One of my absolute favourite books in the Bible is Genesis. I can read it over and over again and never get tired of it. In fact, the more I read it, the more I realise how much I missed the previous time. It amazes me how God can use the same passage to reveal different truths in different seasons of my life.
One year during Bible Study
Fellowship (BSF)—which I absolutely love—we were studying Genesis. I remember
quietly thinking to myself,
"Genesis? What exactly are we
going to learn that we don't already know?"
There it was again.
Spiritual arrogance. 😄
We hadn't gone very far before God
humbled me.
Most of us know the story.
God created Adam, placed him in the
Garden of Eden, and gave him one clear instruction:
"You are free to eat from any
tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil..." (Genesis 2:16–17)
Later, God created Eve, and then
came the moment that changed human history—the encounter between Eve and the
serpent.
Before I get to what completely
changed my understanding of this passage, let me quickly share three lessons
that stood out to me.
Lesson
One: Know God's Word Beyond the Words
The serpent didn't begin with a lie.
He began with a question.
"Did God really say...?"
That is still one of his greatest
strategies today.
We must know God's Word—not just
memorize verses, but understand them.
Think about mathematics.
You may know that 6 × 8 equals 48,
but if someone gives you a word problem and you don't understand how
multiplication works, you'll struggle.
The same is true spiritually.
When Satan tempted Jesus in the
wilderness, he quoted Scripture. Jesus wasn't fooled because He understood not
only what God's Word said but how it should be rightly applied.
The devil knows Scripture.
The question is...
Do we?
Lesson
Two: Don't Entertain Conversations God Has Already Settled
The serpent asked,
"Did God really say?"
The answer was simple.
Yes.
That should have been the end of the
conversation.
Not every question deserves a
debate.
Sometimes wisdom simply says,
"God has spoken."
Lesson
Three: Be Careful What You Keep Looking At
Genesis tells us that Eve looked at
the fruit.
She kept looking.
Until it became desirable.
Appealing.
Pleasing.
Temptation often grows because we
spend too much time looking at what we should have walked away from.
Now...
Here is the part I've been dying to
get to.
For years, if anyone had asked me
where Adam was while the serpent was speaking to Eve, I would probably have
said somewhere else in the garden.
Maybe under a tree.
Maybe tending the garden.
Maybe nowhere near the conversation.
If you grew up with My Book of
Bible Stories like I did, that's probably the picture in your mind too.
Well...
We were wrong.
Then God told me to notice something
I had somehow read over for years.
Genesis 3:6 says,
"She also gave some to her
husband, who was with her, and he ate."
Gbam!
Adam wasn't somewhere else.
He wasn't far away.
He was right there.
Standing beside his wife.
Listening to the conversation.
Watching the deception unfold.
And saying...
Nothing.
I must have read that verse dozens
of times before it finally hit me.
So the question was no longer,
"Where was Adam?"
The real question became,
"Why didn't Adam do
anything?"
That one observation completely
changed how I read Genesis 3.
In many premarital counselling
classes, men are taught that they are to be the Spiritual Leaders (Priests), Protectors,
and Providers of their homes.
Looking at Genesis 3, Adam appears
to have failed in that responsibility.
He had received God's instruction
directly.
He knew exactly what God had said.
Yet while the serpent questioned
God's Word and deceived his wife, Adam remained silent.
But then God told me to notice
something else.
When God came into the garden after
they had sinned, whom did He call first?
Adam.
Not because Eve hadn't sinned.
She had.
But because the original instruction
had been entrusted to Adam.
Leadership carries responsibility.
Then God asked Adam,
"Have you eaten from the tree
that I commanded you not to eat from?"
Adam answered,
"The woman You gave to be with
me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate."
I paused again.
Adam didn't simply blame Eve.
He indirectly blamed God.
"The woman You gave
me..."
Then God turned to Eve.
Her response?
"The serpent deceived me."
She blamed someone else too.
Interestingly, God never questioned
the serpent.
He simply pronounced judgment.
Earlier this year, while reading
Genesis with my children, I asked my husband,
"What do you think would have
happened if Adam had simply said, 'Lord, I sinned. I disobeyed You. I'm
sorry'?"
Of course, Scripture doesn't tell
us.
But I couldn't help wondering.
I also couldn't help wondering
whether Adam's response became the very first example of blame-shifting within
a family.
Leaders set the tone.
If a father constantly shouts when
he's angry, his children often learn that shouting is how problems are solved.
If he owns his mistakes, apologizes
sincerely, and responds with humility, those around him learn that too.
Leadership teaches far more by
example than by instruction.
That lesson has stayed with me.
Today, whenever my five-year-old son
does something wrong and immediately points at someone else, I gently stop him.
I tell him,
"Baba, be accountable."
"If you did it, simply say, 'I
did it. I am sorry.'"
Because accountability is not merely
admitting mistakes.
It is choosing truth over excuses.
One final observation.
Adam was not the first person to eat
the fruit.
But he was the first person God
called.
That has never left me.
Leadership is not simply about
authority.
It is about responsibility.
Whether we are husbands, wives,
parents, pastors, employers, employees, or leaders in any capacity, God has
entrusted people, opportunities, and responsibilities into our hands.
One day, like the servants in the
Parable of the Talents, each of us will give an account for what we did with
what He entrusted to us.
My prayer is that when God weighs
our stewardship, we will not be found wanting.
And if you're still on my husband's
team and insist Adam wasn't standing there...
Please go back and read Genesis 3:6 one more time. 😄 And pick your team mate