Genesis 3:1-24
I read this last year while looking at the Essential 100 passages (E100) and thought a lot about blaming others and not taking responsibility - and of course lying and conniving. This time as I read this all that is still there and yet there are more things that stand out to me today.
My husband has described Adam and Eve as teenagers - you've met teenagers, they always think they know what is best and that rules don't apply to them...interesting idea and well, not really at odds with our reading. The Garden is young, the world is young and Adam and Eve are young yet too. But, this is not what I am thinking about today.
I was stopped at the point where Eve says the serpent deceived her-and I just don't see it. The deception was in the serpent's mind but his words were clear and Eve found them appealing. What do we read here?
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
The apple was all of those things - not inherently bad of its own, what was the stumbling block for her/them/us was that she chose to go against God's instructions, to do it her way, this was not a deception of the serpent, it was a choice on her part. What happened after that was just pointing fingers and not taking responsibility for her/their actions.
Last time I was writing about this I found the idea that Adam and Eve not only wished to be like God, what they really wished was to BE God they wanted to call the shots and direct their destiny, and what they found instead was the breaking of the relationship, a separation. When we put our will ahead of that of God, we step outside his providence, we deny the relationship that can be and change it into something all about ourselves. No wonder Adam and Eve found themselves naked-they no longer walked in Gods presence under his protection they were in fact alone -for the first time.
Up until that time there was no evil - they knew no evil because it wasn't there, once they conceived of it, it stayed with them. This self willed life outside of God's presence was not perfect it was not in God's will. It was hard work, sad and lonely work and it was a purposeful walking away from God. The only deception was that the outcome was hidden from Eve and Adam, they had no idea what their actions would lead to. No, they wouldn't be God, they wouldn't be like God, they would be alone and outside of his presence and the relationship would be strained because of it.
Once that happened it was not possible to get back in relationship by our own. We would need help.
Peace.
-see you tomorrow
(a link to last year's blog on this topic)
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