The Fall Day 3

I'm just going to admit right up front that today's lesson is probably not going to be entirely cohesive. We are going to look at Genesis 3 in terms of patterns and foreshadowing and to get all the information tucked neatly into 10-15 minutes I'm gonna have to cut out a lot of flourish. I promise taking a second look at this chapter will be well worth a possibly chaotic writing style.
First I'm going to ask you to refresh your memory and take the time to reread all of Genesis Chapter 3.
Adam, unlike Eve, was not lied to by the serpent.
"And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner." 1 Timothy 2:14
Eve handed Adam some fruit and he took it and ate. What I find fascinating (though I may be barking mad) is that Adam was without sin, but when he saw that his bride had sinned, he chose to sin as well in order to be with her. It's the same and yet the opposite of what Jesus does for us. Holy, perfect, wonderful Jesus saw that His beloved bride was filthy with sin, so He became sin to make her holy and perfect.* Adam's sacrifice pushed the weight of sin onto all mankind, while Christ's sacrifice cleansed us of our sins. As I said in The Fall Day 1, Adam is both a pattern of Jesus and yet Jesus is the end to what started with Adam.
The pattern continues in verses 17-19. Because of Adam's sin, providing for his family would become hard work. The ground would produce thorns and thistles and eventually Adam would die a physical death (return to dust). Adam would be the first man to bear these consequences, but Christ would conquer them.
"Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head." Matthew 27:27, 28a
The Roman soldiers in their utter ignorance and cruelty thought it would be funny to make the "King of the Jews" wear a crown. They wound up some thorny branches, the symbol of the fallen world, and put it on Jesus' head. When they were done mocking and beating Jesus they took off the robe but apparently left the crown.** Jesus was then led up a hill to a very real and physical death. The Christ died bearing the curse so that we could be set free.
In God's grace and mercy, He saw fit to set patterns and symbols into His Word so that we would know Salvation when He came.
With Eve, it's less about symbols and more about themes. The Bible is an intricately woven tapestry, everything is connected in some way to everything else. Of course, with Scripture, it all leads to Jesus.
Tucked neatly into God's declaration of war in Genesis 3:15, He says the most peculiar thing.
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers."
The problem is, it's hard to see how strange this statement is unless you either look in the notes at the bottom of your page or read it in the New King James Version. The Hebrew word, Zera, translated in the New International Version as offspring, is better translated seed. Though indeed it is the offspring that would ultimately crush Satan's head, there is an implication that is lost in the translation. Without going into too much detail, seed is never equated with female reproduction. Strictly speaking, seed comes from men. No author, ancient or modern, would call someone the seed of a woman without expecting their audience to read into it. What is even more interesting about this particular Hebrew word is that is is singular. God is speaking of one specific descendant of the woman.***
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14.
When God declared, through His prophet Isaiah, that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, no one should have been surprised. He had hinted at a virgin birth since the beginning.
God promised that the Savior would come from woman, but because of her sin, it would not be the most pleasant experience. Birth would become a bittersweet event, how much more so for a young virgin in Nazareth. Her pregnancy almost cost her her husband, her reputation, possibly even her life, yet she was about to give birth to the Savior of the World.
The last bit of foreshadowing we are going to look at (which is my no means the last bit in chapter 3) is in verse 21.
"The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."
It seems like a simple and easily overlooked verse, but again we see a hint at what was to come.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
"Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." Hebrews 9:22b
Before removing Adam and Eve from the Garden, God showed them what the cost of their sin was. Sin could never be overlooked by God, it has a price and the price must be paid. But God, in his infinite mercy and grace allowed for a substitution. In place of Adam and Eve's death, God taught them to offer an animal for atonement.
Atonement in the Bible is an interesting word. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word for it implies a covering over, or pushing ahead of sin.**** But the Greek word used in the New Testament means the sin-debt has been paid in full and removed.*****
It would be thousands of years before Moses would receive that Law on Mount Sinai with all the regulations for sacrifice to make atonement. It would be thousands more until Christ would take the burden of all sin unto Himself, once and for all. In the Garden at the beginning, God showed Adam and Eve the price of their sin. However, in love and mercy He demonstrated for them His provision for atonement.
From the first pages of Genesis to the last page of Revelation, God's love letter to us is Jesus.
"For God so Loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal live." John 3:16

* Ephesians 5:25 & 26
** Matthew 27:31
*** Hebrew- Greek Key Word Study Bible, NIV. Chattanoga, TN. AMG Publishers. 1996. pg. 1514
**** Hebrew- Greek Key Word Study Bible, NIV. pg 1524
***** Hebrew- Greek Key Word Study Bible, NIV pg. 1634