The Fall of Man

If you keep up with The Restored Orchard throughout the week you will have noticed that my wife is expounding on her daily readings as she travels straight through the bible. I am also doing the 365-day Bible reading plan alongside her and for some weeks I will touch on things that the Lord has shown me. 

This week I want to look at a very familiar passage in Genesis 3. This is the story of the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve. There are really two main things that I want to look at from this passage and the first is in verse six. It reads in the King James Version, “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, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.” 

For my entire life really, I read this as Eve talked to the serpent, she ate the fruit, and she took some to Adam to eat. It wasn’t until I read this in some different versions that I saw this passage differently. I am currently reading the New Living Translation that reads “The woman was convinced. She saw the tree that was beautiful, and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” Adam was with her the entire time that this transaction took place. This is an example of what not to do as men of God. Adam should have led his wife in the sense that he should have never let the conversation happen between Eve and the serpent because he is her protector. That not only includes physically but spiritually as well. He should have intervened and reminded her of God’s word to them.

The second thing I wanted to look at is verses 12 and 13. “The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God asked the woman “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it””

A couple things to notice here, first the order that God addresses them. He spoke to Adam first and then Eve when questioning them, but he gave the punishments out in the order of offense. I believe that this restores the order of which God intended things to be, Adam as the leader. But also, in looking at his reply, Adam blames the woman for giving the fruit to him. God gave Adam dominion over everything that he had made. He was to take care of the land and the animals and to be guardian over all that God had given him. This included Eve, he was supposed to protect and cover her but instead, he shifted the blame towards her. God already knew what they had done because he asked Adam very directly, “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

This is a lesson for us today, there will always be temptation and there will be times that we fall because we have to realize that our soul is saved but our flesh is not. There will be times that the flesh wins, but it is better to own up to it and ask God for forgiveness than to try to explain why you weren’t really wrong. Our God sees all and He knows all so when you fall, remember that he is also your redeemer and he will forgive you and love you all the same.