Genesis 3:4-7: Did Man Not Die Through Sin? Did Satan Tell Eve the Truth?

Those who aren’t really familiar with the first three chapters of Genesis should read them before they listen to or read this. This study will focus on verses 4 to 7 of Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3:4-5: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof (that is, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil referred to back in Genesis 2:17), then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

Adam and Eve were innocent when they were created- yet they were not virtuous, faithful worshipers of the true God. They could only be made so by choosing to believe and obey Him. The Lord knows about evil from His omniscience. This knowledge does not corrupt Him. Man cannot handle the experiential knowledge of evil without great harm to himself. You can learn firsthand about the evil nature of dishonesty through lying, cheating, stealing, etc. If you are lucky you’ll get caught, face the righteous consequences, and hopefully will get the message that it never was, and never is, profitable nor acceptable to do such things. Yet the person who is consistently honest will gain greater insight into the evil nature of lying, cheating, theft, etc. through becoming well acquainted with the good which these evil things are opposed to. Does God want people to discern good and evil- and to do so very well? Of course- yet not through endeavoring to be autonomous and defining good and evil according to one’s own wisdom which practically leaves His divine authority and power out of the equation.

A rebuke to the King of Babylon includes these words in Daniel 5:23: “and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified…”

Isaiah 5:20-21: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”

Romans 1:18-22: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…”

Satan’s assertion that Adam and Eve would be as gods by eating of the tree implied that they would each actually be as God (“Elohim”). Satan himself had been banished from heaven for aspiring to be like the most High (see Isaiah 14:12-14). Satan enticed man to the very same thing he fell by. He knew what temptation people were likely to respond to so that they would fall likewise. In doing so they would be brought into his service. Satan would thereby get a sense of achieving the wicked intention which he had taken up that led to his own fall. In obeying Satan mankind didn’t become like God but rather came under Satan’s dominion.

Jesus told certain people in John 8:44: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

In terms of things like benevolence and purity, we should want to be like God. Those who don’t are surely not real disciples of Christ. Yet Satan was telling Eve that she could be like God in the sense that she could govern herself and not need God to reign over her. That is blasphemous, vain, presumptuous, etc. That is the sense in which sinful mankind seeks to be like God. This is a wicked hope which will never be successfully achieved. This is something which man could not handle if he ever were (in theory) to attain it.

The Bible makes it clear that the distinction between the Creator and His creation will never be removed in this age nor in the next (see Isaiah 43:10-11 and Revelation 22:3-4).

Genesis 3:6: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

The Lord had freely given every other tree of the garden to Adam and Eve to eat from. They had everything they needed and more in the will of God. Yet in Adam’s case, the wife which he had in God’s will became a snare to him because of her transgression. Since Eve had transgressed, Adam knew that he could not be with her anymore unless he transgressed too. His (most likely) lack of faithful care for her left him in a position where he could not have his wife without losing fellowship with God. Pathetically, he chose his wife. Satan had likely intended to get to Adam through Eve. He likely knew he could not persuade Adam to transgress by subtle reasoning like he did with Eve. It is even possible he had already attempted that.

It’s also notable that though Adam and Eve were alive spiritually, and were even spiritually intact since they were untainted by sin before they fell, this reality nor their excellent environment did not prevent them from making a wicked choice and bringing spiritual death upon themselves. The remainder of Genesis chapter 3 also proves that dying spiritually did not mean that they became totally depraved since they evidently did not lose all of their spiritual faculties and capabilities as a consequence of their fall.

Spiritual death is rather a severed relationship with God. If spiritual death meant what the Calvinists say it means, then sinners would not even be conscious of their guilt to any degree. The Calvinists also don’t apply their doctrine logically. If their doctrine were true, then no one would ever embrace Calvinism except by the unconditional election and irresistible grace of God. Their own actions prove they don’t believe that.

Since having spiritual life and wholeness does not remove the possibility of choosing things which lead to spiritual death and corruption, then being in a state of spiritual death and corruption does not remove the capability of choosing that which leads to spiritual life. The grace of Christ is available and offered to all people though most do not lay hold of it; and many which do so do not continue therein.

Genesis 3:7: “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”

Did the serpent tell the truth? Were their eyes not opened like he said they would be? Obviously not, since they had not become divine. Their eyes were rather opened to the expressions of evil which their fallen souls were now conscious of, particularly in relation to their own nakedness. Did they indeed die despite the serpent saying they wouldn’t? They surely did die. Their fellowship with their Creator and the joy of their pure state were taken from them. We all know that it is common for people to say that something in them died in relation to a tragic event- often in relation to something wrong that they did. Adam and Eve had also set their own bodies, and creation itself, on a course of death. The consequences of their sin were worse than their own immediate physical deaths would have been and overall way worse than they could have imagined.

We also see later in Genesis chapter 3 that God had an animal killed to make better, more thorough clothing for Adam and Eve after they fell. He did not tell them (as many say), “Relax. Your shame related to your body being exposed is just a product of your own oversensitive conscience. If you don’t act so uptight about this and ignore it, it won’t harm you.” The Lord obviously didn’t see it that way. To not thoroughly clothe oneself, and all those under one’s authority, is to practically tell a lie and make a mock of sin by acting as if mankind has not fallen and as if evil has not permeated the world.