We recently had discussions that involved the Genesis account of the Garden of Eden, the fall of man. Many things were mentioned concerning what exactly happened there and what it is supposed to mean to us. I mused over the thoughts that were shared and came up empty. I determined that it didn't make sense for the tree of Good and Evil to be Satan and the fruit his words. Or other things that seemed to be empty of meaning. Too many questions left unanswered.
Recently, I was given yet another explanation of the text by a spirit who taught me it. I offer it for your critique. First, here is the necessary text.
Gen 2:8-9
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Gen 2:15-17
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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.
Gen 3:1-7
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 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 gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8-13
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. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen 3:14-16
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Gen 3:17-19
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Gen 3:20-24
And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life
This is all of the necessary text for the interpretation of the meaning. The text left out for rooms sake is simply that which describes the making of Eve and the naming of the animals. While it is important to note that Eve was made after the law was spoken, it isn't necessary in order to understand this interpretation.
The Interpretation of the Text:
God planted a real Garden that contained real trees that were good for food and pleasant to the sight. He commanded Adam not to eat from one particular tree called 'the tree of the knowledge of good and evil'. Informing him that disobedience brings death. So God declared that although the tree was good for food it was off limits to men. This establishes the God/Creator to Man/Creation relationship. God is over man and has the authority to set laws. Adam is the son of God just as Jesus' genealogies says. He was created in the perfect image of God. And was expected to be subject unto God in all things.
Eve was taken from Adam after the law was given. Satan came and deceived Eve through the serpent. He leads with a question that expects a certain answer. He receives an inaccurate answer as Eve added to what God had said. Satan boldly proclaims God is a liar and Eve won't die if she disobeys. He accuses God of withholding knowledge from them that would make them equal to God and therefore Gods themselves. Eve, then looked upon the tree and saw the truth. The tree was good for food and pleasant to the eyes. Unfortunately this truth being mixed with lies caused her to believe that it was a tree that would make one wise, when, in fact, eating from it was unwise. Being deceived she ate and transgressed the commandment of God.
She gave to Adam and he ate and both there eyes were open. They understood that they were unclothed. And the thought occurred to them that they needed to do something about it. So they decided to sew fig leaves together to cover their nakedness. This had nothing to do with anything except trying to deal with the new information that they had, now that their eyes were opened. They had always been naked. They had been able to view each others nakedness and were not ashamed to be naked. They were created naked and there was nothing wrong with the fact that they were naked. Something had changed but it wasn't anything outside of Adam and Eve, it was within. Their perception of things had changed.
Next God came and they feared him and hid themselves. Why the change? Their perception of God had changed. God was no longer their Father but presumably just another god as they were now like him. They were still trying to deal with the new information they received because their eyes had been opened. God called to Adam who responded. Justice would begin by trial and the two would speak for themselves. Adam was first.
Two Questions:
Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
There were only two ways Adam could have known that he was naked. God righteously points them both out. Adam replies honestly as to what happened.
The trial of the woman was even shorter. One Question.
What is this that thou hast done?
She answers honestly as well. Her answer tells us that she understood that she had been deceived and the promise given her by Satan to become a God was just a lie. Something entirely different happened.
There was no trial for the Serpent for he knew better than to do what he did.
Next came the Righteous Judgment of God upon them all.
The Serpent:
thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The Woman:
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
The Man:
cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
The point of this trial and subsequent judgment was to prove Gods true authority over ALL his creation. He also made clothes of skins and clothed them. This required their submission to do so as they had to submit to his design for a covering and not their own fig leaves which were inadequate and the first act done in which they relied upon their newly found sight (they did that which was right in their own eyes). And he announced the truth, that Adam and Eve had become like them in knowing good from evil. To avoid the worst case scenario from happening, God separated man from the tree of life so that man would not eat of it and live forever and barred him from the Garden in which it was. This was not part of the judgment but a show of Gods love toward them. Had they eaten from the tree of life they would have been stuck in their miserable condition for eternity without hope of redemption which was promised in the seed of the woman.
In summary, what happened in the Garden of Eden was the loss of order amongst a perfect creation. Before the transgression, God was God and Adam and Eve were his children, the sons of God. The knowledge of 'good and evil' that they received was having the ability to decide for themselves what is right and wrong completely independent of God and his righteousness (they now did what was right in their own eyes and these eyes were the eyes that were opened). What once was a happy family had now become One true God and 3 false gods. Two of which had hope of redemption. Each having there own perception of right and wrong. Two of which were given opportunity to submit to Gods definition of right and wrong. God who created physical nakedness, proclaimed there was nothing wrong with it. The creation who became self conscious of their physical nakedness declared it to be wrong in their eyes. Their nakedness became symbolic of their sin and a loving God sent them away clothed hiding their shame. Declaring in his act that without the shedding of blood there is no remission.
From here we see where the world lies in wickedness. There are six billion people upon the face of the Earth and each one who doesn't follow after Gods righteousness in Christ by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the elder brother to all who do, are little false gods running around creating havoc as they try to find their place amongst the rest in Satan's world where he is the god of false gods. True order can only be restored by the voluntary submission of each individual to the One True God. Living righteously in the place in which God has placed them. Christ as head of the Man, Man as head of the Woman, Woman as head over the Children and the first born Male the head over his siblings. In our present age there is established government within the body of Christ. Christ the head of the Body followed by the Apostles and Prophets, Bishops and Elders overseeing the flock, Deacons and deaconess' serving the flock, Pastors and teachers maturing the flock and the least esteemed in the body to judge matters. All authority given by God is given for the purpose of serving those that are governed for their good as God sees good.
There is no peace unless all are in their place. Everyone must relinquish his false title as God and Ruler, submitting himself to the will of God in truth. In the last day, God shall judge man by Jesus Christ the righteous. This judgment will be according to the works of men whether or not they believed and therefore submitted to the Authority of the One True God who appointed Jesus over all. Every man must stop doing what is right in his own eyes, the eyes opened in the garden, and do the works of God. Satan said Ye may be Gods. He forgot one word "False".
A loving message from the blessed creator who is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God is love but love is not God. God is also Righteous and Just.
In the one true Christ,
Gary
Recently, I was given yet another explanation of the text by a spirit who taught me it. I offer it for your critique. First, here is the necessary text.
Gen 2:8-9
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Gen 2:15-17
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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.
Gen 3:1-7
Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 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 gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8-13
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. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen 3:14-16
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Gen 3:17-19
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Gen 3:20-24
And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life
This is all of the necessary text for the interpretation of the meaning. The text left out for rooms sake is simply that which describes the making of Eve and the naming of the animals. While it is important to note that Eve was made after the law was spoken, it isn't necessary in order to understand this interpretation.
The Interpretation of the Text:
God planted a real Garden that contained real trees that were good for food and pleasant to the sight. He commanded Adam not to eat from one particular tree called 'the tree of the knowledge of good and evil'. Informing him that disobedience brings death. So God declared that although the tree was good for food it was off limits to men. This establishes the God/Creator to Man/Creation relationship. God is over man and has the authority to set laws. Adam is the son of God just as Jesus' genealogies says. He was created in the perfect image of God. And was expected to be subject unto God in all things.
Eve was taken from Adam after the law was given. Satan came and deceived Eve through the serpent. He leads with a question that expects a certain answer. He receives an inaccurate answer as Eve added to what God had said. Satan boldly proclaims God is a liar and Eve won't die if she disobeys. He accuses God of withholding knowledge from them that would make them equal to God and therefore Gods themselves. Eve, then looked upon the tree and saw the truth. The tree was good for food and pleasant to the eyes. Unfortunately this truth being mixed with lies caused her to believe that it was a tree that would make one wise, when, in fact, eating from it was unwise. Being deceived she ate and transgressed the commandment of God.
She gave to Adam and he ate and both there eyes were open. They understood that they were unclothed. And the thought occurred to them that they needed to do something about it. So they decided to sew fig leaves together to cover their nakedness. This had nothing to do with anything except trying to deal with the new information that they had, now that their eyes were opened. They had always been naked. They had been able to view each others nakedness and were not ashamed to be naked. They were created naked and there was nothing wrong with the fact that they were naked. Something had changed but it wasn't anything outside of Adam and Eve, it was within. Their perception of things had changed.
Next God came and they feared him and hid themselves. Why the change? Their perception of God had changed. God was no longer their Father but presumably just another god as they were now like him. They were still trying to deal with the new information they received because their eyes had been opened. God called to Adam who responded. Justice would begin by trial and the two would speak for themselves. Adam was first.
Two Questions:
Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
There were only two ways Adam could have known that he was naked. God righteously points them both out. Adam replies honestly as to what happened.
The trial of the woman was even shorter. One Question.
What is this that thou hast done?
She answers honestly as well. Her answer tells us that she understood that she had been deceived and the promise given her by Satan to become a God was just a lie. Something entirely different happened.
There was no trial for the Serpent for he knew better than to do what he did.
Next came the Righteous Judgment of God upon them all.
The Serpent:
thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The Woman:
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
The Man:
cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
The point of this trial and subsequent judgment was to prove Gods true authority over ALL his creation. He also made clothes of skins and clothed them. This required their submission to do so as they had to submit to his design for a covering and not their own fig leaves which were inadequate and the first act done in which they relied upon their newly found sight (they did that which was right in their own eyes). And he announced the truth, that Adam and Eve had become like them in knowing good from evil. To avoid the worst case scenario from happening, God separated man from the tree of life so that man would not eat of it and live forever and barred him from the Garden in which it was. This was not part of the judgment but a show of Gods love toward them. Had they eaten from the tree of life they would have been stuck in their miserable condition for eternity without hope of redemption which was promised in the seed of the woman.
In summary, what happened in the Garden of Eden was the loss of order amongst a perfect creation. Before the transgression, God was God and Adam and Eve were his children, the sons of God. The knowledge of 'good and evil' that they received was having the ability to decide for themselves what is right and wrong completely independent of God and his righteousness (they now did what was right in their own eyes and these eyes were the eyes that were opened). What once was a happy family had now become One true God and 3 false gods. Two of which had hope of redemption. Each having there own perception of right and wrong. Two of which were given opportunity to submit to Gods definition of right and wrong. God who created physical nakedness, proclaimed there was nothing wrong with it. The creation who became self conscious of their physical nakedness declared it to be wrong in their eyes. Their nakedness became symbolic of their sin and a loving God sent them away clothed hiding their shame. Declaring in his act that without the shedding of blood there is no remission.
From here we see where the world lies in wickedness. There are six billion people upon the face of the Earth and each one who doesn't follow after Gods righteousness in Christ by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the elder brother to all who do, are little false gods running around creating havoc as they try to find their place amongst the rest in Satan's world where he is the god of false gods. True order can only be restored by the voluntary submission of each individual to the One True God. Living righteously in the place in which God has placed them. Christ as head of the Man, Man as head of the Woman, Woman as head over the Children and the first born Male the head over his siblings. In our present age there is established government within the body of Christ. Christ the head of the Body followed by the Apostles and Prophets, Bishops and Elders overseeing the flock, Deacons and deaconess' serving the flock, Pastors and teachers maturing the flock and the least esteemed in the body to judge matters. All authority given by God is given for the purpose of serving those that are governed for their good as God sees good.
There is no peace unless all are in their place. Everyone must relinquish his false title as God and Ruler, submitting himself to the will of God in truth. In the last day, God shall judge man by Jesus Christ the righteous. This judgment will be according to the works of men whether or not they believed and therefore submitted to the Authority of the One True God who appointed Jesus over all. Every man must stop doing what is right in his own eyes, the eyes opened in the garden, and do the works of God. Satan said Ye may be Gods. He forgot one word "False".
A loving message from the blessed creator who is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God is love but love is not God. God is also Righteous and Just.
In the one true Christ,
Gary
