Page 16 - Pentateuch

Here is the essence of sin and the source of death. God said very simply, “Do not eat from this one tree.”
The fruit could have been nothing more than an apple or mango, or a banana. The good God’s command
should have been enough without some lengthy explanation about the health issues involved, as if this
particular fruit produced toxic juice deadly to humans. When Eve, followed by Adam, decided to question
their good God, they began to experience the difference between good and evil from the perspective of
evil. “Eating of the tree was not in itself obviously wrong; the command not to eat of it was not reinforced
by an instinct in man’s nature. It appeared, therefore, all the more clearly as a sheer test of obedience.
Would man obey God’s commands only when he could detect the reason for them, or would he obey them
knowing simply that they were God’s commands, knowing that because He gave them, they had some quite
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sufficient reasons and were holy and just and good.”

The consequences begin immediately, and we get a basic understanding of death. Death is shame and
hiding from other people and from God (3:7-11). Death is all efforts to escape responsibility, including
laying blame on others (3:12-13). Death is conflict, war even, between mankind and Satan (3:14-16). Death
is pain in childbirth and family (3:16). Death is joyless work (3:17-18). Death is physical death (3:19).

Later scriptures explain the consequences in more theological terms. This original sin and death have been
passed on to succeeding generations (1 Kings 8:46; Ps. 51:5; Rom. 5:19; Eph. 2:3). Yet, at this point in
Genesis, we only read about the loss of Eden. Adam and Eve are banished, and an angel with a sword blocks
the way back (3:21-24). Soon we will learn more.

Adam and Eve have children, wonderful little ones who add so much to the
lives of their parents, just as children do today. Yet Cain kills his brother:
Death (4:1-16). More generations are born. They bear the image of God.
They build cities, domesticate animals, create music, and use tools. Yet
Lamech takes two wives: Death (4:17-26). Generation follows generation.
Lives are long, in some cases hundreds of years. The end of each is the
same: “then he died” (5:1-32): Death.
Fig 9.: Creole Cemetery
At the center of death, passed on from one generation to the next, is the
intermingling of people of faith with people who have only an earthly
outlook. A godly line exists of people who “call on the name of the Lord” (4:26). These “sons of God” are
tempted to become one in marriage with the “daughters of men” simply because of physical beauty (6:1-2).
The result is a downward spiral of death. Some of their children are “Nephilim,” bandits who demonstrate
great bravery in exploits. The Nephilim become heroes to the rest of the world, an advertisement for the
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value of sin (6:4-5). So God decides to start over (6:6-8).
Noah and his family are chosen. They experience a multitude of blessings from the good God, surviving the
destruction of the world. Despite such a striking experience, Noah becomes drunk, and his son Ham takes
advantage of the situation. The phrase “saw his father naked” is probably a quiet description of incest
(9:22). “To uncover the nakedness of…” often refers to heterosexual relations among family members
(Leviticus 18, 20). Noah’s other sons “covered” him, but the deed was done. More death.

17 J. Gresham Machen, The Christian View of Man (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995), p. 164.
18 Many experts have identified “the sons of God” as angels, their union with women producing a race of giants.
Scripture has already told us that reproduction happens “according to their kind” (1:24), so this is unlikely. On the
earth at the same time are people called “Nephilim.” (See Num. 13:33.) This name comes from the Hebrew word
naphal and can mean “to fall upon” or “attack.” They apparently were violent attackers and robbers. The passage
highlights the results when godly patriarchs abandoned their spiritual heritage. See H.C. Leupold, Exposition of Genesis
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1942), 1: 258.
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