How to introduce the Bible Story
If you’d like to make this an extra special time you can gather together with blankets, pillows, and even light or turn on a candle (making sure to blow it out when finished). Depending on how many children you have you could have one be responsible for getting the pillows, one responsible for helping you to light the candle, and one responsible to blow out the candle. You can change the jobs between the children each week.
You can say: “Today we are learning about the story of the sneaky snake and they lie that he tells Eve. We will learn about what Eve chooses to do and what God does.”
Read the Story:
Sneaky Snake Adam and Eve lived happily together in their beautiful new home in the garden. And everything was perfect, for a while. Until the day when everything went wrong.
God had a horrible enemy. His name was Satan. Satan had once been the most beautiful angel, but he didn’t want to be just an angel, he wanted to be God. He grew proud and evil and full of hate, and God had to send him out of heaven. Satan was angry and was looking for a way to hurt God. He wanted to stop God’s plan. So he disguised himself as a snake and waited in the garden.
Now, God had given Adam one rule: “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that is in the middle of the garden.” God told them. “Because if you do, you’ll think you know everything. You’ll stop trusting me. And then death and sadness and tears will come.”
You see, God knew if they ate the fruit, they would think they didn’t need him. But God knew there was no such thing as happiness without him, and life without him wouldn’t be life at all.
As soon as the snake saw his chance, he slithered silently up to Eve. “Does God really love you?” the serpent whispered. (Serpent is another name for snake). “If he does, why won’t he let you eat the nice, juicy, delicious fruit? Poor you, perhaps God doesn’t want you to be happy.”
Eve said to the snake, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 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.’” The snake said, “You will not certainly die,” God knows that when you eat from the tree your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” The snake continued to say, “Just trust me. One small taste, that’s all, and you’ll be happier than you could ever dream.”
Eve picked the fruit and ate some. And Adam ate some, too. And a terrible lie came into the world. It would never leave. It would live on in every human heart, whispering to everyone of God’s children, “God doesn’t love me.”
Adam and Eve had always been naked, but now they felt naked and wrong, and they didn’t want anyone to see them. So they hid. Later that evening, as God was walking in the garden, he called to Adam, “Where are you?” Usually, Adam and Eve loved to hear God’s voice and would run to him. But this time, they ran away and hid from him. “Where are you, Adam?” God called. “Hiding. I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I told you not to eat from?” Adam said, “Eve made me do it!” The God said to Eve, “What is this you have done?” Eve said, “The snake made me do it.” And a terrible pain came into God’s heart. His children hadn’t just broken the one rule; they had broken God’s heart. They had broken their wonderful relationship with him. And now he knew everything else would break. God’s creation would start to unravel, and come undone, and go wrong. From now on everything would die, even though it was all supposed to last forever.
Sin had come into God’s perfect world. And it would never leave. God told the snake, “Because of what you have done you will always crawl on your belly.” God told Adam and Eve, “Because of the choice you made you will have to leave the garden now.” Before they left the garden, God made clothes for his children to wear.
Bible Story Questions & Answers
Talk about what the Bible story was about by asking the children questions. You can decide ahead of time how you want them to answer the questions. I like to have the children raise their hand to answer the question. If they are incorrect that is fine. You can say what the answer is or ask: “Does anyone else have a thought or answer to the question?”
Questions to ask if you like:
- What are the names of the two people in the garden? (Adam and Eve)
- What is the name of God’s enemy? (Satan)
- Does Satan make good choices or bad choices? (Bad)
- What was the one rule that God told Adam and Eve not to do? (Do not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Some children may not be able to remember all of this and that is okay, accept their answers anyway.)
- Did the sneaky snake tell Eve that she could eat the fruit God told her not to eat? (Yes)
- Did Eve eat the fruit? (Yes)
- Did Eve listen and obey God? (No)
- Did Adam have some too even though he knew he wasn’t suppose to? (Yes)
- Once they ate the fruit did they hide in the garden? (Yes)
- Who were they hiding from? (God)
- Did God find them? (Yes)
- Did God think they made a good choice or a bad choice? (A bad choice)
- Why did God send Adam and Eve out of the garden? (Because they ate the fruit God told them not to eat)
- Did God still love them even though they made a bad choice? (Yes)
- Does God still love you when you make a bad choice? (Yes)
Prayer
While sitting on the floor with criss cross legs, have the children repeat after you. You can have them fold their hands and close their eyes or just sit quietly and say after you. Following is a prayer written out that you can use, or you can make up your own.
Dear God (children repeat)
Thank you for this day (children repeat)
Please help me to listen (children repeat)
and obey you. (children repeat)
I love you (children repeat)
Amen. (children repeat)
