Sabbath Afternoon - April 2
Memory Text:
“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.” KJV — Genesis 3:15
“There are many beliefs that the mind has no right to entertain. Adam believed the lie of Satan, the wily insinuations against the character of God. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16, 17). When Satan tempted Eve, he said, “Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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” (Genesis 3:1-5).” 1SM 214.1
Sunday - April 3
The Serpent
Genesis 3:1, 2Corinthians 11:3, Revelation 12:7-9
Who is the serpent, and how does he deceive Eve?
“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.” KJV — Revelation 12:9
The fruit, of course, appealed to her, but she was tempted by the idea of having the opportunity to be exalted to the throne of God, to be exalted to the same position to which Lucifer himself aspired. Lucifer must have honestly believed that he would be as God if the angels in Heaven and the men on earth would but take orders from him.
And so we see that the Devil deceived Eve on the same grounds he deceived himself and his angels, the only difference being that he caused Eve to eat of the fruit which he himself and his angels would not eat. Consequently, Eve sinned against her physical being, too, by taking into it something that was not created for food, and consequently she died. But Satan and his angels still live.
Monday - April 4
The Forbidden Fruit
Genesis 2:16, 17; 3;1-6
Compare God’s words to Adam with the Serpent’s words to the woman. What are the differences between the speeches?
“Eve had overstated the words of God's command. He had said to Adam and Eve, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” In Eve's controversy with the serpent, she added the clause, “Neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Here the subtlety of the serpent was seen. This statement of Eve gave him advantage, and he plucked the fruit, and placed it in her hand, and used her own words, “He hath said, ‘If ye touch it, ye shall die.’ You see no harm comes to you from touching the fruit, neither will you receive any harm by eating it.” Eve yielded to the lying sophistry of the devil in the form of a serpent. She ate the fruit, and realized no immediate harm. She then plucked the fruit for herself and for her husband. ‘And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired 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.’” RH February 24, 1874, par. 14
Tuesday - April 5
Hiding Before God
Genesis 3:7-13
Why did Adam and Eve feel the need to hide before God?
Immediately after Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit, a surprising change took place. They at once perceived that the light of life and beauty with which they had been clothed vanished away, and they saw themselves naked, ugly, and shameful to the eye. Consequently, they tried to cover themselves with leaves and to hide away among the trees. The leaf-covering, though, was not adequate, and therefore the Lord made them “coats of skins.”
Wednesday - April 6
The Fate of the Serpent
Genesis 3;15
What did the Lord say to the serpent here, and what hope is implied?
We cannot possibly misunderstand what woman God meant in this scripture, for there was only one woman -- Eve -- then in the earth. In the presence of Adam and Eve and the serpent, God spoke these words predicting the future outcome of Eve's seed and the serpent. Eve's children were to have their heel bruised by the serpent, the Devil. And in return, the children of Eve, the human family, were to bruise the Devil's head, the serpent's head. Now you know that even if one's leg were to be amputated, one can live on; but when one is decapitated his life immediately ends. God predicted here that there was to be enmity between good and evil all through time. And though the serpent would wound the human family, yet the descendants of Adam and Eve, were finally to bruise Satan's head. "But," you may say, "Christ is to do that." I do not wish to dispute your word, but actually it is Christ through the human family that is to accomplish it. For in Jeremiah 51:20 God Himself declares that Israel is to be His battle ax, His weapon of war; for with Israel will He break in pieces the nations. Then though it is to be accomplished by the will and direction of Christ, yet Christ will do it through His people. In this way His people who have been wounded by Satan, will finally bruise Satan's head.
Thursday - April 7
Human Destiny
Genesis 3:15-24
As a result of the Fall, what happened to Adam and Eve?
God here greatly multiplied sorrow and conception. Woman-kind, because of sin, had to give birth to many more children than otherwise she would have had sin not entered. So, then, we see that the complete number that God wanted to inhabit the earth would of course have been made up sooner had Adam and Eve not sinned.
Had God allowed Adam and Eve to remain in the Garden after they had sinned and continued to have access to the “tree of life,” He would have thereby perpetuated their sinful lives in their sinful state. What a terrible thing that would have been – sinners having to live for ever and ever! And had He spared them and their descendants from going through hardships and death, they could no more have come to realize what life of sin is, no, no more than could the prodigal before going through licentiousness, bankruptcy, hard labor and poverty.
“But,” you say, “If the Lord could not have brought Adam and Eve into the Garden before first passing through death and the resurrection, did He have to curse the ground and cause them to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow?” And why did He have to cause them to eat their bread in sorrow for 6,000 years? – Because all who are ever to enter the Kingdom, get back into Eden, must first come to themselves as did the prodigal, for all must be brought to realize that everything away from the Garden is nothing more than swine’s husks.
Because work is essential and because sinners by nature dislike work, the thorns and thistles were created to compel them to go to work for a living. If we leave the obnoxious weeds in the ground, and spend our time having fun, they will choke out the crops, and we, like the prodigal, will have famine. Thus, no work, no eat. God Who knows what is best for us has made it that we earn our living the hard way, to work all day long with but little rest.
Those who come to themselves, to them work is pleasure. Only fools hate work.
Friday - April 8
Further Study
“The knowledge which God did not want our first parents to have was a knowledge of guilt. And when they accepted the assertions of Satan, which were false, disobedience and transgression were introduced into our world. This disobedience to God's express command, this belief of Satan's lie, opened the floodgates of woe upon the world. Satan has continued the work begun in the Garden of Eden. He has worked vigilantly, that man might accept his assertions as proof against God. He has worked against Christ in His efforts to restore the image of God in man, and imprint in his soul the similitude of God.” 1SM 214.2
“The human family are in trouble because of their transgression of the Father's law. But God does not leave the sinner until He shows the remedy for sin. The only-begotten Son of God has died that we might live. The Lord has accepted this sacrifice in our behalf, as our substitute and surety, on the condition that we receive Christ and believe on Him. The sinner must come in faith to Christ, take hold of His merits, lay his sins upon the Sin Bearer, and receive His pardon. It was for this cause that Christ came into the world. Thus the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the repenting, believing sinner. He becomes a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King, an heir of God, and joint heir with Christ.” 1SM 215.1