GENESIS – An Expositional Overview of the Beginning of God’s Revelation: Chapter Three

Contributing commentaries by Sonny Islas and James Fire     

Notes on GENESIS 3 by Lambert Dolphin - Adam's Account Part II: 

Commentaryon GENESIS by Ray Stedman -

Chapter Three – by James Fire

Of what we have examined thus far in this book of Moses, we have witnessed the creation of all things, including that of man and his help mate according to God’s established and ordained order; we’ve also looked at the stewardship that the LORD gave to His first couple over the garden of Eden as well as the specifics regarding Adam and Eve and how she was created. We’ve witnessed the prohibition of God concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Here in chapter 3, we will look into the greatest tragedy, as well as the greatest hope of all time – the fall of mankind into sin, and the promise of redemption made by God Himself. We will come to understand exactly why this world is not “very good” any more as God had declared when He completed creation – the effects of what happened more than 6000 years ago are still felt and seen today! When we grow discouraged and disillusioned at the way this world is going, and feel bewildered by it all, we must remember who it is that’s (still) in charge of this world system (but not for much longer! 2 COR 4:4).

So, without any further delay, let’s get into this chapter!

GENESIS 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

So right from the start, we have a talking snake. In NUMBERS 22:28, we read about a talking donkey who rebukes Balaam the seer. These two ridiculous sounding events along with such things as Noah’s ark, the story of Jonah and the whale, the day of Joshua when the sun and moon were stopped, as well as the idea of demons and angels, these are the stuff of mockery by the unbeliever who find such things as irrational as well as impossible.

ON TALKING SNAKES and DONKEYS by Evan Minton (also author of the blog: Cerebral Faith)

We as Christians however, don’t have any problem believing these things (or we shouldn’t), if we would only remember GENESIS 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. He has created all things, seen and unseen – the physical as well as the spiritual realms (2 COR 4:18). Remember, the word for “created” in the Hebrew is barah, meaning “to create out of nothing”. If God can do that, then anything else is easy!

Talking snakes and donkeys, survivors of whale residency and other seemingly outlandish things are nothing to the God of the impossible:

JEREMIAH 32:27
27 Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?

Plus, we only know about snakes in the form we see after the curse – we have no idea what this creature was like prior to the fall.
Creatures like the mocking bird can mimic the sounds and voices of other creatures, even human beings; so can parrots.
What if the serpent was actually the most intelligent (subtle) of creatures that the LORD made and could really communicate, just as the Bible states? – but all this changed once the curse took effect!

Eve didn’t seem the least bit surprised that this serpent spoke to her; could it be possible that this creature, prior to the fall, was capable of speech or communication on some level? That Satan took advantage of this creature’s ability and used it as a disguise to speak to the woman?

There are dozens of ideas about what this serpent really was; some believe it was actually Satan taking on the form of a snake; others, that Satan merely indwelled the snake and spoke to the woman through it. Others think that this wasn’t a snake at all, but that it became a snake as a result of the curse of God upon it.

A lot of questions here, and we aren’t provided many certain answers – so there’s some guess work and conjecture. Where the Bible doesn’t speak definitively and clearly, we are left with conjecture, theories and opinions, and it’s wise to deal only with what the Bible says to establish biblical truth, and what we can know with certainty about the text.

The Hebrew word for “serpent” is nachash, which simply means ‘serpent’ but it can also mean “the shining one, to hiss”; also “a deadly, subtle, malicious enemy (LUKE 10:19 re: ‘authority over all the power of the enemy’)”.

We do know that the Bible speaks of the serpent and equates it with the devil:

REVELATION 12:9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (in vs. 13-15 the term ‘dragon’ and ‘serpent’ are used interchangeably).

REVELATION 20:2
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

“Satan” means adversary or enemy and can be a personal name or a title; accuser, deceiver, opposer of good. “Devil” means slanderer, to hurt, malign, criticize and condemn.

Paul the apostle relates the encounter between the serpent and Eve as a real-life event:

2 CORINTHIANS 11:2-3
2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Where Moses writes of the serpent’s subtlety here in GENESIS, Paul speaks of the wiles of the devil (EPH 6:11). Wiles here can refer to methods, strategy as in war tactics and battle plans.

Satan has considerable power and apparently is capable of making captives of any who are outside of Christ, as he wills (2 TIM 2:26); and he did, up until the atonement of Christ, hold the power of death (HEB 2:14). Those “keys of hell and death” however are now in the firm grasp of the LORD Jesus Christ (REV 1:18)!

Just as he is seen as a serpent and a dragon, the devil is also portrayed “as a roaring lion seeking to devour” (1 PET 5:8).
There are children of the devil manifested in this world (1 JOHN 3:10) – or as John the Baptist referred to them as “generation of vipers” (MATT 3:7); and even the LORD Jesus referred to them as such (MATT 12:34). 

The LORD also stated that the devil is the father of these religious leaders, but that all of the unredeemed have Satan – “the prince of the power of the air” as their father, in the sense that they follow after the example of rebellion and sin, opposed to God and His Word (EPH 2:2; 5:6).

We will read about the incident in Chapter Four of Cain’s murder of Abel: it’s often referred to as the first murder recorded in Scripture, but this is the second murder incident. What was the first?

In the New Testament it is directly asserted that Satan seduced our first parents into sin and it was then that they died spiritually. Murdered by seduction into sin, if you will.

JOHN 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer [literally a “man-slayer”] from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The serpent, aka Satan starts out in his conversation with the woman with a “Yes . . .” – an affirmative statement, a positive one. We all like to hear “yes” but hate to hear “no”, especially children from parents. We hear so much today about how important it is in “being positive” and that negative statements are to be avoided.

However, “positive” and “negative” have no bearing on what is true or false. “We are all God’s children” is a very positive statement – but it’s a lie. We are naturally sinners and must become children of God through faith in Christ (JOHN 1:12). 

“Broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there are who go that way.” Wow, how negative is that?! But the Bible states that this is the truth (MATT 7:13)!

And note who it was that Satan approached – not the man, but the woman. And he seemed to wait until Adam and Eve were separated – a tactic that the enemy loves to employ; to get us alone, isolated, apart from others where we are alone with our thoughts, and the enemy can with subtlety fire fiery arrows into our minds.

Perhaps he perceived a vulnerability in the woman; perhaps Adam didn’t instruct her clearly on God’s warning and commandment regarding the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Or if he was clear on this matter, perhaps she misunderstood his instruction.

It could be that Satan observed how much Adam loved Eve, and that his commitment to God was too strong to assault him directly; but if he could persuade Eve to fall for his temptation, then perhaps Adam, rather than lose her, would follow her in rebellion.

In any event, Satan asks a question of the woman and notice how exactly he phrases the question:

“hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

By asking Eve if God forbid them to eat of every tree – she would immediately think about just the one that was restricted. Satan didn’t bring it up, Eve did – she was manipulated in her thinking to address this forbidden tree. Satan is the ultimate psychologist, having studied the nature and behavior of mankind for more than 6000 years. He knows how to manipulate!

GENESIS 3:2-3
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

God didn’t say a thing about not touching the forbidden fruit or the tree it grew upon. Adam and Eve could have built a tree fort in it! Or used the fruit to juggle with!
Yet this misapplication of God’s command, adding to it (or in other instances in Scripture, taking away from it) will have dangerous consequences.

It is a tactic of the enemy to so twist and deform the Word of God. Satan’s intent is always to deform God’s Word – either taking away from it or adding to it. The same with the Person of Jesus: either taking something away from Him – like His Deity; or adding something to Him: additions to what’s necessary for salvation.
And Eve’s words, “lest you die” suggests that death would not be a certainty, but a probability – which was also wrong.

GENESIS 3:4-5
 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Notice that the serpent simply says "God" and not "LORD God". He disregards God's Holy Authority as LORD. It reminds of of Judas Iscariot in MATT 26:25 at the Last Supper, when the LORD revealed one of them would betray Him, and they began to ask, "LORD, is it I?" Except for Judas, who says, "Master (Teacher)" but not LORD!

In GENESIS 2:17, the LORD God is recorded as saying, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Literally: “In the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die.” 

With the eating of the fruit, the process of death would begin, spiritually first and immediately and then gradually with the mind and body. The graveyard is a testimony of the effects of sin: so are attitudes such as selfishness, greed, lust, bitterness and unforgiveness, malice, etc.

What Satan said and what God said is almost exactly the same; Satan just added a teeny, tiny, three-letter word: “not” and it completely turned the truth of God 180 degrees to say exactly the opposite.

Not only does Satan pervert and disfigure the Scriptures, but he always casts God in a bad light in an attempt to persuade us to believe the worst of Him.
Here Satan convinces Eve that God is holding out on her and her husband, that greater knowledge could be theirs, if only they took what God forbid them; the promise of godhood is what he offered them, if they only rebelled against God’s command.

GENESIS 3:6
And when the woman saw that (1) the tree was good for food, and that it was (2) pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired (3) to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. We see these different aspects of temptation and their associated sins listed here as well, just as we’ve been hearing pastor Sonny teach on “The Loves That God Hates”:

1 JOHN 2:15-17
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

(1) Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was “good for food” – the lust of the flesh.
(2) She perceived that “it was pleasant to the eyes”* – the lust of the eyes.
(3) She understood what Satan was convincing her of: “a tree to be desired to make one wise” – the pride of life.

* Notice what it says in GEN 2:9 "every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food." Eve may have wondered, Why would this fruit be forbidden? It's just as pleasant to the eye and good for food as any other tree that God permits us!

Esoteric and occult societies, and other ‘mystery religions’ all believe that it’s by ‘enlightened’ knowledge, not by redemption, that mankind will find salvation and spirituality. Gnosticism is a primary example of this: they believe in enlightenment in secret wisdom and knowledge rather than redemption by the sacrifice of Christ. They see Adam and Eve’s taking the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil as a good thing! And Satan, aka Lucifer is the hero!!?

In almost every Eastern religion, in Hinduism most especially, the serpent as well as the dragon are revered as powerful and good entities representing deity that they worship or venerate.

Yet with the promise of godhood by Satan, humanity was rather changed to become monsters – rebellious sinners against the holy God. The enemy of God promised freedom, but our First Parents in following his diabolical advice became slaves to sin. 

Pastor Sonny just recently taught about “the love of power” which God hates, and how when we overreach the limits of power and abilities He has graciously and generously given, and lust for more, we become deformed, something that God never intended.

ROMANS 5:12
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

The LORD God is the source of all life, physical and spiritual, without exception. There is no other source of life. Sin is a separator from God, because He is absolutely holy and can having nothing to do with sin. Sin is disobedience to God – it is high treason against the Sovereign Throne of the King, the Creator God, absolute rebellion against the goodness and righteousness of Deity. Sin separates us from the only source of life:

ISAIAH 59:2
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

ROMANS 8:20-23
The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Where Adam failed to pass the test of temptation, the LORD was successful in resisting the temptations of Satan, who used the same basic three temptations on Him that he used on our First Parents:

“The lust of the flesh” –

MATTHEW 4:3-4
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

“The lust of the eyes” –

MATTHEW 4:8-11
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

“The pride of life” –

MATTHEW 4:5-7
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

When our LORD said, “It is written”, He quoted the Old Testament every time from a single book: Deuteronomy. 

One might wonder why this is; consider – the people of Israel had been delivered from Egypt, wandered in the wilderness, and was about to enter the promised land – which at that time was filled with tribes of people given over to the worship of false gods and offered up in sacrifice their own babies. 

Moses warned Israel not to follow their ways, admonished them to remain faithfully loyal to God and live holy lives, as its recorded in Deuteronomy. In quoting from this book, the LORD Jesus reaffirmed the truth as written there: that God alone is worthy of worship and obedience, and He proved Himself faithful, whereas Israel generally speaking, did not.

Note also that Jesus didn’t use His personal power as God Incarnate to defeat the devil; He used the authority of Scripture – and so provided for us an example to follow. Likewise we can defeat the devil not by merely quoting, but obeying the Word of God just as Jesus did, by the power of the Holy Spirit!

GENESIS 3:7-8
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

A strange phrase, “they heard the voice of the Lord God walking…” I’ve never heard a voice walk before, have you? The idea here is the presence of the LORD, represented by His voice, could be heard roaming about the Garden. The presence of Abel’s spilled blood (GEN 4:10) cried out, that is, the present situation of his murder was known by the LORD.

Notice that it wasn’t until Adam took of the forbidden fruit that they both had their eyes opened. It wasn’t that Eve ate and her eyes were opened, and then Adam ate, and his eyes were opened: this eye-opening understanding of “good and evil” didn’t occur until Adam ate of the forbidden fruit.

Could it be that because Adam was the head, that this curse of sin didn’t take effect until he fell from his right standing with God? Just as with Christ, imparting His virtue and blessings to the church, likewise the curse of sin didn’t come to fruition and affect Eve, until Adam partook – and then their eyes were opened.

It wasn’t until after they committed this act of treason that they realized what happened, and that there was no reversing this decision, no returning to innocence. The enormity of their decision must have struck them with terror, understanding that their inherited sin nature would be passed on to their children and all of humanity! If not for the promise of God, their despair would have no doubt been unbearable.

GENESIS 3:9-10
And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

We see here the immediate effect of sin – fear and its resulting action: hiding. Hiding from God. Hiding from God?? Adam and Eve attempted to hide their nakedness with fig leaves – a bloodless solution that failed in its adequacy to remedy this detrimental damage that continues to destroy.

God asks a question, but He doesn’t ask because He needs to learn something. God will often ask questions of people to draw attention to something that He wants to point out to people. He here asks Adam, Where are you? In other words, Consider where you are Adam: you’re hiding from Me now?

He also asked Jacob, What is your name? (GEN 32:27); He asked Moses, What is in your hand? (EXOD 4:2); He asked Elijah, What are you doing here? (1 KINGS 19:9); He asked Job, Where were you when I laid the Earth’s foundation? (JOB 38:4); He asked “Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us? And Isaiah answered, “Send me.” (ISAIAH 6:8).

TOP 10 QUESTIONS From GOD

We know what God asked of Adam, but not the manner of how He asked – Was His voice like that of an arresting police officer: “Adam, where are you!!” or more like the cry of a broken-hearted father, who calls out in anguish? I believe it was the latter. 

Like a parent arriving at the ER only to discover their son’s broken body, barely alive as a result of a DUI.

Mankind as a result of sin, that has deteriorated the human race to lower and lower depths of depravity and destruction, is still afraid of God and attempts to hide from Him by means of evolution – denying His existence; by means of liberal theology, tries to deny His holiness and justice by rejecting the reality of the coming Judgment and eternal hellfire after wards for the unrepentant; hiding from God by so-called intellectualism and philosophy.

None are effective in concealing sinful man from the Holy eyes of God!

Humanity cannot fathom, much less understand the reality of Who God is because of our unregenerate and fallen nature:

JEREMIAH 5:4
4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of their God.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:14
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:4
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

EPHESIANS 4:18
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

GENESIS 3:11-12
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

God gets in Adam’s face here and asks the convicting question that should have led to brokenness and repentance. What happens instead? 

The very first example of ‘the blame game’. Yet Adam not only points the finger at Eve; in a round-about way, he points the finger back at God: “The woman whom You gave to be with me… she gave it to me!” God directs His attention then to the woman and interrogates her, and see what she says:

GENESIS 3:13-14
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

More of the blame game!
So, the LORD God here begins to administer disciplinary action and punishment where applicable, beginning with the serpent. Yet here, in the midst of judgment, the LORD offers hope and assurance to Adam and Eve – and at the same time, declares war upon Satan!

GENESIS 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Enmity here is referring to “hostility” and “hatred”- between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. The seed of the woman is a phrase that speaks of the virgin birth, because the woman bears the egg, not the seed. Yet here we see this peculiar phrase and understand that it refers to the virgin birth of Christ. He Himself is “the seed of the woman”. Who then is the seed of the serpent?

Those who are not part of God’s faith family, those who are “children of disobedience” (EPH 2:2; 5:6), even the very religious and self-righteous, who Christ and John the Baptist referred to as “generation [family] of vipers” (MATT 3:7; 12:34). 

The LORD Jesus point blank made it clear who the father of these religious hypocrites was: “you are of your father, the devil” (JOHN 8:44). In fact, all of those who love darkness, rather than the light because their deeds are evil (JOHN 3:19). Yet could there be another meaning behind this phrase, “the seed of the serpent”?

In light of GENESIS Chapter Six, where this bizarre event of “the sons of God” and “the daughters of men” bringing about an abomination – could “the seed of the serpent” possibly refer to Satan’s own offspring or the one that we know as the Beast? Could the anti-Christ himself be something called a Nephilim? (More on this in GENESIS 6)

The seed of the woman – the Messiah – the LORD Jesus would have His heel bruised – and one could survive such a wound; but the serpent will have his head wounded, that is, “crushed” – and that is fatal! That means death! This prophecy then is a declaration of war by God that promises the devil’s destined destruction!

What is the protoevangelium? 

Satan knows that this coming one would be a child of Eve – he just didn’t know which one. And as it turned out, the LORD God kept dropping clues as to Who this child would be – referring to Abraham’s son Isaac, but then the trail continued – pointing to Jacob, then to Judah, and then David – and finally to Mary, the wife of Joseph, the mother of Jesus! 

While the devil tried at every opportunity to kill and corrupt, to prevent the Messiah from being born, he failed consistently! The Messiah was born, and while we rejoice and celebrate His birth, Satan had a totally different understanding – this was a Holy Invasion 

 into his dark kingdom!

Just when he thought he won the ultimate victory in inspiring Judas to betray the LORD and stirring up the religious leaders and people of Israel in their demands for Jesus to be crucified and seeing it finally done: he simply fulfilled the role that our Sovereign God intended for him. Literally, the devil played right into God’s Almighty hand! He bruised the heel of the LORD, but at Calvary, his head was mortally crushed!

GENESIS 3:16
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

The burden of sin’s curse is then brought upon the woman, and this is why birthing children is as painful as it is – but the nature of sin distorts, warps, deforms and mutates the human nature – and whereas Adam and Eve were created to compliment one another, each having qualities and abilities that the other didn’t, and complete one another in holy harmony – what sin would work is a strife, a contention, a contest of wills; each seeking dominance over the other. It’s been referred to as “the war of the sexes”.

Here the roles of men and women are defined – and Adam would take a predominant role in ruling over the woman, and the woman would take a subservient role. Had Adam and Eve not fallen into sin, this would not have been necessary.

GENESIS 3:17-19
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Notice that God doesn’t curse Adam directly at first – He curses the ground that he must till and farm; the very stuff from which he himself was made, would prove a burdensome trial and grievous trial for him. The ultimate curse of sin are the wages that we all have to pay – death.

HOWEVER, we who have trusted in Christ, have an eternal hope because He has paid the price of sin for us, suffering death (destruction, ruin, a complete stripping of life).

Great Questions of Life: Who Told You That You Were Naked

GENESIS 3:20-21
And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

After the pronouncements of judgments and laying down curses – the LORD not only offers this profound hope in “the seed of the woman”, He then demonstrates His grace further: he provides “coats of skins” to replace their fig leaf wardrobe!
Did God create these skins out of nothing, like He did all of the universe?

I don’t believe so – I believe He actually slew an animal: I suspect He used a sheep.
Can you just imagine the horror and revulsion Adam and Eve must have felt, seeing a physical death for the first time in their lives, witnessing blood being spilled, and the life ebbing away from this innocent creature.

HEBREWS 9:22
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

JOHN 1:29
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

They were taught that their sin would be “covered” by the shedding of innocent blood. This would be an invaluable lesson for them; and it will be evident who of their children, Abel and Cain, learned this lesson in GENESIS Chapter Four.

GENESIS 3:22
And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:

Adam was no longer in a state of innocence, where he had no concept of evil, no ability to comprehend disobedience to God. Adam, with a conscience that God instilled in him, understood sin, rebellion and evil, which he was guilty of. He at that point knew the difference between good and evil. The LORD had to restrict the tree of life to him, preventing him from living in such a fallen state forever.

Consider, that the LORD God only forbid the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said nothing about partaking of the tree of life – Adam could have done so, but he didn’t; rather, he chose the forbidden fruit.

There are many that claim its not fair that we should be judged for our sin, since it was Adam’s fault that we inherited his sinful nature without any say so on our part. We weren’t there in the garden, proclaiming that we stand apart from Adam and his bad choice.

What they must realize is that while they can do nothing about Adam’s choice that plunged the whole human race into sin, they do have a choice to accept Christ or not and escape the consequences of Adam fall into sin if they repent and turn to the LORD!

DEUTERONOMY 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

ACTS 16:30-32
30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

GENESIS 3:23-24
Therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.