Redeemed Woman

Meditations on Genesis 2-4

Most of the world know her story. Jesus confirms her existence (Matthew 19:4). She was created in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:22). She was the only woman who had ever physically walked in God’s paradise on Earth (Genesis 1:28-31; Genesis 2:8-15; Genesis 3:8). She no doubt experienced perfect peace with God until she ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to her husband to eat (Genesis 3). Their offense immediately brought shame. The couple hid from their Creator and attempted to cover their nakedness with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7-8). God, in His mercy, spared them from immediate death and performed the first blood sacrifice to atone them of their sin (Genesis 3:21; Leviticus 17:11). Their Creator then drove them both out of paradise to work the cursed ground until their deaths (Genesis 3:19, 24).

What can woman today learn from Eve’s life as revealed in the Scriptures? Meditate with me through Genesis 2-4. In this blog post, I will be sharing with you six important observations from Eve’s life.

1. Eve was deceived by the serpent.

There is no doubt that the serpent was a major character in Eve’s story. When confronted by God, Eve’s only response was, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate (Genesis 3:13).” God cursed the serpent validating Eve’s claim (Genesis 3:14-15). It may be hard to believe that Eve was actually dialoguing with a talking serpent, but the Apostle Paul believed the account and mentioned it twice (2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14). The point here is that it wasn’t just a talking animal; there was a spiritual being embodied in this serpent (Revelations 12:9; Revelations 20:2). It wasn’t just about eating the fruit; it was about undermining God’s authority.

Deception was the devil’s strategy (Genesis 3:1, 4). He engaged Eve into a conversation about the forbidden fruit and got her focused on that (Genesis 3:1). He then started to suggest doubt to what God had said (Genesis 3:4). Lastly, he undermined God’s position by telling Eve that she could be like God (Genesis 3:5). We see the three categories of sin in Eve’s story – “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life (1 John 2:16).”

We have a spiritual enemy whose will is for us to sin against God (Ephesians 6:11-12; 1 Peter 5:8). Be on the alert and keep the commands of God hidden in your heart (Psalm 119:9-11; Mark 4:15; James 4:7).

2. Eve never knew evil.

Eve didn’t have mommy or daddy issues (Genesis 2:22). She didn’t grow up in a broken home or society. She didn’t have a broken marriage. In fact, she had never experienced evil, never lost any loved one, never lacked any provisions. And yet, she sinned.

This is important to note because it tells us that it doesn’t take a broken past or broken home for us to be vulnerable to sin. It further supports the fact that sin starts in our hearts. Our external circumstances can make it harder for us to resist temptations or influence how we view life, but sin, at its core, is definitely a heart issue. James stated, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death (James 1:14-15 ESV).” Eve, with her perfect beginnings in Paradise, fell into sin. How much more vulnerable are we who are born in sin (Psalm 51:5)! If we are to overcome sin, we need a change of heart.

3. Eve lost sight of all she had.

Eve desired food even though she had the whole lush garden for food, including fruit from the tree of life (Genesis 1:29; Genesis 2:16-17). Eve desired beauty even though she lived in the most beautiful paradise (Genesis 1:31; Genesis 2:9-14). Eve desired to be like God even though God had created her in His image and given her the right to have dominion over His earthly creation with Adam (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 3:5).

She forgot all that God had given her and was tempted by the one thing she couldn’t have, that forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:6). When we think more about what we do NOT have, sins of covetiveness, greed, idolatry, ungratefulness, and unbelief take root in our hearts.

4. Eve sought to fulfill her desires apart from God.

Eve wanted food, beauty, and wisdom (Genesis 3:6). Nothing intrinsically wrong with those things. Food is necessary for life (Genesis 1:29). Beauty brings joy to the heart and reflects God’s goodness (Genesis 1:31). And, wisdom gives insight to living (Proverbs 3:13; Proverbs 24:3, 14). The problem was that she set aside God’s will and took upon herself to fulfill these desires, even disobeying His very commandment (Genesis 3:11).

God desires our whole heart in obedience to Him which means we wait upon Him and surrender to His ways (Psalm 37:7, 34). The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was purposefully planted next to the tree of life with God’s commandment as a test of Eve’s loyalty to God. Testing the faith of His people was God’s pattern (Genesis 22:1; Exodus 15:25-26; Exodus 20:20; Psalm 11:4-5; Psalm 66:10). Instead of trusting God’s word for wisdom, Eve took it upon herself to judge what was evil and good, and it proved to be a foolish judgment. We do this as well today when we disregard what God says, and we make our own judgments on what is good for us.

5. Eve was cursed by God.

There was a curse placed by God on Eve for disobeying God’s commandment. She will still bear children to fill the earth. Only now it will be a deathly, painful experience (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 3:16a). She will still be under her husband’s authority. Only now their relationship will be full of strife (Genesis 2:18, 23; Genesis 3:16b). This shows that though Eve denied God’s authority, she was still under it.

Sin is a real thing with real consequences because God is real. Admit it or not, you and I feel the effects of sin daily in our world. Because God is just, He holds us accountable to our sins (Jeremiah 17:10; Galatians 6:7; Hebrews 4:13).

5. Eve was given hope of redemption.

Immediately after speaking with Eve, God turned His attention 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 (Genesis 3:15).” In other words, God, in His mercies, was not going to abandon Eve. Her guilt and shame will be taken away by her son who will overcome the serpent. Her hope in God’s promise of redemption remained steadfast in the heartache of Abel’s murder and Cain’s curse (Genesis 4:1-16; Genesis 4:25). This faith in God’s promise of redemption gave hope also to the generations after her (Genesis 5:28-29). Also, in this promise Eve gained the knowledge that God was still in control (Genesis 4:1, 25).

Conclusion

Although the record of Eve’s life stops with Genesis chapter four, the themes of her story echo throughout the pages of Scripture – the struggle with sin, obedience vs. disobedience, spiritual warfare, condemnation, and redemption. Also, throughout Scripture, we see the struggle between Eve’s offspring and the devil’s offspring.

In Matthew 4:1-11, we find a similar story. Before Jesus started His ministry, the spirit of the LORD led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1; Matthew 4:17). The devil first gets Jesus to focus on food after He had been fasting for forty days and was hungry (Matthew 4:2-3). The devil then stirs doubt about what God had really spoken (Matthew 4:6). Lastly, the devil undermined God’s position by offering Jesus all earthly kingdoms if He would just worship the devil (Matthew 4:9).

What Eve failed to do with a full belly in Paradise, Jesus accomplished hungry in the wilderness. Jesus passed the test of loyalty and obedience to God (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). Moreover, He overcame the devil through His work on the cross and resurrection (Colossians 2:13-15). He was indeed the promised offspring who would come to redeem us, including Eve, from guilt and shame (Luke 3:23-38; John 3:16).

I hope I have given you lots to ponder on from Eve’s life. More importantly, I pray that the life of Eve will point us evermore towards Jesus and His Gospel.

Father, You have never withheld your steadfast love from us. May Your love, now manifested fully in Jesus Christ, lead us towards repentance and faith. Lead us not into temptations but deliver us from evil. Keep us steadfast in obedience to You and lift our burdens!