How to Ignore an Entire Paradise in One Easy Step

If you've ever discussed the story of Adam and Eve with someone—or even just listened to conversations about it—you've probably heard something like, "God punished all of humanity because two people ate a piece of fruit."  Honestly… that sounds foolish 🤣. However, that's usually where the conversation ends. As if the God, THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS, is the unreasonable one for expecting obedience. But...was it really about fruit? Or have we reduced one of the most foundational stories in Scripture to the world's most misunderstood snack?

When you actually slow down and not only read, but meditate on the account, something becomes clear: the tree wasn't the main issue. The real question was whether humanity would trust God's word or decide for themselves what was right. That's a very different conversation than simply asking, "Why was God so upset over a piece of fruit?"  🤔

The Punishment Didn’t Fit the Crime

At first glance, I understand why people struggle with this story. If someone told me a person received a lifetime sentence for eating a piece of fruit, I’d literally respond “Man that’s just craaazyyy!” But for me personally, that idea never set well with me. It just didn’t make sense that God would do that.

Before we evaluate the punishment, we need to understand what God actually commanded. God said “thou shalt not eat of it”. That is an action command. Some similar commands would be:

·         Do not go outside until you clean your room.

·         Do not eat any sweets before dinner.

·         Do not touch anything in the store.

The above commands, like so many others, are given from one person to another. If the command is disobeyed, the person is either hurt, frustrated, or angry. You see, the crime wasn't simply eating the fruit. The crime was knowingly eating the fruit after God had clearly said not to. That's called disobedience. And before we're too quick to say, "I would've done differently," maybe we should remember that humanity has spent thousands of years proving otherwise. We don't just struggle with eating forbidden fruit—we struggle with being told "no."

Apparently Choices Are Unfair Now

Another criticism I've heard is that God set Adam and Eve up to fail. The argument usually goes something like this: "If God knew they were going to eat from the tree, then why put the tree there in the first place? Why allow the serpent into the garden? Why not just remove the temptation altogether?" These questions display the same lack of accountability displayed in Genesis 3:12-13. I can understand why someone would ask those questions. But before we answer them, I think there's another question worth asking. If there were no opportunity to choose otherwise, would Adam and Eve's obedience have actually meant anything? How can you call it trust if there’s never an opportunity to choose otherwise? This question doesn’t simply apply to Eden, but to every relationship we experience: Parents and children, Employers and employees. Husbands and wives. Friends. Even society itself. Every meaningful relationship has boundaries. The existence of a boundary isn't evidence that someone is trying to make you fail. Sometimes it's the very thing that makes trust and love meaningful. So ask yourself, do you want robots (forced obedience) or free will (voluntary obedience).

So...We're Sure We Would've Done Better? 🤔 

One of the most common objections to the story of Adam and Eve is this: "Why should all of humanity suffer because of one mistake?" Again, another fair question. To be honest, I asked it to a pastor some time ago.

I can’t remember the answer he gave, but I can’t help but wonder if we’re asking the wrong question. Instead of asking why Adam and Eve's choice affected humanity, maybe we should ask whether humanity has ever shown we would've chosen differently.

What Eve displayed to me was dissatisfaction and a lack of trust in God. As I studied, I came to a conclusion—I believe the Holy Spirit showed me this, but I recommend reaching out to God in prayer and asking Him. One conclusion I reached during my study is that temptation seems to require something within us to appeal to. James later writes that each person is tempted when they are "drawn away by their own lust." That made me wonder if Satan wasn't creating a brand-new desire in Eve, but exploiting one that already existed. I can’t tempt you with food if you’re not hungry. I can’t tempt you with money if you have no desire to gain more of it. I can’t tempt you with drugs if you’re not interested in doing them. So to me, Satan recognized her desire and exploited it.

Not only that, apparently talking serpents weren’t a red flag. One detail I've always found interesting is that the serpent spoke. Genesis never tells us Eve stopped to question why an animal was suddenly carrying on a conversation. Whether because of curiosity, distraction, or the appeal of what she was hearing, the text records no investigation into what should have been the biggest red flag in the garden.

So…Here’s My Thing

Maybe we've been asking the wrong question all along. Instead of asking, "Why did God put the tree there?" maybe we should be asking, "Why did one forbidden tree become more valuable than everything else He had already given?" Adam and Eve had an entire garden to enjoy until their hearts’ content. Yet, Eve’s attention became fixed on the one thing that wasn’t theirs. Sound familiar? We tend to overlook countless blessings because we’re preoccupied with the one thing we’ve been told to leave alone.

The tree wasn't the problem. The desire to have what God said "no" to was. It was deciding that their own judgment was more trustworthy than God's word.

Perhaps that's the real lesson from Eden. God didn't set humanity up to fail. He gave them everything they needed and one opportunity to demonstrate that love and trust are choices, not obligations. The tragedy wasn't that a forbidden tree existed. The tragedy was that God's generosity was overshadowed by a single restriction. Maybe before we accuse God of setting Adam and Eve up, we should ask ourselves a much more uncomfortable question:

If we had been standing in that garden, would we really have been looking at all the "yeses"... or would our eyes have been fixed on the one "no" too?

I’ll leave you with this thought:

Eve’s reasoning was deception. What was Adam’s reasoning?

Until next time.

~Lady J