The Garden of Eden

“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden” (Genesis 2:8–15)

In Genesis 2:8–15 we are given details of the delightful garden in which Adam and Eve were placed. The geographical details mentioning the rivers indicate that the area of the garden was near where the Euphrates River enters the Persian Gulf. The Bible describes the area of Eden as the tract of land stretching from the Mediterranean Sea through to the Persian Gulf (Ezekiel 31:9–18; 28:13). The garden was “eastward in Eden” (Genesis 2:8). Eden means “delight or pleasure” and this garden could certainly be so described.

We are told of two particular trees that were placed in the midst of this garden. They were “the tree of life” and “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (v9).

God’s Command

“Thou shalt not eat of it” (Genesis 2:16–17)

Adam was given the enjoyable task “to dress and keep” the garden. However God placed a restriction on Adam and Eve 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”. God had well catered for their every need and there was an abundance of food; so this law did not restrict the satisfaction of their needs. Why did God give this law? Adam and Eve were created to render glory to their Creator. It is under trial that faith and love are tested. They had a “free will”. Would they render faithful and loving obedience to their Maker or would they disobey His command?

Not only was this law given to them, but the penalty for disobedience was also clearly stated: “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”. What would such a penalty mean to Adam? Although he had been created “very good” like all the other creatures that were made, his life was one of probation. His destiny was to be determined by his obedience or disobedience to his Maker.

Why was the penalty of death to be given for disobedience to this simple command? Let us look at the situation from God’s viewpoint. It was God who established the law that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). All that He had created was “very good” but sin would disrupt this glorious harmony between God and His creation.

What is sin?

“Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). A better rendering is: “Sin is lawlessness”. We need to appreciate how God views sin. When we sin we are in effect saying to God, “I will not do what You ask, but I will do what I want to do.” We remove God from the central position of our faith and love, and enthrone sin (the desire to serve our own desires and passions, James 1:14–15; 1 John 2:15–17) in the place that is rightfully God’s. Thus God was right in sentencing sinners to death. The alternative was for God to abdicate His supreme position and allow sin to rule for ever in men’s lives. The sentence of death for sinners shows God’s wisdom and mercy. If He had allowed sinners to live for ever, man would have been without hope of ever being saved from sin and its consequences.

The Temptation and Sin of Adam and Eve

“Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:1–7)

Adam and Eve were now put to the test. We read of this in the discussion between the serpent and Eve.

“the serpent” The serpent was one of the creatures that God had made (cp 2 Corinthians 11:2–3). The Hebrew for serpent is nahawsh, from a root meaning “to perceive” or “observe”, and is translated “diligently observe” (1 Kings 20:33), and “learn by experience” (Genesis 30:27). We must note that the serpent, like all animals, had the capacity to reason to satisfy its sensual desires. However, it could not reason on a moral plane. Animals do not have this capacity as they are amoral creatures (that is, they are without moral characteristics; they act from instinct). God gave the serpent the power of speech. But the serpent could only express the animal mind, which is unenlightened and unable to comprehend divine moral principles.

“subtil” The word means “shrewd, crafty” (cp Job 5:12; 15:5). It is also used in a good sense as “prudent” (Proverbs 12:16,23; 14:8,15). Christ mentioned this quality of the serpent when speaking to his disciples (Matthew 10:16).

God gave the serpent the ability to speak and so it commenced the following discussion with the woman. The serpent had observed and heard what God had spoken and therefore questioned Eve. Eve replied truthfully stating the prohibition that God had placed upon eating from the tree of knowledge. She not only spoke of the restriction but also of the penalty for disobedience: “Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die” (v3). Eve understood this quite clearly and her natural disposition was to obey.

“Ye shall not surely die” This was the first lie. The serpent was not reasoning on a moral plane whether it was right or wrong to eat the fruit. It could not do this, as it was an animal. Its animal reasoning saw an advantage in eating the fruit. It believed this would make the man and the woman equal to the angels. It said, “Ye shall be as gods [Hebrew elohim or ‘mighty ones’] knowing good and evil”.

The woman was beguiled by the serpent’s reasoning (Genesis 3:13). Legitimate God-given desires were corrupted into deceitful lusts in her by her believing the serpent’s lie and accepting his way of thinking. She now looked at the tree and its fruit in a different way.

1. She saw that “it was good for food”. She had never looked at it like this before, for God had said that they could “freely eat” of all the other trees that were in the garden, and this had satisfied her.

2. “It was pleasant to the eyes.” It had never looked attractive as it did now.

3. “It was a tree to be desired to make one wise.” She saw the opportunity to be equal with the angels, knowing good and evil. Undoubtedly being equal to the angels and being immortal with them was a prospect that had been presented to Adam and Eve for when the time was right (Luke 20:35-36), but now believing the serpent’s lie she grasped at it, unlike Jesus, (Philippians 2:6) "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped."

These ideas, which came into her mind as a result of listening to the serpent’s reasoning, aroused in her the three “lusts” of which John speaks in 1 John 2:15–17.

These three “lusts” were:

1. “the lust of the flesh”

2. “the lust of the eyes”

3. “the pride of life”

John points out that these lusts are “not of the Father, but of the world”. These are not lusts that God created in Adam and Eve, therefore they could only be tempted externally. They were not tempted internally of their own lusts like we are today, (James 1:14-15). After they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, a natural inclination to these lusts became a part of their physical nature that was not there before.

Because the woman was deceived by the reasoning of the serpent, she introduced sin into the world. Having eaten of the fruit, she then enticed her husband to eat. The effect was immediate. Their eyes were opened, their consciences aroused, and they knew that they had sinned. The immediate effects of sin were fear and shame. This was a new experience for Adam, who said, “I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (v10). Nakedness throughout the Bible became representative of shame as a result of sin (Revelation 16:15–16).

We should understand that the word “lust” is used in the Bible to speak of those strong desires that tempt us to sin. All of us have desires to satisfy the natural needs of our bodies. For example, we all become hungry and desire food. God made man and woman with a desire for a partner. These desires, when fulfilled in harmony with God’s moral laws, do not result in sin. However, when desires seek their gratification outside God’s moral law, they lead to sin.

The Apostle Paul calls these desires “the motions [or ‘passions’] of sins” which, if followed, “bring forth fruit unto death” (Romans 7:5). Such sinful desires are called “deceitful lusts” (Ephesians 4:22), for they can deceive a person into transgressing God’s law. Thus James says: “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14–15).

Adapted from “The Exploring the Bible Course” by David Evans