What actually happened in the Garden of Eden? There is a pseudepigraphical book, The Life of Adam and Eve, but I am not referencing that. The first temptation of mankind in the perfect environment shows that we cannot blame our surroundings or call ourselves victims of circumstance. Even if everything was perfect, we aren't and are vulnerable to sin; we would do the same as Adam and Eve and therefore confirm ourselves in sin to stand in solidarity with Adam, the head of the human race.
God had placed two special trees in the Garden of Eden: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam knew not their purposes. God put one off-limits because Adam may not have been mature enough for it yet and He intended him to learn these things at a specified time or in the fullness of time, or whenever! But this is merely speculation and we shouldn't second-guess God.
Eve wasn't looking for trouble, she was just curious, probably that a serpent could talk, or maybe she was too naive to think anything unusual. I wonder how much Adam had told her since she added to God's Word says, "And don't touch it." It was referring to the forbidden fruit, whatever it was, we don't know for sure. NB: Temptation is not sinning (Jesus was tempted of the devil too), but when we yield it brings forth the fruit of sin. Doubt often extends with augmentation or exaggeration and this leads to lies and distortions of truth. Satan saw her coming and said, "Hath God said?" immediately calling God's Word into question and planting the seeds of doubt in her vulnerable mind (for the devil seeks whom he may devour).
The temptation went like this: Eve was confused about the Word of God, then doubted it, then believed Satan, then she finally disobeyed God took of the fruit and gave some to her husband who then joined her willingly, for he was with her.
The question is not so much the act itself as the motive: why do it? God looks on the heart (cf. Prov. 21:2). Satan gave her incentive in promising, "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." This sounds awfully tempting and alluring to anyone to be a god and today people seek to be gods rather than godly. But it's the big lie of Satan. The insinuation was that God was holding out on her! Was she missing out on something that she deserves to have? Remember, Adam was nearby and failed to inform her and interfere, for he didn't dare cross her and chose to be on her side through thick and thin, even death.
God said that Adam was guilty of "listening to [Eve]." They weren't choosing good vs. evil, for they were innocent, they were choosing to disobey God and actually, their own wisdom, delights, wills, enjoyment, fulfillment, and purpose apart from God's. They rejected God's plan! People still do things their own way: "We all like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned each to our own way" (Isa. 53:6). We are like the Israelites in Judges who had no king and each did what was right in his own eyes.
This prototype sin that we all have confirmed ourselves in went as follows according to scholars:
Adam rejected God's authority, doubted His goodness, disputed His wisdom, repudiated His justice, contradicted His faithfulness, and spurned His grace. But haven't we all done that too? The point of Adam's sin was that he only had one simple rule to obey to keep in good standing with God and enjoy a life of paradise on earth, and he couldn't keep that; what does that tell you about man-made rules, religion and our nature? If he couldn't keep one simple rule, what makes him think he can keep any?
This worldly scandal had eternal implications--it changed the course of human history! They were expelled from paradise--the Garden of Eden for their own good (lest they eat of the tree of life and live forever in sin). This was mercy. God is also a God of judgment and must do something about the sin committed as promised ("the day you eat it, you shall die"). There would be no second chance or redo! But God again in mercy delayed the culmination of death some 930 years, but the process of death began while they commenced to aging and growing old.
All in all, this episode wasn't just a phase they went through, but the suffering had just begun and the earth was now cursed for Adam's sake and Eve's pain in childbearing would begin. They finally learned the great lesson of life of cause and effect and even though they tried to blame others, they had to admit that it was their own fault and they had failed God. God has been against the blame game ever since (cf, Isa 58:9). Finally, the whole failure of freedom should be called "Edengate," or perhaps more appropriately: "Applegate." Soli Deo Gloria!
About Me
- Karl Broberg
- I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.