Adam and Eve

Genesis 2-3

The Garden of Eden

Adam was the first man that God created, and he was very special. He was created "in the image" of God Himself.

God planted a beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden. It had beautiful trees with delicious fruit - everything a person would need to eat. Right in the middle of the garden were the "tree of life" and the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Then,

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (NIV, Genesis 2:15-17)

Adam was all alone in the garden with no one to help him. So, God put Adam into a deep sleep and took one of his ribs and formed it into a woman to be Adam's wife. Adam named her "Eve."

The Serpent

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and would make one wise, she took the fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

Of all the animals God created, the serpent was the most tricky and deceitful. He came to Eve and asked, "Really? None of the fruit in the garden? God says you must not eat any of it?" "Of course we can eat it," Eve replied. "It's only the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that we cannot eat. God says we mustn't eat it or even touch it, or we will die."

"That's a lie!" said the serpent. "You won't die! God knows very well that when you eat it you will become like Him - you will know good from evil!" Eve looked at the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and saw that it looked fresh and delicious. She thought the fruit would make her wise like the serpent said it would. Eve was convinced! She picked the fruit and ate it, and she gave some to Adam to eat, too.

The fruit did not make Adam and Eve very wise, but they did realize for the first time that they were not wearing any clothes! They were embarrassed and made themselves skirts of fig leaves.

God Was Angry

Later that day, God was walking in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were ashamed of what they had done and afraid to face God, so they hid in the trees. But God knew they had eaten the forbidden fruit. Adam tried to put the blame on Eve, and Eve tried to put the blame on the serpent, but God was angry with all three of them!

God punished the serpent by cursing his kind. They would forever have to crawl on their bellies in the dust and be enemies of mankind.

God punished Adam and Eve, and all their descendants, by making their lives hard. No longer could they live in the perfect world of the Garden of Eden. Men would have to struggle and sweat for their existence. Women would have to bear children in pain and be ruled over by their husbands. Adam and Eve were thrown out of the beautiful Garden of Eden forever.

Lessons

This is more than a story about the first man and woman; it is a story about all of us. Adam and Eve thought they would get pleasure and wisdom from eating the forbidden fruit, but they got neither. Their lives were ruined because of their sin.

We may know right from wrong, but sometimes, like Adam and Eve, we give in to temptation and convince ourselves that doing wrong is actually a good thing. Also, like Adam and Eve, we often find that doing wrong gets us into trouble and has other bad results.

Questions

Was the Forbidden Fruit an Apple?

The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is often pictured as an apple, but the Bible never says what it was.

Was the Serpent the Devil or Satan in Disguise?

Many people think the serpent was Satan or one of his agents. The serpent's acts of deception, temptation and ridicule are the same as the methods used by Satan, but the Bible does not say for sure.

Where Was the Garden of Eden?

The Bible story mentions the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which means Eden was in the region of modern Iraq. It is impossible to determine the exact location, however. Many people believe Eden was not an actual place but a symbol for the perfect life and closeness to God that mankind has lost because of sin.