ADAM AND EVE'S BEGINNING

Genesis 2:4-25 

Here we back up a little and get more of a break down of the creation of man.
     God forms man from dust and breaths life into him.  Nothing fancy about us, just made from dust.  Not until God breaths life into us.  I guess this might be God's Spirit, The Holy Spirit breathed into us.  Now we're special.  Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden which, it seems from the description of the rivers, is  probably located down by the Persian Gulf.  (I like to know where I'm at when reading the Bible because as the story unfolds, you move around a bit. Oh yes, we also learn that there is no rain yet, the ground is watered by streams.

Middle East

Adam is told about the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil and not to eat of it's fruit.  You know, I always thought that Eve was there too when God told them not to eat of that fruit.  Hmm.  So we know that evil already existed.  Maybe Satan?  (It's also interesting that the Tree of Life appears again in Revelation 22 where people are enjoying eternal life with God).

This whole thing used to seem like a cruel trick to me.  Like God kind of set them up to sin but I don't think that way anymore.  I feel like that there are lots of things placed on this earth that we shouldn't be messing with or at least not unless we know how to.  The book The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity by William P. Young did an excellent job of explaining this.  In the story, Mack is walking in a garden with the Holy Spirit and he asks the Holy Spirit if she made the poisonous plants and stinging bugs too.  The answer was of course yes and Mack asked Her why create poisonous plants at all?  The Holy Spirit responds  "Your question presumes that poison is bad; that such creations have no purpose.  Many of these so-called bad plants...contain incredible properties for healing or are necessary for some of the most magnificent wonders when combined with something else.  Humans have a great capacity for declaring something good or evil, without truly knowing.".   So maybe we don't know exactly what the purpose of the Tree was but I don't think God placed it there just to trick Adam into sinning.  I think it had some reason for being there.  What if it was poisonous berries that God had told them not to eat and they did it anyways and they got sick or died.  That we could understand and say "well, I guess they should have listened".

God creates woman out of the rib of man.  Why not make Eve from dust like He did Adam?  It turned out pretty neat I think.  It makes them more of  "one flesh",  a "mystical union".  God treats the union between man and woman sacredly throughout the Bible.  And I think that it's cool how God gives life to man, and man gives life to woman, and woman gives life to babies.  They each have a special roll to play in the creation of life.

Adam was really pleased with Eve and this was the first 'marriage' union.  Note, no ring, no ceremony, no license.  These are all man made ideas.  Just like church, it takes what God intended to be a heart thing and makes it a judgment thing.  Gives boundaries in which to judge one another and hold each other accountable when what we really need to do is to be indevidually accountable to God and let others do so also.  Yes, it's true we need laws to govern us to keep us safe from criminals but these are not criminal laws we are talking about, these are moral laws.  You can't force morality on people, that has to come from within.

Lastly, they were naked.  Not only were they naked physically but also emotionally and spiritually before each other and before God.  When I think about this I think about what it must have been like to be them.  They had no childhood on which to build hurt and insecurities, fears, distrust and anger.  In some ways they must have been like innocent little children.  No wonder they fell for Satan's trick so easily.  They did not have that hardened outer shell that we get from living life as we grow.  In so many ways they truly were naked.

So the question comes to my mind "Why were they not more protected by God, their Father?  Then I thought about my own children.  They have been hurt in life.  They have fallen down and scraped their knees.  They have bled. They've had their share of emotional hurts as well.  Does that mean that I didn't protect them enough or that I don't love them enough?  Was I neglectful?

The answer is no.  I love my children with everything I've got.  I would lay down my life for each and everyone of them.  But the only way I can keep them from all harm is if I lock them away somewhere or never allow them to get out of bed in the mornings.  They certainly couldn't fall out of tree that way could they or get sunburned either.  But, what about the joy of being outside and climbing a tree then?  Who wants to miss out on that?  Keeping them locked up safe somewhere would actually be abusive.  (I'm thinking Rapunzel and the wicked mother here).

And I did try to protect them.  I told them for instance not to run around the pool because it was wet and slippery and they'd fall.  But they did it anyways and sure enough, they fell down, got hurt, scraped their knees and bled and cried.  And what about when they did fall?  What do you think I did then?  Do you think I stood over them with a smug, happy look on my face saying 'I told you so, that's what you get'.  No, I ran to them and picked them up and held them tight and kissed them until the hurt went away.  Then I brushed them off, cleaned them up and carried them in just like God does for us when we fall.  (Now I'm thinking "Footprints in the Sand")

God placed us on this beautiful earth with everything we need and He gave us freedom!  Freedom to laugh and play and run.  And freedom to be our own people.  Not puppets on a string.  But freedom always comes with the ability to choose right from wrong, good from bad.  Sometimes the choices are no brainers and sometimes they are not so clear.  We are as ignorant of God's ways as our own children at 2 or 3 years old are ignorant of ours.  And when God says 'don't do this', we may not necessarily know why we shouldn't but  we should learn to trust Him and believe that He's looking out for our best interest and do what He says whether we understand it or not.  Maybe He's only trying to help you not get hurt.  But just like Adam and Eve, we constantly disobey God's laws even today.  Then, when things go wrong, we blame Him for not protecting us.  We knew it was wrong when we did it.  Don't blame God.