Reading for February 3rd

Read Genesis 3.1-24 A serpent's temptation and human disobedience.
In verse 1 the serpent is not an alien being but simply one of the garden's more
intelligent and crafty animals that the LORD God had made.
In verse 3 the woman repeats the command given by God in 2.17
but then attaches her own additional prohibition, now shall you touch it.
Once she disobeys her own prohibition (touching the fruit), it will be easier to take the next step and disobey God's prohibition (eating the fruit).
In verses 4-6 the serpent assures the woman that you will not die.
In an add way, the serpent will be correct.
God will not cause the humans to die "in the day that you eat of it."
However, the humans will come to know good and evil by experiencing new intensities of pain as a consequence of their rebellion.
The man's quick willingness to eat the forbidden fruit along with the woman suggests equal responsibility for the disobedient act.
In verse 7 the humans now know that they were naked.
They experience shame and the pain of an intimate human bond that has been broken.
The innocence, trust, and openness of their former relationship must now be
hidden behind clothes made of fig leaves.
The prickly fig leaves would make for uncomfortable clothing.
In verse 8 the portrait of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the evening
implies God's close relationship and involvement with the creation.
God's closeness contrasts with the humans' sudden desire for distance as they hid t
hemselves from the presence of the LORD God.
In verses 14-15 the serpent is directly cursed by God.
The curse provides an ancient explanation for why the snake has no legs and why humans
often have a negative reaction to snakes.
In verses 16-17 neither the woman nor the man are directly cursed as was the serpent.
But negative consequences flow from the disobedient act.
For the woman, the pain of childbirth will increase,  and the man shall rule over you.
This inequality contrasts with God's original will for mutuality and interdependence
between the man and woman in 2.18-22.
In verses 17-19 like the woman and unlike the serpent, the man is not directly cursed.
However, God declares, cursed is the ground because of you.
The man will struggle in hard toil and sweat to produce food from the ground.
The earlier story of human creation in 2.7 had already recounted the man's origin
from the dust of the ground.
Now, for the first time, human death is explicitly mentioned: to dust you shall return (3.19).
However, the original prohibition in 2.17 had decreed death on the very day that the
forbidden fruit would be eaten.
God does not enforce this death sentence immediately.
God mercifully allows the humans to continue to live for some time and produce children
for future generations.
In verse 21 God graciously replaces the prickly fig leaf clothing (2.7) with softer garments of skins.
In verses 22-24 God seals the entrance to the garden to make sure the humans do not take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.
The cherubim are winged creatures who are half human and half beast.
They guard holy areas.
For example, cherubim guard the holiest sections of the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8.6-7).
Comments or Questions...