The Predicament of Our First Parents

This chapter is based on Genesis 3. 

No longer free to stir up rebellion in heaven, Satan found a new field in plotting the ruin of the human race. Moved by envy, he determined to bring upon them the guilt and penalty of sin. He would change their love to distrust and their songs of praise to criticism of their Maker. Thus he would not only plunge these innocent beings into misery but cast dishonor upon God, and cause grief in heaven. 1TC 21.2

Heavenly messengers opened to our first parents the history of Satan’s fall and his plots for their destruction, unfolding the nature of the divine government that the prince of evil was trying to overthrow. 1TC 21.3

The law of God is a revelation of His will, a transcript of His character, the expression of divine love and wisdom. The harmony of creation depends upon perfect conformity to the law of the Creator. Everything is under fixed laws that cannot be disregarded. But human beings alone, of all that inhabits the earth, are responsible to moral law. To them God has given power to understand the justice and goodness of His law, and of them unswerving obedience is required. 1TC 22.1

Like the angels, the dwellers in Eden had been given time to show what they would do. They could obey and live, or disobey and perish. He who did not spare the angels that sinned could not spare them; transgression would bring upon them misery and ruin. 1TC 22.2

The angels warned them to be on guard against the schemes of Satan. If they firmly resisted his first subtle enticings, they would be safe. But if they once yielded to temptation, their nature would become so depraved that in themselves they would have no power and no inclination to resist Satan. 1TC 22.3

The tree of knowledge had been made a test of their obedience and love to God. If they should disregard His will in this particular, they would be guilty. Satan was not to follow them with continual temptations; he could have access to them only at the forbidden tree. 1TC 22.4

To accomplish his work undetected, Satan put on a disguise. The serpent was one of the wisest and most beautiful creatures. It had dazzling brightness. Resting in the forbidden tree, feasting on the delicious fruit, it was an object to arrest attention and delight the eye. Thus in the garden of peace lurked the destroyer. 1TC 22.5

The angels had warned Eve to beware of separating from her husband. With him she would be in less danger than if alone. But she unconsciously wandered from his side. Forgetting the angel’s caution, she soon found herself gazing with mingled curiosity and admiration on the forbidden tree. The fruit was beautiful, and she wondered why God had withheld it from them. 1TC 22.6

Now the tempter had his opportunity. “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” Eve was startled to hear the echo of her thoughts. The serpent continued with subtle praise of her surpassing beauty, and his words were pleasant. Instead of fleeing from the spot, she lingered. She didn’t suspect that Satan was speaking through the fascinating serpent. 1TC 23.1

She replied: “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will 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 good and evil.’” 1TC 23.2

By eating from this tree, he declared, they would reach a higher level of life. He himself had eaten and had acquired the power of speech. He implied that the Lord had jealously withheld it from them, in case they would be exalted to equality with Himself, and that He had prohibited them from tasting or touching it because this fruit imparted wisdom and power. The divine warning was merely to intimidate them. How could it be possible for them to die? Had they not eaten of the tree of life? God had been seeking to prevent them from reaching a nobler development and finding greater happiness. 1TC 23.3

This has been the way Satan has worked from the days of Adam to the present time, and he has been very successful with this method. He tempts people to distrust God’s love and doubt His wisdom. In their efforts to explore what God has withheld, multitudes overlook truths that are essential to salvation. Satan tempts them to disobedience, to believe they are entering a wonderful field of knowledge. But this is all a deception. They are starting down the road that leads to degradation and death. 1TC 23.4

The Subtlety of Satan’s Appeal

Satan told the holy pair that they would gain by breaking the law of God. Today many talk of the narrowness of those who obey God’s commandments and claim that they themselves enjoy greater liberty. What is this but an echo of the voice from Eden? “In the day you eat of it”—transgress the divine requirement—“you will be like God.” Satan did not let it appear that he had become an outcast from heaven. He concealed his own misery in order to draw others into the same position. So now the transgressors disguise their true character. But they are on the side of Satan, trampling upon the law of God and leading others to eternal ruin. 1TC 24.1

Eve disbelieved the words of God, and this was what led to her fall. In the judgment, people will not be condemned because they conscientiously believed a lie but because they did not believe the truth. We must set our hearts to know what is truth. Whatever contradicts God’s Word comes from Satan. 1TC 24.2

The serpent plucked the fruit of the forbidden tree and placed it in the hands of the half-reluctant Eve. Then he reminded her of her own words, that God had forbidden them to touch it lest they die. Seeing no evil results, Eve grew bolder. When she “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” As she ate, she seemed to imagine herself entering upon a higher state of existence. 1TC 24.3

And now, having herself disobeyed, she became Satan’s agent to ruin her husband. In a state of strange, unnatural excitement, her hands filled with the forbidden fruit, she looked for and found him. 1TC 24.4

Adam appeared astonished and alarmed. To the words of Eve he replied that this must be the foe against whom they had been warned. Now, as God had said, she must die. In answer she urged him, “Eat,” repeating the words of the serpent that they would not surely die. She felt no evidence of God’s displeasure but sensed a delicious, exhilarating influence, thrilling every part of her body with new life. 1TC 24.5

Adam understood that his companion had disobeyed the command of God. There was a terrible struggle in his mind. He mourned that he had permitted Eve to wander from his side. But now the deed was done; he must be separated from her whose society had been his joy. 1TC 25.1

How could he endure this? Adam had enjoyed the companionship of God and of holy angels. He understood the high destiny opened to the human race if they remained faithful to God. Yet all these blessings were lost sight of in the fear of losing that one gift which, in his eyes, was of more value than every other. Love, gratitude, and loyalty to the Creator—all were swept aside by love to Eve. She was a part of himself, and he could not endure the thought of separation. If she must die, he would die with her. Might not the words of the wise serpent be true? No sign of death appeared in Eve, and he decided to brave the consequences. He seized the fruit and quickly ate. 1TC 25.2

After his transgression, Adam at first imagined himself entering upon a higher state of existence. But soon the thought of his sin filled him with terror. The love and peace that had been theirs was gone, and in its place they felt a sense of sin, a dread of the future, a nakedness of soul. The robe of light that had enshrouded them disappeared, and to replace it they tried to make a covering for themselves. While naked, they could not meet the eye of God and holy angels. 1TC 25.3

They now began to see the true character of sin. Adam criticized his companion for leaving his side and permitting herself to be deceived by the serpent. But they both flattered themselves that the God who had given them so many evidences of His love would pardon this one transgression; they would not be subjected to so terrible a punishment as they had feared. 1TC 25.4

Satan gloated. He had tempted the woman to distrust God’s love, to doubt His wisdom, and to transgress His law; and through her he had caused the overthrow of Adam! 1TC 25.5

The Sad Change That Sin Produced

The great Lawgiver was about to make known to Adam and Eve the result of their transgression. In their innocence and holiness they had joyfully welcomed the approach of their Creator; now they fled in terror. But “the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?’” 1TC 26.1

Adam blamed his wife and so blamed God Himself: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” Because of his love for Eve, he had deliberately chosen to give up the approval of God and an eternal life of joy; now he tried to make his companion, and even the Creator Himself, responsible for the transgression. 1TC 26.2

When the woman was asked, “What is this you have done?” she answered, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” “Why did You create the serpent? Why did You permit him to enter Eden?”—these were the questions implied in her first excuse. Self-justification was indulged by our first parents as soon as they yielded to the influence of Satan, and it has been exhibited by all the sons and daughters of Adam. 1TC 26.3

The Lord then passed sentence upon the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.” From the most beautiful of the creatures of the field it was to become the most groveling and detested of all, feared and hated by both man and beast. The words next addressed to the serpent applied to Satan himself, pointing to his ultimate defeat and destruction: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” 1TC 26.4

Eve was told of the sorrow and pain that she must have. “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” God had made her the equal of Adam, but sin brought friction, and now their union could be maintained and harmony preserved only by submission on the part of one or the other. Eve had been the first in transgression. By her urging Adam sinned, and she was now placed in subjection to her husband. Man’s abuse of the supremacy thus given him has too often rendered the lot of woman bitter and her life a burden. 1TC 26.5

Eve had been happy by her husband’s side, but she was flattered with the hope of entering a higher sphere than God had assigned her. In attempting to rise above her original position, she fell far below it. In their efforts to reach positions for which God has not fitted them, many today leave vacant the place where they might be a blessing. 1TC 27.1

To Adam the Lord declared: “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” 1TC 27.2

God had freely given them good and had kept back evil. But they had eaten of the forbidden tree, and now they would have the knowledge of evil—all the days of their life. Instead of happy labor, anxiety and toil were to be their lot. They would experience disappointment, grief, and pain, and finally death. 1TC 27.3

God made the first pair rulers over the earth and all living creatures, but when they rebelled against the divine law, the inferior creatures rebelled against their rule. So in mercy the Lord would show people the sacredness of His law and lead them to see the danger of setting it aside, even in the slightest degree. 1TC 27.4

A Plan of Recovery for Humanity

The life of toil and care now given to humanity was appointed in love, as a discipline made needful by sin, to place a check upon the indulgence of appetite and passion, and to develop habits of self-control. It was a part of God’s great plan for the recovery of the human race. 1TC 27.5

The warning given to our first parents—“In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die”—did not mean that they were to die on the very day they ate the forbidden fruit. But on that day the irreversible sentence would be pronounced, and on that very day they would be doomed to death. 1TC 28.1

In order to have endless existence, a person must continue to eat from the tree of life. Deprived of this, the vitality would gradually diminish until life would become extinct. It was Satan’s plan that Adam and Eve would eat of the tree of life and thus prolong an existence of sin and misery. But holy angels were commissioned to guard the tree of life. Around these angels flashed the appearance of a glittering sword. No one from the family of Adam was permitted to pass that barrier; this is why there are no immortal sinners. 1TC 28.2

Is God Too Severe?

Most people regard the tide of misery that flowed from the transgression of our first parents as too awful a consequence for so small a sin. But if they would look more deeply into this question, they might recognize their mistake. In His great mercy God did not give Adam a severe test. The very lightness of the prohibition made the sin exceedingly great. If some great test had been given to Adam, then those whose hearts incline to evil would have excused themselves by saying, “This is a trivial matter, and God is not so particular about little things.” 1TC 28.3

Many who teach that the law of God is not binding upon us urge that it is impossible to obey its precepts. But if this were true, why did Adam suffer the penalty of transgression? The sin of our first parents brought guilt and sorrow upon the world, and had it not been for the goodness and mercy of God, would have plunged the race into hopeless despair. Let no one deceive themselves—“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). 1TC 28.4

After their sin, Adam and Eve begged to remain in the home of their innocence and joy. They pledged that in the future they would yield strict obedience to God. But they were told that their nature had become depraved by sin. They had lessened their strength to resist evil. Now, in a state of conscious guilt, they would have less power to maintain their integrity. 1TC 29.1

In sadness they said goodbye to their beautiful home and went out to dwell on the earth, where the curse of sin rested. The atmosphere was now subject to marked changes, and the Lord mercifully provided them with a garment of skins as a protection from the cold. 1TC 29.2

As they witnessed the first signs of decay in the drooping flower and falling leaf, Adam and his companion mourned more deeply than people now mourn over their dead. When the beautiful trees dropped their leaves, the scene brought to mind the stern fact that death is the fate of every living thing. 1TC 29.3

The Garden of Eden remained upon the earth long after its first inhabitants had become outcasts from its pleasant paths. But when the wickedness of Adam and Eve’s descendants determined their destruction by a flood of waters, the hand that had planted Eden withdrew it from the earth. When God finally sets all things right, when there shall be “a new heaven and a new earth,” it is to be restored, more gloriously beautiful than at the beginning (Revelation 21:1). 1TC 29.4