Adam and Eve's enjoyment of the garden of Eden didn't last very long. There was someone else in the garden who was represented by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now he was coming to peddle his wares. His name was Satan.
Satan didn't come when Adam and Eve were together. He approached Eve when she was alone, and he did not let Eve know who he was because she would have been frightened away. He came to her in the form of a beautiful serpent. Although we may not consider snakes beautiful today, at that time they were very attractive. For this reason she did not know that she should have run away, nor was she frightened when the serpent talked to her.
The serpent asked Eve, "Has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" She answered that they could eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for even to touch it would be death. The serpent told her that she would not die; but the reason God did not want her to eat it was because it would make her like God. She would have the knowledge of good and evil herself without needing God.
The serpent's words slandered God in at least two ways. First, he implied that God was lying when He told Adam that he would die if he ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Second, he implied that God was trying to keep something good away from Adam and Eve.
Eve was deceived by the serpent's lies. She saw that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a delight to the eyes - it looked beautiful to her. The thought that she too could be wise, as God was wise, blinded her to the truth. In her eagerness, she willingly ate of the fruit and also brought some to Adam, who ate it.
After Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they realized that they were naked. Now it had become shameful for their bodies to be naked before others. Their bodies had been polluted by the poison of the serpent. Before eating the fruit they only had the good nature that God had created in them but now they also had an evil nature. There was something hideous and ugly in their being which made Adam and Eve ashamed and they needed a covering to hide themselves. However, the aprons of fig leaves they made were very poor covering.
Then they heard God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Previously they would have been very happy to be with Him, but now they hid from Him. In addition to being ashamed of their nakedness, they were probably afraid that God would because of what they had done. God called to Adam, "Where are you?" Adam replied that he was afraid and hid because he was naked. The Lord asked who had told him that he was naked - had he eaten from the tree that God had commanded him not to eat from?
Adam replied, "The woman who You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." Already the result of the poison in his being was manifested in his answer. He blamed Eve for giving him the fruit, and he even blamed God for giving him the woman. Then God asked the woman what she had done. She said, "The serpent deceived me and I ate." She was just like Adam, blaming someone else. God did not ask the serpent for any explanation but simply cursed it to go on its belly and eat dust. He also said that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head and the serpent would bruise his heel.
God then spoke words of discipline to Adam and Eve. He told Eve that she would bring forth children in pain and that her husband would rule over her. He went on to tell Adam that the ground would be cursed, growing thorns and thistles, and that Adam would have to work hard to get food for them to eat. Eventually, Adam and Eve would die and return to the dust from which they were taken. The discipline was needed for Adam and Eve's salvation.
When God finished speaking Adam gave his wife the name Eve, which means "living". Adam must have been afraid that they were going to die as soon as God found out what they had done. He was relieved when they continued to live with God's promise that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head.
Then God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve to replace the fig leaf aprons. The Bible only tells us this fact but where did those skins come from? They must have come from animals that God killed. Adam and Eve must have been full of feelings when they saw those animals being killed. The animals had not disobeyed God - Adam and Eve had. But now some animals had to die so that they could be covered properly.
God had one more item to take care of and that was to send Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden. They were no longer qualified to eat the fruit of the tree of life. God put cherubim (angels) with a flaming sword, which turned in every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. Adam and Eve could never go back to the garden of Eden again.
Everything had changed for Adam and Eve. All they had needed was in the garden, but now they had to work hard just to live. In the garden there had been nothing to spoil their pleasure, but now their lives included quite a bit of suffering. Prior to indulging in the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil their hearts were only inclined toward what was good, but now an evil element had got into their nature. Before there was nothing to spoil their relationship with God, but now there was something between them. There was no way for Adam and Eve to go back to what they had before they fell.
What did Adam do instead of admitting his wrongdoing when God asked if he had eaten
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
How do you think Adam and Eve felt when they watched God kill animals to make them
coats of skins?
Verses in the Bible that refer to this story: Gen. 3:1-24; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rom. 5:12-14; 1 Tim. 2:12-15; Rev. 12:9; 20:2, 10