Chapter 3—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 reproaches against their Maker. Thus he would not only plunge these innocent beings into misery but cast dishonor upon God, and cause grief in heaven. {EP 22.1}
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 which the prince of evil was trying to overthrow. {EP 22.2}
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, which cannot be disregarded. But man alone, of all that inhabits the earth, is amenable to moral law. To man, God has given power to comprehend the justice and beneficence of His law, and of man unswerving obedience is required. {EP 22.3}
Like the angels, the dwellers in Eden had been placed upon probation. They could obey and live, or disobey and perish. He who spared not the angels that sinned, could not spare them; transgression would bring upon them misery and ruin. {EP 22.4}
The angels warned them to be on guard against the devices of Satan. If they steadfastly repelled his first insinuations, they would be secure. But should they once yield to temptation, their nature would become so depraved that in themselves they would have no power, and no disposition, to resist Satan. {EP 22.5}
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 incur guilt. Satan was not to follow them with continual temptations; he could have access to them only at the forbidden tree. {EP 23.1}
To accomplish his work unperceived, Satan employed a disguise. The serpent was one of the wisest and most beautiful creatures. It had dazzling brightness. Resting in the forbidden tree, regaling itself with the delicious fruit, it was an object to arrest attention and delight the eye. Thus in the garden of peace lurked the destroyer. {EP 23.2}
The angels had cautioned 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. Unmindful of the angel’s caution, she soon found herself gazing with mingled curiosity and admiration upon the forbidden tree. The fruit was beautiful, and she questioned why God had withheld it from them. {EP 23.3}
Now was the tempter’s opportunity. “Yea, hath God said, Ye 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 loveliness, and his words were not displeasing. Instead of fleeing from the spot, she lingered. She had no thought that the fascinating serpent could be the medium of the fallen foe. {EP 23.4}
She replied: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” {EP 23.5}
By partaking of this tree, he declared, they would attain a more exalted existence. He himself had eaten and had acquired the power of speech. He insinuated that the Lord had jealously withheld it from them, lest they be exalted to equality with Himself. It was because it imparted wisdom and power that He had prohibited them from tasting or touching it. 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. {EP 24.1}
Such has been Satan’s work from the days of Adam to the present. He tempts men to distrust God’s love and doubt His wisdom. In their efforts to search out what God has withheld, multitudes overlook truths which are essential to salvation. Satan tempts men to disobedience, to believe they are entering a wonderful field of knowledge. But this is all a deception. They are setting their feet in the path that leads to degradation and death. {EP 24.2}
The Subtlety of Satan’s Appeal
Satan represented to 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, while they claim to enjoy greater liberty. What is this but an echo of the voice from Eden? “In the day ye eat thereof”—transgress the divine requirement—“ye shall be as gods.” 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 transgressor disguises his true character; but he is on the side of Satan, trampling upon the law of God and leading others to their eternal ruin. {EP 24.3}
Eve disbelieved the words of God, and this was what led to her fall. In the judgment, men 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 proceeds from Satan. {EP 24.4}
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. Perceiving 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.” As she ate, she seemed to imagine herself entering upon a higher state of existence. {EP 25.1}
And now, having herself transgressed, she became the agent of Satan in working the ruin of her husband. In a state of strange, unnatural excitement, her hands filled with the forbidden fruit, she sought his presence. {EP 25.2}
Adam appeared astonished and alarmed. To the words of Eve he replied, that this must be the foe against whom they had been warned. By the divine sentence she must die. In answer she urged him, “Eat,” repeating the words of the serpent that they should not surely die. She felt no evidence of God’s displeasure, but realized a delicious, exhilarating influence, thrilling every faculty with new life. {EP 25.3}
Adam understood that his companion had transgressed 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. {EP 25.4}
How could he have it thus? Adam had enjoyed the companionship of God and of holy angels. He understood the high destiny opened to the human race should they remain faithful to God. Yet all these blessings were lost sight of in the fear of losing that one gift which in his eyes outvalued every other. Love, gratitude, loyalty to the Creator—all were overborne 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. {EP 25.5}
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 which 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 which had enshrouded them disappeared, and to supply its place they endeavored to fashion for themselves a covering. They could not, while unclothed, meet the eye of God and holy angels. {EP 26.1}
They now began to see the true character of sin. Adam reproached his companion for leaving his side and permitting herself to be deceived by the serpent. But they both flattered themselves that He who had given them so many evidences of His love would pardon this one transgression; they would not be subjected to so dire a punishment as they had feared. {EP 26.2}
Satan exulted. 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! {EP 26.3}
The Sad Change That Sin Produced
The great Lawgiver was about to make known to Adam and Eve the consequences 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 unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” {EP 26.4}
Adam cast the blame upon his wife, and thus upon God Himself: “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” From love to Eve, he had deliberately chosen to forfeit the approval of God and an eternal life of joy; now he endeavored to make his companion, and even the Creator Himself, responsible for the transgression. {EP 27.1}
When the woman was asked, “What is this that thou hast done?” she answered, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” “Why didst Thou create the serpent? Why didst Thou suffer 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 has been exhibited by all the sons and daughters of Adam. {EP 27.2}
The Lord then passed sentence upon the serpent: “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy 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 thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” {EP 27.3}
Eve was told of the sorrow and pain that must be her portion. “Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” God had made her the equal of Adam. But sin brought discord, 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 solicitation 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. {EP 27.4}
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 leave vacant the place where they might be a blessing. {EP 27.5}
To Adam the Lord declared: “Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” {EP 28.1}
God had freely given them good and withheld 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 be subject to disappointment, grief, and pain, and finally to death. {EP 28.2}
God made man ruler over the earth and all living creatures. But when he rebelled against the divine law, the inferior creatures were in rebellion against his rule. Thus the Lord in mercy would show men the sacredness of His law and lead them to see the danger of setting it aside, even in the slightest degree. {EP 28.3}
A Plan for Man’s Recovery
The life of toil and care henceforth to be man’s lot was appointed in love, a discipline rendered needful by his sin, to place a check upon the indulgence of appetite and passion, to develop habits of self-control. It was a part of God’s great plan for man’s recovery. {EP 28.4}
The warning given to our first parents—“In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”—did not imply they were to die on the very day they partook of the forbidden fruit. But on that day the irrevocable sentence would be pronounced. That very day they would be doomed to death. {EP 28.5}
In order to possess endless existence, man must continue to partake of the tree of life. Deprived of this, his vitality would gradually diminish until life should become extinct. It was Satan’s plan that Adam and Eve would eat of the tree of life, and thus perpetuate 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. None of the family of Adam were permitted to pass that barrier; hence there is not an immortal sinner. {EP 29.1}
Is God Too Severe?
The tide of woe that flowed from the transgression of our first parents is regarded by man as too awful a consequence for so small a sin. But if they would look more deeply into this question, they might discern their error. In His great mercy God appointed Adam no severe test. The very lightness of the prohibition made the sin exceedingly great. Had some great test been appointed Adam, then those whose hearts incline to evil would have excused themselves saying, “This is a trivial matter, and God is not so particular about little things.” {EP 29.2}
Many who teach that the law of God is not binding upon man 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 none deceive themselves. “The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. {EP 29.3}
After their sin, Adam and Eve earnestly entreated that they might remain in the home of their innocence and joy. They pledged themselves for the future to 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. {EP 29.4}
In sadness they bade farewell to their beautiful home and wen