Posted on 11/22/2011 9:10:25 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.(Genesis 3:6)
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:(Romans 5:12)
Responsibility for the fall of man is laid at the feet of Adam, the father of us all, not Eve. Never in all of the revelation of God, is she seen as being primarily the cause of the fall. Adam was the person God called out immediately after the transgression, not Eve. Eve was deceived by the serpent, not Adam. The commission was given to Adam to guard and keep the garden.
Therefore it is interesting that the narrative of the fall centers around the woman. The serpent approached the woman, accused God to her, and presented his arguments to her. We are told in verse 6 that Adam was there with her, but verse six is an account of her inner thoughts which led to the transgression.
Is this not a warning that one of the tell-tale marks of the serpent is to marginalize the man from his God assigned position of primal responsibility?
The modern feminist movement , is not really about femininity, but rather is about the repudiation of the God assigned gender roles, based upon hatred and envy of male status. Men too can be femnists, for it is a satanic philosophy, an expression of rebellion against God.
Femnism is actually the enemy of all that is truly feminine, the beauty of motherhood, tender nurture, fruitfulness, loving deference and submission for the greater good of the family, sacrifice of self for husband and children.
These are seen as impediments to the modern ideal woman, now ‘liberated’ by abortion, and easy divorce. But liberated from what? Love? Stable marriage? Fruitfulness?
When Adam passively allowed his wife to take the lead in the couple’s dealing with the serpent, by default he abdicated his high calling to keep and guard the garden of God. He had been given the Word, and the commission to have dominion ovr the earth, not Eve.
But through the Serpent, Eve became the priest. It was Eve who mediated the serpent’s false “Word”, and she who “ministered” to Adam the “sacrament”,(ie the forbidden fruit) . Adam perversely took part in the sinful rite which was supposed to “open their eyes” and make them wise, and to become “as gods”.
What we are seeing in the deliberate confusion of the gender roles today , even in the church, is the mark of Satanic influence. Motherhood, and being a wife have been repudiated, in favor of “careerism”. Female leadership in Home and church is a denial of the Divine order.
But wherever the confusion of gender is celebrated as a ‘liberating’ accomplishment, homosexuality is never far behind. Note that the mainstream churches who once vigorously debated the ordination of women, now have succumbed to the ordination of homosexuals.
The forbidden fruit was the knowledge of good and of Evil.
To “know Good and Evil” is to know everything, the whole spectrum of knowledge. In fact to be “as gods, knowing…” is to have the ability to decide for yourself what good and evil are, thus to liberate yourself from dependence upon God and his Word.
We can see that by the time Eve paused to look at the tree, the Word of God had already been rejected by both of them, for her whole perspective is based on an inward acceptance of the lie;
* And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food… Who said that the tree was good for food? Not God! Not the Word of God, as given to Adam. God said “that the day you eat of this tree…you will surely die…” . But Eve could see (from her own vantage point, that the tree was good).
*…and that it was pleasant to the eyes… In our vernacular, Eve thought, “It looks good to me…”.
I have no doubt that the tree was pleasant to the eyes, but what does that have to do with what God had said about it?
But Eve is already acting on the serpent’s promise that she and Adam could be “as gods, knowing good and evil” because she is deciding for herself what good and evil are. She had departed from the Word of God and was making her own judgments about the tree.
*…and a tree to be desired to make one wise, – But here is an indication that she really wasn’t entirely as independent in her thoughts as she imagined, For this thought was entirely influenced by the lie of the serpent who was the only source for the idea that eating of the forbidden tree would make her “wise”.
*…she took of the fruit thereof…and did eat… Ages of pain, sorrow, disappointment and suffering hung in the balance of those few seconds it took for her to think through the temptation, but, as we all know , she reached out and took it, (in rebellion against her maker).
She stretched out her hand, and took the fruit for her self,(self-improvement; it was the secret way to become wise!).
And she ate it.
It would be easy to assume that this is a story about Eve, because the scripture focuses on Eve’s thought processes,and on her sin. Adam’s fall is reported almost incidentally to Eve’s,
*…and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat…
But it was Adam’s fall that was the goal. When Adam himself received the fruit from his wife, and ate it, the fall of man occurred. That was the point at which death entered that all of the pain, sorrow, death, disappointment, terror, fear, hurt, disease, futility, in short everything we experience as a direct or indirect result of sin, came into the world.All of humanity was counted “in Adam” and fell “in Adam”.
*…and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat… We will be told later by the apostle Paul,
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.(I Cor 15:21-22)
Paul would further assert that the disobedience of Adam has had a universal effect on all of mankind, so pervasive that there is only one effective counter to the “One Offence” out of which all of human sin is but an outworking.
That would be the what Paul refers to as the ”obedience of the one” man, the last Adam, the second man, Jesus Christ the Lord.
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.(Romans 5:18-19)
Besides, lions were not limited to Africa in ancient times—there is the story of Heracles/Hercules and the Nemean lion, the Lion Gate at Mycenae, the lion as a Persian symbol, etc. There are many species which are limited to one or two continents—they couldn’t all have been in the Garden of Eden.
Could have been if “continenents” as we know them were the result of that cataclysmic change. There weren’t any elephants or camels in Central America, either, but fossilized remains are being found.
Could have been if “continents” as we know them were the result of that cataclysmic change. There weren’t any elephants or camels in Central America, either, but fossilized remains are being found.
Of course--we are made in His image, after all.
It’s like when you have a child...you know there are going to be times when they will disobey you but do you, upon the very first infraction, condemn them and their children forever more to such severe penalty???
I can understand that feeling. Sometimes I wonder the same thing. However, as the clay, I have a hard time questioning the Potter.
Why have that one particular tree with “forbidden fruit” there for them to access in the first place? Why allow a serpent the power to deceive them?
What good is Love and a relationship with a person who has no choice in the matter? With no sin, no opposition, no choice, there is no real relationship, no real love.
I’m a Christian and I love the Lord but I do wonder about Him. It’s almost like it was a game when he made us humans.
You love him of your own free will. You have that will because you have a choice. You have a choice because He allowed you to have that choice by allowing the serpent to deceive Eve.
He does things we don't understand because we do not see everything like He does. I've learned not to question the things I see and experience but it took me well over 40 years to come to that conclusion. :)
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