Was Adam with Eve when she spoke to the serpent (Genesis 3:6)?

The woman could have been protected from her serious fall if she had referred the matter to her husband, who had been given the place of headship. Because she ignored this she was deceived into deliberate disobedience to God. She saw the tree was good for food: it appealed to her taste. It was pleasant to the eyes: it appealed to her sight. It was desirable to make one wise: it appealed to her pride (See 1 John 2:16). She therefore trusted her own inclinations and ignored the word of God (v. 6). Before consulting her husband she ate the fruit of the tree. Then she gave some to her husband, who also ate of it. She was deceived, but he knew better: he sinned knowing well he was wrong (1 Tim. 2:14). Perhaps sympathy for his wife also prompted him. It is useless to ask what might have happened if he refused to eat after she had eaten: we do not know, for both of them were guilty of disobedience. Their eyes were opened to become ashamed of their nakedness (v. 7). Thus the work of conscience is to expose us to ourselves. By Adam's fall he acquired a conscience, and all mankind has inherited this. Every culture in the world, whether high or low has since been afflicted by a guilt complex, and cannot escape it by any other means than the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Eve goes on in the way of sin. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat," in positive and known disobedience to God's command, acting on the present enjoyment without any regard to consequences. And now she becomes the active instrument of sin, "and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat," v. 6. The man was not deceived (1 Tim. 2:14); but more shame to him in following the woman (who was deceived), contrary to the truth of God. Natural affection often becomes the means of drawing the heart away from God.

The lie did its deadly work in the soul of Eve. She believed the devil and distrusted God, hence the temptation of the forbidden fruit assailed her in all its force. It appealed to the lust of the flesh in her, for she saw that it "was good for food." It appealed to the lust of the eyes for "it was pleasant to the eyes." It appealed to the pride of life, for it was "a tree to be desired to make one wise." Under this threefold appeal "she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat."

All this length the woman, in her first and only answer to the serpent, goes. He can thus go further, and step at once into the place of authority with her which God has so plainly lost. He says, not "Ye shall not surely die" — for so much the woman had already said — but "Surely ye shall not die." Her feeble question of it becomes on his part the peremptory denial both of truth and love in God: "Surely ye shall not die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

How sure he is of his dupe! and she on her part needs no further solicitation: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good" — she was seeing through the devil's eyes now — "that the tree was good for food" — there the lust of the flesh was doing its work — "and that it was pleasant to the eyes" — there the lust of the eyes comes out — "and a tree to be desired to make one wise" — there the pride of life is manifested — "she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat."

The trap set by the serpent was cunningly devised. Verse 6 shows that the fruit of the tree had its natural appeal to the flesh. It was "pleasant" or "a desire," to the eyes, and further the lie of the devil so presented it as to appeal to pride. The elements of the world, according to 1 John 2:16, were all present, and in their cumulative effect overwhelmed the woman. She acted independently of God and of her husband. She took and did eat the fruit. She gave to her husband, who wrongfully accepted her lead in the matter, and he too disobeyed.

Eve goes on in the way of sin. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat" - in positive and known disobedience to God's command, acting on the present enjoyment, without any regard to consequences. And now she becomes the active instrument of sin - "and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (v. 6.) The man was not deceived (1 Tim. 2:14), but more shame to him in following the woman (who was deceived) contrary to the truth of God. Natural affection often becomes the means of drawing the heart away from God.

"When (and) the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that [it was] pleasant to the eyes, and the tree [was] desirable to make wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they joined together fig-leaves, and made themselves aprons (girdles)" (vers. 6, 7).

Let us then weigh the simple words in which God brings the solemn fact before us. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat" (ver. 6).

Eve by continuing to hear the tempter's words more and more lost the authority of God's word, which at first she knew clearly and felt to be paramount. But as she listened to one whose object was to draw her away from God and ensnare her into transgression, she became by degrees less sensitive as to God's honour and Satan's crafty malice. Was it so that after all God did not love man perfectly but reserved good from him? Perhaps too they might take this fruit, fair and excellent as it looked like other fruits in Paradise, without a blow so dreadful as death. God would not surely be so stern about so small a matter, He that gave them all else! And was it not strange that they (related so nearly to Himself, His offspring, Whose breath was their life-breath, made in His image, after His likeness) should be refused the knowledge of good and evil, to become so far like Himself — was it worthy of Him? Alas! Eve, when tempted was at length drawn away by lust, by the desire to have what God forbad, and was enticed. She used her eyes against the word, and saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes. Emboldened thus she reflected that the tree was desirable to make wise; and so the lust, having conceived, bears sin, as the sin, when fully completed, brings forth death. Compare James 1:11, 15; 1 John 2:16.

And there is no more tarrying as to the woman: her ear and her heart are gained completely. She sees with the devil's eyes, and is in full accord and fellow ship with him, and the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, come in at once. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat."

The Temptations. — The first man had yielded to the enemy's seduction through the instrumentality of his wife. Would the second man stand? The first fell by eating of the forbidden fruit, but having no excuse for what he did, for in the Garden of Eden he was surrounded by all that he could desire. He knew no want. To the pangs of hunger he was a stranger. The second man was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He did not go there without Divine and special guidance. A man, He kept the place of a man. Led by the Spirit, and only thus, He went into it. But He was also led by the Spirit in it during those forty days and forty nights, as Matthew expressed in Jewish phraseology the duration of time. At its close, and He had fasted all that time, the devil came to Him and assailed Him, who was found not only without human support or countenance, but hungry likewise. In three ways was He tempted. And as Luke presents the three temptations a moral order in them is observable, corresponding to those by which Eve had been seduced, which may be described in the language of Scripture as "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). She saw that the tree was good for food, was pleasant to the eyes, and was a tree to be desired to make one wise (Gen. 3:6). So she took of the fruit of it, and ate, and Adam after her. She was ensnared by that which John tells us is of the world. Would the second man refuse these, which were to Eve irresistible temptations, and overcome, where the first had failed? He did resist, manifesting the most perfect obedience to the Word of God. Adam and Eve had the word for their day. Eve knew it, and quoted it; but they did not keep it. Had they done that, it would have kept them. The second man found, and brought forth from the written word, all that was needful for one in His day, in the wilderness with the devil. God does not send any to warfare at their own charges.