Thoughts on Eve

Jan 4, 2010 by desiringvirtue

Have you ever noticed that God gave Adam the command not to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree?

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17

It wasn’t until after God put Adam in the garden and gave him this command that God created Eve. While reading this passage over the weekend I couldn’t help but wonder if Eve was ever directly commanded by God in this prohibition or if God expected her to obey her husband’s leadership. Yes there was open communication between God and his created beings before the fall, but it is interesting to note that God holds Adam ultimately responsible for the sin committed by his wife. Of course there is no way to know for sure if God specifically told her not to eat from this particular tree, but if Eve was meant to rely on Adam’s spiritual headship in this area, it gives a very interesting spin on Satan’s temptation. Not only would Satan be tempting her to disbelieve her creator, but also her husband.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…

In this one act Eve chose to disbelieve her husband and her God. She decided to take matters into her own hands believing that she could make a better choice than either of them.

It’s a good thing I can’t see myself in this kind of action at all…