Q: Recall the concept of 6th and 7th Days from Chapter 1&2. What is their importance for humans?
The beasts/animals and humans came into being in the 6th day, the last day of creation. However, God gave humans a spiritual nature and invited us into the 7th Day. The 7th Day is our destiny! However, the path to get into the 7th Day is agape love, which is not as easy as it sounds. But God sent us help: forgiveness through Jesus Christ and a 7th Day GPS called the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 3 The Fall of Man - Exegesis (eks-eh-jee-zus, or Eggs & Jesus)
4-5 But the serpent said to the woman: “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6a 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…
Q: What are the three temptations of Eve that will define humanity thereafter?
Good for food – physical desire (this will be good for my body)
Delight to the eyes – possessions (good for me to have)
It will make me wise like God – pride/egoism (What is God hiding? It doesn’t matter because we will soon know what He knows. We won’t need Him.)
Q: What statement does Eve make that is just like God’s statement in the Creation story in Chapter One?
Do you remember this sentence repeated throughout Gen 1: "And God saw that it was good"? Now Eve looks at the tree of knowledge and "saw that it was good." Can you see the transformation happening already to Eve? It’s what happens to all of us!
Q: This was reviewed once before but is relevant again here: What did the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil represent?
We often hear that “knowledge is power,” and that is true. However, this proverb isn’t new – it goes back to the beginning of human free-will, and it continues today.
Let’s be clear: knowledge is not bad, any more than money, fame, or power. By themselves, these things are not good or bad. It’s how they are used by humans that make them good or bad, and the tendency is often to employ them for personal gain (for instance, how many people use just a little knowledge to start rumors?). As humans use knowledge, money, and power for personal advantage, they begin to enslave us while, while at the same time making us think we are the ones in control. This isn’t much different than how an addiction works – same thing without the drugs. Often, just the idea of owning more knowledge, power, money, or fame is “intoxicating.”
Q: What is the most perfect form of slavery?
When the enslaved don't know they are enslaved. Those who feel they own knowledge can decide what is good or not laugh at the idea of sin, or of slavery to sin. But sin is just being selfish/self-centered. It is the failure act in concert with God/agape love.
So, there are two interesting things happening with Adam & Eve. The first is obviously their attraction to the idea of possessing knowledge like God. The second is at another level entirely, and it’s attached to the doubts that the serpent has planted in their minds about God – that God doesn’t want to share his knowledge with them because He doesn’t want them to know what He knows. Suddenly, this means that God’s rules may not be necessary after all! Perhaps these rules are some kind of unfair limitation on our freedoms. Ahhh, yes, that’s it! By the way, this is called the 6th day enlightenment – the idea that there God just limits our freedoms and if we get rid of God, we will not only be our own masters but we will no longer have straight-jackets on our minds and our freedoms! Now our ego is ready to get into the act and says to us, “YES, YES, this is exactly what I’ve been telling you. It’s what we’ve been waiting for! Let’s get moving!”
Yet, if we think calmly for a minute … we know that humans do NOT have anywhere close to absolute freedom. For example, we can’t lay around for a year eating snickers bars and drinking beer all day every day because we would die! Either that or someone else will kill us. Most of what we really and truly know in our lives came from much trial and error – often painful trial and error! If we have learned anything at all, it’s that we need to know and respect our limitations. The truth is that God placed limitations on us to teach us how to use and control our free will. That makes our limitations our agape love training! This here is LOVE BOOT CAMP.
Q: What would be a real example of freedom?
Matthew, the tax collector. His decision to say “screw it” to the religion of his day and collect taxes for the Romans and get rich and do whatever the heck he wanted. But that kind of freedom cost him happiness and his family and friends. Then when Jesus walked by and said “Follow me,” he dropped everything! True freedom is connected to love and to God. “No limitations” is a fake call from Satan.
What the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil represents is the illusion of ownership of knowledge and the control it seems to give over determining good and evil. It is trying to attain our 7th Day dreams with a 6th day brain.
Any questions, let me know!
God bless,
Ron
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