knowledge of good and evil that God was opposed to? No, not really, even though I'm sure God knew that man couldn't really handle that knowledge, which includes a knowledge of the momentary pleasures of evil. Verse 6 says "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...". You see Satan not only used slick serpentine sibilant syllables to lure Eve, but also appealed to all her senses. I'm sure that he pointed out the beauty and uniformity of the tree, along with the inviting look, feel, and smell of the fruit. Not satisfied there, his actions led to Eve experiencing the same gastric reactions to the suggestion of food as Pavlov's dog. Before long it was impossible for her to say no. But this is only a symptom of the real problem. To properly understand any section of scripture, it is said that you must consider the culture of the times. If we consider the culture in the garden of Eden, we discover some things. First Adam and Eve as his helper were given dominion over all the animals and land. The only real restriction was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They were in charge! It seems strange, when viewed in this light that one of Eve's subjects could tell her what to do. Doesn't it? Satan must have known something about Eve that she didn't know, to phrase his questions for his desired response. If you look carefully at her response, you'll note that Eve added to God's orders. God didn't say if you touch the fruit you will die. Look at Genesis 2:17 and you'll see he said "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.". Why did she expand on God's directive? Eve knew that with Adam she shared dominion over all around her. She knew that she wasn't subject to the serpent. There was no need to impress him. Consider the child, who while running trips and falls. The first action of the child is to look around to see who saw the fall. If the child does not see anyone, likely the child will get up and continue on. If on the other hand, the child sees someone's startled 129 ________________________________________________________________________________ reaction, they will start crying for sympathy. The 'poor me' syndrome is a device which, when satisfied tends to build or rebuild self image, make us more important. Satan in his question to Eve activated her 'poor me' syndrome, and Eve feeling a need for as much sympathy as possible, embellished the story. We have never done anything like that, have we? An innocent enough action. Isn't it? Some might argue that Eve didn't lie, merely embellished the truth. We see this every day, today. I hear `historical facts', ( revisionist history), cited about incidents that happened within my lifetime, that I don't recognize because of the spin that has been put on them. Everybody seems to want history to support their view points, and interpretations. Is this lying? When our enemies do it, we call it propaganda, dis-information, or bald face lying. Why is it one thing for our enemies, and another for our friends? Recently one of the TV network news magazines did an article on how acceptable lying has become in our country, and throughout the world. In I John 1:21 it says "I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth." It doesn't matter whether it is a blatant lie or non-disclosure, if it obscures the whole truth it is a lie! Eve lied! Is this a sin? You tell me. Is this the original sin? Or was it that she disobeyed God? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Was Adam just as guilty of lying when he hid himself? Genesis 3:8 says "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.". Why did they want to obscure the truth from God? We find in verse 10 "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.". Could it be that when he discovered he was naked, he became less `dignified'? In whose eyes? Not Eve's, she was worried about her own problems, it was his eyes, of course. He was afraid, that he would be judged less acceptable. With the new knowledge, his self esteem was lower. 130 ________________________________________________________________________________ |
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