Center for Biblical Theology and Eschatology

God's Arraignment of the Woman
and the Commencement of Redemptive Religion

by Alan Dunn

We resume our examination of God's questioning of the fallen couple in Gen. 3:9-13. We have witnessed the deplorable responses of the man to God's inquiries when he refused to indict the Serpent, blamed his wife and God for his sin, and then but meagerly admitted his fault. As ancient an event as this is, it is nevertheless a contemporary portrait of many a modern man. Adam abdicated his responsibilities for his family and his job. He committed treason and defected to the Enemy's side. He cruelly blameshifted his guilt to his wife. He blasphemously accused God of evil. He then profiled himself as the victim of it all, began to bemoan his situation and his hurt feelings, and only barely acknowledged that he did, in fact, disobey God's command. With this admission, God concludes his dealings with the man and turns now to address the woman.
 
 

GOD'S QUESTION TO THE WOMAN (vs.13a)

 The question focuses upon her deeds: "What is this you have done?" The woman is given fair opportunity to state her assessment of the fall and to confess her involvement. God's question is designed to bring her to see the cause and effect relationship between her present state and her past action. At the outset of history, we are given insight into how God will deal with us at the end of history: we will be judged according to our works.

God's questions demonstrate His gracious design which is evident by His different treatment of the couple and the Serpent. To the couple, God shows unmerited sovereign grace without any compromise to His justice. His questions are designed to bring the couple to the awareness of their sin so as to direct them into His redemptive grace. The Serpent, on the other hand, is not questioned, but directly indicted and cursed (vs.14). But the couple is questioned and not cursed. Rather, their punishment is a gracious discipline designed to instruct them in the rudiments of redemptive religion. We are delighted and awed to discover that God, for reasons which satisfy His own transcendent wisdom, is determined to be gracious to fallen men, but not to fallen angels.
 
 

THE WOMAN'S ANSWER (vs.13b)

 We see similarities with Adam's answer. She initially postures herself as a passive victim, as one acted upon rather than an actor. Yet she had ventured out of her place to assume the man's headship and become the self-appointed 'spokesperson' for the couple and then foolishly engaged in dialogue with the Devil. She initiated the Fall and enticed her husband. But she is virtually silent regarding the things she did. Like Adam, she too selfishly attempts to blameshift. Rather than assuming responsibility, she immediately points to the Serpent to divert blame from herself. Like Adam, she utters a mere, deflated acknowledgment of having eaten the forbidden fruit. She assumes no blame-worthiness or responsibility. She simply states: "I ate."

Yet we can discern differences between her answer and Adam's. At least she implicates the Serpent. I realize she has run out of options and the only one left to blame is the Serpent. But, unlike Adam, she doesn't blame God, and amazingly, she doesn't blame Adam. At least she stands in God's courtroom and indicts the Evil One.

She also appears as the more innocent of the two in that she testifies that "the serpent deceived me". This is true. The acknowledgment of having been deceived is at least an indirect admission that she recognizes the abiding truthfulness of the Word of God which she admits to having violated. The term 'deceived' means to be led astray, seduced, misguided. In acknowledging this, she at least testifies to the activity of the Liar. Although she was not a victim in the Fall but an active participant, she was nevertheless rendered vulnerable by her negligent husband and then preyed upon by a nefarious enemy. Her testimony confirms that the crux of the Fall concerned the couple's belief in the Serpent's lie and their subsequent violation of God's Word.
 
 

THE COMMENCEMENT OF REDEMPTIVE RELIGION

 As we read Gen. 3:8-13 with eyes that have been opened by the grace of God which has turned us from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God (Acts 26:18), we are able to perceive the workings of God's grace in His initial dealings with the fallen couple. Although we tremble with the couple in their sin and their liability to the wrath of God; although we grieve and suffer in Adam who has brought death to us all (Rom 5:12); we nevertheless read Gen. 3 with great joy because we learn that this is not the record of God's Final Judgment against sinners. Rather, it is the record of the commencement of God's redemptive activity among sinners! Yes, God is dealing judicially with the fallen couple and He comes to vindicate His violated law and execute the threatened punishment of death. But these legal concerns are addressed within the larger context of His grace. His law was issued in the larger context of creation grace, and now His violated law will be vindicated within the larger context of redemption grace. God's legal dealings with men is consistently gracious. This is the more evident when we consider that He curses the Serpent (Gen. 3:14) as well as the earth (Gen. 3:17), but the couple are not said to be cursed. They are punished and thus disciplined, but in the climate of hope with the promise of redemption. In the light of Gen. 3 we can look at the Devil and say "lo, his doom is sure". In the light of Gen. 3 we learn that the creation is now subject to futility, that death conditions this age and defines the very nature of human existence. The curse upon the earth has real and profound effects upon us as creatures of dust. But in Gen. 3, we also see the light of redemptive hope beginning to shine. We learn that God does not want the couple cast into hell. Rather, He implements the designs of His redemptive grace which He had purposed even before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4). As we watch the Creator-Father, the supreme Lawgiver and Judge deal with our fallen parents, we learn yet more about our marvelous God: He is the God of sovereign grace, of tender patience, of transcendent holy love. "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." (Ex 43:6,7)
 
 

GOD SALVAGES THE CREATED ORDER

 The structure of the original created order is kept intact through the Fall. Man plunged creation into death which threatened to separate the living unions established by God in creation. Although the earth is cursed and imbued with an inherent propensity to deteriorate in death, God graciously contains the effects of death and salvages the original order established in creation. He prevents the Serpent from abducting the woman by establishing enmity between them (Gen. 3:15). The woman is not wrested from her original function. In her fallen state, she will still fulfill the purposes of motherhood in the institution of marriage (vs.16). Likewise, the man is kept in his place and continues to fulfill his original function. He will yet exercise headship and will yet labor having the stewardship of the earth (vs.16-19).

Nevertheless, death permeates the created order. War has broken out between the two seeds which are two spiritual lineages. The conflict between these two seeds constitutes the substance of human history: a record of the ravages of death (cf. Gen. 5's repeated "and he died.") The pain of death now conditions human existence. The female gender knows this pain in childbirth and, in a unique way, in marriage (vs.16). The male gender knows this pain in conjunction with his labor (vs.17,18 - 'toil' is the same Hebrew word as 'pain' in vs.16). And it is through the sin of the man in particular that mankind is ushered into physical death (vs.19) and born in spiritual death: a state of legal separation from God and an idolatrous ignorance of God which renders him liable to God's wrath and in need of redemption. But, it is to redeem that God approaches fallen men.
 
 

GOD ESTABLISHES SAVING RELIGION

 The promise of salvation is sounded (Gen. 3:15). The couple (i.e. mankind) hears of the coming Deliverer before God addresses them specifically in the execution of punishment. Amazingly, the couple hears the gospel as God curses the Serpent and announces the means of his ultimate defeat. They receive their punishment with hope, knowing that the Devil will not triumph. Before they hear of how death will now visit them, they are taught to look for the Redeemer, the Promised Seed of the woman. God sends them into history with saving religion which is composed of four essentials.

First, they were sent from God's presence (vs.22-24). They were graciously prevented from eating of the Tree of Life while being in a damned state of legal condemnation. The impression is that had they eaten of that fruit in such a state, they would have brought themselves into an eternal state of death. God graciously sends them away from the tree for the purpose of saving them. Only as the redeemed in glory will we eat of the Tree of Life, our redemption having been accomplished by Christ and then completely applied by the Holy Spirit. (cf. Rev 22:1,2)

Second, the Seed is promised. Many believe that Adam's naming the woman "Eve, the mother of all the living" (Gen. 3:20) testifies to Adam's believing hope in the Promised One who would come from the woman. It is also thought that Eve's words in Gen. 4:1 expresses this same hope at the birth of Cain. At the dawn of history, mankind is looks for a Redeemer, the One who would triumph over Satan, sin and death. We rejoice in the revelation of that promised Seed: even Jesus Christ our Lord!

Third, the sacrifice is provided - Gen. 3:21. God Himself replaces their fig leaves with a blood covering. He demonstrates that redemptive religion requires the sinner to acknowledge the justice of God in the execution of the death penalty, and yet to rely upon the grace of God who provides a substitute to assume that penalty in the stead of the worshipper. Like the Sabbath which was obligated upon man by the acts of God which man is to image, so too, sacrificial worship is not instituted by God's command, but by the more tender revelation of His own activity. As Patrick Fairbairn observes: "in the act there was contained a revelation of God, involving responsibilities and duties for His creatures." ( The Typology of Scripture, p.412) God has always regulated His acceptable worship. By His own act He instituted sacrificial worship and obligated it upon every fallen sinner who would approach Him by faith in his redemptive provisions and promises. Therefore, when Cain refused to offer appropriate sacrifice, he did not act by faith in what God had revealed in having provided sacrifice for Adam (cf. Heb 12:4). And when men later in history engaged in unregulated blood sacrifice severed from faith in the promised Seed, they too engaged in damning, not saving, religion. The provisions and the promises of God constitute saving religion.

Fourth, the Sabbath is perpetuated. There is ample evidence that men knew of Sabbath keeping prior to the Mosaic administration. According to some commentators, "At the end of days" in Gen. 4:3 speaks of the end of the six days of labor and identifies the seventh, or Sabbath day. If so, Cain and Abel knew that God was to be worshipped redemptively on the Sabbath. Noah's activities were characterized by sabbatical cadence. Abraham circumcised his sons on the eighth day (a prefigurement of first day Sabbath blessings - the new creation life given to the seed of promise by the Holy Spirit). The Israelites were given the seven-day feast of the Passover and instructed to gather the manna with it's double portion on the sixth day so as not to gather on the seventh day - and that before the giving of the law from Sinai. Prior to the Ten Commandments, man, especially redeemed man, knew that life had Sabbatical significance. How did they know? Adam was given the Sabbath in Creation. It was retained through the Fall and he took it with him from the Garden as part of the redemptive religion conveyed to and observed by Noah, Abraham and the Israelites - prior to their formation into God's nation at Sinai.

Through the Fall God's government remains intact. Creation is salvaged and has become the stage upon which the redemptive purposes of God are now played out. Grace prevails and God now begins to shine upon fallen image-bearers "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Cor 4:4)