Question about Genesis

[WayonDown]

I know this is not a new question, and it's been asked around before everywhere. But I'm having trouble finding something I can properly understand also something I can agree with because there are multitudes of views some diametrically opposed to one another.

1) Why did God put this "tree of knowledge" and then tell them not to eat from it? -- isn't this essentially God tempting them? Although elsewhere in the Bible it is claimed that God does not tempt, although I can't remember which verse(s).

2) Why was the snake cursed due to Satan's actions? After all, Satan is not a snake and that's just the form he took. God could not have been oblivious to this, yet the snake and its descendants are cursed with enmity between humans.

 

[indelight]

I know this is not a new question, and it's been asked around before everywhere. But I'm having trouble finding something I can properly understand also something I can agree with because there are multitudes of views some diametrically opposed to one another.

1) Why did God put this "tree of knowledge" and then tell them not to eat from it? -- isn't this essentially God tempting them? Although elsewhere in the Bible it is claimed that God does not tempt, although I can't remember which verse(s).

2) Why was the snake cursed due to Satan's actions? After all, Satan is not a snake and that's just the form he took. God could not have been oblivious to this, yet the snake and its descendants are cursed with enmity between humans.

"the tree of knowledge and the tree of life in the middle of the garden" man should make a free choice. but god warned him, not to touch from the tree of evil, meaning to eat from the tree of life beside

 

[Living in the Light]

The Garden of Eden story is largely symbolic. Early man was like a child with a huge propensity toward curiosity. Since all that God created was Good, He wanted man to embrace the Good and not even address the concept of evil. Think about it; as a child if you were never exposed to anything bad or evil, would it not be all good and pure until someone told you different? That's why I think children are innocent until shown or told otherwise. This helps me to understand Adam and Eve.

 

[InSpiritInTruth]

The Word of God is full of symbolisms, and similitudes which can only be discerned by the mind and the Spirit of God. Here is what I believe the Lord has shown me concerning the Tree of knowledge to know good from evil.


The Tree of knowledge, to know good from evil, was given as a sign of the natural law.

Romans 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

When we ate from the tree of the law(knowledge to know good from evil) we then were made aware of our sins, and then our eyes were opened and we saw our own nakedness; just like Adam and Eve.

What we once thought was good for us, became death to us, just as the Lord said; the day you eat of it, surely you shall die.

Romans 6:23;"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

It was not the fruit of the tree of knowledge that was death to us, but rather it was the sinful nature that worked in our old fleshy minded man that transgressed the commandment of God.

Romans 7:5;"For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death."

So even though we once thought the natural law was life to us, we being evil by nature were decieved, and the natural law(the knowledge to know good from evil) became death to us by reason of our own sins.

Romans 7:11;"For sin taking occassion by the commandment, decieved me, and by it slew me."

But thank God for the mercy he showed us in the spiritual Tree of Life, which is afforded to all of us who believe in the remission of our sins through the offering of Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

[jpcedotal]

1) Why did God put this "tree of knowledge" and then tell them not to eat from it? -- isn't this essentially God tempting them? Although elsewhere in the Bible it is claimed that God does not tempt, although I can't remember which verse(s).

2) Why was the snake cursed due to Satan's actions? After all, Satan is not a snake and that's just the form he took. God could not have been oblivious to this, yet the snake and its descendants are cursed with enmity between humans.

1) It was not to tempt, it was to show man that God also gave him (us) free will...that he was not going to force Himself on us, that he wanted us to freely worship him.

2) The snake is a reminder of what happened in Eden. Really, all animals have an enmity toward humans after the first sin. The curse was for Satan only, not the snake. The entire UNIVERSE was cursed by this first sin..it groans awaiting for Christ return.

 

[juvenissun]

I know this is not a new question, and it's been asked around before everywhere. But I'm having trouble finding something I can properly understand also something I can agree with because there are multitudes of views some diametrically opposed to one another.

1) Why did God put this "tree of knowledge" and then tell them not to eat from it? -- isn't this essentially God tempting them? Although elsewhere in the Bible it is claimed that God does not tempt, although I can't remember which verse(s).

2) Why was the snake cursed due to Satan's actions? After all, Satan is not a snake and that's just the form he took. God could not have been oblivious to this, yet the snake and its descendants are cursed with enmity between humans.

This question is indeed a million-dollar question. First, God tells them not to eat the fruit. Second, God knows they will do. And the consequence is apparently both bad and good, but is actually ALL good.

The first one shows the relationship between God and man.
The second one pointed to God's ultimate plan for man.

Without this "set up", the whole message in the Bible would become meaningless.

The whole design is way beyond the capability of human wisdom and can only be made by God.

 

[LBP]

It's not as though Genesis is a newspaper report of "What happened in the Garden of Eden," written the following day. The author(s) of Genesis was living in the same conditions we are - a world in which evil seems predominant, human nature seems fundamentally flawed, and even nature frequently seems out of whack. Genesis is an after-the-fact explanation as to how this state of affairs might have come to be. It is, at best, a crude and primitive explanation. I don't believe that anyone with a logical mind can "make sense" of Genesis in a satisfactory, connect-the-dots sort of way. You have to read it as you would poetry - i.e., let the language speak to you in a broad and symbolic way, without analyzing whether it "makes sense." The only way "the Fall" makes sense, IMHO, is that it was a fully God-planned event, with God knowing that only creatures who experienced the full spectrum of good and evil would ever achieve spiritual maturity and be capable of appreciating God's goodness. It is possible, of course, that Genesis is a literal account of precisely what occurred - I find this about as likely as finding a unicorn in my garage, but if it were true we could only say that the ways of God are indeed mysterious and beyond the comprehension of man because Genesis (and the God it portrays) is simply not logical or emotionally satisfying at the human level.

 

[apocolypticremedy999]

I know this is not a new question, and it's been asked around before everywhere. But I'm having trouble finding something I can properly understand also something I can agree with because there are multitudes of views some diametrically opposed to one another.

1) Why did God put this "tree of knowledge" and then tell them not to eat from it? -- isn't this essentially God tempting them? Although elsewhere in the Bible it is claimed that God does not tempt, although I can't remember which verse(s).

No, it is God commanding them. If he were tempting them, he would have whispered in their ear; "Hey, eat from the tree, it's ok!" That's temptation, when you entice someone to do something, but God commanded them, he didn't tempt them, just like he commands us to abstain from sex before marriage and to not worship flase idols, etc. etc. Be careful not to accuse God of tempting, for remember, God does not tempt anyone;

When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; -James 1:13

Ultimately, the purpose of God commanding Adam and Eve not to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was mainly a test to see how obedient they would be to God after giving them free will. This is why he tests everyone, esp his followers. Do we not undergo tests as followers of God even today? God tests us to see what kind of choices we will make with our own free will; good or bad.

2) Why was the snake cursed due to Satan's actions? After all, Satan is not a snake and that's just the form he took. God could not have been oblivious to this, yet the snake and its descendants are cursed with enmity between humans.

I'm sure God has his reasons, there must have been something about the serpent that Satan found as an advantage. Plus, I'm sure it also served as a sign and an example for all of his creation for all time that God doesn't play around, esp with his enemies, for Satan is waiting to get crushed underfoot just like a snake. He may be sneaky, sliding and slithering around, but he does so on his belly and in the dirt, waiting to get crushed under God's foot. It's a sign.

 

[granpa]

the garden was destroyed in a flood shortly after adam and eve were kicked out.
By kicking them out God saved them.

God didnt lie to adam and eve but he did trick them.

God also tricked the Babylonians into building the tower in order to scatter them.
God didnt lie to them but he did trick them.

 

[juvenissun]

the garden was destroyed in a flood shortly after adam and eve were kicked out.
By kicking them out God saved them.

God didnt lie to adam and eve but he did trick them.

God also tricked the Babylonians into building the tower in order to scatter them.
God didnt lie to them but he did trick them.

Let's see this key point: God tricks man.

Trick, means to lure a person to do something in order to fulfill a hidden purpose. So, you are suggesting that God "wants" Adam and Eve to eat the Fruit, but He does not want to make them do that directly. So He figures out a way to make it happen indirectly.

Is that what you mean?

 

[apocolypticremedy999]

the garden was destroyed in a flood shortly after adam and eve were kicked out.
By kicking them out God saved them.

God didnt lie to adam and eve but he did trick them.

God also tricked the Babylonians into building the tower in order to scatter them.
God didnt lie to them but he did trick them.

God doesn't trick anyone. There is no record in the Bible that indicates that God destrotyed the garden with a flood. That's unorthodox heresie. God destroyed the world with a flood in Noah's time, but he never destroyed the garden with a flood. In fact, it is said that God banished Adam and Eve from the garden and guarded the garden with a sword that they would not enter therein.

God isn't a trickster. That would maike him untrustworthy, which he is not, for he is truth. He doesn't decieve and it isn't wise of you to imply that he is. He never tricked the Babylonians into building the tower of Babel; they did so on their own free will. Upon seeing how they were abusing their great power, he destroyed them and confused them with different languages and scattered them abroad.

 

[granpa]

you seem to have missed the key point here.

being kicked out was a good thing.

it was a test and adam and eve passed it.

 

[dollarsbill]

you seem to have missed the key point here.

being kicked out was a good thing.

it was a test and adam and eve passed it.

The Earth and mankind are clearly under a curse. How is that good? This world is a sewer.

 

[granpa]

that was the flood that destroyed the garden and would have destroyed adam and eve if they hadnt left.

BTW, nephilim (fallen human beings) arent mentioned till the time of the flood.
(or rather one of eth floods)

 

[apocolypticremedy999]

you seem to have missed the key point here.

being kicked out was a good thing.

it was a test and adam and eve passed it.

No, them being kicked out was pretty bad, it meant their fate and their labour of everything they sought out such as food, for in the garden, they already had everything they needed. It was all just an arm's breadth away. When they were kicked out, it negatively effected the rest of the human race for the rest of time on earth for the curse of sin and death was in effect as a result of their disobedience. Life changed for everyone after that.

Adam and Eve failed their test, for they gave into temptation when being enticed by Satan. It was a miserable failure and caused the downfall of the rest of mankind. We're all suffering because of their failure. This information is essential and imperitive for undserstanding the scirputes and the will of God.

 

[dollarsbill]

that was the flood that destroyed the garden and would have destroyed adam and eve if they hadnt left.

BTW, nephilim (fallen human beings) arent mentioned till the time of the flood.
(or rather one of eth floods)

How many 'floods' are you talkin'? Scripture please.

 

[Unix]

I see the connection You made...

BTW, nephilim (fallen human beings) arent mentioned till the time of the flood.

... but I rather believe in 1 flood - rearrangement of the Gn text to connect this

(or rather one of eth floods)

 

[LuxMundi]

I'd suggest a read of Genesis 1-11

 

[granpa]

There is no record in the Bible that indicates that God destrotyed the garden with a flood

"Cursed is the earth because of you"


the idea that God wouldnt be worthy of worship if he were a trickster is ludicrous.
he saved adam and eve and destroyed the evil babylonians.
whats not worthy about that?

I know that atheists have a real inferiority complex about these things.
you wouldnt happen to be an atheist would you?
hmmm?

 

[dollarsbill]

"Cursed is the earth because of you"


the idea that God wouldnt be worthy of worship if he were a trickster is ludicrous.
he saved adam and eve and destroyed the evil babylonians.
whats not worthy about that?

I know that atheists have a real inferiority complex about these things.
you wouldnt happen to be an atheist would you?
hmmm?

Only one Flood, huh?