Genesis 3:

1 Now The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God made. And he said to the woman, Yea, hath God saith, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We shall not eat of the fruit the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die;

5 For God doth know that in the da ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

The male Adam was YHWH’s sole student. The rules of attaining the glorious nature of godhood or likeness of God were spelt out to the male Adam. The serpent, a prophet of the tree of  knowledge of good and evil, was subtle, and knew who to go to for his plan. He knew that the male Adam was too much of God’s mind to be won to partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; he made friend with the female Adam. It’s not one day event. It’s a project that spanned periods of time. He consistently gained the confidence of the female Adam and, when the nail was red hot, hit with accuracy that surprised even himself. It’s not unlikely that he had tried some other methods before now.

The serpent’s plan sailed through because he’d taken time to study the female Adam, that she could be independent in examining and accepting an idea, a thought or suggestion. He first appealed to her sense of doubt. …..hath God saith, Ye shall eat of every tree of the garden? He asked her. The woman’s reply showed that she was a good student of her husband. She parroted her learning to the serpent who could easily spotted the flaw in the steel. He knew that the woman was only repeating to him what her husband taught her and that she doubted him.

She was one woman who loved to take charge of everything; everything should be under her control. Of course, it was difficult for her to know the lurking danger in this character. She was a confident woman who could, by her judgement, take a far-reaching decisions – independent of any other considerations, independent of her husband. The serpent strengthened her doubt of her husband. He said to her, Ye shall not surely die. …. God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be gods, knowing good and evil. After this, the female Adam’s judgement came to the fore. And when the woman saw that the tree was good…., pleasant to the eyes,…a tree… to make one wise….  Her decision, borne out of her convictions of her eyes and thoughts was final. She partook of the fruit.

The male Adam was not away from the scene. He was aware of what was going on. His wife had the fatal bite of the fruit and passed it to him. He accepted it. This was tragic; it’s too bad for this man to shirk his God-given responsibility of husbanding, tending and caring to bring her to maturity. Two possibilities as to why he stood idly by listening to the conversations without intervening stare us in face. He himself, perhaps, bought into what the woman was intrigued by. The actions of both of them was certainly triggered by their curiousity. Why would God not want them to eat a fruit that would make man god, that would make him wise, that would make him well able to judge, that would make him able to know, like God, what was good and what was evil? It’s a great opportunity to allow to easily slip away. The other possibility was that the male Adam’s judgement was clouded by love! He was entranced by the feminine grace and touch that man couldn’t do without, and he was ready to sacrifice all, including divine instruction for this love. It’s Christ’s love in reverse order. This was an anti-God action, but the male Adam was ready to die with and for his love just like Christ gave it all. This is the mystery of marriage. ….as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it… (Ephesians 5:25-26).

The first couple certainly saw something that actually succeeded in convincing them to choose rebellion instead of unbelief. From then till now, the esrth has been reeling from one end to the other, undergoing amazing forms of human glory called civilisation – independent of God. The fullness of God’s thought for man was him attaining godhood, that is, gaining God Himself. This trajectory was imbued with divine control and dependence on God; this was a fellowship with the Godhead until man should finish the walk, becoming a suitable vessel of God’s habitation. This was the tree of life.

But man spotted a cheaper, less exacting way and willingly turned his back to the path that would toughen him and went for the gaudy glory. Man has been busy exploring this other life since

We repent of every cheap way we’ve taken, every short cut and wrong decision. Oh, that Your rich grace may turn us about, turn us back to the pursuit of God, and in the right way, until we attain the fullness of Your thought.

Thank You, Lord