Hi! ProudPapa (an' whomever else might be reading)
You posed the question:
"What was Lacking in Adam and Eve that caused them to be tempted to eat the Fruit?" Adding, "They had everything including the presence and relationship of God."
One must read the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis as something near a 'parable'. As Jesus pictured the Kingdom of heaven in parables, so the earthly Garden of Eden is a 'parable' of the heavenly Father. It says of Jesus that He did not speak to them without a parable and this too He had learned from His Father. When I describe the narrative as a 'parable', what I'm meaning to say is that visible pictures are being used to reveal invisible realities.
In creating man God was seeking for Himself a new mode of existence, a house in which His Spirit might dwell. "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men and-He will dwell with them", (Rev 21:3). After having completed creation, God was as a farmer who rests from his labor and waits. He goes home, and the seed he sowed comes up and grows. "The earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear", (Mark 4:28).
God generated Adam as a son who was intended to develop and from whom all mankind was to be born. In Adam's 'loins' there were the great spirits of the natural world. In him there were Beethoven and Einstein, but also Abraham the father of the faithful, righteous Job, and the perfect spiritual man Jesus Christ, (Heb 7:9-10). From Jesus Christ an entirely new mankind would spring up, a spiritual generation of people who would contain the image of God and with whom the Creator could have fellowship and share His throne.
When God had breathed the 'breath of life' or the 'spirit of life' into man's nostrils, man developed and became the king of the natural creation. He was the highest being created on earth.
In verse Gen 2:15 we read: "The Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it". Outside the Garden the rule had been: "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food." This verse clearly shows that initially Adam did not live in paradise.
However, inside the garden, there was one tree, the fruit of which man was not allowed to eat: "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die", (Gen 1:29 & 2:16-17).
The narrative about the Garden of Eden is introducing us to the time when Adam and Eve were to become spiritual people; to the time when a place was to be given to them in the heavenly places. "The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil", (Gen 2:8-9).
Therefore, the events in the Garden of Eden narrate the beginning of a new stage in the life of the man God had created. Man was now placed in the position to start his journey to the very throne of God!
A child's initial development is based upon its knowledge of natural things, and similarly it took some time before Adam was able to orientate himself on earth. As the bible says, (provided there is a correct development), the physical is first, and then the spiritual, (1Cor 15:46). As a father rejoices when he sees his little child open a cupboard for the first time, or when he first calls him 'Daddy', so, the bible tells us that God observed Adam in a similar manner: "God brought the beasts of the field to the man to see what he would call them", (Gen 2:19). God observed how the spirit He had given to man was functioning and how this spirit was revealed to be endowed with greater and higher abilities than the animals.
Ezekiel 28:13-19 gives a description of the high position once occupied by the devil when he was an angel of light in the heavenly places. In Isaiah the king of Babylon is an image of Lucifer, while in Ezekiel it is the king of Tyre. In verse 13 we read, "You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering." The nine precious stones set in gold which are listed in Ezekiel 28 create an impression of the great spiritual abilities this covering cherub possessed. He was the covering cherub who had to cultivate and guard the heavenly Garden of Eden and he did not persevere in the truth. He left the plan of God and thus turned into the father of lies who denies and distorts the words (thoughts/intents) of God.
After the fall of Lucifer the heavenly places have two entities which are at enmity with each other: God and the devil. There is a Kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness. The words light and darkness are images from the natural world. Light means life, for "the life is the light of man", and darkness means death. Life and death are realities of the spiritual world.
The earthly paradise was a natural copy of the heavenly Garden of Eden; that is: of the Kingdom of heaven. In the Kingdom of Heaven there are two centers: good and evil, God and the devil. For instance, we read in scripture about an eagle flying in mid-heaven, the centre of heaven, (Rev 8:13). This is the place where the throne of God is standing. In the midst of this centre of authority John had already seen four creatures, one of whom was a flying eagle. There is also mention of an angel who flies in mid-heaven, which means that he was in the centre of the unseen world, at the throne of God, (Rev 14:6).
Therefore, just as with an eclipse, the garden of Eden had two centers: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The trees in the midst of the garden were images of the invisible reality in the Kingdom of heaven. The Tree of Life was connected with God, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil was connected with the devil. The parable / shadow of the Garden of Eden is intended to reveal to us the reality of the invisible kingdom of heaven and about the grave dangers present there.
In the visions of John this place is also the place where the Lamb can be found, (Rev 5:6). However, there is mention too of the destructive powers who fly in mid-heaven in the shape of unclean carrion-eating birds, (Rev 19:17). These are the servants of death, the slaves of Appollyon the destroyer, who is also called Abaddon.
Two kingdoms were represented in the garden. Adam had to learn to choose between life and death, between the truth of the Word of God and the error of the lies of the devil. He had to learn to abide only in the thoughts and the words of God and to obey without listening to the enemy. Jesus said: "He who keeps my Word has eternal life."
Many people have wondered, why did God ever plant this deadly tree in Paradise? To discover the answer, one must use the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.
If Adam and Eve wanted to become truly spiritual people they would have to take up their position in the heavenly places. They would never be able to reach the throne of God without meeting fallen angels on their way. This meant they needed to have discernment of spirits. In their inner man they would have to be able to discern the voice of God and close their spirit against the seducing inspiration of the evil one who would try to block their way through the heavenly places to the throne of God. That is why Jesus said: "And the sheep follow Him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of the strangers", (John 10:4-5).
In the centre of the Garden there also was the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil'. This description typifies the Evil One who is hidden behind this tree; for he had known good but chose evil. By means of the two trees Adam had to learn to choose between good and evil, between life and death. Life is being connected with God and death means being separated from Him. Of course God could have said to Adam: "Don't listen to the devil". But this kind of commandment would have been too difficult for Adam, since the spiritual world and the evil in it were unknown territory to him. He had to start at the beginning; meaning that he had to obey the simple and clear words of God. That was the task before him.
Adam and Eve had to avoid the occult tree and were not even allowed to touch it. Eating the fruits of this tree would connect him with death, that is, with the disrupting powers of lawlessness which would overpower his spirit and injure and destroy their body and soul. As a tree withers through lack of water, so man would be cut off from the "great deep", or flood, (Amos 7:4), from the eternal Spirit from Whom and by Whom all spirits have been created and from Whom all life issues forth. As a cedar lives by drawing great quantities of water from the depth of the earth, so the children of men, too, are "drinkers of water" who derive their life and beauty from God. This not only applies to man but also to the holy angels who serve Him. Trees that drink water will never be able to stand in their own strength, (Ez 31:14).
After all, for the children of Israel the struggle began in all its force only after they had arrived in Canaan. It was a country flowing with milk and honey and the grapes of Eshkon were famous for their size, but in Canaan the people of God had to fight more battles then they had ever fought in the desert. Toil and struggle were the divine instruction to Adam. He had to till the garden. To reach the purpose, man would have to strive to enter.
In the garden of Eden, the fruit of the trees, was for the sustenance of the people who ate them, and for that reason Adam and Eve could eat of all the trees without any fear. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, however, had a special meaning for spiritual life, a positive and a negative meaning, and they, could therefore be regarded as clean and unclean. The fruits of these trees had a relationship to the supernatural world of the spirits.
In Paradise, God associated Himself with the Tree of Life. Adam and Eve heard the voice of God who is spirit and who 'walked' in the Garden in the cool of the day. In a similar way the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses as a flame of fire in the bush, and he was addressed by God. David concluded the presence of the Lord from a sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, (2Sam 5:24). All this simply means that the Lord has set a place and a time to meet His people.
When Adam and Eve approached the Tree of Life in the cool of the day to eat of its fruit, their hearts opened up while God spoke to them. This was their holy communion. Before lying down to sleep, their spirits were drawn up to God and they heard His voice in their inner man. Eating the fruits meant enlightenment for their hearts, and thus they were able to understand the words of God. For them this was a guarantee of eternal life. We are able to understand this more clearly by relating the tree of life to Jesus Christ. All who eat of His fruits, (all who receive His words), receive light, and all who abide in His words have eternal life. Word and life belong together. With a reference to 1Cor 10:4, it could be said: Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of Life, and this tree was the Christ. In this way they would have matured to become Spirit anointed sons of God.
After the atonement, God has planted another Tree of Life in Christ. For us, too, it is good to approach Him at a set time in the place of fellowship, where He calls us to take meal with Him in the unseen world. If Adam and Eve had remained obedient, undoubtedly their perishable, material bodies would have been changed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye". It is not necessary for a perishable body to die, for it can be changed directly into a perfect spiritual and immortal body, for it says: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality", (1Cor 15:51-53).
With great yearning God is looking forward to the moment when His eternal purpose for man will become reality. He is seeking for the mature spiritual man with whom He may have uninterrupted fellowship. In this place of fellowship, therefore, He called out to the prodigal son, "Adam, where are you?"
After Adam and Eve's disobedience, the Tree of Life became an image of Jesus Christ, about whom 1Peter 1:20 says that He, a lamb without blemish or spot, had been conceived and destined in the thoughts of God before the foundation of the world. By the fruit of this Tree of Life man receives healing and fellowship with God, including eternal life. Jesus is also the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and this makes it possible in the endtime to fight and conquer in the heavenly places with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, without having to have fellowship with the Evil One.
In the natural world the Tree of Life therefore, had no special qualities. It was an ordinary tree among the many desirable and good trees of the Garden. The same applied to Jesus; about whom Isaiah 53 says that He had no (special) form or comeliness that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.
Our Lord and Master was not an impressive personality and He did not stand out by His outward appearance. He lived inconspicuously among His fellow men, just as the Tree was in no way different from the other trees of the Garden. However, those who had spiritual eyes, those who recognized His position in the spiritual world, had to say with John: "We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth", (John 1:14). The powers of darkness also had to recognize His greatness, for an unclean spirit came out crying, and had to testify: "I know who you are, the Holy One of God"; while another demon cried in despair: "I adjure you by God, do not torment me", (Mark 1:24 & 5:7).
For man the possibility to sin was only available in eating the forbidden fruit. The forbidden fruit was an image of the lying inspirations of the Evil One and of absorbing his thoughts. The moment Adam ate, the spiritual world of the realm of darkness would open up for him and he would begin to hear the voice of the Evil One in his inner man. However, it remains true that the holy angels protected Adam and Eve from direct possession by the devil.
To seduce man the enemy had to manipulate and conspire against him. This is why he used the serpent. By means of this medium he was able to approach man from the outside, in the natural world. Adam had been warned of this possibility too; for he had been told to 'keep' or 'protect' the garden. Just as among the plants, one species among the animals also had a special connection with the Evil One.
God had created all living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth. (Gen 1:24). When He created them, God already took into account their relationship to man. 'Cattle' are those animals which serve man, but the 'beasts of the earth' have no such task. The heavenly places have angels who serve man but also spirits who live in enmity with man, and the animal world was a shadow of this situation. It is remarkable that after the fall especially the characters of the 'beasts of the earth' and the 'creeping things' showed a marked change for the worse. Many of them turned into enemies of man, while others arouse aversion or disgust. These two groups also contained the greatest number of unclean animals.
Among the 'creeping things' the Evil One found the animal which by character and inclination was the most appropriate tool for his purpose and most easily adaptable to his schemes. "Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature", (Gen 3:1). This reptile therefore, did not try to achieve his purpose in a direct way. Rather, he used an intelligent ruse. A snake's tongue and its slithery, winding way of moving are pictures of satanic qualities. So henceforth the serpent is the unclean animal which represents the leader of the unclean angels on earth.
At the end of this dispensation there still remains, "the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan", (Rev 20:2). Again, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour", (1Pet 5:8).
A snake frightens and terrifies its prey, confusing it by its state. The devil uses the same tactics. The eyes of a snake are covered by lids of transparent outer skin and it has no proper eyelids. This means that the eyes of a snake are always 'open' and for that reason they have a threatening, staring appearance.
Thankfully, our bible promises us, as Revelation 12:14 should be properly translated, that in the endtime we will be withdrawn from "the sight of the serpent".
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Re: The Insanity of Sin
by proudpapa on 2012/6/11 20:16:33
Great Post Mary Jane, I get such a Blessing from so many of your post.
A question that I have for every one and one I have not found a clear answer to is. What was Lacking in Adam and Eve that caused them to be tempted to eat the Fruit, They had everything including the presence and relationship of God.
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