Adam and Eve 101

The Lord God created Adam and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. The Lord God told Adam he was free to eat from any tree in the garden with the exception of one tree. He was not even to touch it.

Then the Lord God decided that it was not good for Adam to be alone so he made a helper suitable for him.

He created Eve from one of Adam's ribs.

Adam and Eve were very happy.

Adam spent his time caring for the grounds..

"Eve, have you seen my pruning shears?"

"Look under the third bush on the right," she would reply.

Sometimes she would send him out to pick grapes or figs or herbs or to pick up a loaf of unleavened bread..

Sometimes Adam and Eve would hold hands and walk among the trees in the cool of the day. They marveled at the winged birds and and wild animals that God had created, and all of nature..

Of course, it wasn't good for Adam to be alone, but there were underlying reasons.

Adam needed someone to blame when things went wrong.

Like when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He immediately passed the buck and said, " The woman you put here with me---she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it."

Eve blamed the crafty serpent who told her that she would not surely die if she ate of the fruit. So she ate some of the fruit and offered some of it to Adam who said, "Why not?"

The Lord God was not pleased with either one of them.

First, He put a curse on the serpent. He told the serpent that it would crawl on its belly and eat dust all the days of its life. There would forever be hostility between the serpent and mankind. (Aren't you afraid of snakes?).

God said, "Man will crush your head, and you will strike his feet.

Poor Eve was punished too. God said, " I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children (and that hasn't changed).

Because Adam was disobedient, God cursed the ground and said that only by the sweat of the brow and painful toil would the land be productive.

And it was so.

Then, because God was so displeased, He banished Adam and Eve from the Garden forever.

Years later, I'm sure they reminisced about the day they sinned by eating the forbidden fruit.

Adam probably said, "You shouldn't have offered it to me." She would counter, "Well, you didn't have to listen to me. If you hadn't eaten the fruit, we would still be living in Paradise."

After a few more choice words, Adam would say, "Guess we'd better turn in. I've got a busy day tomorrow. There are lots of thorns and thistles that need weeding out."

"Yes," she would sigh. "I've got to sew some more fig leaves together. We need fresh coverings. I don't have a thing to wear. I'm saving my garment of skin for Holy Day."

Yes, the Lord God in His wisdom knew that Adam needed a woman.

Adam named her Eve because she would become the mother of all the living.

She rocked the first cradle.

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