The first question God asks in the Bible is not the first
question asked. That dubious honor
is reserved for the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan. “Did God indeed say, ‘You shall not eat
from any tree in the garden’?”
Love, real love, godly love, requires submission, my good subservient to
your good. I lay down my life, my
rights, my needs to meet yours. I
freely lay down my glory, my body, like a cloak over the filth, for your glory,
so your steps may remain spotless.
Trust isn’t necessarily necessary for this…for God. Our puny, transactional, weak minds and
hearts however, need to know our beloved will be faithful with the gift we are
giving. God knows all this, which
is why he set up the nursery of Eden.
Adam and Eve were children. They needed to be taught love the same as you or i. We start learning it at our mother’s
breast, in our father’s arms as we finally drift off to sleep on that first,
horrific day of life. ‘Fear not,
little one. I will feed you. I will clothe you. I will keep you warm. I will keep you safe. You are not alone. Trust me.’ Or we know the pain of its absence if these people
fail. God does not fail. These are the things God says to Adam
and Eve in his provision, in his garden, in his creation of them for each
other. I am your provider. I am your safety. I am your lover. I am good and want what’s best for you.
It’s called a test but the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil is really a symbol. Without
it, without the opportunity to disobey, how would Adam and Eve know their own
hearts? It’s not trust if you have
no choice. It’s not love if
there’s no other option. We have
no idea how long they lived in the garden before the serpent whispered in their
ear. It could have been centuries. It could have been minutes. Every moment they trusted God to be
faithful and good they demonstrated by ignoring this tree. God said it, I believe it, that settles
it. Submissive love, total
openness, perfect communion.
All broken in a single question, “Did God indeed say…?” Doubt. Is God good? Is
he holding out on us? Do we really
need him? Notice that Satan doesn’t
care if you believe IN God. He
only cares if you BELIEVE God! God
does nothing but prove he loves us, he is just, he is good, he is providing. He makes promise after promise to us,
for our good. His track record is
flawless, none can point a pointy finger at God and declare his wrongdoing and
yet it is precisely this which Satan wants us to believe. Why? Because he believes it. Liars never trust anyone but themselves. They always think they are being lied
to.
Without trust, communion is broken. Pride breeds doubt or doubt gives birth
to pride, I know not which but the union of them creates desire. God cannot be trusted. It’s up to me. Why shouldn’t I get every advantage I
can? Why shouldn’t I be like God? We don’t know how long a time passes
between Eve’s conversation with the serpent and when she finally stretched out
her hand and acted. It could have
been minutes, it could have been centuries. I’m inclined to believe the shorter because sin had already
given her something to hide. She
had a secret. Communion has no
secrets. It holds nothing good
back. It has no reason to hide. It has nothing it fears from the other
person, no judgment, no pain, no hurt.
Her secret however had to be hidden from God.
Or did it? I
wonder what would have happened if she had taken the serpent’s question to
God? Lord, why? Why must we not eat? It is the innocent question of the two
year old, which has just been told …pretty much anything. Why? God is not offended by humble questions seeking knowledge
and wisdom from him, the source of all wisdom and knowledge. This is perfectly good and
reasonable. In fact, it would show
wisdom already!
She does not show wisdom. She shows independence. This babe in the woods has already decided for herself she
knows good from evil. It is good,
she reasons, to be like God. It is
good for her to trust herself and her own reason. She does not even seek guidance from Adam. She has already isolated her self; she
is well and truly alone. It is not
good for the man to be alone God said and so it proves to be true. Communion dies in independence and
individuality.
She plucks. She
bites. She hands it to Adam. Was there a conversation? Did he fear she would excel beyond
him? Was it self-preservation that
led him to take it from her hand?
Did he not want to risk losing her? He already doubted.
He already feared. Trust
was already gone. His
outstretched hand was merely a symbol of the sin within.
He took. He
ate.
Fear gripped.
Love died. Communion
died.
He ran. He
hid. All was lost.
But God…
