I don’t want to talk about math, I want to talk about war! In the New Testament (NT) Jesus tells us that He did not come to bring peace on earth, but He did come to bring division (Luk 12:51). I’m sure you’ve all heard the expression, “divide and conquer”. It’s not a new concept in scripture, in fact it was among one of the first things that happened in chapter three of Genesis. Satan pitted Adam and Eve against each other and it is that division that is tearing families apart at the seams to this very day.
If you do not carefully think about the details of Genesis chapters 2 and 3 you are likely to miss the fact that Eve had not yet been created when God told Adam not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That conversation was between God and Adam. When Adam told Eve about the prohibition he told her it included just touching the fruit. Satan knew all of this because he was present (Gen 1:25) when God spoke with Adam (Gen 2:16-17) in fact he was created long before Adam, but that’s another story.
Satan went for the weak link. If Adam had not expanded upon God’s warning things could have unfolded differently, but enough conjecture.
Please remember that Eve was created as a help mate for Adam. All other creatures were given help mates and just in case that wording seems odd (as I often read in commentaries) think about the task that God handed to Adam and the work that would be entailed in fulfilling his duties. In addition Adam was given the same command as all other creatures … procreation. Eve was to be a helper to Adam and bear children … Help + Mate!
Satan told Eve that not only would she not die, but she would gain knowledge of good and evil. Apparently neither she nor Adam understood that they already had the knowledge of good, else the Lord God Himself would not have been with them.
Understanding that the fruit looked harmless and this serpent assures her that she won’t die but will actually gain more wisdom … yeah, she screwed up and grabbed the fruit from the tree. Remember she though she was going to die from touching it, but lo and behold … nothing! Nothing happened, absolutely nothing changed according to scripture. If it had been me, I know I would have taken a bite out of the fruit after learning Adam had lied! So she took a bite and ate it and still nothing happens!
Read carefully Gen 3:6, that Adam was with her this entire time and said absolutely nothing. He knew nothing would happen when Eve touched the fruit, but then when he watched her take a bite and nothing happened … now Satan set the hook and reeled in a mighty big fish. Notice what happens when Adam took a bite. In Gen 3:7 we are told the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked.
I submit to you that nothing happened when Eve ate the fruit because God did not warn Eve, it was Adam who was told not to eat the fruit. As soon as Adam did what he was specifically told not to, God held him accountable.
What does all this mean? It appears to me that Eve has been falsely held accountable for Adam’s shortcomings and that maybe we should all let her off the hook. According to scripture Adam was by her side the entire time and did not say or do anything to prevent what happened. In Gen 2:16 it specifically says, “The Lord God commanded the man …”
As I see it Satan drove a wedge between Adam and Eve and scripture scholars have perpetuated the damage by falsely convicting Eve for the crime that even God did not lay at her feet. If men believe that the women placed on this earth to help them can’t be trusted where does that leave the relationship between the two?
Over that last few years I have found myself asking if men and women even like each other. While there are exceptions to everything, I have observed that men do not demonstrate much trust in women, they tend to blame women for the state this world is in, they hold women accountable for their own inability to control their sexual desires. They often want women to sit down and shut up and when you trace it all back the famous answer is that God put them in charge and women are to be in submission to them. That’s not exactly what God said and if you have time to check out more writings here I do not have a shortage on opinions.
If you find the things I say offensive, I apologize for any offense, but I would encourage you to not return to this website because it is unlikely this will be the last thing I say that you may find infuriating. Thanks for dropping in and may God bless you all richly.