We all know the story of The Fall, how our first parents were tempted and failed. This is how the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition tells it.
God’s instructions were,
You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2:16b, 17)
Satan twists God’s words, blurring meaning and purpose:
And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1)
Eve, who had dominion over the beasts, talked with the serpent as though he were an equal. (He was not an equal in form, being a snake. But he was an enemy in his essence, being Satan.) She also misquotes God, providing Satan an opening:
And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit from the trees of the garden,
Except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. (v 2-3)
Satan takes advantage of that opening with a bold lie:
You shall not surely die, For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity. (v 4-5)
Eve listened – and looked – and thought about it:
And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some also to her husband, and he ate. (v 6)
And so it was that their eyes were opened to “good and evil, blessing and calamity” as God had warned and Satan had promised – but mostly to evil and calamity. And the fact that they tried to cover up with fig leaves and hiding proves that the “good, desired, delightful thing” wasn’t worth it in the end.
And we each learn, to our sorrow, that it still isn’t. It’s too bad that this lesson is never fully learned by Adam’s sons and Eve’s daughters.
