Cheryl Schatz

Pinklight and Don,

I apologize for being so slow in answering.  Your thoughts and your questions are worthy of a new post of their own and I will be doing another post on Eve’s comments.  There is so much to unpack in Genesis that one cannot do it justice in only one or two posts.  I will try to get to the next article as soon as I can.  My time until the end of August is extremely limited. My sisters will be visiting and the day they leave, I leave for Idaho to confront Matt Slick on a Matthew 18 mission regarding his offenses against me.  I am also working on the final pieces of my new DVD and stressed with a September deadline to have all the editing, artwork and stamping finished for its October unveiling in Pennsylvania.  On top of that my Mom has taken ill and she has been very concerned that she will not come out of the hospital alive and I am suffering myself with severe pain and no time at all to do anything but take Tylenol 3s and suffer through it.  I really appreciate all the patience people have for me and as my Son says, after September I should be human again and able to actually have time to converse.  If you remember me in your prayers, pray for me that God will help me through this very stressful time and that my own patience will survive all of the differing levels of tribulation in my life.

Don,
You said:

I think it is important to see that what the woman says God said contains an ambiguous or partial truth.  There were 2 trees in the middle of the garden.  Which one is she referring to?  If she is quoting God, which one is God referring to?
And the important question is: Would God declare a sin of commission in an ambiguous way?

I don’t think that the woman’s answer was ambiguous or a “partial truth” at all.  While there were two trees in the middle of the garden only one tree was forbidden for them to touch and only one tree was forbidden for them to eat the fruit.  Both Eve and the serpent understood her statement.  The serpent showed that he knew which tree she was talking about because he responded that eating the fruit would allow her to know good and evil.

Gen 3:5  “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Would God declare sin of commission in an ambiguous way?  No, not at all.  God is very serious in repeating his commands so that we know what is sin in order to make it clear to us to keep away from sin and evil.  Eve’s testimony shows us that God took her to the tree itself and gave her the command there.

God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'”

This would only be ambiguous if one was not in front of the tree itself.  Eve commented on the tree’s location but she did not quote God as commenting on the location.  This would not have been needed since it was clearly pointed out to her.  God’s words are no more ambiguous than the word “it” is.  What is “it”?  Eve clearly understands and the word of prohibition that Eve pulls out of her conversation with God is clear to her and clear to the serpent who talks about the very same tree.

This was all clear to Eve, but is it clear to us?  It is only clear to us if we accept the testimony of the woman that God communicated with her directly.  God pointed out the tree that was forbidden.  He calls the tree “it”.  God forbids both the man and the woman from touching this tree and thus forbids them from testing its fruit and he forbids them from partaking of its fruit in essence showing that eating of the fruit without life in it (without seed bearing fruit) would cause death and this was not good for them.

Was Eve confused?  I do not believe so.  If she was, then why would the serpent so clearly understand what she was quoting from God?  I think it is clear.  Eve understood God who spoke to her directly.  The serpent understood Eve who accurately gave out God’s words to her.  The serpent seduced Eve and she fell for the lie.

More on this shortly in my next post.

Thoughts?  Questions?  While I may be slow right now especially if your questions cause me to have to think and reflect, I welcome your thoughts!