Adam and Eve: An Analysis

ADAM AND EVE

As most people are aware, science and the book of Genesis do not agree.  If someone would like to have them somewhat agree then it is recommended that books written by Henry Morris or another author of the Creation Science agenda may supply the desired information.

Geologists, paleontologists, evolutionists, and other like-minded natures insist the earth is millions of years old, whereas Biblical chronology appears to teach that the time span between Adam and the present is approximately 6,000 years.

Were there actually two original people named Adam and Eve created by God?  What about: Piltdown Man; Nebraska Man; Ramapithecus; Australopithecus; Homo habilis; Turkana Boy; Peking Man; Java Man; Neanderthals?  Keep in mind that pictures of these entities are the result of the imagination of the artist, occasionally with only two or three bones as background evidence.  The philosophy of evolutionists appears to be:  if the bones look human – they are recent; if the bones look ape-like they are old.

Were they dark brown and covered with hair?  Who knows but the artist.  There are several non-normal humans in the world today who aren’t considered cavemen although they may remind one of them.

From Adam’s creation to the birth of Seth:  130 years
Then to the birth of Enosh:                           105 years
To the birth of Kenan:                                     90 years
To the birth of Mahalalel:                                70 years
To the birth of Jared:                                       65 years
To the birth of Enoch:                                      62 years
To the birth of Methuselah:                              65 years
To the birth of Lamech:                                  187 years
To the birth of Noah:                                      182 years
To the Flood:                                                  600 years Total:                                                           1,656 years

Luke traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam.

Luke 3:38 NET  the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus spoke of Noah as a real living person, as in “just like the days of Noah WERE” and not as the days of Noah were said to be.

Matthew 24:37 NET  For just like the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

Whether actual or myth, the authenticity of Adam is extremely important within the context of the Gospel of Christ.  Due to the sin of Adam, all people would die a natural death (and sometimes not so natural), due to the sinless sacrifice of Jesus all will be made alive forever in the spirit through the advent of the two resurrections.

1 Corinthians 15:22 NET  For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive (in the spirit).

1 Corinthians 15:45 NET  So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living person"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

For the sake of argument, let’s suppose that the Genesis story of the creation and fall of Adam and Eve are merely mythological stories employed to relate certain lessons and metaphoric truths to the Christian agenda.

Both Adam and Eve are presented as being naked without any concerns about a lack of clothing.  It is said they were created as glorified beings or with a spiritual type of body similar to or exactly as the resurrected Christ.  That supposition may not be the case since both decided to disobey the command of God.

Genesis 2:25 NET  The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.

After performing the disobedient act, both Adam and Eve realized they were naked and were concerned that God would view them as being indecent and decided to hide among various plants.  God called them out, killed one or two sheep, and clothed them with the skins.  This represented the initial sacrifice of the Lamb for the covering of sin.  Keep in mind the sacrifice only covered the couple’s sin – it did not remove it.

Throughout the years, until the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God instituted, as law, various types of animal sacrifices representing the covering of sin and the term nakedness is occasionally used to describe the sin nature.

Having sinned and becoming earthly had some ramifications.  Before the sin, giving birth may have been a miraculous event, but now it would cause pain to the woman.  Although not mentioned in the text, becoming earthly gave men an insatiable desire and drive to have sexual relations (i.e. and some current men, with little or no self-control, or good sense, are paying dearly for that urge)

Genesis 3:16 NET  To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you."

Also notice that women would aspire to control their husbands and other men if placed in charge – this is the Word of God and not my opinion.  This comment may incense feminists and those proclaiming equal sexual rights, but a male and a female are not equal.  They are two completely different entities.  They have different values, thoughts, responses, opinions, and their purpose in life is different.  The two books, Men are From Mars and Women are From Venus by John Gray describes these differences in layman’s terms very well (the internet is such a wonderful tool).  Most women appear to be happier as a wife and mother, and not as a single mother or single woman working every day to make a decent living.

However, other translations word this phrase differently.  KJV:  and thy desire (longing) shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.   LXX:  and thy submission shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.  CLV (Concordant Literal):  Yet by your husband is your restoration, and he shall rule over you.

You may claim the various interpretations mean two different things.  Possibly, but consider the following Word Study definition.

šûqāh:  World Study Dictionary

It was used to describe the strong feelings of desire that one person had for another, but it was not always a healthy desire. As part of the judgment after Adam and Eve's sin, God said that a woman would long for her husband (Gen_3:16). People are not the only thing that can long: God told Cain that sin was lying at his door, desiring to enter (Gen_4:7).

The type of desire (or longing) would need to be considered and the type is not necessarily one of passion.

Due to the control of Eve, Adam sinned although he knew he shouldn’t.  As as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:22 because of Adam’s choice all humans would hereafter die and return to the ground as dust.  In addition, the earth was cursed.  Because the couple would now be required to eat food to survive, cultivated food would involve difficult work to produce and be besieged with thorns, thistles, rocks, lack of water, and various weeds.

Genesis 3:17-19 NET  But to Adam he said, "Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,' cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grain of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return."

Human beings were therefore cursed to physically die.  The “tree of life” is most likely speaking of Jesus Christ and the couple were metaphorically not allowed to come in contact with it at this time.

Genesis 3:22 NET  And the LORD God said, "Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

As related earlier, the first Adam brought death to all human beings and the second Adam which is Jesus Christ brought eternal life to all human beings.  Whether or not one accepts it – Jesus is the “tree of life”.  All must die and the metaphorical tree was temporarily taken away from humans. 

1 Corinthians 15:22 NET  For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive (in the spirit).

The first century appearance of Jesus Christ taught people the process (Gospel) of reaching the tree of life and the future ability of obtaining eternal life which the first couple lost.  It was through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God similar to the first lamb sacrificed as a cover for sin.  However, the second Lamb of God covers and temporarily removes the sin of the true believer.  All sin will be reproved and permanently removed at the resurrection of human beings.

Cain was born from Eve and Adam was his father – not Satan.  The terms “children of the devil” is metaphoric. 

Genesis 4:1 NET  Now the man had marital relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, "I have created a man just as the LORD did!"

Some like to put some “spice” in their theology but Cain “who was of the evil one” meant his actions and thoughts were evil and not his DNA.

1 John 3:12 NET  not like Cain who was of the evil one and brutally murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, but his brother's were righteous.

The same verse in two different translations describes “certain people” as having “gone in the way of Cain” which is the same as “traveled down Cain’s path.  In other words these certain people have made evil actions based on evil thoughts.

Jude 1:11 NET  Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain's path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam's error; hence, they will certainly perish in Korah's rebellion.

Jude 1:11 KJV  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Besides, if Adam and Eve are myths then so is Cain.