Genesis God as the Truth

Genesis

God as the Truth Teller in Genesis

"And to Adam he said, 'Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying thou shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;" so goes the dramatic fall of the very first man (Genesis 3:17). In this infamous story, God shows both of His natures. He is at first kind and omnibenevolent; however, as Adam destroys his own innocence, God's wrath is uncovered. Despite a promise from the serpent that Adam and Eve would be like God himself, God was actually the truth teller in the piece. God cursed the couple and their descendants with mortality, both in the literal sense and in the more figurative representation of the death of human innocence.

Yes, the serpent did hold some truth in what he told Eve that fateful day in the Garden of Eden, but overall it was he that was the biggest liar in the story. The serpent explained to Eve that "Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil," (Genesis 3:4-5). Thus, there were some elements of truth to his words. Through eating the fruit, the two did learn about evil, which had previously been devoid in their lives. Still, it seems like the act of eating the fruit removed good from their lives entirely. Thus, they did not have a current knowledge of good, but only a distant memory of it. This is where the serpent begins to reveal himself as a liar because the fruit did not allow Adam and Eve to preserve knowledge of pure goodness. When they were cast out of the garden, they lost touch with the innate goodness of the Lord. Before the disaster, Adam was already as close to God as possible. In fact, he held a primary role in the early creation of the world -- naming the animals. Yet, Adam lost this incredible power and control when he ate the fruit, therefore distancing himself with God. Therefore, the serpent proves to be the greatest liar. Adam did not achieve a likeness to God; rather he became further distanced from his Lord.

This leaves God to be the biggest truth teller in the infamous tale. According to the scripture, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying 'of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," (Genesis 2:16-17). It is true, Adam and Eve did die -- in fact, in more ways than one. Thus, God was telling the truth over the apparent lies of the serpent. After God discovered what His children had done, He punished both Adam and Eve with mortality, both for themselves and their future descendants. At first, this punishment was not a literal death, but rather the death of the pure state of being of man. This was essentially the end of man's innocence. Before the disastrous meal, Adam and Eve lived in a state of perfect tranquility and innocence. This was literally represented in their nakedness; "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed," (Genesis 2:25). The two never even thought that being naked was a negative thing, and they didn't even recognize the fact that they were naked. Rather, they were so blissful in their state of innocence, that it never occurred to them that nakedness could have been shameful. Once they had eaten the fruit, they recognized their nakedness and then felt the corresponding shame that was later associated with it after they left the garden. Adam suddenly grew a sense of shame that began to distance him from the Lord. God caught Adam hiding from Him. Adam's excuse was that "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked," (Genesis 3:10). This was, in fact, what essentially tipped God off to what they had done; "Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" (Genesis 3:11). The fact of Adam's shame and secrecy was a red flag that he had disobeyed God's orders. And so, the couple was punished for their disobedience. God punished Eve with the great pains of childbirth, representing an end to the first couple's protection from pain and all things negative that now reside in the world. Here, Genesis shows that the death of their innocence brought with it a heavy price. This punishment also came with a death of their knowledge as well. Adam had made the poor assumption that they could hide from God, forgetting what He could do, and what He had given them. Despite His harshness, God was pure in wanting to protect Adam and Eve from the evils of the world. He wanted the first couple to remain in a state of ignorance regarding morality. Ignorance as bliss, and by keeping Adam and Eve in an ignorant state, God kept them protected from harm and the evils that could torment them.

To modern readers, this may seem incredibly harsh, and even a bit scary. Yet, God's response was in many ways justified in the fact that He was disobeyed. Adam and Eve broke a promise, and this was essentially the worst thing they could have done. They rejected His gifts out of a greedy need to want more, in this case the knowledge that was otherwise reserved for only God Himself. His reaction was a punishment for disobeying His orders. However, God could have reacted so sternly because of the fact that Adam and Eve later did not take responsibility for their own actions, and blamed external influences rather than face up to what they had done. Then, they go to blame each other, not making the better choice of standing up and admitting their own fault in the matter. The two hid from their Lord, rather than explaining what they had done; Eve was blamed by Adam, and the serpent was blamed by Eve. Rather than coming clean, they made the situation worse for themselves by denying their own responsibility. Thus, God had no choice but to punish them to the highest degree.

There are several other instances within the Book of Genesis show this type of harsh reaction towards human beings breaking promises or ignoring God's will. In fact, the very next chapter in Genesis presents a similar reaction to the deceitfulness of His children, human beings. The story of Cain and Abel represents another instance of God reacting in an incredibly harsh manner to the disobedience and betrayal of His children. After rewarding Adam for his thoughtful and righteous sacrifice, Cain's sacrifice was rejected, leaving him to later grow a deep hatred for his brother. Cain later turned on his brother, and murdered Abel in a field, and then lied to God about his brother's disappearance (Genesis 4:8). When it was time to take responsibility for his actions in front of the eyes of God, Cain lied to his Lord. The scripture states that when he was asked by God about the whereabouts of his brother, Cain lied, "I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:7). Omniscient as He is, God knew Cain was lying. He gave Cain the chance to admit his guilt, but Cain followed the example of Adam and Eve by not taking responsibilities for his actions. God asked Cain, "What has thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground," (Genesis 4:10). It was clear that Cain had murdered his brother, an offense that is unthinkable in today's modern context. When Cain refused to admit his sins, God punished him in the same manner as he had punished Adam and Eve. God had cast Cain out of his homeland, just as He had done with Adam and Eve; "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth," (Genesis 4:11-12). Cain followed in the footsteps of his earliest ancestors.