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Hi, again: check out what I found this week!

Last Week’s Work

REPETITION

• Eat and related terms appear in more than half the verses in this chapter!
  It appears in the rule discussed between the serpent and Eve (vv1-3, 5), and in v6 when they disobeyed.
  In vv11-13, it’s mentioned three times as Adam, Eve, and God discuss what they’ve done.
  In v14, God cursed the serpent saying he will eat dust the rest of his life.
  In vv17-19, God declared Adam must work hard to eat for the rest of his life. So, every time they ate, they’d be reminded of their transgressions.
  Finally, in v22, God was concerned they might also eat from the tree of life.
• Die appears twice: Eve said disobedience will result in death (v3); the serpent says it won’t (v4). Related terms include return to the ground (v19) and maybe dust? God says the serpent will eat dust all the days of [its] life, which reminded me of “bite the dust,” jargon meaning “to die.”
  In v19, God tells Adam he’s dust and to dust he will return. I think this references death of Adam’s physical body.
• Naked in vv7, 10, 11. After Adam and Eve disobeyed, they saw they were naked (7) and  tried to cover themselves and hide from God. Adam admits nakedness was partly the reason (with fear) they hid (10), and God’s reaction was to ask how they knew about their nakedness (11).
• Life, in vv14, 17 describes the term of God’s punishment for both the serpent and Adam. In v20, the woman was named Eve because she was the mother of all living. Interestingly, a footnote in the ESV translation says Eve sounds like the Hebrew word for life-giver and resembles the word for living. Ironic considering she’s responsible for all mortality.
  In v22 and 24, it describes the tree God wanted to prevent Adam and Eve from eating, because doing so would enable them to live forever.

I can’t wait for the Spirit to reveal more about these concepts!

SPECIAL STATEMENTS

I noticed these special statements:

• One command discussed in vv1-3 and disobeyed in v6: You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree … in the midst of the garden… with a warning: lest you die.
• Several curses:
  on the serpent: he’d crawl on his belly, eat dust till he dies, there will be enmity between him and the woman and between their offspring;
  on the woman (v16): increased pain in childbirth; contrary desire to her husband, who will rule over her; and
  on the ground (vv17-19) so it will yield thorns and thistles, forcing Adam to work hard for food and eat plants of the field until he dies (returns to dust).
  NOTE: Eve isn’t told directly she will die as are the serpent and Adam.
• And Five Requests in the form of questions:
  Serpent to Eve craftily asking about the tree (v1)
  God to the man: where are you? (v9); who told you … you were naked? And have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? (v11)
  God to the woman: what [have] you done? (v13)

LISTS

• Three general steps to Eve’s temptation:
  Serpent engaged her (v1)
  He her she wouldn’t die, her eyes would be opened, and she’d be like God, knowing good and evil. (vv4-5)
  She saw the tree was good for food, it was a delight to look at, its fruit was desirable to gain wisdom (v6)
• Six results of disobedience:
  Eyes opened
  Knew nakedness/vulnerability
  Tried to cover themselves (v7)
  Heard God
  Feared Him
  Hid (v10)
• Serpent’s four punishments:
  cursed above all other livestock and beasts
  made to crawl on belly
  eat dust (v14)
  enmity w/woman and her offspring (v15)
• Woman’s three punishments:
  increased pain in childbearing
  contrary desire to husband
  subordinate to man (v16)
• Man’s five punishments:
  ground is cursed; painful to work it (v17)
  will yield thistles and thorns,
  forced to eat field plants (v18)
  work for food
  will return to the dust [which the serpent must eat!] (v19).
  It’s interesting to me that this wasn’t specifically mentioned for Eve, too.

Dig-In Challenges

Next week, we’ll wrap up Step 3 by:

1. PRAYING: As always, start with the prayer we wrote for Step 1.
2. MINING: Read through the passage again looking for comparisons in or related to your focus verses. Look for similarities using like or as, quantitative/qualitative comparisons using more or less, and/or contrasts.
3. MINING: Next, look for causes or motives by focusing on key words or phrases I call cause connectors.
   • In this chapter, look for the connectors lest, for, and because.
   • Then check the text surrounding the connector for an action and the reason for that action.
     For example: I went to the store because I was out of milk:
     the action = I went to the store             because        the reason = I was out of milk.
     NOTE A: for doesn’t always connect an action and a reason. To determine if it does here, read the sentence replacing for with because. If the new sentence makes sense and means the same as the original, make a note of the action and its cause.
     NOTE B: Most often the action will occur before the cause connector and the reason will follow it (like the example above).
     If you have questions about this or any other part of the study, please reach out to me at jen@jencason.com!
4. MINING: Finally, look for conditions or methods the author describes. For example, does the text say if or when a certain condition is met, some outcome will happen (e.g., whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith (Matt 21:22)? Or does the author describe a particular method by which something happens—for example, specific steps taken to achieve something, or more generally by or through attributes or actions (e.g., saved by grace, through faith (Eph 2:8)? Does he use any adverbs (-ly words) that describe how action was accomplished?

These exercises are more involved, I know, but I’m confident you can do this with the Holy Spirit! Don’t forget to check your How to Dig Into Scripture Ourselves guide, and you can always reach out to me at jen@jencason.com if you have questions.