1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:05,440 Let me invite you all to find your seat, and as you're finding 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:09,920 your seat, let me invite you to open your Bibles to the book of 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,480 Genesis. This morning. 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:20,480 We're going to be in chapter 2, verse 25, the very last verse of 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,440 chapter 2, and then we're going to be looking at chapter 3, 6 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:30,320 verses one to seven. So Genesis 2, 25, the very last 7 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:36,440 verse in chapter 2, and then going to chapter 3, verse 7. 8 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:42,440 So let me read the text, open us in a word of prayer, and then 9 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,720 we'll jump into the sermon this morning, Genesis 2, beginning in 10 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:54,760 verse 25. And the man and his wife, we're 11 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,000 both naked and we're not ashamed. 12 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,320 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beasts of the 13 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,120 field that the Lord God had made. 14 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:11,240 He said to the woman, Did God actually say, you shall not eat 15 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:15,960 of any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent, 16 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,800 We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God 17 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,760 said, You should not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the 18 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:29,000 midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die. 19 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:38,840 But the serpent said to the woman, You will surely not die, 20 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,200 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, 21 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,760 and you will be like God, knowing good from evil. 22 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,800 So when the woman saw the tree was good for food, and that it 23 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:56,080 was a light to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired 24 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:00,520 to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. 25 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,840 She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he 26 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,840 ate. And then the eyes of both were 27 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:13,720 opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sew fig 28 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,360 leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 29 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:25,800 Could you pray with me, Father? Pray that you would now awaken 30 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:31,920 our hearts, our minds, our affections unto you, Lord God, 31 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:34,800 help us to do what we are incapable of doing ourselves, 32 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:41,600 which is to see you, Lord. And so we pray that you take our 33 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:46,600 spiritual eyes that have been dulled this week from our sin 34 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:52,720 and, and just our weakness. And God make them open and alert 35 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,080 and alive unto you and your glory. 36 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,400 Now God through the, the preaching of your word, through 37 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,120 the the power of the Holy Spirit, through the blood of 38 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,400 Jesus Christ God, would you come and do this miracle this 39 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,120 morning? I pray in Jesus name, Amen. 40 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,960 I want to give the context we are starting in verse 25. 41 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,440 I was going to include this last week when I was a priest on 42 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:20,160 Genesis 2 and I wanted to do verse 25 because it it, it ties 43 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:24,600 into the sermon this morning. And so we're starting in verse 44 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:26,320 25 S. Let me give the context in case 45 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:28,680 you haven't been here last week or the week before. 46 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:36,080 God had made a man and he placed this man in the garden to work 47 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:41,400 it and keep it in this garden. God gives man all the trees in 48 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:45,000 the garden to eat from, trees that are pleasant to the site 49 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,200 and are good for food. But there is one tree that God 50 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,920 made that is different from all the other trees, the tree of 51 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:59,760 knowledge of good and evil. God explicitly told the man, You 52 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:04,200 may not eat from this tree because on the day that you eat 53 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:10,320 from it, you will surely die. As the man works and keeps this 54 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:14,160 garden, God looks down and he sees something, notices 55 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,959 something. It is not good for man to be 56 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:19,959 alone. So God decides to make a helper, 57 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:25,240 a helper that is fit for him. God first brings all the animals 58 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,880 to the man, but as the man begins to see these animals and 59 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:33,320 name them, there is no helper found that is fit for him. 60 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,600 So God takes action. God decides to create a helper 61 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:41,160 for him. He creates a helper out of the 62 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:42,840 man. He takes a piece of the man's 63 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:48,360 side and he makes a woman a helper fit for him. 64 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:53,400 God then presents this woman to the man as a gift to him. 65 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:55,240 And that's where we left off last week. 66 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,320 This morning as we look at the text verse by verse, Normally I 67 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,680 give exposition upfront and then application at the end. 68 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,200 Today I'm going to be weaving them together as we work through 69 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,640 it. So let's start in verse 25 where 70 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:15,560 it says the man and his wife were both naked and were not 71 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:20,720 ashamed. When God made man and woman, He 72 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,920 did not make them with clothes on, He made them naked. 73 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:31,560 The text says that the man and his wife were both naked. 74 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,960 Now, why does the narrator take the time to tell us this? 75 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,760 Why did he feel the need that we should know that this man and 76 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,880 this woman were existing in this garden as naked? 77 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:50,800 I think because in the Old Testament, nakedness is always 78 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:56,680 associated with some form of humiliation that is virtually 79 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,720 universal. In the Old Testament, nakedness 80 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,120 is always associated with some form of humiliation. 81 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,320 It's used to describe the poor. It's used as a metaphor for 82 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,840 shame and guilt. We will see it's shamefulness 83 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:14,440 with Noah when he gets drunk and his sons find him naked. 84 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,120 In Exodus 20, the priests were not allowed to go up to the 85 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:24,920 altar by means of stairs. So that God said so that your 86 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:27,440 nakedness will not be exposed to me. 87 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,880 Nakedness is always associated with a form of humiliation. 88 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:38,280 But notice here how the narrator describes their nakedness. 89 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:44,320 They were not ashamed. They were not ashamed. 90 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:45,800 This raises at least two questions. 91 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,320 Number one, what does it mean that they were not ashamed? 92 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,160 What does that mean? The Hebrew word for ashamed 93 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:54,040 occurs 124 times in the Old Testament. 94 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,640 Here's a definition of the Hebrew word that's used here to 95 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,720 have a painful feeling and emotional distress by having 96 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,160 done something wrong with an associative meaning of having 97 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,280 the disapproval of those around them. 98 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:10,240 Now, we all know what it feels like to feel ashamed. 99 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,680 We all know that when maybe we mess up or we make a mistake, we 100 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,360 that feeling when you mess up or make a mistake or do something 101 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,120 you're not supposed to do, or you're, you're at somewhere 102 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,080 you're not supposed to be, that that, that feeling that you feel 103 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:23,800 in that moment that that that's called shame. 104 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:26,280 We all know what that feels like. 105 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,760 But in this moment, they were not ashamed. 106 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:32,920 Which raises the second question, why? 107 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:37,920 Why were they not ashamed? Now, if we were to walk in this 108 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:43,760 room naked, we would feel ashamed or we should feel 109 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,080 ashamed. Maybe you wouldn't feel ashamed. 110 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,520 We should feel ashamed. If we were to walk in this room 111 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,600 without any clothes on, we would feel ashamed. 112 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,000 But the man and the woman have no clothes on. 113 00:07:55,000 --> 00:08:00,120 They are completely naked and they feel no shame at all. 114 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,840 Why? I don't think it's because 115 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,800 they're husband and wife. I don't think that's the reason. 116 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,120 Here's why. Jumping ahead in our text for 117 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:14,920 just a moment in chapter 3, verse 7, the text says and they 118 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:21,840 knew that they were naked. It was only after that they knew 119 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,560 that they were naked, which seems to imply that before this 120 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:28,520 they didn't know that they were naked. 121 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:32,000 Now we may wonder, how can you not know you're naked? 122 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,520 Like what does that even mean? How can you not know? 123 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:37,919 This is just look down right? Like how can you? 124 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:39,360 I? I think it's this. 125 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:42,919 I think they don't know it the same way that a one year old 126 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:47,360 baby doesn't know it. When my boys were young, when 127 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,680 they were like age 1, they would run around the house butt naked. 128 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:55,920 Why? They weren't aware of it. 129 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,680 Even if somebody came in, if a neighbor came in the house or if 130 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:02,040 one of you guys came over, they were still naked. 131 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:05,480 They did not run. They, they, they weren't aware 132 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:07,720 of it. They, they don't discern it. 133 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,200 They don't know it. I imagine the same is true here. 134 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,040 I imagine prior to this, the man and the woman do not. 135 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,680 It's like nakedness doesn't have a context. 136 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,280 It doesn't have a a a framework for them. 137 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,280 The nakedness here is almost a metaphor of their innocence. 138 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:28,440 It's a metaphor of their innocence. 139 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:36,120 Brothers and sisters, there is a great freedom and living with a 140 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:42,080 lack of shame, not just positionally but also 141 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,800 practically. There is great freedom and 142 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:51,160 living with a lack of shame, not just positionally but also 143 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,360 practically. Positionally, if you are in 144 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,360 Christ, we never need feel shame. 145 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:02,440 If you are a Christian, you never need to feel shame 146 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,200 positionally. Even though we are on this side 147 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:12,720 of the fall, we are never naked. For the past 25 years, I've 148 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:17,040 never had a day in my life where I was naked because we have been 149 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,000 clothed with the righteousness of Christ. 150 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,440 He was made naked that we might be clothed. 151 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,920 But practically speaking, we all have reason from time to time to 152 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:34,760 feel shame. Practically speaking, because we 153 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,440 continue to sin, we continue to sin. 154 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:41,960 You ever had that dream where you go to school and you're 155 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:44,120 naked? I don't know. 156 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,320 I asked this question some of you before and you looked at me 157 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:47,720 like I was crazy. I was like, am I the only one 158 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:49,720 that has that dream? I've had that dream like 10 159 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,320 times in my life. You ever have that dream where 160 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:54,640 you go to school and you're naked? 161 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:56,400 You're walking around. I hate that dream. 162 00:10:56,480 --> 00:11:02,360 I I hate it. I hate the way I feel it. 163 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:09,520 It, it, it, it feels so terrifying and and restrictive 164 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,880 and, and, and the same should be true when we sin. 165 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:21,080 When we sin, we hate the way we feel. 166 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:28,960 We hate it. I feel naked. 167 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:31,880 I feel exposed. I feel shame. 168 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,560 One of the reasons that we choose not to sin. 169 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:37,600 This is not the only reason. There are many motivations to 170 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,320 not sin. One of those reasons to not sin 171 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:46,200 is because we desire the feeling of freedom over the feeling of 172 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,080 shame. We say, I know if I do this, 173 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:54,000 this is how I'm going to feel, and I don't want to feel that 174 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:59,480 way. I want to feel freedom. 175 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:05,600 I don't want to feel shame. Look at chapter 3, verse one. 176 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:10,320 A Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beasts of 177 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,280 the field that the Lord God had made. 178 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,320 Now, up until this point in our story, we've only been 179 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,320 introduced to three characters. We've been introduced to God, 180 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,840 the man and the woman. That's it. 181 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:25,920 But now we are introduced to a fourth character, the serpent, 182 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:28,560 which raises an enormous question. 183 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,920 Who is this character? Who is this serpent? 184 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,720 Let's look at what the text says. 185 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,800 We're going to look at what the text says here in verse one, and 186 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:40,720 then we're going to look at some other text to see if we can 187 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,960 piece this together. We are told 4 pieces of 188 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:49,600 information in this verse about this character #1 this is a 189 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:51,520 beast. Now, the serpent was more crafty 190 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,680 than any other beast. Beast can simply mean animal. 191 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:56,960 It is an animal. I don't think it's a metaphor. 192 00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:01,400 I think that there actually was a literal animal. 2 The animal 193 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:04,840 is a serpent, A snake. That's what a serpent is. 194 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:06,440 It's a snake. We're not told what kind. 195 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:11,720 Doesn't matter what kind it is #3 the serpent is made by God. 196 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:20,640 This character owes its existence to God, and #4 this 197 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:25,000 animal is crafty. The serpent was more crafty, the 198 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,160 Hebrew word for crafty. It's used 11 times in the Old 199 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:29,800 Testament. What's interesting is that eight 200 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:33,240 of the 11 times that this word occurs, it occurs in the book of 201 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,640 Proverbs and it's translated as wisdom or prudence. 202 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,960 It's a positive term. It's a good quality, but it can 203 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,760 also take the nuance of this crafty, clever, pertaining to 204 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:49,560 being tricky and cunning with a focus on evil treachery. 205 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:53,960 Now that's all we're told in Genesis. 206 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:57,600 We're told that there is an there is a an animal. 207 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:03,120 The animal is a snake. The the animal is made by God 208 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:07,720 and the animal is crafty. It's craftier than any other 209 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:09,360 animal. That's all we're told. 210 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,680 Now, one question that people often have is this Satan? 211 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:22,440 Is this serpent Satan? The Bible never explicitly 212 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:24,120 identifies the serpent with Satan. 213 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:26,440 We always just take that for granted. 214 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,160 But the Bible, nowhere in the entire Word of God explicitly 215 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,640 identifies this serpent with Satan. 216 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:38,720 But implicitly, we are led to believe that the Satan entered 217 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,040 the serpent and was speaking through it. 218 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:45,440 Implicitly, we are led to we. We know that Satan can enter 219 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:47,920 through people and speaks through them. 220 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,240 We know that Satan entered pigs, right? 221 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:55,600 Or demons entered pigs. Implicitly, we are led to 222 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,760 believe that Satan entered the serpent and was speaking through 223 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,200 it. Revelation 12/9 And the great 224 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:06,440 dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who was called 225 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,200 the devil and Satan, and the deceiver of the whole world. 226 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:14,800 Revelation 22 And he sees the dragon, that ancient serpent, 227 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:19,720 who is the devil and Satan. Now, for the purpose of the 228 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:24,440 sermon today and the next few weeks, I'm going to assume that 229 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,000 the serpent and Satan are one in the same. 230 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:31,040 I'm just going to assume that there's much more that we could 231 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,600 say about this character, but I want to focus on one description 232 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:37,680 that we are given here. We are given just one 233 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:39,680 description of the serpent, and here it is. 234 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:47,720 Crafty, crafty, clever, cunning. That's important. 235 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:50,280 Why? Brothers and sisters, let this 236 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:56,920 text be a reminder that Satan is far more clever than you and I 237 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:02,800 are. He is far more cunning and 238 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,160 clever and crafty than you and I are. 239 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:08,600 We have been around the block for 20 plus years. 240 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:12,480 He has been around for 20,000 years. 241 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:23,160 He been around for a long time. He knows what works on humans. 242 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,880 He knows he got David to fall. David was a man after God's own 243 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,880 heart. He got David to fall. 244 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:36,600 He got the apostle Peter to fall. 245 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,520 Be careful that we don't ever have the same mentality that 246 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:46,240 Peter had. I would never do that. 247 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,680 Do not ever think that we are above anything. 248 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,920 I would never do that. No matter how smart we think we 249 00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:00,720 are, he is smarter. No matter how strong we may 250 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:06,920 feel, he is stronger. It is not uncommon for 251 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:10,839 Christians to put themselves in a position where they, as 252 00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:13,920 Proverbs says, can a man hold fire next to his chest and not 253 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,040 be burned? And yet so often Christians will 254 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,079 walk around carrying fire, playing with fire, thinking, I 255 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:22,520 won't do this, I won't fall here. 256 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:28,920 There are a great many more godly and holy men of God and 257 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:38,600 women who have fallen than you. We cannot defeat him on our own. 258 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:44,920 We need someone who is wiser than him, because it's not us 259 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:50,760 and it's not me and it's not another human except the God 260 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:57,600 man. Look at 1B, He said to the 261 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,520 woman. Did God actually say you shall 262 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,080 not eat of any tree in the garden? 263 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:09,200 He said to the woman. Now just pause there for a 264 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:10,440 moment. Does anybody find it interesting 265 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,800 that the narrator just tells us that the serpent speaks without 266 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,400 any explanation? This is like something out of 267 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,320 Chronicles of Narnia, right? You know when, when, when Susan 268 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,840 gets to to Narnia, she, she can't believe that this Beavers 269 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:24,960 is speaking to her, right? Because animals don't speak. 270 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:30,720 But here the serpent could just talk and the narrator just just 271 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,280 says the serpent said there's no explanation given. 272 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:36,200 There's no, you know, like how how does this serpent speak? 273 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,440 The serpent asked the woman a question. 274 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:42,960 Now, before we look at the question, we have to ask a 275 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,840 question. Why did he approach the woman 276 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:53,040 and not the man? Ever wonder that? 277 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:57,000 Why did he approach the woman and not the man? 278 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:01,880 I have heard theories like, well the serpent knew that the woman 279 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:06,480 was an easier target or the serpent knew that the woman 280 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,200 would be deceived more easily than the man. 281 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:12,120 I am not convinced of those theories. 282 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:19,880 I think it has more to do with Satan's desire to undermine the 283 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,880 man's authority. That's my personal theory. 284 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:25,640 I I don't know the answer to that question, but that's my 285 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,080 theory. I think it has more to do with 286 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:31,040 Satan's desire to undermine the man's authority. 287 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:35,760 Adam is the spiritual head of his wife, and rather than 288 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:40,520 approach the spiritual head, the serpent bypasses the man and 289 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:45,000 goes to the woman. I don't think it's just it was 290 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,040 eenie meenie miney Moe. OK, I'll choose you. 291 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:51,680 I think he's intentional. I think everything Satan does is 292 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,600 intentional, and I think he intentionally chooses her to 293 00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:00,440 bypass her spiritual head. Look at the question the serpent 294 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:05,960 ask. He says, did God actually say 295 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,560 you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? 296 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:16,320 This is such a brilliantly wicked question and a wickedly 297 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:22,560 brilliant question. It's brilliant and it's wicked. 298 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:26,600 Why does he ask this question? I can think of at least two 299 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:33,200 reasons #1 because Satan loves to distort and twist and pervert 300 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:39,120 the words of God. He loves to distort and twist 301 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:43,440 and pervert the words of God. This is not what God said. 302 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:45,320 In fact, it is quite the opposite. 303 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,440 But this is what Satan does. He distorts. 304 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:54,680 He twist. He perverts the words of God. 305 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:04,080 Did God really say that you can't have sex before marriage 306 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,200 if you know you're going to get married? 307 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:14,240 Did God really say that? Did God really say that you 308 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,400 can't have a buzz so long as you don't get drunk? 309 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:24,240 Did God really say that life begins at conception? 310 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:31,360 Did he really say that? Did God really say that saving 311 00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:33,880 millions for retirement is idolatry? 312 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:41,680 Did God really say that? Did God really say that you have 313 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:49,880 to go to church every week? Did God really say that this is 314 00:21:49,880 --> 00:22:00,800 what Satan does, this is how he works #2 why? 315 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,120 It's brilliant. Satan is trying to get her to 316 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:08,560 see the one tree. Satan is trying to get her to 317 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:14,320 see the one tree. Now, if Sane wanted her to see 318 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:16,760 the one tree, why not just point it out? 319 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,240 Because he's clever. He's clever. 320 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,920 He is willing to play the long game if that will mean victory 321 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:30,640 for him. He starts by suggesting that God 322 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,520 is holding out everything on them. 323 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,000 That's what he's doing. He starts with the the, the 324 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,200 assumption that God is holding out everything on you guys. 325 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:46,120 Is God really not going to let you eat of any of these trees? 326 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,680 Look at all these trees and you can't eat of any of them. 327 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,880 Now, at this point, what should the woman have done? 328 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,520 The moment that he asked this question, what should the woman 329 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,040 have done? I can think of three good 330 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,920 options and one bad one. I can think of three good 331 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:11,240 options, one bad. 1A. She could go and get God and say 332 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,680 God, who is this creature and why is he talking to me? 333 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,200 Is he supposed to be here? Who is this? 334 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,920 She could do that B. She could go get her husband and 335 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:25,560 say, Will you talk to this animal? 336 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,360 This animal is like talking nonsense. 337 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:36,600 Will you talk to this animal? C She could just ignore him. 338 00:23:42,310 --> 00:23:46,470 Those are three good options. There's one bad option. 339 00:23:47,270 --> 00:23:50,670 Look at verse two to three. The woman said to the serpent, 340 00:23:51,390 --> 00:23:54,790 We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God 341 00:23:54,790 --> 00:23:56,990 said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the 342 00:23:56,990 --> 00:24:00,550 midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it, lest 343 00:24:00,550 --> 00:24:03,310 you die. What's the fourth option? 344 00:24:04,390 --> 00:24:08,520 The fourth option is that she could independently talk to the 345 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:14,560 serpent. And the woman said to the 346 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:19,080 serpent, it is a mistake to engage this creature. 347 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:23,720 It is a major mistake for her to do it independently. 348 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,440 Brother, sisters, don't get into a dialogue with Satan. 349 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,960 Don't get into a dialogue with the world or your flesh. 350 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:41,960 Instead, preach the Word. Preach the Word. 351 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:48,720 Dialoguing leads to destruction. Preaching leads to production. 352 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,880 When Satan came to Jesus in the desert and tempted him in the 353 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:59,680 same way that he is tempting the woman right now, Jesus did not 354 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,600 get into a dialogue with him. What did He do? 355 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,640 He preached the Word. That's what he did. 356 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:09,760 There have been so many times in my life, I don't know if it's 357 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:14,000 true for you, but for me, that I can almost audibly hear the 358 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,200 voice of Satan or the world or my flesh tempting me. 359 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:21,960 Whether it is Satan, whether it is the world, what is my, it 360 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:23,360 doesn't really matter, doesn't matter. 361 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:28,760 I can almost audibly hear them tempting me, tempting me to do 362 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,040 this. And if I get into an inner 363 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:35,680 dialogue with this voice and I say, well, I mean, I can see 364 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:39,240 your point, actually, you know, I don't know if I have to do 365 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,280 that is I don't know if that's really a bad idea. 366 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:46,880 That's interesting. If I get into an inner dialogue 367 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,680 with this voice, I will often, if not always, lose. 368 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:58,440 What is far better is to preach the Word, to pull out the 369 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:02,040 ancient sword and slay the ancient serpent. 370 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:10,880 The woman says we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the 371 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:15,600 garden. Now that's true, that's true. 372 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:21,600 But God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is 373 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,600 in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest 374 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,720 you die. Now that's interesting, isn't 375 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,000 it? Because the woman adds a phrase 376 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,640 here, doesn't she? She says, neither shall you 377 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,920 touch it. Now, as far as we know, God 378 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,000 never said that. It's unclear if Adam told his 379 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,880 wife these instructions adding to God's instructions. 380 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:44,840 There's an age-old joke where you know, the husband's like, 381 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:47,280 all right, don't eat of this fruit. 382 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,640 Don't even touch it. All right. 383 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,680 It's unclear if Adam added this adding to God's instructions or 384 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:58,560 if the woman just made these instructions up. 385 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,600 You know, she just, Adam said don't eat this fruit and she was 386 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,760 like, well, we're not to eat of it and touch it. 387 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:11,080 It's not clear, but one of them added, one of them added to 388 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,520 God's instructions. Does that matter? 389 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:19,080 I think it does. I think it does in the same way 390 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,360 that the Israelites added to God's instructions. 391 00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:24,480 The Israelites were known for creating a so-called fence 392 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,480 around God's law. God had given His law and then 393 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,040 they created what's known as a fence around this law. 394 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,280 I think Adam and or Eve are doing the very same thing here. 395 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,760 For example, in order to never take the Lord's name in vain. 396 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:38,920 That was one of the 10 commandments. 397 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:39,840 Don't take the Lord's name in vain. 398 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:40,960 What did they do? They created a fence. 399 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,000 What was that fence? Let's just not even say the 400 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,080 name. And they never said the Lord's 401 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:45,960 name. That's why we don't know how to 402 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:47,440 pronounce Yahweh. Yahweh is just a guess. 403 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:48,680 We have no idea how to pronounce it. 404 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:52,880 They just said let's just never say it. 405 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,280 In order to never break the Sabbath, God said, remember the 406 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:57,480 Sabbath, don't break it. What did they do? 407 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,600 They created a fence around it. They created all these rules 408 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:04,360 about how far you could carry your mat and, and, and how many 409 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:05,920 steps you could take and so forth, right. 410 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:07,960 They created this fence that you might think, is that a bad 411 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,160 practice? Is that a bad thing? 412 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:13,200 Is that a bad thing to like? Be extra cautious. 413 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,440 Is that a bad thing? It's not an effective practice. 414 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:23,760 It's not an effective practice. Making laws unto ourselves is of 415 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:26,080 no use. And stopping the indulgence of 416 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,120 the flesh. How do we know that? 417 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:30,640 Because it didn't stop her from sinning. 418 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,400 This extra law that she gave don't even touch. 419 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:43,800 It didn't stop her from sinning. Brothers and sisters, God's 420 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:49,400 commands are sufficient. We dare not take away from them. 421 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:51,680 And we don't need to add to them either. 422 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:54,920 They are sufficient in and of themselves. 423 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:01,480 Look at verse 4. But the serpent said to the 424 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:11,000 woman, you will not surely die. You will not surely die. 425 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:13,200 You know what's interesting about this statement? 426 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,720 The serpent uses the same word that God used. 427 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:19,880 Shirley. Did you catch that? 428 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,520 The woman didn't say Shirley. The woman just said we would 429 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:25,320 die. The woman did not say we will 430 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:30,120 surely die. Satan uses the same word that 431 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,160 God did. People often say that God, that 432 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:35,240 Satan knows God's word better than we do. 433 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:39,600 I imagine that's true. I imagine Satan does know God's 434 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,520 word better than we do. Now I want us to consider this 435 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:49,360 statement. God said to the man, And the day 436 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,400 that you eat of it, you shall surely die. 437 00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:58,680 The serpent said you will not surely die, you will surely die, 438 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:05,080 you will not surely die. I don't know about you, but in 439 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:09,360 logic 101, something cannot be A and not A at the same time. 440 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:16,280 One of them is a liar, one of them is a liar. 441 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:20,960 Jesus says about Satan. He does not stand in the truth 442 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,240 because there is no truth in him. 443 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:27,120 When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a 444 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:33,600 liar and the father of lies. John 844 God clearly said you 445 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:38,120 will surely die. The serpent said you will surely 446 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:43,520 not die. Every day we are faced with this 447 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:51,360 scenario. We know the truth and we are fed 448 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:58,400 lies every day. We know the truth and we are fed 449 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:02,880 lies. This is why even though you may 450 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:07,880 know this book, you may even if you grew up in church and I'm 451 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:09,640 preaching on this, you're like, I mean, I know the creation 452 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:10,880 story. I've heard this so many times in 453 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:12,680 kids classes, right? Like, yeah, yeah. 454 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:14,840 They eat the fruit and they die and you know, it's like. 455 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:26,160 Even though you may know this book, you have to continuously 456 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:32,040 read it, memorize it, study it, sing it, pray it, preach it, 457 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:33,440 love it. Why? 458 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:37,680 Because every morning you wake up, you are a barrage of lies is 459 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:43,120 coming your way. That's what the world is 460 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:44,840 selling. It's selling lies. 461 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:53,640 Every billboard, every ad talk around the coffee break room, 462 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:58,320 it's selling you lies. You've got a barrage of lies 463 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:06,400 hitting you everyday and we need to be reminded, what did God 464 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,320 say? What did he say? 465 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:21,760 Do you know what he said? And guys, this, this is not 466 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:28,720 enough. I mean, this was such love, 467 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,240 guys. But, and I'm going to I'm going 468 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:33,760 to be careful because this is not scripted. 469 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,000 I get myself in trouble when I go off script. 470 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:45,840 There are some of you who have been a Christian for 10/15/20 471 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:49,200 years and you still don't know what this book says. 472 00:32:57,910 --> 00:33:02,790 You need to know what did God say? 473 00:33:03,590 --> 00:33:10,630 You need to know it better than you know your work or what level 474 00:33:10,630 --> 00:33:17,560 you're on. You've got to know this inside 475 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:24,000 and out because you are fed lies every day and this is your only 476 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:32,690 hope to not believe those lies. Look at verse 5. 477 00:33:34,330 --> 00:33:39,370 For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened 478 00:33:39,410 --> 00:33:42,810 and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 479 00:33:43,570 --> 00:33:47,290 Notice this first phrase for God knows. 480 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,800 This phrase implies 2 things. A The serpent knows the mind of 481 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,120 God. He's implying that I know 482 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:57,160 something about God. He doesn't. 483 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,680 He doesn't know the mind of God. It be it implies that God knows 484 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:05,040 something and he doesn't want you to know it. 485 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:10,400 The serpent comes to her and he says, no, you can eat of this. 486 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,600 God just doesn't want you to eat of it because God knows 487 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,239 something and he doesn't want you to know it. 488 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,639 Again, we see his craftiness. We see his clever schemes Here 489 00:34:23,199 --> 00:34:26,560 he gets the woman to believe that God is holding out on her. 490 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,719 That's what he's doing. God knows something He doesn't 491 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:32,120 want to know. He's holding out on you. 492 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:35,199 Now what does he accuse God of knowing? 493 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:37,840 What does he accuse God of holding out on? 494 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,199 That? When they eat of this tree, 2 495 00:34:40,199 --> 00:34:44,639 results will follow. A your eyes will be opened. 496 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:48,360 Your eyes will be opened. How ironic that the New 497 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:52,800 Testament says that Satan blinds our eyes and that salvation is 498 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:56,040 God opening our eyes. But here the serpent is 499 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,560 suggesting that when you eat this fruit your eyes will be 500 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:03,320 opened, that disobedience will open your eyes. 501 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:09,640 And B, he says you will be like God, you will know good from 502 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,640 evil, that you'll be like God in this sense, you'll know good and 503 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,600 evil. A few weeks ago I asked the 504 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:17,880 question, what is the tree of knowledge of good and evil? 505 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:18,600 What? What is it? 506 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:21,040 I purposely tabled that question till now. 507 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:24,280 What is this tree of knowledge of good and evil? 508 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,240 It seems to me based on this, it is this. 509 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:31,000 It is a tree by which man gains moral autonomy. 510 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,480 It's a tree by which man gains moral autonomy. 511 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:39,800 Victor Hamilton writes this. What is forbidden to man is the 512 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:44,680 power to decide for himself what is in his best interest and what 513 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,520 is not. This is the decision that God is 514 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:53,120 not delegated to the earthling. In other words, God had said to 515 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:57,880 them, I will tell you what is right and what is wrong. 516 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:02,160 I will tell you. But to eat of this tree was 517 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:06,360 basically to say to God, thank you God. 518 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:09,160 But to be honest, I would like to decide this for myself. 519 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:15,640 I would like to be the one who decides what is right and what 520 00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:19,160 is wrong. That's what this tree was. 521 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:23,120 Now I want to point out something here. 522 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:30,440 Satan does tell the woman truth, may think, well, these, these 523 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,640 are somewhat true. They are they're half truths. 524 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,560 They're half truths. You will not surely die. 525 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,080 That was 1/2 truth. She didn't physically die. 526 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:43,600 It was true. She did not physically die. 527 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:47,240 That was 1/2 truth. Your eyes will be open. 528 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:49,440 That's also half truth. Her eyes were opened. 529 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:53,040 They were opened. That's a half truth. 530 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:55,720 You will be like God, knowing good from evil. 531 00:36:55,720 --> 00:36:59,080 That's a half truth. She did know good from evil. 532 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:03,360 That's a half truth. Satan tells her truths. 533 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:08,440 They are just half truths. Half truths are far more 534 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:15,080 dangerous than whole lies. They are sane. 535 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,400 Rarely comes to us and tells us a bold faced lie. 536 00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:23,000 Rarely he tells us enough truth to make it believable. 537 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:27,440 Most people do not die from drinking poison. 538 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:30,040 They die from drinking dirty water. 539 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:37,400 Now I want you to notice Satan's modus operandum. 540 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:42,360 Don't miss this. This is his modus operandum. 541 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:47,120 Here it is. God is holding out on you. 542 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:53,600 God knows something and He doesn't want you to know it. 543 00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:59,360 What is he doing there? What is Satan doing there? 544 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:03,640 He's doing this. He is planting a seed of 545 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:12,080 discontentment I have found in my life, and I believe the same 546 00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:13,640 is true for everybody in this room. 547 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:16,400 That Satan's most effective strategy. 548 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,480 He's got many schemes, many strategies. 549 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:23,360 His most effective one, the one that he pulls out when other 550 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:26,480 things don't work. If, if, if, if this doesn't work 551 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:28,760 and that doesn't work, this one will work. 552 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,360 His most effective strategy is discontentment. 553 00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:39,640 Jeremiah Burrow says this. The devil loves to fish in 554 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:43,160 troubled waters. When he sees men and women go up 555 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:46,120 and down discontented, he gets them alone. 556 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:48,160 Then he comes with his temptations. 557 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:58,480 Satan's most effective lie is to get you to believe I I need 558 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:04,600 something I do not currently have in order to be happy. 559 00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:12,920 I need this. I need this money. 560 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:19,800 I need this relationship. I need this satisfaction. 561 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:25,720 I need this job. I need this validation. 562 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:31,440 I need it. I needed to be happy. 563 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:37,760 I won't be happy without it. It's the oldest lie in history. 564 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:43,520 It works on all of us, everybody in this room. 565 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:49,800 It works on What's trap so tragically ironic is that we are 566 00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:52,040 given every indication that the man and woman they were already 567 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:56,240 happy. God had made them a beautiful 568 00:39:56,240 --> 00:40:00,280 garden. You know, it's this is like the 569 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:03,880 contrast between Jesus. Jesus was in a desert wasteland 570 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:08,840 and he was content in the Lord. But but the man and the woman 571 00:40:08,920 --> 00:40:13,160 were in this beautiful lush garden with four rivers flowing 572 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:15,640 out from it. God had given them every tree to 573 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:19,320 eat from every single one. They got a buffet of trees to 574 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:21,720 eat from. God had given them each other. 575 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:25,640 What? What else could they want? 576 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:31,040 And then along comes Satan, and he just plants a tiny little 577 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:39,680 seed of discontentment. True, but you don't have this 578 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:45,960 type of wisdom. Don't you want it? 579 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:56,880 It's there. All you have to do is just and 580 00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:03,720 you'll have it. The verse 6A So when the woman 581 00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:07,720 saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight 582 00:41:07,720 --> 00:41:13,280 to the eyes and the tree was desired to make one wise. 583 00:41:14,240 --> 00:41:18,240 Notice how the narrator's words at this So when the woman saw 584 00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:23,600 the tree, did you catch that? There's a difference between 585 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:28,880 knowing that the tree is there and see that the tree is there. 586 00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:35,800 She knew the tree was there, but now she sees it. 587 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:44,480 The serpent got her to see it. Now what did she see when she 588 00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:46,400 looked upon the tree, What did she see? 589 00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:47,880 3 descriptions. A. 590 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:52,760 It's good for food B. It's a delight to the eyes C Its 591 00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:56,360 desire to make one wise. Now here's what's interesting 592 00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:58,760 about these three descriptions for the 1st 2. 593 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:00,440 They're no different than the other trees. 594 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:03,240 Remember how God described all the other trees? 595 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:05,840 They're pleasant to the sight and they're good for food. 596 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:09,040 This tree is exactly the same. It's a pleasant to the site and 597 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:12,120 it's good for food. What's interesting is the Hebrew 598 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:15,800 word used for delight here in this passage, the Hebrew word 599 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:18,840 for delight. It's the same Hebrew word used 600 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:22,160 in Numbers 11. For now, the rabble that was 601 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:27,920 among them had a strong craving. That word craving is the same 602 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:31,920 Hebrew word as delight. The Hebrew word for desired here 603 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:35,880 is the same Hebrew word in Exodus 2017. 604 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:41,200 For thou shall not covet. Covet is the same Hebrew word as 605 00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:43,400 desire. In other words, what? 606 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:50,240 What does that mean? This tree created a craving and 607 00:42:50,240 --> 00:42:52,880 a coveting in this woman's heart. 608 00:42:55,560 --> 00:43:01,600 Satan was able to create a craving and a coveting in her 609 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:03,360 heart. What does she crave? 610 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:05,440 What did she covet? This. 611 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:09,760 To be wise, to be wise. The Hebrew word there for wise 612 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,480 means to have insight, to gain wisdom, to gain understanding, 613 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:15,640 to be prudent, to be skilled, to have a capacity for 614 00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:24,640 understanding. Cravings lead to coveting, and 615 00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:35,360 coveting leads to compromise. Cravings lead to coveting, and 616 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:41,760 coveting leads to compromise. See, all the serpent had to do 617 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:46,200 was to get her to see the tree, and his mind is like, if I can 618 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:51,200 just get her to see it, she'll have a craving for it. 619 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:56,720 Once she has a craving for it, she'll covet it. 620 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:03,000 Once she covets it, she'll compromise. 621 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:09,720 And she did. You know what she should have 622 00:44:09,720 --> 00:44:12,240 done the moment that she had a craving? 623 00:44:12,240 --> 00:44:18,000 Know what she should have done. Go and eat from one of the other 624 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:26,720 trees and satisfy her craving. Go and feast on one of the other 625 00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:36,410 trees and satisfy her craving. Look at 6B. 626 00:44:39,370 --> 00:44:42,930 She took up its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her 627 00:44:42,930 --> 00:44:44,890 husband who was with her, and he ate. 628 00:44:45,410 --> 00:44:48,490 Now one could argue that the woman had already sinned when 629 00:44:48,490 --> 00:44:50,130 she developed this craving, Covetine. 630 00:44:50,490 --> 00:44:53,610 You could make an argument that she had already sent the moment 631 00:44:53,610 --> 00:44:54,930 she developed this craving, Covetine. 632 00:44:54,930 --> 00:44:57,760 She's ready to become a Sinner. That may be true, but she did 633 00:44:57,760 --> 00:44:59,880 not transgress God's commands yet. 634 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:03,600 She did not transgress because God didn't say yet do not covet. 635 00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:05,840 Paul says it's in Romans, right? She doesn't. 636 00:45:05,880 --> 00:45:07,160 We don't. We would not know that we 637 00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:08,840 shouldn't covet if God didn't say don't covet. 638 00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:13,680 God did not say don't covet, yet she took of the fruit and ate 639 00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:17,800 explicitly disobeying what God had told them not to do. 640 00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:22,400 Now as bad as that sin was, it gets worse. 641 00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:25,320 You ever heard the phrase misery loves company? 642 00:45:27,160 --> 00:45:29,080 It's also true that sin loves company. 643 00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:35,120 The woman gave some of the forbidden fruit to her husband 644 00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:39,480 and he ate. This is bad for at least two 645 00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:42,720 reasons. Number one, she brought him with 646 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:48,480 her into her sin. Do you know how we know that she 647 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:51,040 immediately became a Sinner? The moment she ate this? 648 00:45:51,240 --> 00:45:54,480 She took it and ate it. She immediately became a Sinner. 649 00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:57,200 Do you know how we know she immediately became a Sinner? 650 00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:00,360 Because the very next thing she does is lead her husband into 651 00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:08,650 sin. Only a Sinner would lead another 652 00:46:09,090 --> 00:46:14,930 into sin. The serpent didn't even need to 653 00:46:14,930 --> 00:46:18,770 tempt the man. She did the serpent's job for 654 00:46:18,770 --> 00:46:24,640 him. Our sin always effects others. 655 00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:28,720 If you remember Peter's hypocrisy at Antioch, it caused 656 00:46:28,720 --> 00:46:36,120 Barnabas to be LED astray. Our sin can often embolden 657 00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:39,120 others to sin likewise. I think that's what's going on 658 00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:50,400 here and #2 why this is bad. The man eats with no words, no 659 00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:55,600 resistance, no fight. He doesn't even say anything. 660 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:01,080 And it's not as though like he's naive like he does, you know, 661 00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:04,400 she handed him a, a Peach or an apple or something and he's and 662 00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:07,400 she's like, here you eaten. He's like, oh, no, no, like it 663 00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:10,040 it. It's not like he knew what he 664 00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:16,280 was doing. Paul says that the woman was 665 00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:22,760 deceived, but the man was not. In Timothy, Paul says the woman 666 00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:25,240 was deceived, but the man was not. 667 00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:29,360 It's as if he willfully walks into the sin. 668 00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:35,000 He wasn't deceived, he willfully walked into it. 669 00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:40,280 The man was created to be her spiritual head or spiritual 670 00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:44,920 leader, and yet here he is following her lead. 671 00:47:45,720 --> 00:47:49,960 I cannot tell you how many times I have seen in church, this 672 00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:54,560 church and other churches where men will passively let their 673 00:47:54,560 --> 00:48:01,120 wives lead them into sin and to a certain lifestyle of sin and 674 00:48:01,120 --> 00:48:06,600 will not step up and say, no, we are not going to do that in our 675 00:48:06,680 --> 00:48:14,980 family. He passively follows her. 676 00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:23,200 Adam is contrasted with Job who also had a wife who tempted him 677 00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:29,360 to sin and yet Job maintained his integrity and said no, I 678 00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:34,280 won't do that. That's what Adam should have 679 00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:39,960 done. Look at verse 7. 680 00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:45,760 Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew they were 681 00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:49,840 naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves 682 00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:56,160 loincloths. Satan promises the world and he 683 00:48:56,160 --> 00:49:01,320 delivers hell. He promises the world and he 684 00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:04,560 delivers hell. He did the same with Jesus. 685 00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:07,280 He said to Jesus, bow down to me one time. 686 00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:11,320 I will give you all the kingdoms of this world. 687 00:49:11,680 --> 00:49:15,280 I will give you all their glory, all their authority, all their 688 00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:16,960 power. It will all be yours. 689 00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:20,080 Just bow down to me one time. He promised the world, but what 690 00:49:20,080 --> 00:49:24,760 he would have delivered is eternal hell for all mankind had 691 00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:29,040 Jesus done this. This is always the nature of 692 00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:33,600 sin. Always sin is like putting a a 693 00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:38,400 billion dollars in a minefield and saying it's shores. 694 00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:41,920 If you want it you just go get it. 695 00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:49,680 But this is not worth it. It's not worth it. 696 00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:56,800 The serpent was right, their eyes were opened. 697 00:49:57,960 --> 00:49:59,000 He said your eyes will be opened. 698 00:49:59,000 --> 00:50:01,480 He was right, their eyes were opened, but they were not open 699 00:50:01,480 --> 00:50:04,400 to wisdom. It would open to their 700 00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:09,160 nakedness. Notice the narrator doesn't say 701 00:50:09,160 --> 00:50:11,880 that they knew good from evil. It doesn't say that he says what 702 00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:14,680 did they know? They knew they were naked. 703 00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:19,120 What they wanted to know was wisdom. 704 00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:21,680 Instead, what they knew was shame. 705 00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:32,360 Sin makes us feel naked. It makes us feel exposed, makes 706 00:50:32,360 --> 00:50:37,520 us feel ashamed. That's why sometimes you know 707 00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:39,840 it, it. I see it as a pastor. 708 00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:41,480 I know this because I'm a father. 709 00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:44,680 Could see the look of shame on my boy's face. 710 00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:46,520 I can see the the look of shame on your face. 711 00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:56,150 Been doing this a long time. It makes us feel ashamed. 712 00:50:59,590 --> 00:51:01,430 My wife's can sense it on my face. 713 00:51:01,470 --> 00:51:07,270 She she, she can tell God has designed it this way. 714 00:51:07,790 --> 00:51:12,200 This is not a bad thing. God has designed it this way. 715 00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:15,280 It is. It is bad when we can walk 716 00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:20,480 around and not feel naked, when we can feel no shame. 717 00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:27,240 That's what's bad. That feeling of shame has a 718 00:51:27,240 --> 00:51:32,520 purpose. And when you feel that shame, 719 00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:36,240 you will do one of two things to alleviate that feeling. 720 00:51:38,680 --> 00:51:41,680 When you feel shame, you will do one of two things to alleviate 721 00:51:41,680 --> 00:51:44,280 that feeling. A You will either attempt to 722 00:51:44,280 --> 00:51:48,680 self atone, which is what the man and the woman do. 723 00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:53,240 They once again act independently of God. 724 00:51:54,480 --> 00:51:58,920 They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 725 00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:02,000 Victor Hamilton writes this. They attempt to alleviate the 726 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:05,600 problem themselves rather than driving them back to God. 727 00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:09,800 Their guilt leads them into a self atoning, self protecting 728 00:52:09,880 --> 00:52:13,400 procedure. What they should have done is 729 00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:20,120 gone to God and say God, we messed up, please forgive us. 730 00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:23,000 And they said, you know, we, we, we got to hide this. 731 00:52:25,280 --> 00:52:30,040 They attempt to cover up their shame and hide it from each 732 00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:35,960 other and from God. We can, we will either attempt 733 00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:40,520 to self atone or be what's the alternative? 734 00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:45,520 We'll put on a robe. We'll put on a robe of 735 00:52:45,520 --> 00:52:48,680 righteousness. That is a far better loincloth. 736 00:52:48,680 --> 00:52:54,200 And fig leaves, brothers and sisters, fig leaves make a very 737 00:52:54,200 --> 00:52:59,200 poor loincloth. You say what that could be 738 00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:01,680 anything. Fig leaves can be anything that 739 00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:04,360 we do to alleviate the feeling of guilt and shame. 740 00:53:05,720 --> 00:53:10,240 Fig leaves can be busyness. I feel shame. 741 00:53:10,240 --> 00:53:16,000 So I'm just going to stay busy. So I don't feel it could be 742 00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:20,920 entertainment. Let me cathartically watch 743 00:53:20,960 --> 00:53:26,120 others who have this shame drinking. 744 00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:29,400 That's a big one. A lot of people drink away. 745 00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:32,800 They're saying hobbies, religion. 746 00:53:35,400 --> 00:53:39,520 Religion is not a a good substitute. 747 00:53:40,920 --> 00:53:44,360 Could also be hardening. I feel this, but I'll just 748 00:53:44,360 --> 00:53:48,640 harden my heart. Brother. 749 00:53:48,640 --> 00:53:52,640 Sisters, you don't have to settle for fig leaves. 750 00:53:55,440 --> 00:53:56,960 You don't have to settle for fig leaves. 751 00:53:57,120 --> 00:54:03,680 Jesus does not just give us leaves, He gives us the entire 752 00:54:03,960 --> 00:54:10,280 tree. He invites us to come and hide 753 00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:20,760 ourselves behind His tree. He says step into my wardrobe 754 00:54:20,880 --> 00:54:26,800 and put on this robe. I will cover you. 755 00:54:29,640 --> 00:54:39,120 I will cover all of you. I pray you will hide yourself in 756 00:54:39,120 --> 00:54:41,320 him. Let's pray.