The Forbidden Fruit

Today I read Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve partake of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There are several things about this story that stand out to me and I find very interesting. The first thing that has always stood out to me is I wonder how literal we are supposed to take the things in this story. I mean, I know from the temple that Eve really did take of the forbidden fruit first and then Adam ate of it too, but did Satan really use the voice of the serpent? And why does God say what He does to the snake afterwards? Did snakes have legs before this episode? It's just one of the many things that I'm really interested in knowing once I get over to the other side.

The second thing which I have talked about before, is that Eve was deceived. Satan told her 3 truths and 1 lie to get her to eat of the fruit. I'm not really sure Eve was thinking it through all the way. But then again, perhaps she was. The questions she asks Satan back show a remarkable understanding, but Paul also states in his epistle to the Hebrews that she was deceived. The truths that Satan told her is that she will be as God knowing good and evil and another that I cannot go into because it is part of the temple ceremony and I do not wish to discuss sacred things here. But of course the devil snuck in a lie telling Eve that she would not die if she ate of the fruit. This was a lie for God had stated that if Adam and Eve partook of the fruit they would die and God's word cannot pass away unfulfilled lest He cease to be God. Now, it is true that Adam and Eve did not die immediately because they needed time to be able to repent and to procreate, but they did die within 1 day of the Lord's time, which is 1000 years of Earth time. However, it is important to note that since Adam and Eve partook of the fruit they did in fact die spiritually that same day. So no matter which way you slice it, Satan lied to Eve.

Now, here's the thing I first noticed years ago that I have always found interesting and still do to this day. I have talked about this before back when we read the Pearl of Great Price, but have you noticed that when Adam and Eve discover their nakedness and inform God of it, He commands Jesus to make coats of skins for them? He does not just say make coverings for them. He doesn't tell Jesus to give them coats made of linen or cotton or any other natural fibers. He has Jesus take the material from one of the animals or kill one of the animals, to provide a covering for them. I personally think that God did it this way to show Adam and Eve another aspect of what it meant to have stewardship over all the earth. Remember that before they partook of the fruit, there was no death and so when God put Adam in charge of all the animals, it probably never even entered into his mind that they could be used for food or their skins for warmth. That is very significant to me especially when in todays world we have people who treat animals better than they do their fellow humans.

And so Adam and Eve are cast out of the Garden of Eden and forced into the world to make a living for themselves. I often wonder how much they were left to figure out on their own, and how much they were told/taught by an angel. I suppose we'll never know until we pass on to the next life, which means it is not necessary for us to know in this life or we would have been told. I do believe that God has given all the information we need to obtain Salvation. We just have to act on it. Until tomorrow.