Adam & Eve
The Fall
Topics covered in this document:
Introduction
The fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, represents a pivotal
moment in the young couple's lives. As you might expect, there has
been quite a bit written about this event.
The Serpent
The "Fall" from God's grace began when the serpent (often associated
with the Devil) approached Eve with a proposition she couldn't refuse.
Partake of the forbidden fruit and be like God.
Intelligent and Human-Like
Of all the animals in the Garden, the serpent most resembled man,
originally standing upright on two feet. He was as tall as a camel and,
certainly, as intelligent as man.
First Amendment
When God first announced the commandment regarding the forbidden fruit,
He only required that our first parents not eat the fruit. In his
infinite "wisdom," however, Adam felt compelled to embellish God's original
commandment just a bit. Men seem to be very good at this.
Adam amended the "do not eat" condition, stating that Eve was not to
even touch the tree. Presumably, this was because our macho Adam
figured that Eve was much too weak to abide by God's commandments alone,
without the assistance of his superior intellect and guidance. You'll
notice, men haven't changed their tune much over the years.
Eve Shoved Against the Tree
Eve obediently accepted Adam's amendment.
So the serpent took matters into his own hands and forcibly pushed
Eve up against the Tree of Life, which apparently scared the wits out of
Eve. I mean, she froze in her tracks as soon as she touched the tree,
trembling like a leaf, expecting to be struck down dead at any moment.
Of course, she wasn't ... and so the serpent made his next move.
The Temptation
Using trickery, the serpent enticed Eve to eat of the forbidden
fruit -- which, incidently, was a fig and not an apple.
I can see the grin on the serpent's face as he taunted Eve with his
smooth words.
"Thou seest that touching the tree has not caused thy death. As
little will it hurt thee to eat the fruit of the tree. Naught but God's
malevolence has prompted the prohibition, for as soon as ye eat thereof,
ye shall be as God.
"As He creates and destroys worlds, so will ye have the power to create
and destroy. As He doth slay and revive, so will ye have the power to slay
and revive.
"He Himself ate first of the fruit of the tree, and then He created
the world. Therefore doth He forbid you to eat thereof, lest you create
other worlds. Everyone knows that 'artisans of the same guild hate one
another.'
"Furthermore, have ye not observed that every creature hath dominion
over the creature fashioned before itself? The heavens were made on the
first day, and they are kept in place by the firmament made on the second
day. The firmament, in turn, is ruled by the plants, the creation of the
third day, for they take up all the water of the firmament. The sun and
the other celestial bodies, which were created on the fourth day, have
power over the world of plants. The plants can ripen their fruits and
flourish only through their influence. The creation of the fifth day,
the animal world, rules over the celestial spheres. Witness the ziz,
which can darken the sun with its pinions.
"But ye are masters of the whole of creation, because you were the last
to be created.
"Hasten now and eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden,
and become independent of God, lest He bring forth still other creatures to
bear rule over you."
[Although the ziz is an interesting mythological creature in its own
right, the ziz will not be on the quiz. :)]
Eating the Fruit
Apparently, the serpent convinced Eve.
Serpent Eats the Fruit
To further emphasize his point, the serpent shook the tree so hard that
some of the figs fell to the ground. He popped a few in his mouth, then
said, "As I do not die of eating the fruit, so wilt thou not die."
All Eve could do was to shake her head and confess to the serpent
"All that my master [as she called Adam] commanded me is but lies."
The first woman learned that man is not always honest.
Eve Eats the Fruit
Not quite sure why Adam had lied to her, but still not willing to
completely disobey God, Eve nibbled just the outside of the fruit. When
she saw that she didn't die, she ate the rest of it.
Angel of Death Appears
Immediately the Angel of Death stood before her.
Oops! Fearing that she would now die, she resolved to also make Adam
eat the fruit so that he couldn't simply marry another wife after her
death.
I suspect Eve didn't feel particularly confident of her status ...
being the eighth wife in line for Adam's heart.
Adam and Animals Eat the Fruit
After enticing Adam to eat, she also fed some of the fruit to all
living creatures so that the animals would also be mortal (except one
curious bird named a malham, who refused to eat any figs).
First Effect of The Fall
The first noticable result of eating the fruit was that Adam and Eve
lost the horny skin that previously had overlaid their bodies, and they
were naked. We must have been really cute back then.
Trees Refuse to Offer Leaves
Adam tried to gather leaves from the trees to cover their bodies,
but none of the trees allowed him to remove any of their leaves. Only
the fig tree granted him permission to take some of its leaves. I guess
the fig tree felt responsible for The Fall.
God Drops By
God waited until Adam and Eve had covered themselves before dropping
by, because it was written that one should not "strive to see a man in
the hour of his disgrace."
Angels Complain
But before God had made his appearance, Adam overheard the angels
talking amongst themselves, asking, "What! He still walks about in
Paradise? He is not yet dead?"
Whereupon God stepped in and reminded them of what He had said to Adam,
"In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die!"
And to further clarify, God added, "Now, ye know not what manner of day
I meant -- one of My days of a thousand years, or one of your days. I will
give him one of My days. He shall have nine hundred and thirty years to
live, and seventy to leave to his descendants."
Second Effect of The Fall
The second physical effect of The Fall was that Adam and Eve were no
longer tall enough to stretch between the heavens and the earth. Before
The Fall, the couple would not have been able to hide among the trees
because of their extreme height.
Confess and Forgive
Still, God would have forgiven Adam if he had just confessed his sin,
but instead Adam uttered blasphemy against God.
Adam Shifts Blame
And when asked if he had eaten of the tree whereof he had been
commanded not to eat, Adam attempted to shift all the blame to Eve.
This is yet another example showing that men don't seem to have changed
much over all these years.
Adam Ungrateful
God accused Adam of being ungrateful as well as being disobedient.
After all, Eve hadn't been created until after Adam had asked for her.
Eve Shifts Blame
Eve also attempted to shift the blame away from herself rather than
pray for pardon, which would have been granted to her if she had. If the
couple had just asked God for forgiveness, He would have granted it to
both of them.
Everyone Punished
Because everyone tried to shift the blame to someone else, God
decided to start punishing everyone and everything.
Serpent is Punished
With no one left to blame, the serpent had to face the full force of
God's wrath. God didn't even give the serpent a chance to debate the
point because he knew that the serpent would simply ask why he was being
punished when it was Adam and Eve who had chosen to disobey God.
[Apparently, serpents were good at debate back then ... and, therefore,
became the planet's first tort (lawsuit) lawyers. Of course, some people
still refer to lawyers as snakes.]
King of the Beasts
God immediately took away the serpent's ability to speak. Then he
instructed a Sanhedrin of 71 angels to hack off the serpent's hands and
feet, leaving the serpent to slither in the dust.
Then God demoted the serpent from king over all the animals to a lowly
snake, cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Bet
that made the new King of the Beasts happy.
Serpent Wanted to Marry Eve
And because the serpent had sought the death of Adam so that he
himself could marry Adam's widow [hmmm, I didn't know that], God
placed an enmity between woman and the serpent.
Adam and Eve are Punished
God was somewhat chauvinistic when He pronounced the verdict against
Eve, in that He wouldn't even speak to her directly. It seems that the
only woman with whom God ever spoke directly was Sarah, the wife of
Abraham.
Instead He used an interpreter to deliver Eve's punishment. Eve was
given ten curses. Adam's punishment was also tenfold.
Earth is Punished
God also punished the Earth because it had produced fruit trees in the
first place. It seems that when God had commanded that the Earth bring
forth trees bearing fruit, He had meant for the tree itself to be edible.
But the Earth brought forth fruit trees instead. For its transgression,
the Earth was forced to bring forth thorns and thistles ... and consigned
to be the one to cover the bodies of mankind when they die.
Moon is Punished
Because the moon laughed at the punishment inflicted upon the Earth,
God cursed it so that it no longer shone as bright as the sun. [There,
take that! The lesson here is ... don't mess with God.]
Adam and Eve Exiled
God then stripped the skin from the serpent [an obvious explanation for
why snakes shed their skin] and made garments for Adam and Eve ... and cast
the couple out of the Garden. [In other writings, Adam's and Eve's garments
were made of the skin of the mythological monster, Leviathan.]
Cherubim Guard Paradise
Cherubim -- also called the ever-turning sword of flames because
angels can change shape at will -- were instructed to guard the entrance
to Paradise.
Before his fall, Lucifer himself was one of the high-ranking
cherubim.
Adam Given the Torah
In place of the Tree of Life, God gave Adam the Torah to study so that
if he led a pious life, he'd be granted access to the Tree of Life on
resurrection day ... and thus, live forever.
God Knew They Would Fall
The Fall had been part of God's plan all along. Each of the twelve
hours of the sixth day had the following significance, leading up to
The Fall:
- God conceived the idea of creating man.
- God took counsel with the angels.
- God gathered the dust from the four corners of the Earth.
- God formed Adam.
- God clothed Adam with a horny skin.
- Adam's shape was completed, so that it could stand upright.
- God breathed a soul into Adam's body.
- God led man into Paradise.
- The Divine command against eating the forbidden fruit was issued.
- Adam transgressed.
- Adam was judged.
- Adam was cast out of Paradise, in atonement for his sin.
What Next?
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