In January of 2023, I started a daily practice of reading the Bible. It’s been a wonderfully transformative force in my life. One of the most surprising elements of reading the Bible every day has been the Bible itself. I am finding daily that the actual teachings of the Bible are quite different from what I assumed them to be.
A perfect example of this is the story of Adam and Eve and how the devil tricked them into eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Before I started reading the Bible, my loose understanding of this story was what I had heard in media. Basically, I understood the story to be that Eve was tricked into eating the fruit by satan (in the form of a serpent) and she then took the fruit and convinced Adam to eat from it as well.
This story has led to the idea that ‘Eve introduced sin into the world’. In fact, Eve has almost been painted as conniving, almost in league with satan in this matter. She was selfish, evil, and she duped her unwitting husband Adam into falling into sin along with her. And in the process, she doomed all of humanity to being isolated from God here on earth.
At least, that is the story I was led to believe.
As I started reading the Bible, it became clear that I’ve greatly misunderstood Eve’s role in this whole sorted affair. I’ve misunderstood Adam’s as well.
First, let’s address my understanding that Eve was tricked by the serpent, and then she took the fruit to Adam and basically tricked him into eating it as well. It turns out, that is completely wrong. Eve wasn’t interacting with the serpent by herself, Adam was with her! It’s just that the serpent addressed Eve, not Adam. What’s important to note is that Adam didn’t intercede. Yes, Eve allowed herself to be deceived by the serpent, but Adam was there and did nothing.
Now, let’s look at Genesis Chapter 3, when God calls out to Adam and Eve:
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 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?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Eve said “The serpent deceived me”. Note that the author of Genesis (Moses) is careful to leave it there. Moses is careful to make it known that Eve was deceived.
But does that mean that Adam was NOT deceived???
Look at what Adam told God when God asked him to explain how he (Adam) knew that he was naked. Adam attempts to blame God! He says it is because of the woman YOU (God) gave me!
This is some heady stuff, y’all. While Genesis isn’t explicit, it seems to be inferring that Adam was NOT deceived by the serpent. If so, that’s hugely profound. That means Adam KNEW that the serpent was tempting him to disobey God and he did so intentionally.
Either way, it’s a very bad look for Adam, and it totally reframes my initial understanding of how this whole sad interaction took place. To be fair, Eve didn’t act appropriately either, obviously. And even when God asked her what she had done, she admits to eating the fruit, only after first saying it was because the serpent deceived her.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this story is that humans have always sinned, from the beginning of our being. And while we must bear the punishment for our sins, God also gives us a path back to Him. A path back to where Adam and Eve began in the Garden before the serpent.
The path won’t be easy to walk, but is available to us, just the same.
