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Eve
by
Grace Aguilar
Adapted by Margaret D.
A simpler version of the original
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God said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone, I will make a helper fit for him.” And therefore woman was created, and brought to man. God in his mercy had made a being cherished above all others, whose gentler qualities and endearing sympathy should soften the rougher, prouder nature of man, and help him in all things.
The whole creation had its beginning in LOVE – God called out of darkness a world teeming with life and beauty, but woman’s creation was a still greater manifestation of love than all which had gone before it. She was created not only to feel happiness herself, but to make it for others; and if that was her purpose in Eden, how deeply should we feel the solemn truth that it is equally so now.
Woman has a higher, holier mission than mere seeking of pleasure and individual enjoyment. A higher mission than to flutter through life without one serious thought or high aim, without a dream beyond the present moment, without a feeling higher than selfish gratification, or aim rising beyond this world. If she pursues no higher mission she can never answer the purpose of her creation, or be a helper fit for man. Nor is it to wives only this privilege is given. Mother or sister, each has her appointed duty – to help and influence man, so that her more spiritual and unselfish nature shall gradually be infused into him, and raising him above worldly thought and sensual pleasures, make him feel that it is not good for him to be alone.
Eve was formed like man ‘in the likeness of God’ and she was equal in her responsibilities towards God and the care of His creatures. She was created equal to man but different. His mission was to protect and guide and care for – hers to soothe, bless, persuade to right and help in all things.
The existence of Eve in her innocence was, in a word, an existence of LOVE – love towards God and nature and man. But beautiful as life was in Eden we must turn from it to consider feelings of a sadly different nature.
In the garden were two trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the Lord commanded the man saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’
Beautiful to look upon, and exquisite in its fragrance was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Alone and unprotected by the sterner, firmer qualities of her husband, Eve walked forth, secure in her innocence, in the consciousness of love lingering within, and all around her. The young animals gambolling [skipping] about her, calling forth her caresses and her smile; the little birds springing from tree to tree in joyous greeting, or nestling into her without one touch of fear; the gorgeous flowers, in all their glowing robes and exquisite fragrance, clustering richly around her; so we may picture her, as she neared that tree under whose fair branches so much of misery lurked.
Coiled around its branches lay the serpent, "who was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Yea, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree in the garden? And the woman said, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die for God does know that in the day you eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and 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 she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat."
Such are the brief words in which the inspired prophet of the Lord detailed those incidents on which the whole of the after history of the world is founded – the mournful detail of that first sin, from which every other sprung – DISOBEDIENCE.
In one brief hour, the whole nature of Eve was changed – the seeds of frailty sprang up. Curiosity, presumption, an overwhelming trust in her own strength, a desire to act alone, independent of all control, to become greater, wiser, higher than the place in which God’s love had placed her. Discontented with the blessings which only a moment before had seemed so precious to her, simply because imagination pictured others greater. The attraction of novelty, beauty, those idol shrines at which women too often sacrifice themselves. Are they not even the characteristics of woman even as she is now?
Such were the emotions excited by Satan, through whose influence she fell. Where at that moment was the voice of the Spirit warning her of the God she disobeyed? Where the whisper of the mind telling her the sources of knowledge, wisdom already given by God, were the purest and best? Where the fond tones of the heart, urging her to seek the protection, the council, the support of Adam? Hushed, drowned in the wild tumult of a new and terrible excitement of feelings.
The voice of the tempter was in her ear.
Sight and smell were filled with the exquisite fruit, the delicious fragrance; and with this revealed, what must be its taste and touch, when to touch and eat would make her as God knowing good and evil. Weak, frail, unguarded, for the still small voice of the soul was lost in the moment of temptation, was it a marvel that she fell?
Could she have done otherwise?
The bulwark of FAITH was shed [removed], her heart was open and defenceless – she was alone. The God of infinite love and compassion watched but did not approach, why? Oh had the voice of His creature called upon Him in that terrible hour; had but the faintest cry ascended for help, for strength, for mercy; had but the struggling murmur arisen ‘Father, your words are truth, let me but believe,’ strength, help, and faith would have poured their reviving rays into her sinking soul, and she would have been saved. It was not that she had not the power to pray. Free will was her own – to obey or disobey. Of herself, indeed, she could not have resisted; but she had equal power to call upon the Lord as to listen to the tempter.
‘She took of the fruit and did eat.’ She was independent, had acted by herself, and shaken off all control; and the full tide of guilty pleasure swept over her soul, as to permit, for the moment, no thought except of herself. But this did not last long: the reaction came with the one thought – her husband. She gave to her husband and he did eat. The crime was consummated. Love itself, the purest, noblest, most influencing of those spiritual blessings, deemed the gift more precious than the Giver.
To live in paradise, to be blessed with direct communing with God and angels, are indeed not ours; but many a home is a sinless paradise to a young gentle girl; and loving parents will so provide her with care and blessings, that she knows little of evil, and temptation is far off.
And often, like Eve, these blessings are undervalued and sacrificed, not through her sin and disobedience, but from woman’s unfortunate desire to grasp for something more than her allotted place. Her discontent with the lowlier place, which her weaker frame and less powerful mind mark as her own. Her mistaken idea that humility is degrading; and unless she compels man to yield to her rights, they will be trampled on and never acknowledged. Her curiosity leading her too often to desire knowledge which she does not need to continue her happiness.
Oh, let not woman deny that such are her characteristics.
Let her not quiet such fears with the thought that Eve’s particular temptation cannot be hers. No: but snares innumerable and equally fearful surround us. Each day brings its own temptations; each day calls upon us to pray against them. We know not how, or in what way they may arise, and how soon if we trust to our own strength, they may triumph and lead us into sin. Had Eve been truly humble she would not have sinned.
If HUMILITY was needed in Eden how much more is it needed now? Humility is to woman her truest safeguard, her loveliest ornament, her noblest influence, and her greatest strength. It leads her to God to gain firmness, devoutness, fortitude, consolation and hope; all that she needs.
From the very first Eve was made differently from man; had she not been the weaker, the serpent would not have seen her as easy prey. As our own natures are like Eve's, let us thank God that His love has placed us where our natural qualities may best be proved, and our weaknesses and our failings have less power to work us harm. Let us cultivate, with all our heart and soul and might, the lovely flower of humility, which by teaching us to think lowly of ourselves will make us content with, and thankful for, the blessings around us. Humility – let us not pause till it is found and worn and it will shed around us an atmosphere of love and peace and joy, and in life we shall thank God for the dearest gift He has given.
Seek humility, simply from its special power of keeping a woman in her own beautiful place, without one wish, one ambitious whisper to exchange it for another.
While in her place, satisfied and happy that God in His love has placed her there, let her remember that woman is man’s equal – however inferior she might be in strength, in immense capability of physical and mental exertion, in might and grasp of intellect – yet in depth and faithfulness of love, in the capability of feeling and enduring, in devotedness and fortitude – alike in bodily and mental trial, we are unanswerably superior.
Then has not woman enough to thank God for? Made with influence over the heart of man, oh let her remember for what fearful end Eve used that influence, and keep a constant guard of watchfulness and prayer over her heart to preserve it from similar abuse.
Above all let the history of Eve impress this truth upon the hearts of her young descendants – that however weak and faulty, however sorrowing, however reaping in tears the effects of mistakes – yet still the compassion, the longsuffering, the exhaustless love of their Father in heaven is theirs; that no circumstance in life can deprive them of that love, no circumstance in life can throw a barrier between woman’s yearning heart and the compassion of her God. Not even departure from Him, neglect, or forgetfulness, will make Him forget or cease to be compassionate, if she will but return in true repentance and clinging faithfulness to His deep love once more.
We cannot weary that never-ceasing mercy – for ‘as far as the east is from the west,' when we return to Him does He remove our sins from us. Will woman whose existence still is love neglect these privileges? Will she not receive with gratefulness the love given and come and make manifest the Sustainer, the Comforter, the mainspring of her being?
oooOooo
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