Week 2: They Tried to Hide
Genesis 3 Review the big story: God created the cosmos and God created humans. God called it all good. God loves us, and wants us to live in harmony with God, other humans, and all of creation.
Tell the story: Even though God’s intention is harmonious community, we sometimes miss the mark. This is a story about that. God set up boundaries that would help Adam and Eve grow and be healthy. They chose to go beyond those boundaries, and then they had to deal with the consequences of that decision.
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Prime the pump: As you read this story, here are some things to think about.
Microsong: “They Tried to Hide”
Eve and Adam loved garden life. A serpent tricked them, they tried to hide, God came to them and gently clothed them, and clearly told them the consequences.
- We have heard and told this story so many times that we may have some assumptions about what it says that aren’t really there.
- Try this exercise: Write down or tell the story before you read it, then discover the things you added or left out of your telling of the story. Unpack this…
- Things to notice:
- Notice that the only curses from God are toward the serpent and the ground. God doesn’t curse humans. How does this change the way we hear the story?
- Read verses 8-13, imagining it as a scene between a loving parent and their child, who just did something disobedient and is now hiding behind the couch. Imagine this as a gentle, loving God, not as an angry God stomping through the garden.
- Read the last part of verse 19. Have you heard those words before?
- The humans covered themselves with fig leaves. Feel a fig leaf if you can. They are very scratchy! And they would not hold up very well. Notice the care God takes of the humans, making clothes for them out of soft skins. Take a moment to imagine God creating and giving these skins to the humans.
- Background information:
- Dig around in some midrash (just google “midrash of Genesis 3”) to find some fascinating commentary on this passage - including ideas of what fruit Adam and Eve might have eaten. One idea in a commentary is that it was fermented grapes!
- Verse 7 says, “the eyes of both were opened.” This, the opening of eyes, is a common theme throughout the Bible. It’s usually positive, involving recognition and revelation. Wonder: Is it good in this verse? Bad? More nuanced than that?
- Conversation starters:
- Why did God tell the humans not to eat of this tree? Did God mean “ever” or “not yet?” Why did God put it there if God didn’t want them to eat it?
- Why do you think the consequence of Adam and Eve’s actions was to leave the garden? Why didn’t God want them to live forever? Is there a blessing in this consequence?
- We often say that, “Eve eating the apple was the original sin.” Notice that Adam and Eve both ate. And it wasn’t necessarily an apple. And none of the Hebrew words we translate as “sin” are in this chapter. Maybe it’s time to look again at this story. How do you see assumptions we make on this text shaping the world around you (and the world throughout history)?
Microsong: “They Tried to Hide”
Eve and Adam loved garden life. A serpent tricked them, they tried to hide, God came to them and gently clothed them, and clearly told them the consequences.
Sing the Big Song:
This is the story of how it all began. God made matter, and chaos shattered.
Eve and Adam, they tried to hide, still…
God loves every one of us, it’s true, and God loves the universe.
This is the story of how it all began. God made matter, and chaos shattered.
Eve and Adam, they tried to hide, still…
God loves every one of us, it’s true, and God loves the universe.