I've decided that as I try to read and understand and study the bible, I will post here my summary of what I think it means and how I interpret it, so thank you for joining me in this journey.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Genesis: Chapter 3
"The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"
"Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. "It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’"
"You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil."
Of all the animals God made, the serpent was the shrewdest. And knowing how women think with their feelings, it knew how to appeal to the woman. (This is where I have some beliefs that deviate from the bible. I don't think the serpent was a "he", I think it was Lilith, the first wife of Adam, who didn't want to be dominated by a man so she ran off, and was cursed by God to be a snake. After all, a woman would know best how to appeal to another woman and think the way she does. And how else would the snake know the true workings about the tree of knowledge if it hadn't previously been around to have experienced those things?)
Anyway, the snake approached Eve and asked about the fruit and the trees, wording it so that Eve would correct it. The snake was baiting Eve to get the the part where she would tell the serpent about dying if she ate it or even touched it so the snake could revel the secret.
At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Now that they had gained knowledge of life, they understood was shame was. (They probably gained other senses like modesty, dignity, embarrassment, guilt, etc.) They realized they were naked and wanted to cover themselves up, so they sewed fig leaves together to make covering for their personal parts.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees.
Evening came. The man and woman could hear God walking in the garden, so they hid from him, I imagine out of guilt for what they had done.
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Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
"The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
After the serpant put that little bug in Eve's ear, she couldn't stop thinking about the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and the more she had to see something she knew she wasn't supposed to have, the more she wanted it. She caved in and ate the fruit. Then appealing to the logic of man, she convinced Adam to eat it, too.
After the serpant put that little bug in Eve's ear, she couldn't stop thinking about the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and the more she had to see something she knew she wasn't supposed to have, the more she wanted it. She caved in and ate the fruit. Then appealing to the logic of man, she convinced Adam to eat it, too.
Now that they had gained knowledge of life, they understood was shame was. (They probably gained other senses like modesty, dignity, embarrassment, guilt, etc.) They realized they were naked and wanted to cover themselves up, so they sewed fig leaves together to make covering for their personal parts.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees.
Evening came. The man and woman could hear God walking in the garden, so they hid from him, I imagine out of guilt for what they had done.
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He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
“Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
God could sense something was up. I'm sure he knew exactly where the man was, but called out to him anyway to let him know he was actively looking for him. So the man came out to explain. When he gave such an odd answer, just like a child would do when being honest about something they were guilty of, God knew what he had done, so he asked him directly if he ate the fruit from the tree that he told him not to eat from. Then man took accountability for himself, but tried to pass the blame off onto the woman by saying "the woman you gave me". I'm sure the man was thinking that if God knew he was tricked into doing it, that he might be excused from the crime. But he didn’t know that this was God's test, to see if he would be honest about it. They could have eaten from tree of everlasting life, or they could have chosen to be obedient and not do anything... but the opportunity to know new things, after being told they weren't allowed to? It was just too tempting.
Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
Eve didn't do any better here. She also took accountability for what she did, but she also tried to pass the blame, but she passed her blame onto the snake.
Then the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
God saw that the snake DID play a part in this though, and punished it as well. He told the snake that because it had played a part in instigating all of this, it would be the most cured of all animals. That's why we associate snakes with evil to this day, for the most part (other than the iron snake on the medical symbol). That's why so many people fear snakes. This last verse is interesting though. "He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." Many people say it refers to Jesus bruising Satan's head, and Satan causing Jesus to die at the cross? But I see it as - either way, both creatures get injured. The man, and the snake. The good, and the evil. But while the evil gets it's attack in by going for the good's heel, the good shall triumph as it strikes the killing blow to evil's head.
Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”
The part here about pregnancy is obvious. They don't call it "labor pains" for nothing. When a woman goes into labor, it hurts. While she WANTS to push, it's still very painful. But the part about wanting to control her husband, but he shall rule over her? That's a lesson many woman still need to learn to this day. That's part of what destroys marriages, because a woman won't be subservient to her husband like she is supposed to. I can't say that "if women were less wild like Lilith and more docile like Eve, things would blah blah blah better" because God just told Eve that she would desire to control her husband, especially now that she had gained new feelings, thoughts, and personality traits from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It's just a principle of nature, that men are supposed to rule the roost, and women are always going to think they can control the man.
God could sense something was up. I'm sure he knew exactly where the man was, but called out to him anyway to let him know he was actively looking for him. So the man came out to explain. When he gave such an odd answer, just like a child would do when being honest about something they were guilty of, God knew what he had done, so he asked him directly if he ate the fruit from the tree that he told him not to eat from. Then man took accountability for himself, but tried to pass the blame off onto the woman by saying "the woman you gave me". I'm sure the man was thinking that if God knew he was tricked into doing it, that he might be excused from the crime. But he didn’t know that this was God's test, to see if he would be honest about it. They could have eaten from tree of everlasting life, or they could have chosen to be obedient and not do anything... but the opportunity to know new things, after being told they weren't allowed to? It was just too tempting.
Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
Eve didn't do any better here. She also took accountability for what she did, but she also tried to pass the blame, but she passed her blame onto the snake.
Then the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
God saw that the snake DID play a part in this though, and punished it as well. He told the snake that because it had played a part in instigating all of this, it would be the most cured of all animals. That's why we associate snakes with evil to this day, for the most part (other than the iron snake on the medical symbol). That's why so many people fear snakes. This last verse is interesting though. "He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." Many people say it refers to Jesus bruising Satan's head, and Satan causing Jesus to die at the cross? But I see it as - either way, both creatures get injured. The man, and the snake. The good, and the evil. But while the evil gets it's attack in by going for the good's heel, the good shall triumph as it strikes the killing blow to evil's head.
Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”
The part here about pregnancy is obvious. They don't call it "labor pains" for nothing. When a woman goes into labor, it hurts. While she WANTS to push, it's still very painful. But the part about wanting to control her husband, but he shall rule over her? That's a lesson many woman still need to learn to this day. That's part of what destroys marriages, because a woman won't be subservient to her husband like she is supposed to. I can't say that "if women were less wild like Lilith and more docile like Eve, things would blah blah blah better" because God just told Eve that she would desire to control her husband, especially now that she had gained new feelings, thoughts, and personality traits from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It's just a principle of nature, that men are supposed to rule the roost, and women are always going to think they can control the man.
And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”
This was God's way of telling Adam "You had it easy. The fruit just grew on it's own for you. Now you're gonna have to work hard for it." He told him that now the ground was going to be cursed (meaning the food wouldn't just magically keep reproducing on it's own) and man was going to have to eat in order to live, so he would have to put in the work to earn the food. He would have to plant the seeds, weed it, water it, give it sunshine. He would get sweaty doing it, and there would be thorns and thistles to sometimes get in the way. He would eventually have to die and return to the ground from which he was created. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as they say.
Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.
Pretty self-explanatory. She was the first woman, the eve of all other people to come.
And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.
I imagine this is where the first animal sacrifices have taken place? Because God had to make clothing of animal skins for Adam and Eve, he had to kill some kind of animal to do it.
Then the LORD God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
I bet at this point, God was feeling pretty salty about what happened. After all, have you ever put your trust into someone (like your own child), with the understanding that they would do as commanded, only to find out that they didn't listen to you? How did it make you feel? You try to tell your kids not to touch the stove, it's hot, and then they do. Aren't you both mad and concerned? But you know it's a lesson they had to learn. So I picture God talking to the angels about Adam and Eve, saying "Look, now they have consciousness. They know good and evil, just like us. They know shame, guilt, how to be sneaky, how to get what they want... Next they'll find a way to eat from the Tree of Life and live forever. But not if I can help it! Before they can even think of it, I'm going to banish them. I'm done with letting them eat whatever they want from here. They're leaving Eden, where they are going to have to work for their food."
After sending them out, the LORD God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
So Adam and Eve were officially banished. The East of Eden must have been the only way in, because that's where he placed guards with a flaming sword to keep them from getting back in. So he not only had the might cherubim guards to keep anyone from getting back in, but the flaming sword was there, moving back and forth like some obstacle in a game so that no human could get to the tree of life.
This was God's way of telling Adam "You had it easy. The fruit just grew on it's own for you. Now you're gonna have to work hard for it." He told him that now the ground was going to be cursed (meaning the food wouldn't just magically keep reproducing on it's own) and man was going to have to eat in order to live, so he would have to put in the work to earn the food. He would have to plant the seeds, weed it, water it, give it sunshine. He would get sweaty doing it, and there would be thorns and thistles to sometimes get in the way. He would eventually have to die and return to the ground from which he was created. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as they say.
Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.
Pretty self-explanatory. She was the first woman, the eve of all other people to come.
And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.
I imagine this is where the first animal sacrifices have taken place? Because God had to make clothing of animal skins for Adam and Eve, he had to kill some kind of animal to do it.
Then the LORD God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
I bet at this point, God was feeling pretty salty about what happened. After all, have you ever put your trust into someone (like your own child), with the understanding that they would do as commanded, only to find out that they didn't listen to you? How did it make you feel? You try to tell your kids not to touch the stove, it's hot, and then they do. Aren't you both mad and concerned? But you know it's a lesson they had to learn. So I picture God talking to the angels about Adam and Eve, saying "Look, now they have consciousness. They know good and evil, just like us. They know shame, guilt, how to be sneaky, how to get what they want... Next they'll find a way to eat from the Tree of Life and live forever. But not if I can help it! Before they can even think of it, I'm going to banish them. I'm done with letting them eat whatever they want from here. They're leaving Eden, where they are going to have to work for their food."
After sending them out, the LORD God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
So Adam and Eve were officially banished. The East of Eden must have been the only way in, because that's where he placed guards with a flaming sword to keep them from getting back in. So he not only had the might cherubim guards to keep anyone from getting back in, but the flaming sword was there, moving back and forth like some obstacle in a game so that no human could get to the tree of life.
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