With
the fall, came the anticipated (on Adam’s part) and the unanticipated (on the
part of both) consequences from violating the one and only prohibition from
Yahweh (Gn 2:16-17). Yahweh could not have been any clearer by His words; the
one forbiddance was salient and severe. We would have thought that the very
first mention of death in the prohibition would have provided, the father and
mother of us all, an adequate deterrent in violating God’s will?
It
also advises that the Creator was taking the infraction of this prohibition
very seriously. The penalty in and of itself suggests that there were other unknown
ramifications to them but not to Yahweh to warrant the severity of violating His
one, “Don’t do it! You might ask yourself, “What were they thinking?” But consider
this; you would think that spending an eternity, not just for a day, a week, a
month, or year, but forever without reprieve in a fiery lake would deter
unbelief today, right? For some (Mt 7:14), yes, for the majority, no (cf. Mt
7:13).
The
outcomes of the garden couple’s actions were colossal in scope, and we are still experiencing
the effect of them today! Our Creator doesn’t have to give us a breakdown on
all of the unknown variables resulting from our stupidity so that we can
conveniently have at our fingertips the data to weigh out our options whether
it is worth sinning against Yahweh or not!
We
are all about options and entitlements today, yes? Yahweh really doesn’t have
to explain Himself at all. The fact that He warned Adam (as He does with us on so
many things in His Word) was an act of love and grace – for in the day that you
eat of it you shall surely die (Gn 2:17). He could have simply said to Adam, “Don’t eat
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil!” And Yahweh would still have
been just!
Folks,
the extreme expectations of options and entitlements are spreading like
terminal cancer and are destroying all of the nations of the world slowly but
surely; it is anti-Christ in nature. The global plague is socialism in all of
its variant forms. The world is shaping up to receive one of its own, a beloved
dark (false) messiah who will lead untold billions into darkness, death, and
destruction. Thankfully, the Light of Hope is coming at any moment! The next great eschatological
event is the rapture of the Church prior to this dark horse appearing on the
scene, and he could very well be here, alive and well, and waiting in the wings…
Whenever another creature, human or demon, contradicts the Word of God, you know he, she, or it is lying to you, provided you know it’s in opposition to the truth! The willful ignorance of believers still remains one of the greatest threats to Christianity today! The opposers of God will promise you the moon, but they will never deliver the goods because they have no authority to override the Creator’s will.
Though
Adam was not deceived (1 Tim 2:14), he anticipated the backlash for violating
the warning (Gn 2:16-17), but Eve was baited and bought into the lie of the serpent.
And if that doesn’t beat all, Adam turned right around and heeded the voice of [his] your wife (Gn 3:17)! This is
definitely a Rom 15:4 moment, yes? We simply need to take God at His Word
because He will never lie to us (Titus 1:2), and everything that He does for us
is for our good (Rom 8:28). Everything from our adversary and his allies is for
our detriment.
The
serpent baited Eve into believing that the fruit of this tree could help her
reach her self-fulfillment goals, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil. This was not how she envisioned it! In her innocent state, she
had been baited into listening to a creature over the Creator and basing the
value of the fruit by its appearance. How often have we seen beauty being
personified as truth and evil as ugly in appearance (cf. 2 Cor 11:14)? Appearances
can be misleading, Eve!
After
the chomp, what was once viewed as so good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and
desirable to make wise, now the tree of the knowledge of good and evil looked
to be bad for food, ugly to the eyes, and an undesirable tree that made one
only to be foolish! The only thing it could provide was death by disobedience. The
loss of innocence was graphic and appalling! This was not how she envisioned
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in her pre-fallen state, the first
known tactic of bait and switch, right?
There
is nothing like a sin to reveal the ugliness of going against God’s Word! The real
problem is that you and I can’t pull back the ripples or stop the consequences
that were set in motion by willful disobedience once your eyes are opened to reality! Ripples are notifiers! As a boy growing up in South Florida, I
loved to throw a rock in a placid pond. Once the rock was pitched, I couldn’t
stop the ripples it created. Adam and Eve were forgiven as suggested by Gn
3:21, but the ripples are going to ripple the rest of their days and are still
rippling today! If the soul that sins shall die doesn’t dissuade us, what will?
I am going to suggest love (Deut 6:5-6; Josh 22:5; Jn 14:15). How about this warning from
Jesus in John 8:24,
Therefore
I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I
am He, you will die in your sins.
Back
to Genesis 2:17,
…you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Heb., muth,1).
This clause found in the warning by Yahweh to Adam, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die, Gn 2:17) contains two different time frames: (1) immediately and (2) eventually. It is the only-made-known byproduct of eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. How Adam understood the concept of death is beyond me. His brain being at full capacity prior to the Fall may give our finite brain some sort of clue? He was very intelligent (cf. Gn 2:20). Knowledge and wisdom are not one and the same. We can be knowledgeable and still unwise, but we cannot be wise apart from knowledge. Adam was the former.
To
understand the two frames of time in this warning given to Adam, it is vital
for us to understand the biblical meaning of death (Heb., maveth / Grk.,
thanatos). Death is never considered or treated as a finality of
existence or self-awareness. Rather it is viewed as a separation, not an end to
all things. We do not die like a dog, and that’s it, as some claim from a
secular point of view! The Creator God designed us to live forever, odd as that
is to say in this context – you shall surely die.
With
the fall of man, there are only two eternal destinies: heaven or the lake of
fire. It’s not predetermined; it’s a choice. Unbelief is the number one
destroyer of souls in the lake of fire. The vast majority of the inhabitants of
the earth will choose unbelief over God’s provision for salvation: Jesus Christ
(cf. Mt 7:13).
The
Scripture makes mention of three manifestations of death that came with the
warning – you
shall surely die: physical (Rom 5:12; Heb 9:27), spiritual (Eph 1:1-2, 4, 18),
and eternal (aka, the second death, Rev 20:11-15). Physical death is where the
soul and spirit are separated from the body. Spiritual death is where the soul
and spirit are separated from God. Now, all, of those who
are alive and who do not have the Holy Spirit, are in a temporal state of being
spiritually separated from God. I was once spiritually dead or spiritually separated from God until receiving
Yahweh’s provision for salvation on 1.19.1976.
The third manifestation of death is the worst of all, eternal death or the second death! Rom 6:23 speaks of both spiritual and eternal deaths. Literally, the paycheck for disobedience (wages of sin is death)! Should any person experience physical death while being spiritually separated from God, spiritual separation transitions from a temporary state to a permanent condition of being separated from God forever. In other words, they will experience eternal torment in the lake of fire, being physically and spiritually separated from God forever.
Currently,
no one is in the lake of fire, angelic or human. The fiery lake was created
for the devil
and his angels (cf. Mt 25:41), man through unbelief elects to go there! What a
vivid contrast to the eternal life given freely to all undeserving sinners (including
us), as a free gift, who believe in His Son (Eph 2:8-9)! Selah.
All
past, present, and future human inhabitants of the lake of fire are confined to
a temporary cell in hell upon physical death until they are summoned to appear for
their final sentencing at the great white throne judgment before the great
Justice, Jesus Christ. As having no say so when we physically die (cf. Heb
9:27), the lost will have no say so on their final disposition into the fiery lake
due to unbelief.
The
sin of Adam and Eve were covered by the sacrifice provided by Yahweh Elohim (Gn
3:21), foreshadowing the divine provision for the perfect Lamb to come through
the womb of a virgin (Mt 1:21). “The God of the Garden would one day become the
God of Gethsemane” (borrowed). Mary’s Child would not cover sin any longer
(cf. Heb 10, 14; Rom 3:25; 5:17; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10) but remove the penalty of
spiritual and eternal death (the second death, 1 Cor 15:55-57) forever to whoever
believes in Him, and they will have and enjoy everlasting life with Him in
glory (Jn 3:16)! Selah!
So,
what are these time frames of immediately and eventually within the clause, for in the day that you
eat of it you shall surely die? Adam and Eve spiritually died immediately; their soul and
spirit were separated from God. Unlike us, they were not born sinners but now
they are sinners by bad choices.
There
was another instantaneous factor as a result of disobedience; the process of
dying to die physically was immediate, too! This marks the genesis of time when
sin entered the world through Adam (cf. Rom 5:12).
Since
Adam and Eve did not physically die right there on the spot when they ate the
forbidden fruit, the other time frame of dying to die is that they eventually
died physically and were buried. Now, it was literally way down the road from
our perspective when they went to their grave. It is unimaginable to us that Adam
lived to a ripe old age of 930 years (Gn 5:5)! The oldest on record is Methuselah who
lived to be 969 (Gn 5:27)! The members of the nine-hundred club were seven: Adam, Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Jared, Methuselah, and Noah.
Read through the genealogy of Adam in Genesis 5, and note that nine times the clause appears, and he died. Compared to Adam’s lifespan, I am still in the crib sucking on my thumb! By our youthful-oriented pagan cultural standards, I am already a fossil, a useless relic taking up space and air! I resemble that remark! <><
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1. Die (Heb., muth) is a
root word occurring in Genesis 24x; it is also translated: died 32x, dying 3x, dead 12x in Genesis. Death (Heb., maveth),
occurs 12x in Genesis, and it is derived from this root word muth.
