Genesis 3 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Genesis 3

WHEN:

• Genesis chapter 3 is a difficult chapter to date because we are not told how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. It could have been 5 days, or it could have been 50 years. All we can say for sure is that chapter 3 is the first recorded history following the creation of our universe.

CHARACTERS:

• God - The Creator of the universe, earth, animals, men, and women.

• The First Man – In this chapter, we are told the man’s name was Adam.  

• The First Woman – Adam named his wife Eve “because she was the mother of all living” (3:20).

• The Serpent – A crafty deceiver who convinced Eve to disobey God.  

WHERE:

• God created the first man and woman and put them in a garden in the east of Eden (2:8). No one knows for sure where God planted this garden. Our best hint is the names of the 4 rivers that flowed from Eden: the Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates (2:10-14).

OUTLINE:

• THE FIRST TEMPTATION AND THE FIRST SIN (3:1-7):

  • Chapter 3 introduces us to a new character, a serpent.

  • The serpent came to the woman and asked her about God’s rules regarding which trees they were eat from.

  • The woman told the serpent they could eat from every tree except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If they ate of that tree they would die.

  • But the serpent told her she was mistaken, and if she ate the fruit of the tree her and her husband would “be like God, knowing good and evil.”

  • The woman ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband to eat.

  • Immediately, their eyes were opened, and they realized they were naked and tried to make clothing out of fig leaves.

• GOD CONFRONTS THE MAN AND WOMAN ABOUT THEIR DISOBEDIENCE (3:8-13):

  • The man and woman tried in vain to hide from God in the garden.

  • When God found them, He discovered they had eaten the forbidden fruit.

  • Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit.

  • Eve blamed the serpent for deceiving her.

• THE CURSE OF SIN (3:14-19):

  • God cursed the serpent “above all livestock and above all beasts.”

  • In a prophesy about the future, God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

  • God told the woman she would have pain in childbearing and her husband would rule over her.

  • God told the man the ground was going to be cursed because of his sin. He would have to labor with difficulty to grow food and eventually he would return to the ground and dust from which he was created.

• THE MAN AND WOMAN ARE REMOVED FROM THE GARDEN (3:20-24):

  • The man named his wife Eve “because she was the mother of all living.”

  • God made the man (Adam) and Eve garments to wear from animal skins.

  • He removed them from the Garden of Eden so they would no longer have access to the tree of life, which allowed them to live forever.

APPLICATION:

• Sin separates us from God and ruins our world.

• Adam and Eve no longer enjoyed the company of God in the same way after their sin.

• They were removed from the garden (a life of ease) and thrust out into a world of difficulty.

• The serpent lied to them about the outcome of their disobedience. He made it sound like their life would be better if they ate the fruit, but it turned out worse.

• Satan works the same way today, he makes us empty promises full of the illusion of a better life, but in the end, our life ends up worse and we end up separated from God because of our rebellion against God.