And We All Come Tumbling Down...

It seems so unfair to me...

God set up this perfect existence- the garden, no work, no guilt, no shame, no disease... perfect. And then the whole incident with the serpent and Eve and Adam and choice and sin and... arg!!! They blew it! They had it perfect and they blew it!! And they didn't just blow it for themselves- they blew it for all of us! It just isn't fair! I have to inherit this "human sin condition" because Adam and Eve couldn't keep their hands out of the cookie jar? Come on!

What's that? What did you say? You say I would have probably done the same thing if I had been there? Um.... you're right. I most likely would have.

But it is interesting to think about. I mean, in chapter 1 and 2 of Genesis you have this perfect creation and everything is moving along just the way it was designed. Then, in chapter 4 you have murder and jealousy. So, chapter 3 becomes the "black box". What happened? Things were fine and then they weren't!

Well, we pretty much know what happened, but it is interesting to look at how it happened.

Chapter 3 brings up a lot of questions that are not answered right in that chapter- questions like "Where did Satan come from" and "Why was there any evil around anyway?" I am not really going into those questions right now. The thing I want to look at briefly is the approach of the serpent. There are three things I find especially interesting about how the serpent approached this whole thing.

The first thing is the serpents statement- it was erroneous and he knew it! He comes to Eve and says, "Did God really say you cannot eat from any tree in the garden?" That isn't at all what God said! God made a prohibition about ONE tree. The serpent misspoke God's words on purpose. When Eve heard the incorrect statement she felt obligated to straighten things out, but it also brought the one forbidden thing right to the front of her mind. We have all seen it. When you tell your kids they cannot have something, they want it. It is not because the really want it. Five minutes ago they could not have cared less about it. But as soon as they find out they "can't have it", they want it. They want it more than anything else. Sometimes to the point of distraction. The serpent (Satan), knew exactly what he was doing, and he still does today.

Another brief but important thing about how the serpent ran his scam is that he (the serpent) is certainly not an Atheist. He did not say, "Oh God is just a myth." or "God does not exist", or "God is not really in charge". The serpent did not deny anything about God's existence, presence, or even authority. He just misrepresented what God said. That tactic is alive and well today in Satan's arsenal.

The other thing that really hit me with this account when I read it this time was that the serpent managed to shift Adam and Eve's focus from God's provisions to God's denials. Let's face it- there are certain things that are prohibited. God has drawn lines. There are things that we are not to be a part of- if for no other reason than "God said so." But, in the case of Adam and Eve, (and for us as well), they had been given EVERYTHING and denied ONE thing. They had been given infinitely more than what had been denied! It would seem that would be enough! They should have been happy! But NOOOO! But I am the same way. There are far too many days when I spend time thinking about what I don't have and what I can't have and forgetting all about what I DO have. I have been given EVERYTHING. Whatever has been prohibited has been held back for my own good. I can't always get that through my head.

I welcome discussion and thoughts on these first verses in chapter 3. There is so much more that we could discuss!

Looking forward to Sunday!

Just Keep Swimming!

Jon