iouae
Well-known member
English poet John Milton wrote the backstory to the fall of Adam and Eve in 1667.
I am borrowing his title, though I have not read him - yet.
There is a prequel to the fall of man, and I don't believe this has been told.
The Garden of Eden was not all paradise before the "fall" of man. Although the Bible story is brief, let us take what it DOES say as representative of the bigger picture.
God creates Adam on Friday morning of week 1.
Adam gets to hang out with God for the better part of the day, like Make-a-wish-foundation might allow one to hang out with a celebrity.
Imagine the honour, the unspeakable joy, the privilege of getting to spend one-on-one time with God. That is what we are all hoping to do one day.
But look at Adam's attitude towards the end of a day of God showing Adam new animals, and Adam naming them. Is Adam appreciative of this time spent with God?
Gen 2:20
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
Hold your horses. Adam has had God's company all day, and Adam is complaining of not having a suitable companion. There is discontent in Adam's statement. And Adam has not even met Eve that he can conceive of her, and in doing so, miss a woman. Adam is lonely - already. But he had God. Am I missing something, or is Adam being a bit of a jerk?
The following verse confirms it for me.
Gen 2:23
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Adam is truly excited over the creation of Eve - unmoved that he had God for a companion. God has created an idol for Adam, and Adam is worshiping at that altar. I know this is true because when Eve brings Adam the forbidden fruit, Adam is forced to make the choice of please God, or please Eve. And Adam chooses to please Eve, and KNOWINGLY rejects God.
God and Adam did not have a strong relationship before the fall. Adam was half way to falling even before the fall.
Further evidence of the breakdown in their relationship is seen by Adam hiding from God. I never dared hide from my parents. This is spoilt child behaviour - of the sort where a parent has done everything for the child, yet the child does not love the parent.
And the accusatory tone Adam takes with God when Adam's sin is addressed by God - again, my parents would not have allowed me to blame them when I was in the wrong. Imagine saying "It was the air rifle YOU GAVE ME which is responsible for the broken window". Both Adam and Eve had the same spoilt child attitude of "it's not my fault".
But here is the most important point of this post. If Adam and Eve had reacted like David did when confronted with their sin, God could have rectified the situation and forgiven their sin. Adam and Eve had King Saul's attitude towards God, not interested in what God felt, and not desperate to restore the relationship they once had.
Look what David said.
2Sa 12:13
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
Look how immediately God tells David that "thou shalt not die". If Adam and Eve had reacted like David, confessing their sins, and desperate to restore a relationship with God, I have no doubt that God would have said the same "thou shalt not die".
God, the poster-Being for reconciliation, does what no parent should do. He tells the difficult teenager to get out of His house. Then God changes the locks, by having an armed guard guard the door back to Eden.
Yet still, Adam's children have access to God. Abel makes use of this to have a relationship with God. Where are Adam and Eve? Why are they not doing as Abel does, of bringing gifts to God, and making an attempt to restore the relationship?
Why? Because Adam was a jerk. Eve was too. They were spoilt, and they did not value their Parent and valued Him so little, they did not humble themselves to try for reconciliation. Would the God of reconciliation and grace have rejected any reasonable show of remorse and repentance? No!
Adam and Eve were like Lucifer, created perfect, yet unable, at the first falling out with God, to acknowledge fault, and unable to feel their utter and desperate need for God. Like Humpty Dumpty, they were unfixable, and could not be put back together again.
Adam and Eve were already fallen when God allowed Satan in to Eden, just to give that little push.
Eve was like a spoilt child who has it all, yet wants to join a transcendental meditation class so that she can tap into some other wisdom. Eve was tempted because she felt incomplete. Both Adam and Eve had a God-shaped hole in their souls, but they were trying to fill it with Eve in the case of Adam, and seeking esoteric wisdom in the case of Eve. Gen 3:6
God's banishment of them is extreme punishment. His having nothing further to do with them is even more extreme. This is a dysfunctional family. The big disappointment to God was not the fall, but the utter lack of desire on their part to seek reconciliation with their Father. That is the big, untold story.
I am borrowing his title, though I have not read him - yet.
There is a prequel to the fall of man, and I don't believe this has been told.
The Garden of Eden was not all paradise before the "fall" of man. Although the Bible story is brief, let us take what it DOES say as representative of the bigger picture.
God creates Adam on Friday morning of week 1.
Adam gets to hang out with God for the better part of the day, like Make-a-wish-foundation might allow one to hang out with a celebrity.
Imagine the honour, the unspeakable joy, the privilege of getting to spend one-on-one time with God. That is what we are all hoping to do one day.
But look at Adam's attitude towards the end of a day of God showing Adam new animals, and Adam naming them. Is Adam appreciative of this time spent with God?
Gen 2:20
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
Hold your horses. Adam has had God's company all day, and Adam is complaining of not having a suitable companion. There is discontent in Adam's statement. And Adam has not even met Eve that he can conceive of her, and in doing so, miss a woman. Adam is lonely - already. But he had God. Am I missing something, or is Adam being a bit of a jerk?
The following verse confirms it for me.
Gen 2:23
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Adam is truly excited over the creation of Eve - unmoved that he had God for a companion. God has created an idol for Adam, and Adam is worshiping at that altar. I know this is true because when Eve brings Adam the forbidden fruit, Adam is forced to make the choice of please God, or please Eve. And Adam chooses to please Eve, and KNOWINGLY rejects God.
God and Adam did not have a strong relationship before the fall. Adam was half way to falling even before the fall.
Further evidence of the breakdown in their relationship is seen by Adam hiding from God. I never dared hide from my parents. This is spoilt child behaviour - of the sort where a parent has done everything for the child, yet the child does not love the parent.
And the accusatory tone Adam takes with God when Adam's sin is addressed by God - again, my parents would not have allowed me to blame them when I was in the wrong. Imagine saying "It was the air rifle YOU GAVE ME which is responsible for the broken window". Both Adam and Eve had the same spoilt child attitude of "it's not my fault".
But here is the most important point of this post. If Adam and Eve had reacted like David did when confronted with their sin, God could have rectified the situation and forgiven their sin. Adam and Eve had King Saul's attitude towards God, not interested in what God felt, and not desperate to restore the relationship they once had.
Look what David said.
2Sa 12:13
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
Look how immediately God tells David that "thou shalt not die". If Adam and Eve had reacted like David, confessing their sins, and desperate to restore a relationship with God, I have no doubt that God would have said the same "thou shalt not die".
God, the poster-Being for reconciliation, does what no parent should do. He tells the difficult teenager to get out of His house. Then God changes the locks, by having an armed guard guard the door back to Eden.
Yet still, Adam's children have access to God. Abel makes use of this to have a relationship with God. Where are Adam and Eve? Why are they not doing as Abel does, of bringing gifts to God, and making an attempt to restore the relationship?
Why? Because Adam was a jerk. Eve was too. They were spoilt, and they did not value their Parent and valued Him so little, they did not humble themselves to try for reconciliation. Would the God of reconciliation and grace have rejected any reasonable show of remorse and repentance? No!
Adam and Eve were like Lucifer, created perfect, yet unable, at the first falling out with God, to acknowledge fault, and unable to feel their utter and desperate need for God. Like Humpty Dumpty, they were unfixable, and could not be put back together again.
Adam and Eve were already fallen when God allowed Satan in to Eden, just to give that little push.
Eve was like a spoilt child who has it all, yet wants to join a transcendental meditation class so that she can tap into some other wisdom. Eve was tempted because she felt incomplete. Both Adam and Eve had a God-shaped hole in their souls, but they were trying to fill it with Eve in the case of Adam, and seeking esoteric wisdom in the case of Eve. Gen 3:6
God's banishment of them is extreme punishment. His having nothing further to do with them is even more extreme. This is a dysfunctional family. The big disappointment to God was not the fall, but the utter lack of desire on their part to seek reconciliation with their Father. That is the big, untold story.
