In Genesis 2, 3 & 4, it reads:
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may
surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall
surely die.”…
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, and she also gave some
to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made
themselves loincloths...
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in
the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from
the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God
called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the
sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid
myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you not to eat?” ...
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife
garments of skins and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man
has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his
hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore
the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which
he was taken. He drove out the man, and
at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword
that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life…
----
And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his
face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face
fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well,
sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over
it.”...
Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in
the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord
said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my
brother's keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your
brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from
the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from
your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its
strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to
the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me
today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a
fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then
the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken
on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him
should attack him…
----
The story of Genesis
3 is very familiar to most people, Christian and non. God tells man to not eat
the fruit; man eats fruit; God curses man for eating the fruit. God looks like
quite petty - come on, death sentence for eating an apple?! Humanity is doomed
as a result of Eve's tastes.
Looking at the
beginning chapters of Genesis in such a simplistic manner entirely misses the
depth and complexity of these passages. There is much to be gleaned from poring
over the first few books again and again. Seasoned Christians can run the risk
of thinking that they've "read it all before" when they come back to
these chapters, missing out on the rich treasures that can be found in studying
this Word diligently.
Unfortunately I do
not have time to delve into all the
aspects presented by Genesis 3 and 4. But there
is one particular topic that I wished to point out. When I read these passages again this time
round, I was struck by the gentleness of
God in these passages. That's right, you heard me right: gentleness. It is very
easy to see God as the high and mighty Judge of the Universe in Him passing
sentence on humanity; but it is also very easy to miss
the parts that highlights Him as the aggrieved Father, filled with compassion
and gentle-heartedness towards His children, whose sons and daughters have done
a horrendous wrong according to Universal Law.
To understand the
full extent of God's grace and mercy, one must understand the depth of the
atrocity that Man had committed in that simple act of fruit eating. The
introduction of Sin into the world wasn't simply about the ingestion of fruit;
it was a primal act of Rebellion against the Lord of the Universe. It was a
declaration that Man did not want God to rule over them, and that Man wanted to
pursue his own destiny. It was to defame the goodness of God, to call Him an
unfaithful liar that would hold back the best for us (when in fact He had
already given us His best). To blaspheme the Eternal God was a crime of
Universal proportions, and Justice would demand judgement of similar universal
proportions.
So how does one see
the grace of God in all of this?
Well, for one thing,
God really went easy on them didn't He? Of all the command possible, all the
rules and regulations that God could put in place, He simply gave them one command to follow: "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you
shall not eat". ONE command, and it was a fairly simple thing to
not eat from that particular tree since Man was given the rest of the world to eat from! Not only that,
God even gave them a reason not to eat
from it: "for in the day that you eat of
it you shall surely die." Even if God's Word alone is not enough
impetus to keep the commandment, surely that extra warning would make Man
hesitate!
Obviously that did
not work out.
When you study God's
reaction to Man's sin though, His grace really shines through. For one thing,
He didn't obliterate them straight away. He had every right to do so; He had
already warned them that in the day that they eat that fruit they would die. Instead,
He holds off judgement and while they did "die" spiritually instantly
in that their relationship with God was severed, He didn't let them just wipe
them out, and allowed them to live so that Man could be saved by His Grand
Plan.
When God confronted
them about their sin, He didn't have to be so gentle about it. When He asked,
"Where are you?...Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of
the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" Do you really think He really didn't know the answer to those questions? Of course not!
He's God and He knows everything already. Yet, He didn't just blast them and
say, "You EVIL sinners; DIE traitors!!" Instead, He gives them an
opportunity to confess their sin, to admit their guilt, to repent. He asks His
questions gently, tenderly, like a Father trying to help His children to
understand where they had gone wrong.
Not only did God withhold (or postpone depending on how you look at it) His judgement against Man, He also continued to care for them and meet their needs. Even as he was sending Adam and Eve out of Eden, He was making garments of skin for them, so that they had better clothes than their pithy fig leaves. Some people may think that sending them away from Eden was a harsh sentence; but it is in fact a mercifully saving act! If they did indeed "take from the tree of life and eat, and live forever", then they would never die… which would mean they would live in Sin forever, not have the chance to die and be raised again, and not have the chance to have Jesus die for their sins in their place! It would mean an immediate sentencing to Hell with no room for recourse!
You can also see
God's depth of compassion in the way He deals with Cain. He may have favoured
Abel's sacrifice over Cain's (because Abel actually made an effort), but He
loved them both. He gently, but firmly, warns Cain to be watchful in not
allowing Sin to rule over him. Even though Cain is so unrepentant and
hard-hearted in his dealings with God, God still dialogues and discusses with
Cain, rather than just wipe Him out as He had a right to. Even as He was
sending Cain out into the wilderness to wander as a fugitive, He promises Cain
protection that he hardly deserves.
Contemplating this,
I wonder: What do we think God is like? Do we see Him as the angry Judge,
filled with righteous fury against evil criminals? Or do we see Him as the
concerned and loving Father, who loves His children dearly no matter what they have done?
