In
Gn 3:6, the scene changes, and Adam is with Eve at the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil sometime after v5. Recall, I thought that the serpent originally
approached Eve at a “neutral” location in the Garden to camouflage its motive. He
might not be there physically in v6, but Satan is probably there because Eve is
going south fast. Eve succumbing to temptation is a similar process or pattern
for all who would give in to solicitation to evil found in Gn 3:6,
So
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [the lust of the flesh,
appealing to the physical appetites], that it was pleasant to the eyes [lust of the eyes,
appealing to the emotions, the aesthetic senses], and a tree desirable to make one
wise [the
pride of life, appealing to the mind and spirit of knowledge and spiritual
insight],
she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her,
and he ate (emphasis mine).
Listen
to James, the half-brother of Jesus, concerning temptation,
(Jas 1:13) Let
no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted
by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone [We
should dismiss the notion that Yahweh placed the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil in the Garden to tempt Adam and Eve! On the contrary, it was to test
their faithfulness to Yahweh! You find a similarity with Yahweh not driving out
all of the Canaanites during the time of Joshua to test Israel’s obedience to
Him (cf. Josh 23:11-13)]
(Jas
1:14) But
each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed [a fishing term meaning to capture or to catch with bait (2 Pet 2:14,
18)].
(Jas 1:15) Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
What we see today concerning practically every type of temptation or solicitation to evil known to man are similar characteristics James spoke about. According to John MacArthur in James 1:15, “Sin is not merely a spontaneous act, but the result of a process. The Greek words for ‘has conceived’ and ‘brings forth’ liken the process to physical conception and birth. Thus, James personifies temptation and shows that it can follow a similar sequence and produce sin with all its deadly results. While sin does not result in spiritual death for the believer, it can lead to physical death (1Cor 11:30; 1Jn 5:16).”
Some
commentators speculate that the serpent may have even approached Adam earlier
and got nowhere with him, and turned to solicit Adam’s helper to violate the
prohibition. After all, she did not hear about the forbidden fruit directly
from Yahweh but secondhand.
One
of the strategies of the enemy is to go after the stray rather than the pack,
divide and conquer, yes? Wolves do that. Look what is happening to our country
or the family unit, the hub of any civilization (cf. Mt 12:25)! Thus, it is my opinion that while Eve was alone somewhere in the Garden away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the serpent tempted her concerning the forbidden fruit. I am thinking that she didn’t go for it during her encounter with the serpent (Gn 3:1-5), but she was drawn to the
tree a little later in Gn 3:6, and she brought Adam with her. The serpent was
not present in a physical sense, but the seeds it planted hit paydirt – creating doubt!
By the way, the serpent approaching Eve (Gn 3:1) had nothing to do with her being inferior to Adam. This notion comes from the misinterpretation of 1 Tim 2:14 portraying Eve as more gullible. Gn 3:6b kind of tells the story about that idea, yes? They were both “gulpable!” God made woman after the man to be a suitable helper (Gn 2:18; 1 Tim 2:13; cf. 1 1 Cor 11:8-9).
We clearly see in Gn 3:6 that Eve assumed the leadership role (Gn 3:6a) while Adam subordinated his leadership role to Eve, his suitable helper (Gn 3:6b; cf. Gn 3:12, 17). Again, where I part ways with the interpretation of the herd, that Adam followed Eve, is because of v7a – Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked. A simultaneous result demands a simultaneous cause; there were two separate acts happening simultaneously, not sequentially. She picked two fruits and passed one to Adam, and the eyes of both of them were opened…
Indeed,
they both reversed the roles of the original order of creation (cf. 1 Tim 2:13); they both
violated the prohibition though Adam was not deceived by the serpent as Eve (I
Tim 2:14). In this pivotal moment, by abdicating his headship and willfully
choosing to disobey the Word of God in this matter by partaking of the
forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gn 3:6b), sin entered
the world along with death through Adam (cf. Rom 5:12-21). Recall, the words of
Dr. Michael Womack,
When you sin with knowledge, you invite all of
the consequences: personal, familial, and eternal.”
My friend, there is no greater illustration of why it does not pay to disobey Yahweh than right here with the fall of Adam and Eve! So simple was the prohibition that the violation of it unleashed an unimaginable torrent of hell upon the world! In stark contrast, oh, how simple is the command to be saved (Rom 10:13); that by obeying it, the unfathomable blessings of heaven are released to the individual who becomes a blessing to others rather than a reminder of disobedience! Selah.
As
was true of Adam and Eve is true of us; God never allows anything to enter our
lives without His approval. God never sets us up for testing without an out or
a way of escape (cf. 1 Cor 10:13). And though He allowed Satan through the
serpent to enter the Garden to tempt the couple, we cannot say that absolute infinite holiness would be complicit (cf. Jas 1:13; 1 Pet 1:15). If you struggle with that as some do (If God is God, why this or that?), give Yahweh
the benefit of the doubt as you learn more of Him. Yahweh is not playing games
with us; look at the cross at the cost for Him to reconcile our mistake,
not to mention that He loves (agapao) us (cf. Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8). We most certainly do not deserve such grace, mercy, or love.
The
tree of the knowledge of good and evil was as much a test to Adam as it was to Eve
during the whole garden time. This
tree provided Adam and Eve with a choice to either obey God’s Word and remain strong
and confident in Him or to doubt God and disobey His Word, yes? In a sinless environment, I might add!
Do
you recall any words of protest by Adam at the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil in Gn 3:6? What’s with that if Adam was the superior spiritual
one!? He wasn’t. Do we read Adam saying, “Don’t do it, Eve! I cannot violate
God’s will in the matter!” The only thing louder than silence was his and her chomp
on the forbidden fruit, and of course, he will attempt to pin the blame on Eve
and Yahweh (Gn 3:12)!
Again,
he threw Eve under the bus when he had to give an accounting to Yahweh. Adam
comes across as a victim (Gn 3:12), yes? You know she must have had a discussion with Adam about her
conversation with the serpent (cf. Gn 3:17, heeded the voice of your wife). It is not spelled out why Adam
heeded the voice of his wife as she gave him of the fruit of the tree, and he
ate the forbidden fruit which he was commanded not to do! Why do we sin with
knowledge knowing it is prohibited?
She
goes through the process of temptation with Adam not being deceived by it. Nonetheless, he bought the farm with his disobedience (he ate), knowing full well that he was warned not to eat it (cf. Cursed is the ground for your sake; in
toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life (Gn 3:17). Both thorns and
thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field (Gn 3:18). In the sweat of your
face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were
taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return (Gn 3:19).
If
v6 is interpreted as a sequential event: Eve touches the fruit and doesn’t die;
she plucks it; she eats it; she touches another fruit; she plucks it; she gives
it to Adam, and he eats it, then there is an obvious gap between them on when
the forbidden fruit was eaten. The problem with that supposed gap is the next
verse, the
eyes of both of them were opened (Gn 3:7)! This would suggest that both their
eyes were open as if it was a simultaneous event which doesn’t gel with v6
often interpreted as a sequential event. The text does not say that their eyes
were opened separately. This is why context is treated as the sovereign of
good hermeneutics!
A thought occurred to me. If v6 was a sequential event, why has not a theory emerged of Eve’s love for Adam? It is speculated on Adam’s love for Eve that he didn’t want his beloved wife to die alone. She decided to take the risk first before giving the forbidden fruit to her beloved Adam in the event things went south? You got to love those plug-ins that may contain a virus!
The reality is that they both saw their nakedness and were soaked in shame for the very first time (contrast Gn 2:25). Fearful and ashamed, they sewed girdles made of fig leaves to cover their nakedness and hid among the trees of the garden from the presence of Yahweh (Gn 3:7-8). Yeah, the words of the serpent rang loudly in Eve’s mind, God knows that in the day you eat of the forbidden fruit your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Gn 3:5). How is that working out for you, Eve?
Robert G. Lee
(1927-1960), a famous Baptist preacher, used to preach about the devil always
paying in counterfeit bills! It was a good day for Satan and his demonic troupe and not
so good a day (Gn 3:14, 15). Our adversary was allowed to win a significant battle in the Garden of Eden, but the serpent will
never win the war!
So,
let’s play the devil’s advocate and say what if Eve had eaten the fruit first
before Adam as some maintain in v6, a sequential event. Would not her eyes be
opened immediately for her to see Adam’s nakedness, as well as her own before she offered the forbidden fruit to her husband? And would not Adam be
offset by the confusion of Eve’s reaction to his/her nakedness though he could not
see their nakedness because he had yet to eat of the forbidden fruit? These are the questions laid bare!
For
me, the clause, then the eyes of both
of them were opened (Gn 3:7), to make any sense, would require that they ate the forbidden fruit practically at the same time,
two chomps sounding like one! Otherwise, you strain the text with speculative plug-ins. The timing of Gen 3:6 must be interpreted by the context of Gn
3:7 and not treated as a sequential event that Eve ate then Adam ate. The syntax of
Gn 3:6 should not be interpreted sequentially but rather simultaneously.
I
pursue this course of interpretation based on a conservative approach to hermeneutics (the art and
science of interpretation of Scripture) that when all else fails, context
prevails. In other words, context is sovereign in the final analysis of
interpreting Scripture. You often hear or read of those accused of violating the
context, ignorantly or willfully. By ignoring the context, you can “prove” just
about anything from Scripture, yes?
We have all done this unintentionally at one time or another; it’s part of the learning curve to think contextually. It’s the seedy characters intentionally manipulating, corrupting, and attacking the text of the essentials of the faith that you have to watch out for, particularly in deceiving others into believing that salvation is of works and not of grace (cf. Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5)!
In
the final analysis of this article, we can either agree to agree or agree to disagree, yes? This interpretation of mine does not rock the world of
conservative, historic Christianity. We still have one more part to go! Are you hanging with me to the end? <><
