Jump Start # 571

Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

We continue our look at Adam, Eve and the garden of Eden. Our verse today is the pivotal sentence in the fall of man. The results would be devastating. Adam and Eve would be driven out of the garden. Their world changed. Weeds, pain and death became the norm for them. Things were different in their relationship with God. A person wonders how many nights after that event did they lay awake wishing they could have a do-over. If they could just go back and not do it, things would have turned out differently. The consequences of sin often last longer than the sin itself. And for all the fun that sin brings, the pain and sorrow that follows it are enormous. Consider the man who is bored with his marriage and he carries on a brief sexual fling with a co-worker. It’s nothing, he thinks. It won’t last and it’s purely physical. His wife finds out and divorces him. Now he sits alone in a small apartment regretting how foolish he was. Or, the teenager who has smoked some dope with his friends after school. One night they introduce him to meth. Later that night he is rushed to the hospital with a drug overdose. His world changes because of that one time. He wishes now, he never tried it. Or, the man who is facing serious financial issues at home. He switches some numbers at work, transfers some money into his personal account. Before the month ends, he is caught. He loses his job. He is arrested and may face prison. He wishes now that he just found a part time job somewhere. His world has changed because of the choices he made.

Sin does that. It takes our eyes off the Lord and the consequences that comes with disobedience.

Our passage today illustrates the transition that takes place from the heart to behavior. Up to this point, Satan and Eve had discussed the forbidden fruit. Satan has misquoted God, adding a word and planting doubt in Eve’s mind. Had Eve walked away, she may have been confused and uncertain, but she would not have done wrong. Sin always begins in the mind and the heart. It’s that way with forbidden fruit, sexual temptation, greed and rebellion. Jesus said out of the heart comes forth these wrong things. This is why location often doesn’t change things. There are times when parents may have to get their kids away from bad influences, but the far county, to which the prodigal journeyed to, is often within the heart.

Eve moved from talking about the forbidden fruit to looking at the fruit. That didn’t seem to last long until she moved to taking the fruit and then eating the fruit. Do you see that transition? Thinking about it…looking at it…taking it…eating it. These final steps come quickly once the discussion and debate is over in the mind. These are the same steps that the man takes when he has a sexual affair. This is the same path the embezzler takes. This is the same path the drug user takes. It’s the same path for all of us. The path is well worn.

All that Eve believed and trusted about the Lord went out the window when she reached up and picked that fruit off the tree. She was now committed to doing wrong. There was no turning back. Emotion, excitement, desire, lust all race through the heart and reason, logic, and righteousness are shoved out of the way.

Eve gave to Adam and he ate. There is a difference in what happened. There seems to be little discussion that took place. The Scriptures record no conversation between Adam and Eve. Later, the NT reminds us that Eve was deceived. It states that Adam was not deceived but the woman was. Adam just jumped in without thinking. He followed Eve’s lead. Eve did it. I will do it, was Adam’s thinking. There was no misquoting of Scripture. No adding words to what God said. No changing the meaning. It was simply the blind following the blind.

Adam failed as a husband and a leader here. He turned off his spiritual radar. He wasn’t thinking, which was the problem. Too often, far too often, instead of helping our mates spiritually, one will join the other in doing what is wrong. See if this sounds familiar. It’s Sunday morning and it’s a rainy day. It’s time to get up and get down to the church house for worship. One in the marriage, rolls over in bed and says, “let’s not go today. It’s rainy and cold.” The other agrees. Instead, the other ought to have gotten out of bed and said “I’m going, with or without you. You need to rethink what you said. It will be ok. We need to think about our example to others. We both need more of worship.” Adam didn’t stand with God. We often don’t stand with God. Men, you especially have been chosen by God to lead your family to Him. Too often it is the men that drag their feet, don’t want to do what is right and come up with the lame expression, “Do we have to go?” The answer is YES. If you went more often, you wouldn’t be saying that!

Marriage can be a great spiritual blessing. Help each other do what is right. When one is offering forbidden fruit, don’t just take it. Think. Remember. Help them get back on board with God.

Eve takes most of the hits in this story because she was tricked by Satan. I get more disgusted with Adam. He just went along with it. He wasn’t tricked. He wasn’t deceived. He was just Dumb (and that’s with a capital “D” in my book). When caught, God addressed Adam.  He immediately pointed his finger to Eve and blamed her. God didn’t buy that. They were both punished. They were both at fault. There was no spiritual leadership here. There was no reproving and rebuking and contending for what is right.

Your greatest spiritual help or you greatest threat can be the one you are married to. Compromising to make peace doesn’t work. It doesn’t work with Russians and it never works with Satan. Remember the song we often sing, “Stand up, Stand up for Jesus.” That’s true in your marriages as much as it is with the world. Help your mate get strong in the Lord. It will make a better marriage. Help them choose right over wrong. Pray together. Read Scriptures together. Talk things through. Listen. Consider. Walk with the Lord.

Adam and Eve—what a pair. You’ll notice, their names are missing from Hebrews 11, the great Hall of faith. The first man, the first woman are not there. They are not examples of faith. They didn’t walk by faith. They listened to Satan and that will get you in trouble every time.

Roger