Women of the Word, Sept. 16

This week we explored Genesis 3. Building on the lessons of the first two chapters which are that God created everything and it was good, we now come to the fall of mankind and the strained relationships that endures to this day between snakes and women. Or at least, this particular woman.

Things were good. Things were very, very good in the Garden of Eden. But the snake, God’s most cunning creature, decided to stir up the pot as it were and told Eve that if she ate the fruit from the one tree that God asked her not to that not only would she and Adam NOT die, but they would become God-like and know good from evil. Stopping right there for a moment it is clear that Eve DIDN’T know good from evil or else she would have known the snake was evil. It was a no win situation. As we know, Eve ate and also offered a bite to Adam who, even though it would seem he was standing right there while the snake pulled a fast one, ate anyhow.

Then God showed up. Like a benevolent but disappointed parent who knows their kid has been under-age drinking, God gives the couple a chance to come clean. Adam confesses but like many a teenage boy he blames others (God and Eve) for his bad choices. “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate.” Eve immediately blames the snake. It was all very finger pointy and very little maturity.

Justice was swift. God pronounced that the snake would forever crawl on it's belly and eat dust. Which made us all wonder did the snake start out with legs and God took them back for what he had done? To the woman God said “I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth” which I read it to mean that we were already going to have pain. This parts company with many an argument I have had in bars at 3am that blame the fall of mankind on Eve and point erroneously to the idea that before the apple childbirth was going to be pain free and after the apple, misery. Oh and Adam got to name Eve and be the boss of her and the only consequence of his actions was he was going to have to work the land hard and not expect much in the way of harvest.

Adam and Eve had tried to hide their fruit eating escapades by sewing fig leaves together which I can only imagine Eve did most of the work or at least sewed all the buttons on. God, because he loved them even in their error of judgment, gave them fur skins to wear. And then escorted them out of the Garden of Eden and placed angels with flaming swords at the entrance so that they would be unable to return thus creating the earth’s first gated community.

The most important thing to remember is that "God is good". Evil occurs in the absence of God. It is us who leave God. He will never leave us. He loves us always.

submitted by Diana Lucas Leavengood