Intro
A little more than 20 years ago, there was a commuter plane in France that was taking 12 passengers and 2 crew from one city to another. Along the way, one of the passengers knocked on the door of the cockpit and asked if the pilot might consider making a detour. Not too far away, in the waters below, was the world’s longest passenger ship at the time, the SS Norway. The passenger wondered if they could veer off course to get a closer look at it. The pilot thought it was a good idea, radioed in, and got permission. At the same time, a small little Cessna had taken off from an airport, just carrying its pilot. It didn’t have its transponder on, meaning it didn’t show up on the commuter plane’s radar. As the commuter plan completed its detour and made its turn back to its original course, it flew straight into the Cessna, sending both planes hurtling to the ocean, and killing all 15 people involved. The plane crash has become known as the “deadly detour”.
Today, we’re going to talk about the deadliest detour in history. We’re talking about a deviation from the plan that didn’t just result in the death of 15 people, but we could say the death of billions and billions of humans since. Adam and Eve were given everything. God had made the world a good place, a place of structure and order, a place of His presence. He had given them a status and a calling to be His image bearers and had given them everything they needed to live this out. He had placed them in the Garden of Eden and gave them a purpose. In every way, they were walking the path of life. But then they took a detour, they stepped off that path and followed it all the way out the garden. And again, you could track every tragedy, every crisis, every bit of brokenness in our world back to this original deviation. Let’s get into it, Genesis 3:1-13:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LordGod as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And he 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 you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 13:1-3
1. Step One: Temptation
Here’s what we’ll do: let’s chart a map of this detour. How did Adam and Eve go from paradise to misery so quickly? Here’s the first step on the journey: temptation. And there are a few aspects of that temptation.
The tempter
First, we’re introduced to a tempter, a serpent who begins a dialogue with Eve. Interestingly, she doesn’t seem startled by this in any way. There was a joke that made its rounds a while back and prompted a lot of discussion about whether or not it was actually funny. Two muffins were in the oven. One said, “wow, it is getting hot in here!” To which the second replied, “oh my goodness, it’s a talking muffin!” That’s not Eve’s response. And some suggest that’s because Adam and Eve understand that the Garden is a place where they interact with supernatural beings. Because while Genesis doesn’t specify where the serpent came from, the rest of the Bible makes clear that the serpent, while it is described as an animal that God made, is not merely a serpent. There is more going on here. From the perspective of the rest of the Bible, the serpent is at the very least being spoken through by the one we call Satan or the devil.
I was going to track the whole development of Satan’s identity in the Bible, but that didn’t make the director’s cut. To put it briefly, a number of New Testament passages peg the serpent as Satan, including this one from Revelation 12:9, where we find a great dragon pursuing Jesus and his people: “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” Serpent = Satan, which is a Hebrew word that means adversary or opponent. And from other parts of the Bible, we piece together a picture of Satan having been an angel, a supernatural being created by God. And angels, like humans, are corruptible and have free will to choose to obey God or reject him. Apparently, this angel, whether because of pride or jealousy, rebelled against God and enters the picture in the Garden as one who opposes God and His image-bearers, and wants to undermine God’s purposes for them. He is not some equal opposite to God. It’s not like God and Satan are evenly matched rivals. This isn’t Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker. There is only one God, Satan is a created being, there’s no doubt who will win in the end. But Satan has power and is eager to use it to undermine God’s plan. That’s the tempter.
The temptation
Then you’ve got the temptation itself, which is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And this causes problems for a lot of people. Why does God put this tree here? What is it doing in a supposedly pristine, God-pleasing paradise like Eden? Does God create something that is evil and then put it there as a test, and what does that say about God? Some of this will make more sense when we talk about what the tree represents, which is in part 2 of the detour map. But for now, let’s say a couple of things about this.
First, for there to be an authentic relationship between God and His people, there needs to be the freedom to choose. If you create a robot, if you’re some genius and create this machine that is programmed to do everything you say, to tell you every 15 minutes how amazing you are at everything you do, to tell you that it loves you, is it really love? Is that really a relationship? Love, by its very nature, involves choice. It has to permit the possibility that the person will not love you, will not return your affections. Otherwise it’s just slavery, or a puppet, or a machine. So even in the Garden, Adam and Eve must have the ability to choose life in God or against God for it to be a real relationship of love.
There’s also the thought that the structures God gives us (ie. His commands) do not exist to extinguish our fun and joy. They’re not to be oppressive, but to facilitate life. His commands are an outworking of His goodness and desire for us to experience blessing. In the Alpha video series, there’s a section of teaching about the Bible and the commands in the Bible. A scene is portrayed of a high school wrestling match, where one guy waves in a huge friend of his, who rushes in and just steamrolls the opponent. Just lays him out flat. And they celebrate and the referee does nothing. Rules, like no waving in your bodybuilder friend in the middle of a match, are there to enable fun, not limit it. Sports work because there are rules that permit certain actions and not others. Whatever the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is, the restriction is there for Adam and Eve’s good.
So that’s the serpent’s goal: to get Adam and Eve to transgress that boundary and choose against God. The tree is his muse. Now look at how he gets Adam and Eve to go his way. First, he asks Eve a question. And he does that because he’s cunning. That’s how the serpent is described in verse 1. We sometimes imagine evil as being this obvious, scary thing. Maybe we think about the balrogs in Lord of the Rings, huge red horned beasts from the abyss. You see one of those and there’s no question about it. You don’t think, “you know, I’d really like to take one of those home as a pet and just cuddle up with it on the couch.” It’s terrifying. But that’s not how the serpent comes to Eve, it just slithers up there and asks a question. It starts a dialogue about theology, an intellectual discussion about what God has said. It’s so much more subtle.
Here’s the question: “did God really say, ‘you must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) Now, the serpent knows as well as the woman that that’s not at all what God has said. The serpent knows God’s word. Think about the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4:1-13. If you’re familiar with that story, you’ll know that the devil has no problem quoting Scripture! He knows what God has said, but he twists it. The question here makes it seem like God is overly restrictive, burdensome, unfair. He makes this extreme statement that calls into question God’s character. Have you ever done this with someone? Obviously, none of the teenagers in our church have ever said this about their parents, but others have been known to. “You never let me do anything fun! You’re always unfair!” Spouses say this kind of thing to each other. “You never take out the garbage! You never support me!” Whenever we say this, it’s almost guaranteed to be untrue, but we make this extreme statement that questions the other person’s character and their intent. It implies that the person doesn’t really love us or have our best interest in mind. So the serpent knows, of course, this isn’t true, but he’s casting doubt on God’s character.
Eve will not be tricked so easily. She knows that’s not what God has said. So she quotes God, “you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die” (Genesis 3:3). That’s what God said, come on! Except it’s not. Look at 2:16 and 17 again: “the Lord God commanded the man, ‘you are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” There are actually a number of differences between that and what Eve says, but here’s the crucial one in my view: Eve adds a command. God didn’t say anything about touching. And it might not seem like a major addition. But Eve has now made God to be more restrictive than He actually is. She has taken the first step off the path. A doubt has formed in her mind about God’s goodness. The serpent’s statement was over here, God’s was over there, Eve has made a small step towards the serpent. And that’s the opening that he needs.
The serpent replies, “you will not certainly die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). This is the frontal assault. No more polite, innocent questions. This is the attack. God is not looking out for your benefit. He’s looking out for Himself. He’s trying to keep you from something that He wants for Himself. He doesn’t really love you. And not only that, He’s not even telling you the truth. You’re not going to die, He’s not going to follow through on that, it’s an empty threat.
The common thread running throughout the temptation is the doubting of God’s character. It’s doubting His goodness, His trustworthiness, His sufficiency. And that is the core of every temptation: a doubting of God’s character. This has been the serpent’s approach through all of history. You’re tempted to tell a lie about someone, slander them in order to get ahead at your job. Do you trust that God has your best interests in mind when He says that’s wrong? You’re discouraged about life and tempted to turn to pornography or drugs. Do you trust that God is good enough in this situation, that He is sufficient? You’ve got a few minutes and you’re intending to spend it in prayer but you’re also tempted to pick up your phone and check Instagram. Do you trust that God’s presence is better than what your phone can provide? Again, the heart of temptation is the doubting of God’s character. Always has been. And Eve’s fallen for it.
2. Step Two: Sin
Let’s look at step two of the deadliest detour in history. The temptation has taken root now comes the sin itself: When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:6). What strikes me here is that this one verse changes everything. I looked it up: there are 31,102 verses in the Bible. There are 61 before this, where things are as they should be. There are 31,040 afterwards where God is working to restore and redeem creation because of what happens right here. One verse. But what is it about Adam and Eve’s sin that is so bad? Why is this the “original” sin?
Eve
We could look at a few aspects of this. The woman sees the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye and desirable. This is the language of covetousness, of lust. It’s looking at something and saying “I need that, that thing that I do not have. I need it to be satisfied, to be fulfilled” This is the language of adultery: “that person is pleasing to the eye and I must have them, even though they are forbidden to me.” It’s how people feel about the newest iPhone: I must have that in order for my life to be complete. That’s Eve with the fruit.
Adam
Then you have Adam. Let’s talk about Adam for a bit. Every indication in this verse is that he’s right there with Eve the whole time. Verse 6 says he was with her. Straight up. The pronouns the serpent uses in the previous verses are second person plural. As in, “y’alls will not certainly die, when y’all eat from it” and so on- that the Texan International Version, the TIV. He’s there. This is different from how I understood the story as a kid. I thought Adam was off doing his own thing- maybe wrestling alligators, I don’t know, something different- and then Eve came with this apple and was like “try this!” And then my parents wanted me to eat apples and I was so confused. By the way, as a side note, people wonder why it’s always an apple that’s depicted in art when there’s no mention of what kind of fruit Eve ate. Probably, because it’s a prediction about how Steve Jobs’ company would ruin the world. Or, more likely, because the Latin word for apple, malum, is so similar to the Latin word for evil, malus. In any case, I imagined Adam was off by himself, but he’s not. He’s right there, complicit in the whole thing. He is incredibly passive, just standing there quietly while his wife takes human history off the rails.
I believe that men and women are both called to lead in various ways, to rule and exercise authority. But I do believe that men are called to provide leadership in their families, to model what it looks like to seek after the Lord. Adam doesn’t do a thing while his wife falls headlong into sin and then he goes along with it. Men, let me just say, don’t be like Adam! Don’t be passive while your family falls apart and those around you fall away from God. Step up and lead.
The tree
But neither of these things, while important, is the core of the matter. What is? We’ve got to look at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What is it? hat does it represent? Some people think it’s about sexual awareness. Maybe that’s why Adam and Eve become ashamed of their nakedness after. They point to how “knowing” can carry the meaning of sexual intimacy. But we’ve already seen in a different sermon how sex was a gift prior to the fall, and since God is not a sexual being, they can hardly become “like Him” if that’s the meaning. Others suggest it’s a general knowledge of right and wrong. The problem is that they already have some knowledge of that. They have a command not to eat of this tree, they know that’s wrong, and they know that there are things that they are to do that are good.
Instead, a lot of scholars have settled on this language, the knowledge of good and evil, referring to accountability. That’s how it’s used elsewhere in the Old Testament. For example, in Deuteronomy 1, God is talking about those who will enter the promised land of Canaan after years of wandering in the wilderness, and He says, “Your children who do not yet know good from bad- they will enter the land” (Deuteronomy 1:39). Knowledge of good and evil is about not being child-like. It’s about being responsible and accountable for your actions. As in, you’re not dependent on others for moral guidance anymore. If that’s the case, the tree of knowledge of good and evil represents moral autonomy from God. It represents shaking off dependence on Him and making decisions for yourself about what is right or wrong. Again, this tree and its fruit is all about autonomy from God.
Here’s a sampling of Genesis scholarly types, just to back this point up, because it’s crucial.
“What is forbidden to man is the power to decide for himself what is in his best interests and what is not. This is a decision God has not delegated to the earthling”
Victor Hamilton (New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 1990)
“Thus, the tree represents knowledge and power appropriate only to God…human beings, by contrast, must depend upon a revelation from the only one who truly knows good and evil.”
Bruce Waltke (Genesis, 2001)
“Adam and Eve were not to aspire to that maturity possessed only by God, whereby they might consider themselves to be independent of him and able to enjoy a fulfilled life by taking matters into their own hands and making their own decisions for their future welfare”.
Daniel Fuller, quoted in Darrell Johnson, The Story of All Stories, 55
In sum, the tree is about autonomy and independence from God in making decisions about what is best for us.
Is there anyone in our world today who has also eaten this fruit? Is there any culture, any worldview that has based itself on this tree? I don’t think I need to tell you that this mindset permeates our world. I’m thinking especially of our Western culture, but the replacing of God with some other authority is the problem in our world today. But let’s think about Western culture in particular. Autonomy and independence is the idol of our culture. From Frank Sinatra “I did it my way” to Jon Bon Jovi “it’s my life” to Elsa from the Disney movie Frozen, “no right, no wrong, no rules for me, I’m free”, it’s everywhere. Think about the mottos people in our world live by: “what’s right for me might not be right for you and what’s wrong for you might not be wrong for me.” “I’ll do what I feel like”. “Nobody’s the boss of me”. “Do whatever feels right”. “Nobody should tell anyone else how to live their life”.
I’ve read cultural commentators who show that in the West, freedom and autonomy is the driving goal for both conservatives and liberals, right wing and left wing alike. For conservatives, the enemy of freedom is government controls and regulations. It’s all about free markets and the expansion of individuals rights. For liberals, the enemy of freedom is traditions and the inherited wisdom of the past (see Mark Sayers’ book, Disappearing Church). It’s all about shaking free of any pre-existing norms. It comes back to this on all sides of the political spectrum: the freedom and autonomy in pursuing self-fulfillment.
Over and over again in human society, we re-live the Garden, we re-live the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We decide for ourselves what is best for us. It’s far from the only example, but think about sexual morality in our day and age. Do we see this any more clearly than right there? We’ll decide for ourselves what is right for us, nobody can say otherwise, forget about old rules and boundaries, it’s up to me what I do with my body. It’s the fruit of the tree again.
And over and over again, it destroys us. We are creatures, made to depend on our Creator. That’s how we work best. We simply cannot live as fully autonomous beings, no matter how hard we try. Is it any wonder that in the modern West, in some ways the pinnacle of this pursuit of independence, things seem to be falling apart at the seams? Is it any wonder we witness the breakdown of community, of families, the growing sense of isolation and loneliness, the prevalence of anxiety and depression and mental health issues? Is it any wonder we seem to be prone to self-sabotage? The fruit of the fruit of this tree is death. It always has been, going right back to the Garden.
3. Step Three: Shame
But we’re not done with the detour yet. Not quite. Because after the sin itself comes the shame. Adam and Eve know that what they’ve done is wrong, and so they resort to two tactics that have become tried and true methods in dealing with the guilt of sin.
Cover-up
First, they cover it up. The first thing that happens is that they become aware of their nakedness. Nakedness in the Bible is associated with shame. It’s something most of us continue to associate with shame and humiliation. When I was in my first year at Regent College, a Christian graduate school for master’s degrees, we attended the annual college retreat. One afternoon, we were playing ultimate frisbee. And I love ultimate frisbee, I love chasing that disc down the field. The guy who was defending me didn’t like that I liked this so much, so instead of trying to chase me down, he whipped down my shorts, leaving me in my underwear in the middle of this field. Not total nakedness, but I promise you I still felt humiliation in that moment of disrobing. Also, not a great moment for that other guy. Pantsing in Christian grad school? The point is their experience of nakedness is directly connected to the shame of what they’ve done, and so they cover up. They find fig leaves and fashion clothing of some kind. And then, when they hear God walking in the Garden, they hide behind some trees.
This is what most of us do when we’ve done something wrong. When a government is involved in something it knows it shouldn’t do, it covers up. It lies, it obscures evidence. Think about those documents from spy shows that are redacted so heavily you can make out 3 or 4 words. Unless a criminal is really hardened and pathological or just plain dumb, they’re going to try to cover up the evidence of their crime and lie to any investigator. They’re generally not going to boast about what they’ve done, at least not publicly. The last time I got spanked by my parents was when I was 5 years old. I had some vegetables on my plate I didn’t want to eat, so I threw them in the garbage when my parents weren’t looking, and then I lied about having eaten them. I was trying to cover up my crime (obviously, given the spanking, unsuccessfully). It’s what we do. We keep our wrongdoing secret, keep it in the dark, hoping nobody will find out.
The blame game
But God does find out. He knows exactly what’s happened, but He asks Adam anyway: why are you hiding? Who told you you were naked? In other words, where did this shame come from? And instead of owning it, Adam begins this epic blame game. “The woman you put here with me- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” So who’s fault is it? The woman’s! And it’s God’s too! Because you put her here, God, and you should have known better! Here, finally, Adam is serving as a leader, because Eve follows him to a T. She goes, “the serpent deceived me, and I ate”. This is how you refuse responsibility and pass the buck on to the next person in line.
And this, as well, we do all the time. Someone who looks at pornography will say, “it’s not my fault! This world makes it so accessible! A picture popped up on my screen and I couldn’t resist!” Someone who struggles with anger will say, “it’s not my fault! You don’t know how many bad things have happened to me in life! You don’t know the wounds I carry!” Someone who is a negligent parent will say, “it’s my parents’ fault! It’s how they treated me!” And on it goes, never taking responsibility, always blaming others.
Look. There are circumstances in life that make us prone to certain forms of sin. Eve had the serpent, we have others. And it’s helpful to be aware of what those influences are. But it doesn’t get us off the hook. We are responsible for the way we separate ourselves from God.
I wonder what would have happened if Adam and Eve had immediately owned up to what they had done and taken full responsibility. Maybe nothing would have changed. I don’t know. But I know that here, as well, they played into the serpent’s hand. With their cover-up and blame-game, they had completed the world’s deadliest detour. They had succumbed to temptation and doubted God’s goodness. They had committed sin and pursued moral independence from God. They had responded by hiding away from God. Genesis 3, in the end, is a picture of the sin of humanity ever since. This is our problem. Every single one of us, without exception, has followed the lead of Adam and Eve.
Conclusion: what God has done
I don’t know what you’re feeling at this moment. Maybe you have no idea what I’ve been talking about. Maybe you feel like none of this has anything to do with you. But I suspect that some of you at least are feeling a kind of weightiness. You understand the message here: what’s true of Adam and Eve is true of all of us. We’ve departed from God, and the consequence is death. The question is, what do you do with that?
One response would be to ignore it and reject it. You might say, “you have no right to make me feel bad about myself. I’m a good person. You’re just heaping shame and guilt”. Another response would be to wallow in the dirt, to say “I’m so awful, I’m not worthy of love or acceptance”, and wallow in despair. Or you can bring your sin into the light, confess it, and turn to God.
Because here’s the thing: there are 31,040 verses after Genesis 3:6. And most of those verses constitute God’s plan to save and rescue humans from their own sin. That plan has its climax and fulfillment in the person of Jesus. Here, for the first time, was a man who never sinned. Here, for the first time, someone had not followed in Adam and Eve’s footsteps. Here, for the first time, someone who had not shared in their humanity. And yet he died a death of shame and condemnation at the cross. Why? Listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:
“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them…God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:19, 21a
At the cross, Jesus took the weight of our sin, the condemnation we deserved, the shame of our detour from God’s plan, and He took it all to the cross. God is just. in was dealt with. But He is also merciful and gracious. Because of Jesus there is a way to have this burden lifted off of us. When we put our faith in Jesus and in his death, we become part of his new humanity. That passage from 2 Corinthians also talks about how in Christ we are a new creation (5:17). We have transferred from Adam to Jesus. And in that transfer, we have had our sins forgiven and are being restored as image-bearing human beings by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So today, don’t reject this. And don’t wallow in despair. Come to Jesus, bring your sin into the light and then leave it there at the cross. He is so good. He didn’t give up on you, He didn’t leave you. He came to rescue you from the sin that we all share in.
*Biblical insights mainly gleaned from three commentaries: Bruce Waltke (Genesis, 2001), John Walton (NIV Application Commentary, 2001), and Victor Hamilton (New International Commentary on the Old Testament, 1990), as well as Iain Provan (Seriously Dangerous Religion, 2014)
