Why did Eve sin?
3 reasons: (1) fruit that was good for food,
(2) was attractive to the eye, and
(3) was desirable for making one wise v.6.
All the fruits in other trees were offered by God for them to eat and they are also attractive to the eye 2:8, 16. Reasons # (1) and (2) could have been satisfied by all the other fruits. Therefore #(3) is the main reason. Eve want to wise.
What does being wise mean?
What is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
"tree of"=tree would produce fruit which, when eaten, gives special knowledge of “good and evil.”
“knowledge of good and evil”=the capacity to discern between moral good and evil...Such wisdom is characteristic of divine beings, as the serpent’s promise implies (3:5) and as 3:22 makes clear. (Note, however, that this capacity does not include the ability to do what is right.)
(NET)
God prohibits man from eating of the tree. The prohibition becomes a test to see if man will be satisfied with his role and place, or if he will try to ascend to the divine level. There will be a time for man to possess moral discernment/wisdom, as God reveals and imparts it to him, but it is not something to be grasped at in an effort to become “a god.” In fact, the command to be obedient was the first lesson in moral discernment/wisdom. God was essentially saying: “Here is lesson one—respect my authority and commands. Disobey me and you will die.” When man disobeys, he decides he does not want to acquire moral wisdom God’s way, but instead tries to rise immediately to the divine level.
(NET)
What does being wise/knowing good and evil means to Adam and Eve?
Before they ate the fruit:
2:25, "The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed."
"Ashamed"="its meaning is stronger than “to be embarrassed.” The word conveys the fear of exploitation or evil—enemies are put to shame through military victory. It indicates the feeling of shame that approximates a fear of evil.
Immediately after they ate the fruit:
3:7, "Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."
Eve and Adam were no longer the perfect couple that were one flesh. They wanted some coverings over their body. According to the meaning of ashamed they fear of evil done by their spouse.
Not only they wanted to hid from each other, they hid from God v.8-9.
The result of sin is death (meaning of death is separation). God's word is true, "when you eat from it you will surely die" 2:17.
When they encountered God:
3:10 The man replied, “I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 3:11 And the LORD God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?
Adam was afraid because he was naked. He was not afraid because he disobeyed God and ate the fruit. He did not realize that the fact that he hid was the result of his sin. He had his coverings and he was not naked any more. He hid not because he was naked but because of the result of sin. However, from his statement that he was naked God form the proof that he had eaten the fruit.
Reflection:
1. We have food, and all the wonderful things to enjoy, but we are greedy and want to be like God. We want to be c. We think that 1 thing that has reserved for Himself is because He has something good that He did not want to share with us.
Look at the result of that.
2. We suffered from the results of sin today. Wall between husband and wife, between mankind. We are afraid of exploitation from other people. Worse of all, mankind is separated from God. When we wants to be divine we lost the relationship with the Divine.
Thank God, with our salvation we are reconciled with God (and with man) through Jesus. May we live with an obedient heart and not take the place of God. Enjoy the fellowship of God and not afraid of hearing of His coming (v.10).
3. God's words always true. He said they will surely die and they did. We should trust what God said in the Bible.
Audrey
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