What went wrong in Eden?
Our first parents doubted God's word, seized what He had forbidden, and brought sin and death into a very good world. But even as He judged them, God promised that the woman's offspring would one day crush the serpent: the whole rest of the Bible is the story of that promise kept.
This question arose from studying What is the Bible's big story? and Why did God create us? and What does it mean to be made in God's image?.
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What the Scripture says
Eden was freedom with one fence
God was no miser: 'You may freely eat of every tree of the garden.' A single tree was withheld, with death as its warning. That is the shape of life with God still: abundant liberty inside a loving boundary, and the boundary exists because He knows what we do not.
Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”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.
Sin began as doubting God's word
Before the taking came the twisting: 'Has God really said?' The serpent reframed God's generosity as stinginess and His warning as bluff, and Eve trusted the new voice over the old one. Every temptation since runs the same play: make God look like the one withholding good.
Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’”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?
The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”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.
Death entered through disobedience
God had been explicit, and He proved true: 'you will surely die.' Toil, pain, and dust-bound mortality followed, and Paul traces the genealogy of death directly to Adam's transgression. This is why the gospel cannot be self-improvement: our problem is deeper than bad habits.
but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”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.
By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”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.
Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Judgment came wrapped in promise
Even the sentence on the serpent carried the first gospel: 'I will put hostility between you and the woman... He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.' God clothed the couple Himself before sending them from the garden. From the very first page, judgment and mercy travel together.
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”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.
Yahweh God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
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Why did God place the tree in the garden at all?→“Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”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.”Who are the sons of God in Genesis 6?→“God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”What does the flood show us about God's judgment and mercy?→“Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”What happened at Babel?→“They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”Explore further
Why did Jesus have to die?→Jesus Christ trail“for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”Why does God allow suffering and evil?→Suffering & God's Will trail“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”What is sin, and where did it come from?→Who We Are trail“for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”Why did God call Abraham?→The Fathers trail“Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. All of the families of the earth will be blessed in you.”Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”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.
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”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.
Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
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