Mon.’s Devo - The Fall and the Plan of Redemption

Read: Genesis 3:1-4:26; Matthew 2:13-3:6; Psalm 2;1-12; Proverbs 1:7-9 Satan chose the most shrewdest of the wild animals to embody and came to deceive the woman as a serpent. He asked the woman if God really told them that they couldn’t eat from any of the trees of the garden. That was when the woman should have walked away. Instead she engaged in conversation with the serpent and told him that they just couldn’t eat from the tree in the middle of the garden. They couldn’t touch it or they would die. That was not the truth either. The serpent then told the woman what would happen if she ate it…she would have eyes opened to see like God saw and she would know both good and evil. The woman looked again at the tree and saw how delicious the fruit appeared and wanted that knowledge so she took a bite. Adam was right there so when she didn’t die, he took a bite also. Their eyes were opened at the same time and they felt shame for their nakedness first time. They sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. God came to talk to Adam that evening and Adam hid in fear. God called Adam out of the shadows. Adam explained his shame of being naked and God asked him if he had eaten from the tree he commanded them not to eat. Adam confessed that the woman the Lord gave him gave it to him and he took a bite. The woman told God that the serpent deceived her so the serpent was cursed first. He was the source. He would be cursed above all the other animals and have to crawl on his belly. There would be hostility between Satan and the woman and between her offspring and his offspring. Man would strike Satan’s head but Satan would bruise man’s heel. The woman was cursed with pain in pregnancy and childbirth. She would desire to control her husband but he would rule over her. The ground was cursed for the man so it would be a struggle to grow food from it. He would have to work really hard to provide. Adam named the woman Eve which means “life-giver”. God banished Adam and Eve from the garden so they wouldn’t eat from the Tree of Life and live forever in that state. He placed mighty cherubim and a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Adam had sexual relations with his wife and she had two sons Cain which means “fabricator” and Abel which means “transitory vanity or mourning”. Both brothers offered a sacrifice to the Lord and God respected Abel’s, but rejected Cain’s. Cain ended up killing Abel because of his anger. Abel’s blood cried up from the ground bringing a curse on Cain. Cain would be a fugitive and a vagabond all his days on the earth. Everyone would want to kill him. Cain cried out to the Lord and said that his punishment was too great so God put a mark on Cain and said that whoever killed Cain would receive vengeance seven times. Cain went to live in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. Cain and his wife had Enoch who had Irad, who had Mehujael who had Methushael, who had Lamech. Lamech had two wives who had Jabal, Tubal-cain and Naaman. Lamech killed a man in self-defense and pled his own cause. He said that the person who tried to kill him would be punished 77-times. Adam had Seth to replace Abel. Seth had a son named Enosh meaning “mortal man”. Cain’s seed is associated with the seed of Satan and Abel and Seth’s seed was associated with God’s seed on the earth. In Matthew, once the wise men had left visiting with Mary and Joseph, they went home another way and didn’t return to tell Herod where the child was. God warned Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt because Herod would come to kill Jesus. He left that night and stayed in Egypt. Herod was furious when the wise men didn’t return. He ordered all the boys in and around Bethlehem two years and younger to be killed. After Herod died, the angel told Joseph it was safe to return and they ended up living in Nazareth as the prophecy foretold. John the Baptist began preaching for the people to repent of their sins and turn to God for the Kingdom of Heaven was near. He was the voice of one shouting in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. People walked for miles to hear his preaching and to be baptized for their sins. Lord, your plans always succeed and accomplish what they are suppose to do. Thank you for your great wisdom and mercy for humanity. Thank you that you love us and always had a plan of redemption for us.