by C. A. Gray
Jesus called Satan the “prince of this world” (John 12:31, 14:30)—and notice that in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, when Satan offered to give Jesus all the kingdoms of this world (Matthew 4:8-10), Jesus did not say, “You can’t give them to me because they’re not yours to begin with!” They were Satan’s, and they both knew it. Satan was trying to give Jesus a shortcut to achieving His Father’s plan for Him: a way to regain the earth without going through the agony of the cross to get it. A temptation indeed!
Satan’s power and position in this world dramatically changed after the cross, as we will explore in a later book. But understanding what happened in the garden is key to interpreting every biblical event between the fall of man and the resurrection. God had to walk a very fine line: He needed to bring forth the Seed who would bruise the head of Satan, without violating His covenant with Man. His faithfulness, integrity, and righteousness depended upon it.
The Covenants are the story of how He did it.
The Scriptures
Genesis 1-3
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day. 14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’
” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” 16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” 20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Cain and Abel: From Cain’s Perspective
I was amazing—if I do say so myself.
The first child born on all the earth, my parents were utterly obsessed and besotted with me for the first few years of my life. I think my mother actually thought I was God incarnate. I thought I might be too. After all, she said He called Himself Elohim, which is plural. And He had talked with me aloud from my earliest memories. Why couldn’t I have been an extension of Him?
My father tilled the ground out in the desert, and as soon as I was big enough to walk, I helped him. He gushed over me when I planted saplings, and seeds, praising me that I was so much more skilled as a farmer than he ever was. The garden I planted at six years old reminded him of the garden that God had planted, he said. I swelled with pride at this, and asked God if this was true.
“You are very skilled,” God affirmed to me kindly.
Then my mother became pregnant. I remember when my parents told me that I was going to have a sibling, but I thought little of it at the time, since I had no concept of what this meant. I was a bit perplexed when I saw her growing belly, though. I inexplicably envied it, accompanied as it was by a seeming decrease in her attention toward me.
Then she gave birth to my brother Abel, and everything changed.
After years of being the center of their world, suddenly I was all but forgotten. Everything was Abel, Abel, Abel. He couldn’t even do anything. He couldn’t talk or walk or plant; all he did was poop and cry and drool. Yet my parents were fascinated by every move he made. I was the master gardener; what about me?
“You started out as a babe just like Abel,” my mother told me gently when I expressed my indignation. “He too will grow and learn and become strong and skilled, just as you did.”
“He won’t be as skilled as me!” I huffed, crossing my arms over my small chest. “ I’m the seed of God, remember?”
My mother caressed my cheek and assured me, “I do remember. And I am still expecting great things from you.”
Somewhat mollified, I went out to tend my garden, leaving her and Father to gaggle over their useless new child.
Years passed, and Mother bore many more children. After Abel came several sisters, and then more brothers as well. But with none of my other siblings did I feel anywhere near the rivalry that I felt with my brother Abel. Part of this was probably just because he was my first rival, and so I grew to despise everything about him. He was my complete opposite: where I was thick and powerfully muscled, my brother was thin and wiry. My hair and beard were dark and thick, my skin swarthy, while Abel was pale and fair. I was loud and articulate, always dominating any conversation; Abel was quiet and retiring. He did not seem to crave attention like I did; he would watch me hold court in our family with this amused smirk that used to drive me crazy. I thought he was making fun of me, as if he thought he was better than me.
I was a better farmer and gardener than Abel, which gave me brief satisfaction, until Abel decided to domesticate flocks instead.
“You’re so skilled at tilling the ground,” he told me once, “why do we need another farmer? I’d rather have milk and cheese and wool for clothing rather than yet more fruit and vegetables.” He raised his eyebrows as I glowered at him, and prodded, “Wouldn’t you?”
The truth was, I did not want Abel to excel in anything I did not. There was that quiet little smirk on his face once more as he said this, too—always laughing at me on the inside. I huffed and turned away.
I grew increasingly sullen as my parents and our other brothers and sisters praised Abel’s growing skill with the flocks. They were docile under his hand, they said. The sheep were incredibly fertile, they said. His cream and cheese were wonderful, they said. On and on with the attention and the compliments… I gritted my teeth, feeling an unfamiliar throbbing in my temples as I listened to all of this day after day.
Then one day shortly after Abel’s new lambs had turned a year old, I came upon him in the field. He had built an altar of smooth stones, and I saw several of his new lamb’s carcasses piled on top of the altar, the blood running down the stones. I frowned, confused, and then turned to see that Abel had another lamb’s neck between his hands. Just then, he snapped the little neck in two. I uttered a cry of revulsion.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“Oh!” My brother looked up at me, wiping a trickle of sweat from his brow with his forearm, as he lifted the body of the lamb and carried it to pile on top of the others. “I am making an offering to the Lord of the firstborn of my flocks.”
“Why?”
He gave me an odd look. “Don’t you recall what Mother and Father said after they sinned in the garden?” he asked. “Sin demands blood for atonement.”
I tried to process this. “Yes, but that was because they were naked, and they needed clothing! This is just… wasteful!”
He frowned at me. “Ask the Lord yourself, if you don’t believe me,” he said. “I don’t know how it all works, but I think giving back to Him the first of what He gave us shows faith. As for the blood, I don’t understand what it does, but He said it, so it must do something.”
I scowled, affronted, though I could not have explained why. I continued to watch as Abel set fire to the firstborn
offerings of his flocks. Then the voice of the Lord sounded from the heavens, “I am pleased with your offering, Abel, and I accept the atonement for your sin.”
This struck me like a blow to the gut. My brother lifted his face and hands to the sky in worship and smiled.
“Fine,” I snapped, to both of them and also to neither, stalking toward my crops and orchards. “He wants an offering? Fine!”
I spent the rest of the day gathering the fruit that had fallen off of the trees already—some of it was rotted or half rotted, but we would have eaten around the rotten parts otherwise. I took the shriveled or overripe vegetables too, and gathered two enormous baskets full until dusk. Then as the sun began its descent, I hauled these back to the altar Abel had built, now covered with ash. There was more produce than would fit on the altar, so I piled it as high as it would go before setting fire to it. As the offering burned, I added more little by little until most of it was consumed.
I heard nothing from the Lord. Exasperated, I looked up at the sky and shouted, “Well? I’ve been working all day! Isn’t this what You wanted?”
There was a low rumble. At last, God boomed from the heavens, “I am not pleased with your offering, Cain.”
“Why not?” I demanded, incensed.
“Your brother offered to me the first fruits of his flock. You offered me what was left over from your harvest. He offered a sacrifice of blood, which is the only true atonement of sins.”