In today's entry we'll discuss one of the most pivotal and dismal moments in the turn of human history: The Fall, in which we as a race first choice to turn away from God, and fall into sin. Adam and Eve's decision to go against God's will and do something they knew to be wrong sets up the rest of Biblical history. It is at that moment God chooses to lead us in a path of redemption. Genesis, Chapter 3 is the reason for all subsequent chapters and books in the Bible. In spite of man's disobedience and sinful nature God promises salvation for death. This comes in the New Testament in the form of Jesus Christ, God's only son who died on the cross without sin, so we may come back to God and find redemption in Him.
Before summarizing Genesis Chapter 3 it's important to revisit key scripture from Chapter 2, which explains why Adam and Eve's actions are sinful.
Genesis 2:15-17 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
So may ask 'why is it such a big deal that Adam and Eve chose to eat a piece of fruit from a tree?' It's a simple answer: Because God commanded Adam and Eve NOT to eat of that tree - this wasn't just an arbitrary command with no purpose. God wasn't simply trying to exert his authority just to be authoritarian, he had a purpose in commanding Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree. God knew that the tree was of the seed of sin and would show them both good and evil. He knew that with this knowledge comes temptation and a propensity to fall into sin, which leads to death. God knew that eating from the tree would lead us down a dark path. His instruction wasn't out of want to deprive humans, but out of love and want of fellowship with us.
In Chapter 3 we see the worst aspects of man's free will, the propensity to sin and fall into temptation. The chapter starts off by showing the manipulative power of evil, as Satan poses as a snake. "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made." Satan as the snake wants to turn man against God and does so subtly, by playing on Adam and Eve's emotions and rationality of thought. It appears friendly, helpful even, while really this is a guise in an effort to force man to commit sin and disobey God.
"He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'
Temptation starts off as doubt, doubt in God's word and HIS command. When the serpent (Satan) approaches Eve, he implies that God has selfish motives and forced humans to focus on their own motivations versus following the will of God.
"We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden neither shall you touch it, lest you die." But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
This shows that Eve knew that she would be going against God if she ate from the tree. However the serpent tempts her not by asking her if she wants to eat from the tree, but rather by directly contradicting God 'surely you will not die...' So temptation comes by first planting doubt and then to rejection of God's Word and then progressing to tempting Eve to become like God. The serpent does not challenge the woman's understanding of God's instructions, but calls God's integrity into doubt, suggesting that the real reason God doesn't want them to eat the forbidden fruit that He wants to keep them from becoming like Him. The serpent offers Eve the power to establish her own standard of right and wrong and to define truth for herself - putting her own self interest before the will of God. Ironically the selfish nature of sin, and turning against God isn't good for us - and ends up costing a high price - death.
Even subsequently gave into temptation, as God made man to have free will, and gave a portion of the fruit to Adam as well.
"She took of its fruit and ate, and also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths."
It should be noted that in Genesis 2:25 prior to eating the forbidden fruit, scripture states: "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."
The fruit made them immediately slip into a self-consciousness resulting in their union with God. They felt a feeling of separateness produced a sense of shame from breaking with God and falling into sin.
So it's bad enough they went against God's Will, however to top off, Adam and Eve hid from God, knowing what they did was wrong and self conscious without their clothing.
"...the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" and he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and i was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." he said, "Who told you that you were naked?" Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."
Okay so I know Eve didn't exactly help stop Adam from eating the forbidden fruit, but Adam knew it was wrong despite her tempting him and chose to eat the fruit anyway. I think as humans we do this a lot, we do things we know are wrong just because others egg us on or we are trying to do what others do. However in the end it's our decision whether or not to sin or stay true to God, and in trying to absolve oneself of blame like Adam did in the face of judgment is another sin in itself (in my opinion - and one we're all guilty of). Interestingly enough, Eve won't accept full guilt either:
"The serpent deceived me, and I ate"
Okay so the serpent was manipulating and tempting Eve, but we have the power to overcome temptation through faith in God and our own personal moral compass of right and wrong. The old adage "would you jump off a cliff if someone told you to?" has been overused, but it rings true here. Adam and Eve both knew they had gone against God and done something wrong, and yet they chose to do so anyway and then worked to absolve themselves of guilt by blaming third parties, temptors, but not the decision makers for the choice to sin.
God is obviously upset, not simply because they deceived him, which is a major reason within itself, but more importantly because he knows what pain and suffering knowledge of both Good and Evil can bring. God is good in his very nature. He has no evil within his make-up, however he knows of evil and its destructive nature. For once your know of evil the temptation of choice to do evil things over the morally right and good is always there, and a struggle for mankind.
In the final portions of this chapter, God curses the serpent, along with Adam and Eve for their sin. The ultimate punishment of sin is death. God promises immortal life if we obey him, sin is disobedience against God. Therefore in sinning, Adam and Eve will eventually return to the earth as dust, in death. This punishment is to teach Adam and Eve a lesson, and is out of love. God was betrayed by his own creation, however like a good father he punishes them for wrong, but starts to lead man back on a path of redemption. Although open to interpretation, many scholars think that 3:15 refers to the promise of Christ, who will be born through a descendant of Eve, and in living a life without sin, HE will defeat the serpent, Satan and allow man to find his way back fully to God and the hope of eternal life.
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the 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 greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain 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 from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of 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."
The chapter ends with Adam and Eve being banished from the Garden of Eden as punishment for their sin. For sin keeps us away from God and therefore they could not remain in the Garden.
One major question readers of this portion of scripture ask is "Why?" Why did God create man to sin and why did he put the Tree of Good and Evil in the Garden of Evil. It's not an easy question to answer however it all comes down to free will. God knew that we had the propensity to sin, but in free will he also gave us the choice to chose Him and good. Sure God could have created us to be immune to sin, but would that really be right? How can one be truly moral when they don't have the power to Choose? Freedom is God's gift to us: Freedom to Think, Freedom of Conscience, Freedom to follow God and Freedom, unfortunately to disobey him. What virtue is there in following God, if in our make-up there is no other inclination, but to do so. God wants fellowship with us, but he didn't want us to not have the choice to be with him - that love would be false and forced on our parts. He wanted us to choose good and follow him.
As for why the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was in the Garden, well it goes back to free will and design. By omitting it, God would have created a situation where man could not choose to follow him, but rather have no alternative. God knew that man might be tempted to eat of the tree, however he hoped we would choose to follow His instruction to eat of the seed of sin. It was not God who forced us to sin by placing the tree in the Garden, but by our own choice to allow ourselves to give into temptation and go against God.
Did God know we would fall into sin when he created us? Why create us if he knew that we would disobey him? God loves us, and wants fellowship with us. God knew the consequences of man disobeying him. He knew sin creeps in and shuts down happiness, and causes suffering and despair, but through it God also designed to lead man back to him and eventual work to offer eternal salvation and redemption of the world through Jesus Christ. Throughout the Old and New Testaments one theme is prevalent - man is tempted and goes against God, God uses his authority when needed to instruct man why his actions were wrong, but continues to edge us closer to redemption. God is the only way we can absolve ourselves of sin. God is the only way we can have the strength of disposition NOT to give into temptation and to turn away from sin.
It's important to realize that God does NOT cause the world's suffering, that comes from evil, and our nature to fall into sin. However we have the choice and the ability to turn to good and God is purely Good.
In the next few days I will examine Cain and Abel and Noah. I'm running a little behind on my readings, but will post ASAP.
Upcoming Posts:
- Cain and Abel, Noah and the Flood
- Feature on Episcopal Relief Development
- Weekly Lectionary readings
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