Controversy over what the sin in the Garden of Eden was is rampant. I've heard that it was an apple, an attitude, a purely spiritual allegory, a purely natural event, and, of course, the all-time favorite, sex। We could speculate all day over what really happened in that far-off time and place। But while I may not be able to clarify what that horrible sin was, I can tell you what it was not.
The "Sin in the Garden" was not sex.
And I can prove it.
It is not really that hard. All you have to do is read the story. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was put in the midst of the Garden before Eve was ever created. It is first mentioned in the description of the Garden given in Gen. 2:9. The command that Adam was not to eat of it was given in vs. 17. God does not even note that the man needs a help meet until vs. 18. Now, if the sin was something that requires two people, why would the command even be necessary while there was only one? Where does the idea that it was sex even come from?
I don't know exactly where the idea began, but I can tell you who made it popular: It was a Benedictine monk now known as St. Augustine. Augustine was a prime example of why forbidding to marry is called a "seductive doctrine of the devil". (1 Tim. 4:1-3) Put another way, he should have been listening when Paul said, "It is better to marry than to burn." (1 Cor. 7:9). The man had a severe problem with women. Like so many, he blamed the women instead of understanding that he had a God-given drive, one that woman was created to fulfill. He needed a wife, but believing that sex was carnality, he instead fluctuated between secretly visiting the harlots for some relief and pompously declaring himself a celibate monk, too holy to defile himself with a woman. He was a prolific writer, and his angst led him to promote the idea that original sin was Eve seducing Adam - and that every woman since that time is just as bad. When a man can't control himself, it's always the woman's fault.
But before you go blaming poor Augustine, remember that this type of thinking was so common even Jesus had to deal with it. Remember the woman taken in adultery? (John 8:3-10) Where was the man?
The problem with sex being the sin in the Garden is that it blocks us from fulfilling God's first commandment...Gen. 1:28
"28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
It's a little hard to multiply without having sex. The argument? "But they were supposed to be fruitful first!" meaning that they were supposed to (in the tradition I was raised in) reach perfection or complete maturity in the Lord before they multiplied.
I have a couple of problems with this. First of all, I'm married. I didn't make it home from my honeymoon without realizing that God created men to have certain physical needs that are extremely powerful. Think about it - Adam, a healthy man, woke up from a deep sleep, with a beautiful, healthy, naked woman laying beside him, created for the sole purpose of meeting his needs. What would your husband do? We know exactly what Adam did -- it tells us in Gen. 2:24-25.
"24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."
Adam became one flesh with the woman beside him... and it did not occur to either of them to be ashamed.
Next argument? Eve wanted to be "as God - creating life." Really? First, every single living thing God created reproduced itself - that was beastlike - not godlike. Secondly, let's read the scripture. Gen 3:5 says, "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as beasts, recreating yourself." You know as well as I do, that is NOT what it says.
6And 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."
God had a relationship with Adam and Eve in which He actually spoke to them. Often. It appears that it was not unusual for Him to visit them in the Garden. What do you think they were doing while they walked with God? I could be wrong, but I believe God was teaching them what was good, and what was appropriate for their maturity and their ability to understand. Eve was impatient. Instead of learning as God chose to teach her, she was deceived into believing she could have it all NOW, and be wise enough to divide what she learned into good and evil. However, while that subtle serpent told her they would know both good and evil, he never said that they would know the difference. The fact that man is incapable of properly dividing those two qualities is evident in the world around us everyday. (It generally boils down to: if it makes me happy, it's good; if it does not, it's evil.)
The third argument I've heard in support of sex being a sin, is that Adam and Eve's first response to learning good and evil was to cover their nakedness. Think about this for a minute. Here is Adam. Here is Eve. Here is a Garden with only one rule (which they've already violated). What evil was there for them to commit? Think of the 10 Commandments. They had already put themselves before God and violated the first 3 commandments. The fourth concerns the Sabbath Day. (Not enough information). They had no father or mother to dishonor. It would be foolish, having only each other, to kill each other. There was nothing to steal (hey, you took my fig leaf!), no one to commit adultery with, or bear false witness against, and what, exactly were they supposed to covet?. That covers the 10 commandments. What evil is left? Only the evil of hurting each other. The evils that man has concocted in that department are endless. Something that God gave them as a gift to use in fulfillment of his first command (i.e. the sexual drive to multiply) was tainted by the knowledge of how it could be abused. The fact that they could even think of some of those things was so horrible that they felt the need to cover their nakedness. God agreed with them. However, since what they now felt was beastly, God used a beast to cover them. Thus, the first sacrifice was made. Because of man's sin, an innocent life was taken to cover his nakedness.
The final argument I've heard is "Look what the sin produced ... Cain." Gen. 4 shows Adam knowing his wife AFTER the fall; after they were put out of the Garden. So while I'll agree that Cain was a product of their sin, I contend that the sexual act was simply part of being husband and wife.
Why is this subject so important to me? Probably because I have six children. Think about it. If Eve's reason for eating of the fruit was to produce children, what does that say about me, or anyone else who chooses to have children? Is every woman evil because God placed in her heart a longing to produce a child? It was His first commandment. If you believe that sex was the sin, how in the world could you ever enjoy "having relations" with your spouse, knowing that every time you did you were recreating the very thing that destroyed man's relationship with God. (See David's blog, A Total Eclipse of the Heart) God walked with man in the cool of the day before the fall. After the fall, man was not allowed to even look upon His face. (Ex. 33:20 "...there shall no man see me and live.")
"Oh, but sex is only bad before marriage." I contend that marriage is a human and fairly recent construct. In the Old Testament, sex was marriage. Think about Isaac and Rebecca. Gen. 24:63-67
" 63And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming.
64And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.65For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.
66And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.
67And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death."
This is important. It is the difference between believing that those who truly love the Lord should not marry (see 1 Tim. 4:1-3), and believing that those who truly love the Lord should marry - and produce children (see Gen. 1:28). The two ideas are diametrically opposed to each other.
It is evident throughout the Bible that God wants his people to reproduce and multiply. Not just replace themselves. "But the earth can only support so many people!" Do you honestly believe that the God who created the heavens and the earth does not know how many people it can support? From Genesis to Hebrews the word "multiply" is used 28 times in the context of either a command to produce children or a blessing. This is important to God. And while the pain and danger of childbirth, and the barrenness of women is part of the curse, the command has not changed. It is extremely difficult to produce children without sex. I believe the physical need for it was given by God as a confirmation and a blessing for those who would do His will.
Why is it so necessary? Malachi 2:15 answers that question.
"15And did not he make one?" (Gen:2:24)"Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth."
There are plenty of people out there willing to produce ungodly seed. But God wants a godly seed produced - and to do that he needs men and women who are willing to become one - not just in flesh, but also in spirit- and produce a people for His Name who will fill all the earth with His glory (Num. 14:21). We just have to be willing.
Jules, I love you. Let's see...It's a little hard to multiply without having sex. The argument?
ReplyDeleteI always wondered how one was supposed to multiply. I don't think God was talking mathematics in the garden. But hey, I've been known to be wrong once or twice. :)