Day 2: Adam and Eve

*Genesis 2:15-3:24

God places Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, instructs them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the serpent tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, leading to their expulsion.

  • The Garden of Eden:
    • God places Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
    • Adam is commanded to eat freely from any tree in the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, with the warning that eating from it would result in death.
  • Creation of Eve:
    • Noting that it is not good for Adam to be alone, God decides to make a helper suitable for him.
    • After none of the animals prove to be a fitting companion, God creates Eve from one of Adam’s ribs, establishing the institution of marriage.
  • The Serpent’s Temptation:
    • A serpent, described as more crafty than any other wild animal, tempts Eve by questioning God’s command about not eating from the tree of knowledge.
    • Eve, seeing that the fruit is desirable for gaining wisdom, eats it and also gives some to Adam, who also eats.
  • The Consequences of Disobedience:
    • Immediately after eating, Adam and Eve realize their nakedness and sew fig leaves together to cover themselves.
    • When God walks in the garden, Adam and Eve hide from Him, but God calls to Adam and questions him about what he has done.
    • Both Adam and Eve attempt to deflect responsibility: Adam blames Eve, and Eve blames the serpent.
  • God’s Judgment:
    • The serpent is cursed to crawl on its belly and eat dust, and enmity is put between it and the woman, and between their offspring.
    • Eve is given the pain of childbirth and the dynamic of her relationship with Adam is changed.
    • Adam is told that because he listened to Eve and ate the fruit, the ground is cursed and he will face toil and struggle to produce food until his death.
  • Expulsion from Eden:
    • To prevent them from eating from the tree of life and living forever, Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden.
    • God makes garments of skins for Adam and his wife and clothes them.
    • Cherubim and a flaming sword that turns every way are placed to guard the way to the tree of life, ensuring that Adam and Eve cannot return.

Genesis 2:15–3:24 teaches us about responsibility, choices, and consequences. God gave Adam and Eve a beautiful place to live and meaningful work to do, showing us that we should take care of what He has given us—our families, our work, and the world around us. But when they disobeyed God, they faced the consequences, reminding us that our choices matter. Temptation can lead us away from what is right, but God still cares for us even when we make mistakes. This passage encourages us to follow God’s ways, make wise choices, and turn back to Him when we fall short.

Genesis 2:15-3:24 (WEB)

2:15 The LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 The LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 The LORD God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3 but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, 5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 7 Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. 8 They heard the LORD God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 The LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 The LORD God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
you are cursed above all livestock,
and above every animal of the field.
You shall go on your belly
and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will bruise your head,
and you will bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth.
You will bear children in pain.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to your wife’s voice,
and have eaten from the tree,
about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’
the ground is cursed for your sake.
You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.
18 It will yield thorns and thistles to you;
and you will eat the herb of the field.
19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground,
for you were taken out of it.
For you are dust,
and you shall return to dust.”
20 The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. 21 The LORD God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
22 The LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.