In the end it seems that we left Genesis 1-2 agreeing that God made us to be gardeners and artists, but that we often find ourselves desiring to consume (which ultimately means we miss our invitation to make something of the world). To be sure, we agreed that consumption too is central to what it means to be human, yet at the same time it rivals our call to "make something of the world."
Now lets struggle with Genesis 3:
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
At least for a moment, put Satan in the role of "advertiser" and Eve in the role of "consumer", what stands out to you? Lets collectively compile a bunch of observations and questions.
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7 comments:
Satan talked Eve into something she didn't need. Even if she was hungry, she could have eaten anything else in the garden.
Satan sold her on the idea by telling her that it would be better for her. That the outcome would make her more like God. He capitalized on the basic human nature to be more/be better. Does that mean that she was jealous of God because she wanted to be like Him? Satan was jealous of God once, and look where it got him.
Why did Eve want to be more like God?
Why wasn't she happy with what she had (a wonderful utopia and the opportunity to walk with God in the that garden)?
Why didn't Adam put up a fight?
I like approaching the Eve/Satan interaction metaphorically as I'm not a big subscriber to the literal Garden of Eden thing.
Think of Burger King or McDonald's commercials on TV. Has anyone ever eaten a burger that looked half as appetizing as it does in those commercials?
And if you eat the advertised, then you may well feel a pain in your chest...and we do eat them, even though we KNOW how bad they are for us.
In fact, the obesity epidemic is evidence of people's general susceptibility to things they know they don't need, if fact, that they know are bad/unhealthy choices.
Ditto for smoking.
Joe. The fact that Satan is so easily cast as the evil marketer and Eve as the sucker/coveting human is amazing, isn't it!?
Your question, "Why wasn't Eve happy with what sh had?" is stinking brilliant...
Steph. Ditto for drinking too, right:)! (Just trying to keep it fair.)
I love your analogy.
I wonder, "How spontanious was Eve's decision? Was it the classic 'impulse purchase'?"
The question might be good, but I still don't understand why it happened. Why did she give in?
Obviously Adam and Eve both knew that God was their creator and therefore above them. But how did Adam and Eve know that there was evil?
Why and how did they decide in their minds that having the ability to differ between good and evil was better?
How do we know that purchasing something will make us happy and better off? What goes through our minds that tells us that we'll be better off and happier with something we don't have?
A relationship with God is all Adam and Eve really needed, but that ended when they pursued something outside of God.
Like you said in another comment, Adam, donsumerism hinders your relationship with God.
You're so funny, Adam, and you don't even know it!
If the Eve story is metaphorical, maybe the point of its inclusion in the Bible is for us to see that our human desires are strong--irrationally strong--and despite all that we know from an intellectual point of view, we very well may choose something that we desire in that moment. That's how we're wired.
God knows that's we're wired that way, so maybe he wanted to share a story with us about how powerful--and dangerous--that desire is, even overcoming Eve's intellectual knowledge that her life was perfect. Maybe that whole story is a caution of the powerful innate desire we have within us, and maybe what we're supposed to walk away with is a resolve to take some time to think about our gut-based decisions.
Hypothetical question: what if Eve had eaten the apple, but Adam had not? What would have happened?
It seems to me that this story also carries a warning of the powerful influence of our peers. We've been focusing on the knowledge that Even had of her already perfect life, but what about Adam? He knew all the same stuff, but he chose the apple as well.
There might be something a little different going on here. While Eve's interaction represents our susceptibility to our desires, perhaps Adam's story reflects our desire to be accepted by and fit in with our peers.
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