We studied this at our Bible study Tuesday night. We had an interesting discussion.
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 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." Genesis 2:15-17
Where was Eve when this command was given?
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Genesis 2:21-22
Oh, there she is.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25
Side note.
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'"
So much is made of her adding to God's commandment her: "nor shall you touch it" as if that matters.
Let's consider that she probably heard the command second hand. From Adam.
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5
A liar projects on God that He is a liar. Did Eve even have exposure to an untruth until now?
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. Genesis 3:6
The fruit looked the same as it always did. It was not stenciled with captions that said "desirable to make one wise". The serpent had "sold" her. Changed her perception. Marketing.
She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6
Was Adam standing there the whole time? He had the command given to him.
Later, at the trial:
12 Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." Genesis 3:12
Blamed her. And God!
13 And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Genesis 3:13
God seems to take Adam's side. But he never says "I told you not to" to her, like he later does Adam.
17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, Genesis 3:17
But then he let's Adam know, it's on him for listening to his wife instead of God. This has been a repeating theme through history. Ahab and Jezebel comes to mind.
It's my belief that Adam could have asked God what he should do after discovering Eve ate the fruit. Adam was sinless and could have sacrificed himself for her.
But he didn't ask.
Have we been giving Eve a bad rap? She's been portrayed as the seductress, yet I see her as a victim. No excusing her disobedience. We all do it.
Interesting questions. Thoughtful. It had never thought about the fact that Eve got the info second hand. But then so have we. We have enough to know what's right. I believe she did, too. But Satan knew the weak link to target. Some have suggested that Adam loved her so much that he was willing to take whatever befell her, too. Especially since she did not drop dead on the spot. Had Adam seen death? He walked with God. Could he conceive of not doing that?
ReplyDeleteBAYSIDER
You're right. She didn't drop dead immediately.
DeleteWe commonly think there was no death before Eve ate, but why then was there a Tree of Life? Did they need to eat of that?
We had discussed that Adam traded the God Who visited daily for the woman that was made of him and that he lived with.
What's the concept of realizing you are naked?
Does naked mean something different to us?
Did they previously have an aura or glow about them they noticed gone with their innocence?
I'm always troubled by translations. In my gut I feel we lose much because of what the translator does and does not want us to read/understand.
ReplyDeleteDie? Perish?
Today? Eternity?
I just hope the promise of Salvation is true.
I have a Bible Study in my home and this is some of the fruit of it. And we have a lot of different translations.
DeleteAnd we discuss the various takes on certain words and find that in general they are just a different way of saying the same thing.
We usually look at the underlying Greek or Hebrew word with a lexicon.
The first commandment given to man was to be fruitful, to multiply and replenish the Earth. Is the first commandment the most important? The second commandment and the first conflicted. Adam and Eve were placed into a dilemma.
ReplyDeleteThat's in chapter 1, after Eve was created. But in chapter 2, before Eve was created, Adam (sans Eve) was given the first commandment, "Don't eat of that one tree"
DeleteAs to your point that Adam could have sacrificed himself for Eve instead of sinning (if he had asked God), there may have been the possibility.
ReplyDeleteHowever, remember also that the second Adam exists eternally and had (thankfully) a plan for all of us. For Adam and Eve, it consisted of a sacrifice by God's own hand and a covering for them. For us, it consists of a covering by the blood of His Son.
Romans 5: 12-21
Delete1 Corinthians 15: 21-26
Dumb question: Has anyone heard from Bunkerville?
Delete