1B28

1B28. Eve responded with divided commitment to God:

(a) Eve finally yielded to God’s Enemy and disobeyed God (the FALL)
(b) Eve then realized her nakedness and tried to cover it
(c) Eve hid from God, but then confessed her disobedience

1B28(title) Eve responded with divided commitment to God

It is apparent from Eve’s initial reactions [1B25(c)(i, ii)] that she did try to obey God. But when craftily challenged by God’s Enemy, she wavered between obeying God or yielding to her own self-serving desires and thoughts. Her responses then showed that her commitment was divided.

1B28(a) Eve finally yielded to God’s Enemy and disobeyed God (the FALL)

Faced with the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Eve finally responded by acting decisively Gen 3:6b, see also Gen 3:13b.

Eve had been overwhelmed by the craftiness of God’s Enemy. He had persuaded her to act on this enthralling temptation. Her self-serving desires and thoughts had taken her captive. She had allowed her freedom of choice to become no longer free! She got to a position where she simply could not choose to obey God.

This catastrophic disobedience to God by Eve and then Adam, followed by God’s judgments and condemnations, have become known as the “FALL”.

1B28(b) Eve then realised her nakedness and tried to cover it

Adam and Eve had previously enjoyed LIFE in the pure freedoms of perfect innocence. They had lived in God’s ways and intimately related with each other Gen 2:24-25. But now they suddenly realised that their nakedness was inappropriate in each other’s presence Gen 3:7. Apparently they quickly covered over at least their sexually significant parts.

It is not stated why awareness of their nakedness became a cause of embarrassment. But it implied that there was a very close relationship between their sexual and spiritual natures. Due to their disobeying God and losing LIFE, sex now also involved shame and concealment instead of just pure freedom and joy. That was a first experience of spiritual death.

1B28(c) Eve hid from God, but then confessed her disobedience

1B28(c)(i) Eve hid from God

Adam and Eve heard God approaching in the Garden and tried to hide from Him Gen 3:8. They were unable to relate to Him any longer or even tolerate His presence! Awareness of their nakedness had made them afraid of God – a further experience of spiritual death Gen 3:10.

1B28(c)(iii) Eve confessed her disobedience

When questioned by God, Eve may have been trying to excuse herself Gen 3:13. Was she implying that the serpent was at least partly to blame for her disobedience because he had deliberately deceived her?

Actually she was more likely admitting that her own self-serving desires had prevailed. Her reply was a simple, honest and factual response that directly answered God’s question. She was frankly confessing her disobedience – that she had let herself be deceived by the serpent! Gen 3:13c.¹

Sadly, although this response was a humble confession, it showed that her commitment to God and to obeying His one requirement had been divided.

Arrow 1B25 -> 1B28

This arrow indicates that Eve had lost her struggle to obey God. Instead of responding to Him with undivided commitment, she yielded to the provocations of God’s Enemy.

Continue to 1B29

FOOTNOTES

1. This explanation of Eve’s motivation is supported by her God-honouring responses after she gave birth to her first son Cain Gen 4:1b and third son Seth Gen 4:25b despite her great pain in her childbirths Gen 3:16a. It can also be speculated that Abel’s godly life Gen 4:4 may have been due to the influences of his mother. This contrasted with his older brother Cain, whose ungodly life and self-centred attitudes Gen 4:5-6,8-9,13-14,16 resembled those of his father Adam Gen 3:12.(Return to reading).