LESSON 3 - SIN BEGINS

Adam and Eve did just as Yahweh had told them to do. They walked and talked with Yahweh just as you would talk with your father. They did not know anything evil or wicked. Yahweh told them that they could eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden except one. He told them that in the middle of the garden were two trees which were very special. One was called the “Tree of Life” and the other was called the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil,” Genesis 2:16-17.

Elohim loved Adam just as He loves you and all His people. Elohim wanted him to be happy and to enjoy life and to live forever. But Satan, even waaaaaay back then was always looking for some way to turn people away from Yahweh. His opportunity came one day when Eve was walking by herself in the garden. She may have been thinking how happy she was to be able to live in this garden. Suddenly she came upon a serpent (a snake), which was craftier and sneakier than any other beast of the field that Yahweh had made, Genesis 3:1. What was probably most surprising to Eve was that this snake, which was under Satan’s power, spoke to her.

The snake seemed to be very kind and friendly. The snake said to Eve, “Did Yahweh really say you must not eat of the trees in the Garden?"

Eve answered, “He said we could eat of any of the trees except the one in the middle and if we eat from that tree, we will die. We don’t want to die, so we haven’t touched the tree,” Genesis 3:2-3.

The snake lied to Eve, saying, “You will not surely die, Elohim knows that if you eat of the fruit of that tree you will become as wise as He is, with great wisdom and knowledge instead of death,” Genesis 3:4-5.

The more Eve thought about what the snake said, the more she wanted some of the fruit from the tree of Knowledge. Finally she could resist no longer. She listened to the snake and ate some fruit. It tasted pleasant, so she gave some to her husband and told him how good it was and He ate some too, Genesis 3:6.

After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve knew they had done something wrong so they were afraid to meet Yahweh. When Yahweh called them, they hid from him. They had also discovered their nakedness and felt ashamed of it. They wanted to cover themselves, so they sewed fig leaves together to make aprons to put around themselves.

When Yahweh saw they were afraid and that they covered themselves, He said, “Have you eaten the fruit of the tree I told you not to touch?”

Adam said, “The woman you gave me, she gave me some of the fruit and I ate it.”

Then Yahweh said to Eve, “What have you done?”

Eve said, “The snake tricked me into it so I took some of it and ate it.”

It was just like today. When we do something wrong, we will often try to blame it on someone else even knowing that we should not do that. It is better to admit you have done something wrong and ask to be forgiven than to try to hide it.

Yahweh said to the snake, “Because you have led Adam and Eve to do wrong, you shall not walk like other animals, you shall crawl in the dust and the dirt forever,” Genesis 3:14-15.

Then Yahweh said to Eve, “Because you have led your husband to disobey me, you will suffer pain when you have babies. You will love your husband and he will rule over you,” Genesis 3:16.

And Yahweh said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat, the ground will be a curse to you. You will have to work hard for everything you get from it. You will find thorns and thistles and weeds growing on the earth. If you want food you will have to dig and plant and reap for as long as you live,” Genesis 3:17.

Because Adam and Eve had disobeyed Yahweh they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. They were sent out into the world, which was a lot different. It was not as nice as the Garden of Eden. Yahweh knew they could be hurt and get cold, so He made clothes out of animal skins for them to keep them warm and protected. Even though they sinned against Yahweh, He still loved them. To keep them from coming back into the Garden where the Tree of Life was, Yahweh placed His angels at the gate of the Garden who guarded the entrance with flaming swords, Genesis 3:23-24.

That is how Adam and Eve lost their garden and no man has ever been able to go back to that garden since.

Adam and Eve disobeyed Yahweh. They had committed the very first human sin. This sin changed the life of every human being who has been born since.

For a time Adam and Eve were alone in the world. Then Yahweh gave them a baby. They named their baby Cain. A little time later Adam and Eve had another son. They named him Abel, Genesis 4:1-2. When Cain and Abel grew up, Cain became a farmer and raised fruits, vegetables and grain. Abel was a shepherd. Yahweh wants His people to give sacrifices to Him and He wants the BEST and, after all, shouldn't we WANT to give Yahweh the BEST of everything we have?

Abel brought fat portions of the firstborn of the flock to present to Yahweh and Yahweh looked with favor upon Abel's offering. Cain brought some fruits of the soil as an offering, but Yahweh was not pleased. We are not told exactly why Yahweh wasn't pleased; it could have been because Yahweh required sacrifices of animals and Cain did not obtain an animal for the sacrifice or it could have been because Cain just brought "some" of the fruits of the soil, not the BEST or the FIRST. We should always be willing to do, and give, our best for Yahweh, Genesis 4:3-7.

We are fairly certain that Cain’s heart wasn’t right. Yahweh even told him that, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" Genesis 4:7. He wasn’t willing to give what Yahweh required. He felt that what Yahweh wanted wasn’t the best for him, so Cain did what he wanted to do and just gave Yahweh a sacrifice of some of his fruits and grains instead. That is just what people have done ever since, Proverbs 14:12.

Wise people know that Yahweh’s ways are always better for them. If the offerings they were giving were "sin" offerings, that is to request Yahweh's forgiveness for their sins, we know that without a sacrifice of blood, Yahweh will not forgive sin, Exodus 30;10, Hebrews 9:22.

Cain became envious of Abel because Abel’s sacrifice was pleasing to Elohim. The envy turned into anger and hatred. One day when the two brothers were out in the field alone, Cain struck Abel so hard that it killed him, Genesis 4:8. When Cain realized what he had done, he tried to hide Abel’s body. Elohim knew what had happened, but He still asked Cain where his brother was. Cain said, “How should I know, I’m not my brother’s keeper,” Genesis 4:9. He tried to hide his sin from Yahweh and that is not good, Proverbs 28:13.

Adam and Eve disobeyed Yahweh by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and lying about it. That was a sin. Cain murdered Abel and lied to Yahweh about it. That was two more sins.

Yahweh made Cain leave his family and become a lone wanderer in the world. Cain was unhappy with Yahweh because he thought his punishment was too great. Yahweh put a mark on him so that no one would kill him. He was to live with the miserable memory of killing his brother, Genesis 4:11-15.

Adam and Eve had more children. They had another son called Seth. Their children grew up and had their own children. Then their children had children and it went on and on to populate the earth.

Adam and Eve lived to be very old and had many children. In the time of Adam and Eve, people lived to be 800 or 900 years old! When Adam was 130 years old, his son Seth was born and then Adam lived another 800 years. He had other children and he died when he was 930 years old, Genesis 5:5.

The earth became full of sin. This made Yahweh very unhappy. People have what is called “human nature.” They want to do things their way, not Yahweh’s way. Man gets into trouble when he breaks the rules we should live by for our own good. Yahweh’s laws and His government are love, Romans 13:10. Yahweh’s rules are made so that people know first of all to love Yahweh by obeying Him, worshiping only Him, using His great name correctly, praying to Him, trusting Him and keeping His Sabbaths set apart.

Children should love and respect and obey their parents. This is, in fact, the first commandment with a promise, "so your days may be long," Ephesians 6:1-3.

We have to learn that even though our way may seem to be right to us, it is always better for us if we follow Yahweh’s way of doing things, Proverbs 14:12.

LESSON 3 - ACTIVITIES

Here are some questions to see how much you learned from the Lesson you just completed. You can print out this page to write your answers and do any activities that follow. Make sure you have an adult or a big brother or sister check your work! You may even get a "star" on it!

Questions

1. What was the name of the Garden?
   _____________________________________________________________
2. What was the name of the tree that Adam and Eve were not to eat from?
   _____________________________________________________________
3. Who told Eve that she could eat of the tree?
   _____________________________________________________________
4. What did Eve do with the forbidden fruit after she ate some of it?
   _____________________________________________________________
5. Why did Adam and Eve become afraid of Yahweh?
   _____________________________________________________________
6. How did Yahweh guard the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve left?
   _____________________________________________________________
7. What were Adam and Eve's first two sons' names?
   _____________________________________________________________
8. Who was the one brother angry at and why?
   _____________________________________________________________
9. What did one son do to the other?
   _____________________________________________________________
10. What was Adam and Eve's third son's name?
    _____________________________________________________________

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CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ADAM AND EVE

Make sure you print this out to fill in the answers!

Crossword Clues

(We used the New International Version)

ACROSS

3. What Adam gave to all the creatures (Genesis 2:20).

6. Tree of knowledge of _____ and xxxx (Genesis 2:9).

7. Yahweh made woman from one of Adam's _____ (Genesis 2:21).

9. Where Adam and Eve lived (Genesis 2:15).

11. One of Adam's sons (Genesis 4:1).

13. One of Adam's sons (Genesis 4:25).

14. Tree of knowledge of xxxx and ______ (Genesis 3:5).

15. The Garden was guarded with a flaming ________ (Genesis 3:24).

DOWN

1. Yahweh said not to eat of the tree of ________________ (Genesis 2:17).

2. Adam was Eve's _____________ (Genesis 3:6).

4. Who tempted Eve (Genesis 3:1)?

5. Adam and Eve ____ from Yahweh (Genesis 3:8).

8. The first clothing (Genesis 3:7).

10. Adam and Eve hid because they were ________ (Genesis 3:10).

12. One of Adam's sons (Genesis 4:2).

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Memory Verse

So Yahweh thy Elohim banished
him from the Garden of Eden to
work the ground from which
he had been taken.
Genesis 3:23

HalleluYAH!