Genesis 3:20-24

2006.Jul.12 22:27

Aftermath

Read Genesis 3:20-24 | Full Chapter

Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”–therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
(Genesis 3:20-24)

The first point recorded, immediately after the curse on Adam, is that he names Eve. It would appear to me that Adam named Eve after the sin, but I suppose it could be that this just seemed the appropriate time to throw a random informative note into the narrative. I’ll assume the former, with the normal proviso that I may be quite off my rocker. Genesis 2:18-20 reveals a process wherein God states that man ought not be alone, forms animals, and brings them to Adam. Adam names these animals, "but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him" (Genesis 2:18-20) . After this, God creates Eve, who is apparently not named at that time. This leads me to believe that Adam very much considered Eve as part of himself, and vice-versa. It is after sin, which separates them, that Eve requires a distinct proper name (by which I mean, she may well have been called “Adam” to this point; “man” and “woman” seemed to have been used to distinguish). It also reveals how sin impedes a healthy relationship–Adam no longer considers Eve a completely suitable helper; I imagine she feels similarly towards him.

The footnote to the NASB tells me that Eve means life or living and she is so named because "she was the mother of all the living" (Genesis 3:20, NASB) . Again, we see that Eve’s role as mother is directed onto her, that like Adam with his labor, freedom has removed itself from her, and she is now bound to a role, which, while it has joyful aspects, also contains great pain.

In the next event recorded here, Jehovah, aware of Eve and Adam’s shame at their nakedness–which would have been the revealing result of their sin, had Jehovah not already been aware–makes for them garments of skin to replace their fig leaves. As Jehovah shows in the curse on Adam, the world is no longer a friendly place. Fig leaves may cover their shame, but it won’t protect the humans against the elements. Physical layers of separation are about to become commonplace, reflecting the emotional separation brought by sin.

The clothing and name given, Jehovah turns to the issue of the trees. There were two special trees in garden, that of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. Now that Adam and Eve have eaten of the tree of knowledge, God does not want them to eat of the tree of life, lest they attain eternal life through it rather than repentance, and consider themselves equal to and adversarial against Jehovah. Therefore, God sends Adam out (assumedly Eve also) and places a guard around the tree of life. I assume this business is mostly symbolic, that God is actively showing Adam and Eve that death is the result of their sin. And now to survive even a little while requires physical labor.

And the question that must now follow them is whether this knowledge, this understanding of acting against God, was worth it. Sure, I can’t see a situation in which they would not have taken from the fruit, but having taken, they might now become repentant. We all sin, we do. But can we lay down our godhood, repent, and follow Jehovah’s path to returning to his presence? Can I accept the sacrifice of the spotless lamb Jesus, admitting my complete dependence on God?

Genesis 3:6-13

2006.Jun.18 22:04

And they saw they was naked. And it wasn’t so good.

Read Genesis 3:6-13 | Full Chapter

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
(Genesis 3:6-7, NASB)

The woman, convinced by the serpent’s Harvard-level education (har har), takes from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and eats. She then gives some of the fruit to her husband, who also eats of it. Beyond the fruit’s looking good and tasty, the humans’ main reason for eating of it appears to be that is desirable to make one wise (or maybe the main reason is that they haven’t eaten from it.) And boy do they get wisdom. The knowledge comes flooding in. The realize…wait for it…they’re naked!

Stars and garters, what will we do?

What they do is cover themselves with fig leaves and hide from Jehovah. Jehovah calls out to them, the man answers, stating he hid himself because of his nakedness, leading Jehovah to ask if they ate of tree of knowledge, and Adam, setting a precedence that lives on today, promptly blames the whole thing on his wife. Eve, sensing a conspiracy afoot, blames the serpent. The humans display a process of sin, but do one thing pretty unique, aside from it being the apparent first human sin. In this process, they sin, leading to shame (evidenced by their concentration on their physical nakedness), and then they try to justify their sin. The odd thing is that they’re actually pretty open about this to God.

The sin itself is the eating of the tree from which God commanded them not to eat. It is important to note that eating from a tree is not something we see as inherently bad, despite many Christians’ desire to prove that sin is bad for society–or at least “the children”. The sin is disobedience of God, regardless of whether the humans understood why God had so commanded. They disobeyed God, and in doing so, their eyes–as are all of ours–were opened to a world where they could challenge God and disobey him. This must have brought tons of images to their minds, all of which would have made their daily walk with Jehovah a bit uncomfortable, for now they could think of him as an adversary.

They are apparently ashamed by these thoughts, and hide themselves from God. The man and woman focus on their physical nakedness, both hiding behind trees and covering their loins (a word which could, I suppose, be used outside the context of clothing–though I can’t think that I’ve ever heard it used as such) with fig leaves. This is a pretty spectacular display, considering they’ve not seen clothing (unless Jehovah wore some). I can only suppose they are comparing themselves to the furry animals, and the level of their shame is such to compel them to find any sort of covering up they can. The fact that they have something to hide testifies to their sin. It is the woman and man who, having sinned, actively separate themselves from God. This is the essence, to me, of shame: We realize that we have done something that ought to offend another and actively separate ourselves from that relationship.

The humans, when questioned by God, admit to the sin, but do not take ownership of it. I do acknowledge their immediate confession, which I believe is the result of their having walked regularly with God. When we are in close relationship with God, we tend to be much quicker to admit the truth to him, knowing both that he is already aware and that he is kind and loving–perhaps best said: we are more comfortable with him. However, they also pass the blame. To say I did that action is one step, but it must, in the case of sin, be followed with the admittance that the action was a sin on my part. Adam and Eve, rather, pass the buck. And, so, sin enters into this world.