In lesson 3, the Basic Bible Study from Deaf Missions focuses on the story of Adam and Eve, and then Cain and Abel. Look at the chart on this page. There are two important trees: The tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God told them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or they would die (Genesis 2:9, 15-17). Satan then came into the story as a serpent. He began to trick or manipulate Eve into eating from that tree. He lied to Eve saying “You will not die’ the serpent replied to the woman. ‘God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5). As a result, they believed Satan’s lie and ate from this tree. This results in Sin that separated them from a relationship with God (Genesis 3:6-24). God then punished them, starting with the Serpent.
1. The snake will crawl on his belly and eat dust.
2. The woman will have pain in childbirth, and the husband will rule the family.
3. Man will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything.
4. All people will have a physical death. (Genesis 3:19b)
These punishments continue today. However, notice in Genesis 3:15 that God tells Satan, the serpent, “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel”. The woman’s offspring in this verse is Jesus! Jesus will defeat Satan and crush his head! Satan will try to hurt Jesus on the cross. God planned to send Jesus to save us from our sins from the very beginning!
After giving Adam and Eve their punishments, God kills an animal and covers them with animal skin. This shows that He still loves them. He then sends them out of Eden- not because He is angry, but because He wants to protect them from eating the Tree of Life. If they eat from the Tree of Life while still separated from God by sin, then they will be stuck in sin forever with no chance of being saved by Jesus in the future!
As Adam and Eve have children, it becomes obvious that God instructed them on how to make a sacrifice or offering to God. Abel followed God’s instructions by offering the first born of his sheep, the best of the flock, to God on the altar. Cain offered some of the crop he grew- which did not please God. As we will learn later in the Bible, God requires a blood sacrifice for our sins- a life for a life. However, the blood or the life of an animal is not perfect enough to forgive us our sins forever. Only Jesus’s blood and life is perfect enough to cover our sins. This is why we see the animal sacrificed at the altar to God in the Old Testament. The animal sacrifice is only an example of what Jesus will do! His sacrifice on the cross covers our sin once and for all time!