April (2 of 2): Small Group Discussion Guide
Understanding Eve
Eve was created from Adam — but does that mean she was created for him? Why did the serpent approach her instead of Adam? We've lost sight of who Eve truly was, and it’s cost us more than we realize. We've buried Eve under lies of inferiority — and it’s poisoned how we see women, leadership, and even the image of God. It’s time to reclaim the strength, wisdom, and fierce hope God planted in her from the very beginning.
Announcements
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Resources
Peppiatt, Lucy. Women and Worship at Corinth: Paul's Rhetorical Arguments in 1 Corinthians. T&T Clark, 2015.
Witherington, Ben. Women and the Genesis of Christianity. Baker Academic, 2008.
Sermon Video
Sermon Text
Genesis 3:1-20
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring[a] and hers;
he will crush[b] your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
20 Adam[c] named his wife Eve,[d] because she would become the mother of all the living.
Genesis 2:25
Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Sermon Quotes
Under the reign of sin, we feel shame about our bodies; and Adam and Eve covering their genitals is a sign that that shame is connected to gender. Sin means that human beings want — and sometimes need — to hide from themselves and from one another. - Beth Felker Jones, Faithful
Women, meanwhile, have become more suspicious of men. Imagine how girls and younger women feel: at a vulnerable age, still learning about the world and already surrounded by the message—and, in plenty of cases, the reality—that boys and men are dangerous. Imagine, too, how some boys and young men feel: just figuring out who they are and already getting the message that they’re not trusted. - Daniel Cox, Center for American Life
But being like God was Eve’s true calling as a woman. This was God’s design for her. The passion of her heart was to be like God. The serpent couldn’t possibly have offered her anything more desirable. - Carolyn Custis James, Lost Women of the Bible
The trouble with Eve is that we picked up the wrong pieces of her to tell us who we are. We’re left with the impression of Eve as a temptress, which leads to the belief that women are morally weak and, if given the chance, will bring men down or seize control. This is a fallen view of women. - Carolyn Custis James, Lost Women of the Bible
After Eve and Adam ate the forbidden fruit, relationships between men and women collapsed from unity into tension and conflict. Instead of being valued as the man’s strongest ally and spiritual resource, the ezer became an object to possess and control. The noble calling to rule and subdue the earth in God’s name was perverted, as male and female tried to rule and subdue each other. -Beth Falker Jones, Faithful
Discussion Questions
In what ways have you seen men and women become isolated or suspicious of one another? How can the church embody a different way—one of reconciliation and mutual respect?
What does the phrase “naked and unashamed” mean? What would our world look like if we could be vulnerable and exposed but unafraid of shame? Is there a way for your small group (and our church) to reflect this reality?
How has the gender “power struggle” or suspicion impacted your life?
Why do you think God curses the serpent and the ground, but never Adam and Eve? How is God being descriptive (instead of prescriptive) towards Adam and Eve after the Fall?
How can you begin to build trust between the genders again? How can you begin to reforge the “sacred alliance” that was lost in Eden?
