The History of Trust
Often, when we think of Adam, Eve and the fruit, what we see is one bite on the fruit, but the Bible tells us that there were two. Read to the end and you'll find a surprising revelation.
There is no love story that explains trust better than Adam and Eve's. Being the first couple ever, they were both placed by God in the Garden of Eden to enjoy the best of all worlds.
The Garden of Delight
For starters they were entrusted with the freedom to eat from any tree in the garden and the layers of delight that the garden had to offer. Eden, literally means "garden of delight.- It had the most beautiful trees that produced the lushest fruits.
God entrusted Adam and Eve with the freedom to eat from any of these trees and delight in anything else that the garden had to offer. But with all the freedom given to them, God had but one prohibition: "you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.- (Genesis 2:16-17)
Trust as we have seen last week, takes a risk. God took this risk by giving Adam and Eve the freedom to eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When trust is given, it also demands a response.
The Test
The riskiness of trust makes it the best way to test the strength of any relationship; hence God's prohibition in the first place. There was nothing particularly special about the one tree. The point was just to see if Adam and Eve believed and trusted God's Word.
God intended for the couple to enjoy the best of all He had. In return the couple had to trust God's every Word in order to keep their relationship with Him in tact. Before anything else, it is important to note that the command was given to Adam and not to Eve. It was his role to trust God and make Eve know of God's command.
Often when we read this story, we have Eve to blame for the disobedience. The common belief is that she enticed her husband to eat the fruit. I, on the other hand, have a very different take on the story.
Adam's Story
My long association with men (myself included) and what the Bible says about us has led me to believe that Adam wanted to eat the fruit himself, but was too cowardly to actually do it. He wanted to know why God made the one restriction but did not want to face the consequence of death. This theory of mine becomes even more provable by the fact that Adam was standing with Eve when Satan deceived her:
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it- (Genesis 3:6).
Adam failed in his role as the leader who was first entrusted with God's Word. First, he did not do anything to stop disobedience from taking place. Second, Eve's interaction with the serpent reveals that she was misinformed about God's prohibition.
She did not know that she would certainly die if she ate the fruit because all she said was, "you will die- (Genesis 3:2), as opposed to God's message that "you will certainly die (Genesis 2:17).
Forgetting this one crucial word was enough for the serpent to retort, "You will not certainly die- (Genesis 3:4) and convince her otherwise. So, guess who kept the information from her in the first place?
Broken Trust
There is no doubt that Eve was guilty of letting her misplaced passions lead her to sin. On the other hand, Adam's lack of trust in God does not make him any less guilty. As the husband and custodian of God's Word it was his responsibility to keep the trust of God and to encourage his wife to keep trusting in Him.
An interesting twist to the story happened when the Lord came down to Eden. He asked Adam if he ate of the tree and Adam's response was: "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.- (Genesis 3:12)
In other words, Adam committed the perfect crime. He got to eat the fruit and put the blame on his wife. Our boy was so flawed that he even had the gall to blame God Himself. Adam's excuse: "I am a victim of this woman you created and her wrong desires.
Adam and Eve's story is the very first time that trust was given and the "teacup- broken. If you've ever wondered why women don't trust men, wonder no more. It's a story as old as the Garden of Eden.
To be continued
Read related articles:
The One Lesson That Changed My Marriage
How to Turn the One Lesson Into Reality
The Risk and Responsibility of Trust
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