THE FALL
An ominous title to the chapter and probably the start of where things go wrong for humanity.
This is the first chapter in which we see humanity as being what we would now refer to as “human”, which these days would be seen as a more positive excuse to say things sometimes go wrong. However, in this chapter, being human means man’s downfall through naivety, greed and a lust for knowledge. Personally I don’t see a thirst for knowledge as a bad thing, but apparently, it is here.
The part in chapter 1 where God makes man ‘in our image, after our likeness’ [Genesis 1:26] still doesn’t add up here. If God had created the tree of the knowledge of good and evil it means He knew evil. Except, when he made man in his image and after his likeness, he seems to have left the evil knowledge out. If man was truly in God’s image and likeness, would they too not have evil in them, or at least the knowledge of it?
Why did God create a tree with evil knowledge inside its fruit and place it in the garden of Eden if he didn’t want Adam and Eve to eat the fruit? Is God trying to tempt Adam and Eve as a test? What purpose does the test serve? Perhaps he decided that the tree should be eaten by later generations once humanity was established. What that would achieve I am not sure, I’m just trying to make sense of the reasoning.
So the serpent is what we now know to be a snake. It seems a shame all snakes were cursed due to this one serpent’s actions. Is the serpent the Devil or does the Devil not exist at this stage of the Bible? I’m sure God knew when he created the serpent that it was crafty – strange he would let it into the garden of Eden, unless it was a part of his temptation test. I particularly like this bit about the serpent when it is cursed: ‘he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.‘ [Genesis 3:15]
This is the first time God has been decribed as walking as if human: ‘And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day’ [Genesis 3:8]. It doesn’t necessarily mean he is human, he could be any shape or possibly an animal.
Eve gets the punishment of pain in childbearing, or at least a multiplied pain. He then says: ‘Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.‘ [Genesis 3:16]. Does this mean that her desire shall be to not have children due to pain but because the husband wants heirs he shall overrule her and therefore she will suffer against her will? Lots of ambiguity in this chapter, and the Bible as a whole. No wonder it can be interpreted in so many ways.
At first I didn’t quite understand why God said they would surely die if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as they seem to live despite doing so. Since reading this chapter fully again I have come to the conclusion that Adam and Eve were meant to be immortal beings but God’s punishment to both is that they will one day die: ‘you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’
I do not understand the curse upon Adam regarding him eating plants of the field, and the thistles and thorns that will be brought forth by the ground: ‘cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.’ [Genesis 3:17 – 3:18]. Perhaps it means that Adam (and Eve) have to eat plants from the ground to sustain their lives, whereas, previously, they were immortal and only had to eat for pleasure?
At the end of this chapter Adam (and I presume Eve) is banished from the garden to live his life tending the fields outside. God then places cherubs and ‘a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.’ [Genesis 3:24]. If they ate from the tree of life I presume they would live forever, which may counter the curse he placed upon them. Was the tree of life placed in the garden specifically to give immortal life to Adam (and later Eve)? If not, why would God put the tree of life in the garden with fruit to make creatures immortal if he didn’t want them to be?
I can’t help but feel this chapter is a mess. Various things are happening that I don’t think would have happened if God knew what he was doing during Creation. Opposite to it showing God as an all-knowing entity, it makes Him seem like an amateur who gets upset when what he has created doesn’t go according to plan. If He didn’t want Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, why did He put it in there in the first place? Why did He create creatures – the serpent – that can speak to and tempt man? If it was all a test what is the purpose of the test? Was there a time limit on the test – if Adam and Eve had not eaten the fruit for one thousand years would God still be upset if they ate it on the one thousand and first?
Despite all that, Genesis is getting more interesting with lots of events and happenings to pick apart and understand. Reading and trying to understand or interpret this book has become a good thought exercise.
You may also like
I am reading the English Standard Version (ESV).
Published by Crossway in Illinois, USA.
This edition printed 2016.
Visually Interesting 
Leave a comment