Babes With A Beatitude: The Real Housewives of the OT (Old Testament) Series--This Week: "Eve"--by Linda P. Kozar

"All I did was take a bite out of some fruit and all hell broke loose.”

Life began in a spring-watered Eden, a paradise of plants and trees, vegetation and fruits. The garden God created for His children was utterly perfect and safe. A breathtaking, beautiful place, the like of which has never been seen or experienced since. If you and I as parents, could create such a place for our children, we would. God created Adam as the first man. Made from the dust of the earth, and God breathed life into him with His own breath.

God and Adam enjoyed one another's company. The highlight of Adam's day was a walk in the cool of the evening with God the Father. They experienced a great Father/Son relationship. We tend to think of God the Father and Jesus, His only Son, but few of us ever consider that God as Trinity, created man, created a family and that God takes great joy and pleasure in His family.

Adam loved the animals in the garden and was given the task of naming each and every one of them. However, Adam began to notice there was something different about the animals. All the animals had mates and offspring. Soon he began to wonder why he didn’t have a mate.

“And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’” Genesis 2:18.

So the Lord decided to design a perfect mate for Adam--his soul mate. Not hand-picked, but hand-made by God the Father.

“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.”

Eve, the first woman, made from a rib bone by the hand of God. She was presented by her father, to her new husband. One can imagine how awestruck Adam would have been at the sight of her. Eve and Adam would have been completely compatible, male/female reflections of one another. God made them for one another. A marriage like that would be no less than perfect--a match truly made in heaven!

Now for a question many people ask. Why was Adam made of dirt but Eve made from a rib? Have you ever wondered about that? The answer lies in the New Testament. (Ephesians 5:28-33) ". . .Because no man ever hated his own flesh." And why is that? We love ourselves. YOU are your favorite topic of conversation. Think of your children. They are a part of you. A person made from you—as every mother can attest to, is special. And Eve was special to Adam.

God made, literally built a woman whom Adam recognized as being his equal, ‘bone of my bones’ and ‘flesh of my flesh.’ (Hebrew: ezer-ke negdo) indicating mutuality. Adam was given specific instructions by God as to marriage. This concept is known as the Universal Law of Marriage.

1) The man is to leave his father and his mother

2) The man is to be joined to his wife

3) The union is indissoluble—the two become one flesh.

So 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. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” Genesis 2:21-25.

Nudity in the right context, the marital union between husband and wife. God invented the act of sex. It was His design and plan for mankind, and is not sinful. Adam and Eve shared a marital bed before the fall and most definitely after the fall.

The propagation of the species is one reason for sex, but certainly not the exclusive reason for sex. Intimate relations also promote love between a man and his wife. Also, a special, sacred relationship between man and wife was designed to prevent fornication, sex outside of marriage, which is the unlawful satisfaction of the God-given sexual desire. The unity of Eve coming from Adam’s rib (Adam meaning Man from the Hebrew word ish and the Woman isha). The words joined together as they are is symbolic of the covenant relationship. It also reflects the God-ordained act of copulation under the banner of marriage.

"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3:1.

The serpent's purposeful misquote of God's words was a cunning twist. What God actually said is this: Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden, you may freely eat; 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.”

Satan is a master at the art of temptation, but he cannot force us to sin. Eve separated from Adam. Why? Was the Serpent manipulating her before she actually committed the sin? Of course. Temptation begins in the mind and gives birth to sin when we do not take those thought captive. Though Adam and Eve did not have the bible as a guide to life, they had God in person! She could have called out to Him and asked the question. "Why can't we have this fruit, Father?" And God would have answered. He would have explained with tenderness and understanding. He knows what we are thinking before a word ever escapes our lips.

"And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" Genesis 3:2-3

Satan took the shape and likeness of a serpent. But serpents looked a lot different back then. It is possible they even had legs. The serpent made sure she was alone. Have you ever considered that? In most cases, we are alone when temptation comes strongest to us—when we are by ourselves and vulnerable, and there’s no one to talk us out of it.

The serpent was setting Adam up. Satan used Eve to betray her husband’s best interests. Satan sold her on the idea that she had to have that fruit. Eve gave in to the temptation to disobey God. She listened to the words of the serpent and decided to act on them. In fact, she found three good reasons to taste the forbidden fruit. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate" Genesis 3:6.

Adam trusted Eve and Eve trusted Adam. Many times, Satan initiates the same kind of betrayal against us. He turns those closest to us against us and we never see it coming because we trust and depend on them. It must also be pointed out that Adam and Eve had no guile, and were unaware of the concept of sin or subterfuge.

"And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him. 'Where are you?" So he said, 'I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.'" Genesis 3:8-10.

When God calls out for Adam and Eve, He finds them hiding, trying to cover their nakedness. And God asks, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?'"

Then Adam throws Eve under the bus! He blames God a little too when he says, “The woman whom YOU gave to be with me, she fave me of the tree, and I ate” Genesis 3:12. Maybe Eve forced him to take the fruit, chew and swallow it too!

Eve fared no better. Her response to God was, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate" Genesis 3:13.

Satan teaches people to doubt first, then deny. He showed Eve the advantages of eating the fruit until she felt discontented with the status quo. He made her feel that God was denying or withholding something from her and her husband. Advertising is a lot like that. The annual showcase of homes does the same thing to us quite effectively. We visit a few mansions and suddenly look at our own homes in a very unflattering light!

Satan wanted to be like the Most High God. He wanted praise and power and he was destroyed. Therefore, when he had the chance, he tried to do likewise to mankind, created in the very image of God.

Eve sinned and then convinced her husband to sin as well. Misery loves company, as they say. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the Serpent. But three curses resulted. One on the serpent. And one on the Woman and one on the Man.

Curse on the Serpent:
Genesis 3:14-15 "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."

Curse on the Woman:
Genesis 3:16 "I will greatly multiply your sorroy and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you."

Curse on the Man:
Genesis 3 17-19 "Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying 'You shall not eat of it' Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.

One can imagine what was going on in Eve's mind. “But all I did was take a bite out of some fruit!” Ah but fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now why do you think God plopped a tree like that right smack dab in the middle of the Garden of Eden and said, “Don’t touch that tree.” Any mother knows as soon as you tell your kids not to touch something, they’re going to go ahead and touch it.

Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden, you may freely eat; 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.”

God put the tree there to offer man the choice—to obey or disobey. It was a monumental tree. Do you ever wonder what the fruit tasted like? You and I would probably have done the same. I’ll bet the taste of it was incredible, at first. But I’ll bet the taste of that fruit soured in their mouths after the first bite.

Before that bite, Adam and Ever were morally innocent. Case in point, they did not even realize they were naked. But afterwards, their very nature forever changed. They became sinners with a sin nature, a tendency toward fulfilling fleshly desires. They died spiritually in that every instant and at the same moment, began to die physically as well.

Adam and Eve were the first man and woman to live and walk upon the face of the earth. Because of their sin, all of mankind retained a sin nature. We were all born into spiritual death.

Eve’s sin also resulted in the subjugation of women, who became mere property to be sold into slavery or wed to a man without consent. Forced to wear veils, travel with chaperones. Not allowed to work or to do anything on their own.

Childbearing:

“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. Genesis 3:16 But in Genesis 1:28, God says, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.

Animal mamas rarely experience pain during the birthing process. But Jesus brought up an important point. In John 16:21 He says that mothers have the ability to “forget” the pain of childbirth for the joy of seeing the child for the first time. Mothers fall in love with their babies!

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15.

We are part of that Seed God created to fight the devil!

Relationship With Her Husband:

"Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." Genesis 3:16. So what’s so wrong with that?

The Hebrew word “tesuquh” means an “unusual or striking” kind of desire—a desire to overcome or defeat another. We have the desire to gain the upper hand over our husbands, and our husbands try to squelch that desire. Until the 20^th century, woman were little more than baby-making machines, property worth about as much as cattle.

Another theory is that woman might want to resist repeated pregnancies, but would find it difficult because of their desire for their husband.

Ephesians 5:23-33 shows us the way to diminish the effects of this curse. Wives are told to submit rather than contend and husbands are told to love rather than dominate.

Adam called his wife “Eve,” because she was the mother of all living. Genesis 3:20.

Eve is an inspiration to us all. Sure, she made a mistake that unfortunately affected all of mankind, but she gave birth to our ancestors and faithfully followed God's command to be fruitful and multiply. The sin of Adam and Eve is known as the original sin--a sin so monumental that God had to send His only Son down to Earth to rectify and reconcile through the sacrifice of His own body.

But let us remember that Eve is our greatgreatgreatgreat. . .grandmama. We owe much to her and to Adam, from whom we all descend. We cannot be too hard on them because any one of us would have done the same thing. And heaven help us if the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was made of chocolate. The fall would have happened a lot quicker. . .