1Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”
2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’”
4The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, 5for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 7Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. 8They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.
9Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
10The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
11God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14Yahweh God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
you are cursed above all livestock,
and above every animal of the field.
You shall go on your belly
and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will bruise your head,
and you will bruise his heel.”
16To the woman he said,
“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth.
You will bear children in pain.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17To Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to your wife’s voice,
and have eaten from the tree,
about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’
the ground is cursed for your sake.
You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.
18It will yield thorns and thistles to you;
and you will eat the herb of the field.
19You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground,
for you were taken out of it.
For you are dust,
and you shall return to dust.”
20The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. 21Yahweh God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
22Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” 23Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
The holiness of Yahweh is evident in the unique practices within Israel and in the role of the Levitical System. "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When a man consecrates a person to Yahweh in a vow."
The Levitical laws demonstrate the holiness of God. The Lord is perfect and pure and so requires the perfection of sacrifice before we can enjoy His presence forever (Genesis 3:21; Deuteronomy 32:3-4; Psalms 16:10-11; 40:6-8; 49:7-9; Hebrews 10:1-18). Because sinners are alienated from God’s holiness, the offering of the blood of the sacrifice satisfies the wrath of God against sinners (Romans 3:9-31; 5:6-11). The ritual laws required the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins, that is, to make atonement for souls (Leviticus 17:10-11, 14). The blood of animals was used as a type or symbol of the blood of Christ until Christ actually came to shed His own blood for our sins (Exodus 25:9, 40; 26:30; 27:8; Numbers 8:4; 1 Chronicles 28:9-19; Romans 3:25; Acts 14:16; 17:30-31; Hebrews 8:5; 9:6-10, 23-25; 10:1-18). The dietary laws made a distinction between clean and unclean animals, also to remind the people of the holiness of God (Leviticus 11:1-47; Deuteronomy 14:1-21). God is unique and distinct, and so the people who belong to Him were to be the same among all the peoples of the earth (Leviticus 11:44-45; Deuteronomy 4:1-8; 7:6-11). God is holy; therefore, His people were to be holy (Leviticus 11:44). Now that Jesus Christ has come, the following passages have a bearing on this issue: Mark 7:19; Acts 10:1-11:14; 15:1-29; Colossians 2:16-23; and 1 Timothy 4:1-5. The moral laws of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21) or the detailed moral statutes found elsewhere (Exodus 21-23; Leviticus 18 and 20) also demonstrated the holiness of God as opposed to the sinfulness of man. For example, the one who practices sexual immorality defiles himself and violates God’s holiness. The Lord said, “Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled (Leviticus 18:24),” and, “Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine (Leviticus 20:26).” The apostle made the same connection by saying, “Flee immorality…glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:18-20),” “if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master (2 Timothy 2:19-22).” Submission to God’s moral law is so vital that when disobedience is the practice, the Scripture says, “I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).” See also Romans 7:1-6; 13:14; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:9-11; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 5:1-13; Colossians 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 4:3; 2 Peter 2; and Jude 4.