The One Prohibition

Photo by: anar

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:16-17).

In the beginning of time, there were two perfect people, in a perfect marriage, in gorgeous sinless surroundings, with peaceful animal pets and plentiful food.

God told them to obey ONE thing. They didn’t have ten commandments—only one.

The serpent beguiled (fooled) Eve through his subtilty (2 Corinthians 11:3). He tricked her with half-truths (lies!). She believed she was missing something. First, she believed the serpent instead of God, when he said, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:4b-5). God had said they would die if they ate of the fruit (Genesis 2:17), and the devil said they wouldn’t.

Are we like Eve? You better believe it! We listen to the wrong people. We believe lies and half-truths before we believe God’s warnings. We choose the wrong sources of information. Sometimes, we might listen to evil, just as Eve did.

The Bible says that we are enticed by our own lusts (sinful thoughts). (James 1:14) We’re also told how that happens: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world (1 John 2:16). Can you see those things in Eve’s thought process? And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat (Genesis 3:6a).

• Lust of the flesh—good for food
• Lust of the eyes—pleasant to the eyes
• Pride of life—desired to make one wise
• Sinful action—She took of the fruit and ate it.

Sin doesn’t only affect one person. Never! Sin always affects others. Eve sinned because she was tricked. Then, she gave the fruit to Adam, who ate knowing he was sinning. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression (1 Timothy 2:14).

What God said would happen, happened. Their eyes were opened. (Genesis 3:7)

Their first realization was nakedness. Shame. They had to hide! So they tried to do what they could to cover up. They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons (Genesis 3:7).

Do you remember when you were little, and you did something your parents had told you not to do? Did you hide? How did you cover up for your sin? The last people on earth you wanted to see were Mama and Daddy.

This was the first part of Adam and Eve’s reaction to their shame: fig leaves sewn together.

Then, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? (Genesis 3:8b-11).

After that, they tried to cover up by blaming others. Does this sound familiar? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

From the very first man and woman, people have been shifting blame! The man says it’s his wife’s fault. (Chicken! Shoulder your own responsibility!) Then, he blames God (whom thou gavest to be with me)! Such nerve! Like, it was God’s fault He gave Adam a helpmeet.

God questions Eve, and she says, “The devil made me do it.” Interestingly enough, God punishes the devil first, making him eat dust: And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life (Genesis 3:14).

The awful consequences of sin changed the world forever. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12).

The Good News: there’s hope in Jesus.

Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:20b-21).

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

The provision of salvation in Jesus was announced immediately after that first sin in the Garden of Eden. God is speaking to the serpent, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15).

We know that God planned salvation for mankind even before Creation. He knew that man would choose to sin. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God (1 Peter 1:18-21).

Have you looked to Jesus for salvation? Have you placed your faith and hope in Him?