubt, in order to make them fur coats. But the animal's spirit was probably sent to Heaven. Praise the Lord? (Kids: Amen!) All right!

37. I can't answer all your questions. We don't know. We don't know how God killed'm or where He killed'm. This girl is a real lawyer‚ she wants to know all the details! Well, He didn't tell us, but I'm sure He didn't just jerk the coat off the animal & leave it running away naked! (Techi: Grandpa!) (Kids laughing!) Wouldn't that look funny? (David: Yes, that would!)

Adam & Eve Driven Out of the Garden!

38. Verse 22, "And the Lord God said, Behold‚ the Man is become as one of us, to know good & evil: & now, lest he put forth his hand, & take also of the Tree of Life, & eat, & live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." (David: That's really interesting! If he would have eaten of the Tree of Life after he had eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil...) He would have lived forever! Think of that! Can you imagine how wicked Man would have become then? (David: Yes, that's amazing!) (Techi: Were they able to eat of the Tree of Life before?) It's possible. But now they had lost that ability to eat of the Tree of Life. Apparently they had to keep on eating of the Tree of Life, that's my theory. I don't know, but apparently you have to keep on eating of it‚ & I think I put that in one of my stories about Heaven. There'll be fruit from the Tree of Life in Heaven or in the Millennium.

39. Verse 24‚ "So He drove out the Man; & He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims." What are Cherubims? (Techi: Angels.) Right, & they're not little tiny cherub babies. (Techi: Where did the cherub babies come from?) Oh, that's somebody's idea of art, & it originated with the conception of Cupid‚ Roman mythology's "god of love" that was usually shown as a winged naked baby boy with a bow & arrows.

40. "He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, & a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree of Life." Now that flaming sword, if you want to get real sci-fi, what would you call it? (David: A forcefield.) Right‚ a forcefield, and if you'd touch it, it would probably spark!—Flame!

41. Anyway, how else would He explain that to people of today or even other days? (Techi: As a lightning bolt?) Yes, "a flaming sword" could have been lightning. Maybe the Angels actually held swords of flames which turned every way, especially your way if you tried to get in! (Techi: Like a four-handled sword?—Or were there just a whole bunch of Angels with a whole bunch of swords?) Well, obviously "Cherubims" here is plural. Actually it doesn't even need an "s" on it in Hebrew. "Cherubim" is plural, meaning more than one Angel. So there were at least two, & maybe more. And I presume each Angel had a flaming sword or a lightning bolt.

42. In our stories of Heaven & Angels, etc., I didn't like the idea of them showing Angels using an ordinary human sword, so I told'm to put lightning bolts in their hands, so we always have lightning bolts representing a flaming sword. A lightning bolt is certainly a flaming sword!—And they kill a lot of people! I heard of one that hit a tree under which these cows were standing & killed the whole herd! And in another place these golfers were all standing under this one shed, & when the lightning hit the shed, they all got it!

Homework & Closing Prayer!

43. Well‚ that's Genesis 3‚ & your homework is to study it thoroughly & be able to answer any questions in this Chapter, OK? Praise the Lord? We're finishing right almost on the dot! Do you want to pray now, Techi?

44. (Techi: Amen! Thank You Jesus! Praise You Lord! Thank You Lord for that good class & for the lessons & different things that You taught us. Please help us to study it, Lord‚ & learn from it, to be ready for a test tomorrow, in Jesus' name.) Amen! Thank You Lord! Praise the Lord!

45. (Techi: Are we going to have a test tomorrow?) Yes, on Chapter 3. Don't you think it's time to have a test‚ once we're through a Chapter? (David: Yes.) I've got an idea. How about one of you writing the test questions? (Techi: Oh, Grandpa, you do such good questions!) OK! All right! (Techi: But also we'd know the answers.) Yes, one of you would know & that wouldn't be fair. I don't actually write'm, but I just go through the Chapter & try to remember to ask you the questions about the points we've already brought out. OK? (Kids: Yes, Sir!) All right, I love you! God bless you!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family