'but God' part 1: genesis 3.3

so i finally started my 'but God' study that i mentioned a while back.. click this and read the third paragraph if you dont know what this new study is all about.. im really stoked about it! so here is the verse, prefaced with v.2 as well:

"and the woman said to the serpent, 'we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, "you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die."'" (genesis 3.2-3, esv)

this use of 'but God' does not explicitly fit into the general trend that i am trying to explore, the dynamic nature of the phrase 'but God,' but i wanted to study this in context more and include it anyways, because i think it has some very interesting things to take note of..

to set the stage a bit for this verse, the world at this moment is pure, innocent, untouched by the horror of sin.. adam and eve experience true fellowship with the Lord, communion with each other, harmony with nature.. they have it made, you could say.. then satan comes and tempts the woman, and mankind falls.. fellowship is broken between man and God, because of this ugly barrier of sin that is erected.. this is one of a very small handful of the most significant moments in the whole of human history (along with alis birthday and the invention of the wii..) man and woman are banished from the garden.. their banishment comes with a curse: women will experience pain in childbirth and striving for power in her relationship with her husband; the man will have to toil and labor to survive.. in a moment, life is no longer perfect.. life becomes hard..

i think there are some interesting things having to do with 'but God' in this verse:

- the 'but God' in this verse comes as eve is reciting the one and only commandment God gave them.. i find the addition to Gods commandment, 'neither shall you touch it,' kind of interesting and i dont know exactly what to make of it yet.. some people believe eve throws this in there as a reference to a command that adam possibly gave her, for additional protection.. but the fact is, its an addition to the single, simple command He had given the pair..

- the way satan asks eve the question is interesting too, because it highlights how deceptive he is.. he asks the question, 'did God actually say, "you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?"' and the insinuation is clearly, 'God has really restricted you from enjoying this place to its fullest? it doesnt sound like something a good God would say..' he sows doubt, and presents himself as an enlightened, heavenly being who is bringing a greater, newer truth than what God has presented.. satan continues to do this today.. he is ruthless, and purely hates, and enjoys the destruction of man.. he is cunning, and twists the truth into half truths that are filled with promise of blessing, but lead only to death and destruction and unhappiness..

- its so sad to picture the scene of adam and eve explaining their sin to the Lord.. Gods heart must have been so broken for His dear creation in that moment.. and instead of being truly remorseful for their distrust and disobedience, they compound the utter tragedy of this event by trying to pass the blame.. adam first tries to pin this mess on God Himself because He gave eve to him.. and then shifts the blame to his wife, because she tempted him.. God turns to eve, who shifts the blame to the serpent, trying to absolve her responsibility for her actions.. it just makes me so sad to think that this is our nature.. we constantly try to hide our guilt from an all knowing and perfectly holy God, who just wants us to be honest with Him and try our best to be holy as He is..

- finally, i just love that the Lord immediately answers this tragedy with the greatest beacon of hope and joy.. He says to satan, in more or less words, 'there will be war between your rebellion and the followers of Christ, until you are crushed forever..' i just love how swiftly the Lord responds to this devastating moment with the greatest promise of grace and redemption.. man has just fallen, but God immediately promises to send the One who raises up.. man is lost in sin and darkness, but God promises a Rescuer.. man is defeated, but God promises Victory.. its just such a beautiful contrast in that moment of what our destiny would have been without God, and what it can be when He steps in.. its even cool how He closes off the garden so man cannot eat of the tree of life and continue to live forever.. physical death in some ways was an act of mercy on Gods part, because spending an eternity in that fallen state would be a horrific punishment..

i guess in essence, that is the 'but God' moment in this passage.. a sad and hopeless story of death and separation becomes a glorious story of hope and redemption..