THE BOOK OF GENESIS
CHAPTERS 1, 2 AND 3
Most people
know that Adam and Eve were the first man and woman created by God.
Adam and Eve made choices that affect us today. As you recall,
from the Creation study, God created man on the sixth day out of the dust of
the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became
a living soul. Note: It doesn't say anything about a virus that progressed
into a fish that eventually turned into a chameleon that turned into a
chimpanzee that turned into a human which builds skyscrapers and space craft
and travels in space. That's all cute and all but let's be real. Which
theory is REALLY harder to swallow?
Now, God planted a garden in Eden and He put the man called Adam
there. And it was beautiful. Imagine it, pure, the first of everything
that God made in it, so clean and perfect. God told the man to take care of
it. And God said:
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die.
Then God thought it wasn't good for man
to be alone, so He made a help mate for him. God caused a deep sleep to
fall upon Adam and He took one of his ribs and then closed Adam's flesh. And
from that rib, God made a woman called Eve and brought her to the man. So,
a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife and
they shall be one flesh.
Let's take a second now, for a little
insight about the all too well known serpent. The devil, also known as
satan was an angel of God. He was one of the most beautiful angels in
heaven. He became jealous of God and wants to be God, but he knows that he
cannot be all good, so instead, he is all bad. He competes with God to win
people's souls by trying to get them to do bad things and join him. He will
try anything to get you to do what he wants. He has many faces and many
names. In the story of Adam and Eve, satan goes inside the serpent and
talks to Eve.
Now, the serpent (satan in disguise)
was trickier than any other beast in the garden and he asked Eve if God
truly said not to eat from any tree of the garden. Eve told the serpent
that they could eat of any tree except the tree in the middle of the
garden, and not to even touch it or else they would die. To this, the
serpent replies, You will not die! God knows that the day you eat
from that tree your eyes will be opened, and you'll be like gods, knowing
good and evil and will live forever.
When Eve heard this, she took the fruit
from the tree and ate it and then gave some to Adam. Note that it does not
indicate what type of fruit just that it was from the Tree of knowledge of
Good and evil. That means if Adam and Eve eat from this Tree they will know
the difference between good and evil and be able to be judged. It was a
trick of satan to have them and their offspring (US) punishable for sin.
Well, their eyes were opened all
right. And they realized that they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves
together and made themselves coverings. Then they heard God walking in the
garden, so they hid themselves in the trees. And God called to Adam ...
Adam shamefully answered, I heard your voice, and I was afraid because I was
naked and I hid myself.
Who told you that you were naked? God
asked. Have you eaten from the tree that I told you not to eat from? And
Adam said, The woman who you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the
tree and I ate it. And God said to Eve, What have you done? And the woman
said, The serpent tricked me and I did eat.
And the Lord said to the serpent,
Because you did this, you are cursed above all beasts of the field, and you
will crawl on your belly from now on and eat dust all your days. I will put
hate between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers, it shall
kick your head and you shall bite his heel.
And the Lord said to the woman, I will
make your pain great in bearing children and your husband shall rule over
you. Now, this I'm sure makes a lot of women want a different
interpretation, but people, there simply is no other way to interpret it.
God said the husband will be above the wife.
And the Lord said to Adam, because you
listened to the woman and disobeyed me, you shall work hard all your days
instead of the Earth producing at will.
Then 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 live for ever: (See
Trinity Study)
God sent them out of the garden
of Eden to till the ground that he was made out of. God set angels with a
flaming sword at the east of the garden to protect the tree of life.