Adam and Eve - episode 3

I was afraid, because I am naked

We continue the reading of the Book of Genesis with chapter 3, that writes about the man and woman’s fall.
«Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’” The woman said to the serpent, “Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like god, knowing good and evil.” 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 gave some to her husband with her, and he ate». Here is the already mentioned “lust”, under the appearance of a serpent; it was probably present since some time (see the man’s previous speech, looking at the just created woman) and it was waiting for the proper moment to show. Its speaking is ambiguous, true and false at the same time; the sentence it pronounces can be understood as “all the trees are forbidden” (false) or “not from all you can eat, one is excluded” (true). Lust makes bigger than it really is the limit the Lord established: the only prohibition hides the previous gift of all the other trees the garden. The woman gives up against the serpent’s pandering: to her the limit is unbearable, a reduction of life (that is the tree «in the middle of the garden», not the forbidden one); it is even meaningful her addiction not to touch it, that the Lord never mentioned. Lust says to the woman: “god is jealous of his power, he does not want you to eat from the tree because you will become like him”. She and her husband, facing the choice of faith and trust that the situation requires, decide to know in a “evil” way: they consume the fruit alone (first one, then the other), in silence. Sin tears apart. The man has the same responsibility of her wife: he was «with her» in the moment of temptation and he did not protest.
«The eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. They heard the voice 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. The LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked; and I hid myself.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” The LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed you above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain and your childbirth. In pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field [like the animals: see Gen 1,30]. By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”». Ironically, the man and the woman really become like a god: the one they imagined. In fact, they start considering one another as a menace: they are «afraid» to show themselves in simplicity and purity, as the Lord created them («naked»). The perversion of the relationship with God, caused by their lack of trust in Him, has terrible and deadly consequences (as foretold) even on the other human vital relationships: with his/her fellows (love becomes «desire» and “rule”) and with creation, that will produce «thorns [...] and thistles» even if cultivated «in toil». That last note is very current: we can all see the disastrous results mankind obtains when they domineer over nature lead by the lust for possession and money, instead of “keeping” it as the Creator commanded. “Curses” (opposite of “blessings” that bring life: see Gen 1,22.28) are not invectives, but only the Lord’s verification of the consequences of the sin. He shows the truth, while His creatures accuse one another (one more sign of discord): death entered the world. However, it does not have the last word: the woman’s «offspring» will crush the head of the serpent (symbol of lust, sin and of who pushes humanity for them, the devil: see Rev 12,9), killing it. Christians call these verses “Protevangelium”, because they see in them a prophecy of Jesus’ coming. He arrives «to seek» (see Luke 19,10) sinner men and women of every time who hides themselves from God’s presence, bringing them exactly salvation «from their sins» (Matt 1,21): with the passage of Gen 3, the Scripture tells us that every kind of evil (even the “physical” one) started in the spiritual dimension and from there spread through every other human relationship; it is here that the divine Savior takes definitive heal and liberation, curing in it all other aspects of life. The Fathers of desert, who for their choice lived in isolated places and close to dangerous wild animals, had first person experience of it: «if someone gets purity [receiving Baptism and following Jesus’ Gospel], all subdues to him like to Adam when he was in Paradise, before trespassing the precept» (Vita e detti dei padri del deserto, edited by Luciana Mortari, Città Nuova, 2011⁶, p. 43). Even in the story of saints like Francis of Assisi we can find confirmation to this truth.
«The man called his wife Eve [Life], because she was the mother of all living. The LORD God made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. The LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...” Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed Cherubs at the east of the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life».



The «coats of skin», according to distinguished commentators, can represent humanity’s vulnerable and mortal condition caused by sin; they now know from terrible direct experience what the Lord only knows through His Wisdom (good, evil and the difference between them: see Augustin of Hippo, De Genesis contra Manichaeos, Book II, 21.32-22.33). The expulsion from the garden is quick (the Lord’s sentence is pending in the original Hebrew text); an eternal life of wickedness and sin is called “hell” and God does not want this for His creature. On the other hand, «the way to the tree of life» is “guarded”, not “blocked” or “destroyed”: the Scripture tells us the ways that the Lord established to walk on it and newly benefit from the fruits of the garden. They are the Law (see Deut 30,15-20) and the Wisdom (see Prov 3,18; Sir 24), that in Jesus Christ «new and living way» towards the Father (see Heb 10,20) find their fulfillment: «To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God» (Rev 2,7; see 22,14).
In the next post we will write about Adam and Eve’s offspring.