Recently I was having a conversation with an older relative and was on speaker phone so her husband would be included. We were talking about the authority of the Christian and how easy it is to forget what we have in God and by Jesus’ sacrifice. Somehow, the conversation went to Adam and Eve, and the husband shouts out, “It was Eve’s fault.” This thought is a common teaching on the churches but it rubbed me the wrong way and bothered me for days. To put my mind at rest, I decided to look closer at the Fall of Man.
Side note: Man and Woman were not named until after the Fall so I will be referring to them as man and woman going forward.
Genesis 3 KJV
Now the serpent was more subtle 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?” V. 1
I am curious why Satan approached the woman rather than the man. He must have known something about man and woman that enabled him to gain more headway in this approach.
And the woman said unto the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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.” V. 3
If you look back in Genesis 2, you will see the order of events; God created man, God commanded man to not eat the fruit of that particular tree, then God decided man should not be alone and formed woman. Woman’s ears did not hear that command but she knew the command. Man must have told her the command He had given him or possibly they talked about it with God? The “how” she knew, I do not know but it is clear that she knew it was wrong even though she was not physically present for the original command.
And the serpent said unto the woman, “Ye shall not surely die: 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.” V. 4,5
Satan was not lying to woman here. Later in verses 22 and 23 God states that this has happened. He even states that if they eat of the Tree of Life, they will live forever?
“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”
So, Satan was in fact using the best reasoning to entice her to think a different way. He used the correct words but twisted the reasoning to make her think she would not die, at least not in the way he was communicating death.
Let’s continue…
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. V. 6
Okay, wait a minute… man was right there with her? Man was definitely there when God made the command to not eat of the fruit of that tree. God even gave him the authority over all living creatures. He could have just told him to go away. But he didn’t, he was there, listening and waiting. He watched his wife being tempted and deceived by something he had authority over. But he did nothing. Let’s just say it, man was passive.
I think it’s interesting to note that the Bible states “the eyes of them both were opened” after man ate rather than saying woman’s eyes were opened after she ate.
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. 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. V. 7,8
The result of their disobedience? They were no longed clothed in God’s Glory and they knew fear. Fear was never in God’s plan for mankind and now that they were no longer free of sin, God could no longer spend close intimate time with them without destroying them. Sin is destroyed by Love and God is pure Love. His presence would have destroyed man and woman.
The moral of this story would be to be careful not to be deceived by rationalizations and never, in any circumstance let yourself be passive. Woman needs to listen, watch and take in the data and come together with her partner (man) to make a decision; together. Man needs to be open to woman’s offering of information, accept responsibility and to lead courageously.
While they live several hours away, I hope to have a face to face discussion with these relatives soon about what I learned and to gain any additional insight they may have.
The Bold Truth 