Jump Start # 573

Genesis 3:21 “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”

This week we have spent some time thinking about Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. There are many valuable lessons to be learned about sin, Satan, disobedience, God and punishment. Those are not the type of lessons that many like to think about. It may be that our failure to talk about these topics and to think about them has led us to be casual about sin and  has created in our minds a softer, more tolerate God than what He is. God hates sin. No way around that. Sin separates. Sin destroys.

Today’s verse is another reminder of the consequences of sin. It is interesting that this chapter begins with Satan talking through the serpent, and it ends with God talking. After Eve took the fruit, Satan seems to be gone. He doesn’t say anything else. Typical! Satan entices a person to sin, and then it is God who has to clean up the mess.

After they took ate the forbidden fruit, the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened. They realized that they were naked. They covered themselves with fig leaves. Two thoughts here: first, Adam and Eve were married. Nakedness among a married couple isn’t shocking. Why were they ashamed and why did they cover themselves? Was it not so much for each other as the holy presence of God? Verse 8 tells us that God was walking through the garden. They hid from God. His holy and righteous nature stood in contrast to the guilt of their disobedience and their nakedness. In the N.T., when Peter understood who Jesus was, he asked the Lord to leave because “he was a sinful man.” When Isaiah saw the Lord in the temple he declared that he was ruined because he was a man of unclean lips and his eyes had seen the King. When John saw Jesus in Revelation 1, he fell like a dead man. The glory and the holiness of God is striking especially when our impure ways intersect with Him. Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness.

Second, their solution was fig leaves. Fig leaves! That might work in a pinch and for a moment, but fig leaves dry and crumble away. What a difference fig leaves are to animal skins. We often try to fix our problems with fig leaves. It gets us through the moment, but it’s not a real solution. Fig leaves have to be replaced often. I think some get the idea that the fig leaves left Adam and Eve immodest. The text doesn’t give us that impression. Why cover yourself if you are going to remain suggestive, provocative and immodest? That’s a fair question that some ought to be asking themselves as summer approaches. The contrast between fig leaves and animal skins is not one of modesty but temporary and longer lasting. How long would wearing leaves last until they crumbled up? A couple of days? Three days? They would be making fig outfits three or four times every week. That’s a lot of leaves. That forces you to stay near fig trees. God knew that He was driving Adam and Eve out of the garden. They would journey elsewhere. They may not have had access to fig leaves. Skins are better than leaves. What God provides is always better than what man comes up with.

Animal skins. Where do you think God got those? Do you think He had a large rack of outfits in Heaven and He searched through them until He came to the animal skins and took them out, checked the size and delivered them to Adam and Eve. I don’t think so. Animal skins come from one place, animals. God killed some animals and used their skins to clothe Adam and Eve. The Bible doesn’t say if Adam witnessed the killing of those animals, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Up to this point, Adam has never seen blood. Eden was perfect. There was no sickness, death, pain in Eden. He didn’t know what color blood was. Adam had never seen death before. The killing of these animals to clothe Adam was most likely the first physical death in the world.

Later, when Adam’s sons, Cain and Abel offered sacrifice to God, Abel killed an animal. His sacrifice was approved. Cain offered vegetables. God rejected Cain’s. When Noah left the ark after the flood, he built an altar and offered an animal sacrifice. Abraham built several altars and sacrificed animals to God. Ancient Israel was commanded to sacrifice animals at Passover and other specific times. Then there is Jesus. The perfect sacrifice. He gave His blood to cover our sins—just as God, a long time ago, killed an animal to cover the nakedness of Adam. God cleaning up the mess that was created by Satan. Blood and death necessary to make things right.

Amazing Grace—how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’ve found…the story of Adam and Eve is a lesson in the failure of this first couple. It is also a lesson in the love of God and the coming grace found in His Son, our Savior.

Don’t think that you are too modern and advanced to walk in the steps of Adam. You are not. Every day you are faced with choices, some of them involve things that are forbidden. God wants you to do right. Satan tempts you to do wrong. He tells you that you won’t get caught. He tells you that you deserve it. The more we listen to Satan, the more we stand right where Eve did. Has Satan ever done anything good or worthwhile to your life? Can you say that you are glad to have Satan around? No. NEVER. God has. God can be trusted. God is true. Satan—he’s a liar. He’ll say anything, promise anything, and use anything to get you to take what is forbidden. It may be following a lustful heart…it may be greed…it may be substance abuse…it may be selfishness…he talks. We listen. We find ourselves standing where Adam and Eve stood.

Lessons learned become lessons shared and lessons taught. I hope these thoughts help.

Roger