Dispensation Bible Study #2

Dispensation of Innocence

Gen 2:15-25 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

In the beginning of time, God created the first man, Adam. Man was different than all of the animals, and was made in the very image of God (Genesis 1:27). God took this prized creation and placed him in a perfect paradise, the Garden of Eden. Here God gave Adam his first commandment: of every tree in the garden man could eat except one tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was off limits to man because it would bring death! Notice that God told him that it would bring death the very day that he ate of it! All Adam had to do to be saved was simply obey this simple commandment.

Gen 2:18-25 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Adam had the God given ability to rule his world with his intellect or mind. God also created the first woman as a helpmeet for Adam named Eve. They dwelled together in this beautiful paradise and Adam had dominion over everything in the garden. Nakedness was not shameful during the dispensation of Innocence, and the climate of the pre-flood world caused the temperature to be perfect year around. Life was simple and salvation was simply based on whether or not they were OBEDIENT TO GOD’S WORD that He had commanded them. Into this perfect picture entered Satan in the form of a serpent:

Gen 3:1-3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

The serpent came to Eve with a question about God’s Word. Even today Satan tempts the believer by placing doubt about what God’s Word. That is why this Bible Study is so important! Notice that Eve knew the commandment that Adam had been given from God. Undoubtedly, Adam had told Eve of this commandment and how important it was. Either Adam or Eve had added a condition that God had not stated: “neither shall ye touch it.”

Gen 3:4-7 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 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. 6 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. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

When Eve ate of the fruit, she turned and gave it to her husband which verse 6 states was with her! Eve’s sin was different from Adam’s. How? Eve was deceived into thinking that she really was doing something that was beneficial to her and Adam. When she touched the fruit and did not die, she went ahead and took a bite. A misinterpretation of God’s Word led to the first sin! A misinterpretation of God’s Word will still lead to sin today! Adam was not deceived, but knew exactly what God had said, and yet still ate of the fruit. Adam should have stopped the entire situation but did not!

Gen 3:8-13 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

An immediate result of sin was to try to clothe themselves, and immediately hide themselves from the presence of God! Obviously Adam and Eve had an awesome relationship with God! In the “cool of the day” God came to talk and commune with His prized creation and, this time, they were hiding from God instead of waiting for Him. God knew that they had sinned but wanted to see if they had realized it for themselves. Even today restoring our relationship with God still begins with confession that we have sinned. God knows every one of our sins but still wants to hear us say that we realize we have sinned!

God had said in Genesis 2:17 that “in the day thou eatest” of the tree man would die, but we see Adam and Eve still physically alive and hiding and talking to the Lord. Adam did not physically die later in the day either because the Scriptures say that he lived to be 930 years old (Genesis 5:5)! Adam did not die mentally either, because he was able to think and reason after eating the fruit. God cannot lie, so what part of Adam died the day that he ate of the fruit?

Man is made of three parts: Body, Mind (or soul), and Spirit. Our body is the part of us that feels pain and that we can physically see and touch. Our mind or soul is the part of us that thinks thoughts and remembers (or forgets) information. We also have another part of us that God placed inside of us called our “spirit.” The spirit of man is the part of man that God placed inside of man to recognize that there is a God. Have you ever been in a church service or other place where you could “feel” the presence of God? Think back to that time and ask yourself this question: “what part of me actually felt God?” It was not your physical body because you could not physically reach out and “grab a piece of God.” It was not your mind or something that you figured out intellectually either. The part of you that recognized the presence of God is your “spirit.” Adam and God could have a close relationship because Adam’s spirit (before he sinned) was “alive.” When Adam ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, something did die that very day: his spirit. What had been alive and enabled man to have a close relationship with God “died” or went into a dormant state. The Apostle Paul referred to this spiritual death in the letter to the Roman church:

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Because Adam sinned, and every person who had an earthly father is a descendant of Adam, his sin was passed on to us. We did not only inherit the sin of Adam, though, we also inherited the death that was a result of sin. We are all born with a dormant, “dead” spirit that does not have a close relationship with God. This dead spirit is not necessarily our fault, but was passed down from Adam. As we will see during this Bible Study, God can now revive our dead spirits and renew the relationship that we lost because of Adam’s sin because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. As with every dispensation, the Dispensation of Innocence ended with judgment:

Judgment for the serpent:

Gen 3:14-15 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The serpent probably at this time had feet and legs and was able to walk, but from this time on, the serpent would have to slither along on the ground. God also placed an enmity, meaning “extreme dislike,” between the serpent and the woman. Most women still hate snakes!

Judgment for Eve:

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Most likely the woman at this time only had one or two menstrual cycles a year. Because the Bible states that God greatly multiplied her “sorrow and conception.” In addition, child bearing would now be a painful experience. Because of her deception, woman also would become emotionally dependent upon man.

Judgment for Adam:

Gen 3:17-19 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Adam also was cursed, and the ground which to this point had brought forth fruit naturally and easily would be cursed for his sake. Only through extreme labor and work would Adam grow enough food for his family! Also physical death was promised because of Adam’s sin.

So the first dispensation, Innocence:

Began with a promise of paradise forever

Ended with a judgment that affected all those involved.

For salvation man had only to OBEY the word of the LORD!

The event that led to the ending of the dispensation was Adam’s sin.

The dispensation probably lasted less than a year.

The dispensation did not provide for the regeneration of man’s now dead spirit.