Genesis 3 is one of the most important chapters of the Bible for three very good reasons. The first and second are that this is where sin enters the world, but hope is given to us with the first prediction of the coming of the Messiah (Jesus) in verse 15. Everything was good. There was no death until this happened. Sin and death enter the world because they did not trust in what God had told them. The third lesson is the clearest example that males today can have of what is expected of them as a leader, and how grave the consequences can be for not living up to that.

Notice that verse 6 says that Eve ate some of the fruit and then “gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”  Adam was right there, had been given CLEAR instructions of what was forbidden; AND he was given the responsibility to instruct, protect and lead his mate. Yet he was right there when it all happened, and he gave us the most dreadful example of leadership in history.

Then, to make matters worse (if they could get worse), when God confronts him, Adam blames Eve, then God himself for his sin! (verse 12 “..the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the fruit, and I ate.”)  Adam should have spoken up when the temptation arose, and said that God had told them what was wrong because it was best for them – not because God was trying to hold them back, as the serpent was saying.  Adam’s failure to lead is one of the most important and most over-looked lessons for men in God’s word.

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

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Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.
/Robert