Greatest Love Story Ever...

When we look to all the greatest love stories in the history of our world, most likely the story of Adam & Eve is not even on the list.  Typically we hear of Romeo & Juliet, or Samson & Delilah, but hardly ever a word is heard of the one, and only, perfect love story ever told. By perfect I mean that they loved each other in perfection as the only ever perfect couple. 

In fact, in all of history, two mates have never experienced the love that Adam & Eve must have felt for each other. When Adam saw Eve his first words were “This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,”(Ge 2:23) obviously showing his great appreciation for Eve, and how pleased he must have been to have her as his mate and companion, as she was not only a part of him, but a compliment to him in every way.

Of course the story about Adam & Eve, and the test given in the Garden of Eden is quite short.  Perhaps this is why we rarely hear of them.  There just isn’t enough juice, as they say, to make a good story out of the account based on what we have from the scriptures.  Besides, we already know what happened, they failed to make the right choice, and now we are paying the price for it, so what kind of love story is that?

Well, what exactly makes a great love story anyways?  You need at least two people in love, a villain, or some kind of tragedy to test that love, and finally one or both people die in the end.  It’s a pretty simple plot, but it has been worked out in countless number of ways throughout history & literature for thousands of years.  Based on those simple guidelines, Adam & Eve should be one of the greatest love stories ever told, so why is it we don’t perceive it as such? 


Maybe...we are looking at it from the wrong perspective.

Most people, when they read the account of Adam & Eve, probably just see the before and after the sin that is portrayed, and don’t really consider the event as anything more than a test of loyalty given by God.  Nothing else seems to result from the story except for the obvious, that disobeying Gods commandments ultimately resulted in their death.  From that, most come to the conclusion that the test of loyalty was a huge failure.  But was it?  Was it even a test designed to ascertain their loyalty, or was there something else God was concerned about that can help us understand the direness of the situation that Adam & Eve were in? In answering this question, not only will we see the account from a different perspective, but we will also see the greatest love story ever begin to unfold.

To begin, we start with the account at Gen 2:16-17 which tells us of the command from God to Adam, it states “And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: "From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die."  

Eve also knew of the command, for it says at Gen 3:2-3 “At this the woman said to the serpent: "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. 3 But as for [eating] of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'YOU must not eat from it, no, YOU must not touch it that YOU do not die.'

Both Adam & Eve were fully aware of the fruit, and yet they did not look to it as for food.  We also know that it wasn't even until Satan pointed out the fruit on the tree, and tempted her to be like God, that Eve even considered the possibility of eating from the tree.  At Gen 3:5-6 the devil tempts her saying “ For God knows that in the very day of YOUR eating from it YOUR eyes are bound to be opened and YOU are bound to be like God, KNOWING good and bad.” 6 Consequently the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was something to be longed for to the eyes, yes, the tree was desirable to look upon. So she began taking of its fruit and eating it. Afterward she gave some also to her husband when with her and he began eating it. . .”  

Essentially, it took sin committed by Satan to even get Eve to look at the fruit as food. It was only until Satan tempted her with the lie, the first sin ever, that she was deceived, and therefore saw the fruit as desirable to look at, and ate it.  Had Satan not tempted Eve, it is most likely she would have never eaten the fruit.  Her choice was a consequence of that sin committed by Satan, which directly resulted in Eve seeing the fruit in a new light.

   

Also consider, that up to the first lie by Satan, NO LIE had ever been told in all of history.  From Eve’s perspective, she was hearing two truths.  God said she would die, Satan said she wouldn’t.  The possibility that Satan was lying wouldn’t have even occurred to her, for she didn’t even know what a lie was.  In trying to reconcile the contradiction, obviously giving the benefit of the doubt to Satan, and being influenced along by the power of the flesh, Eve was seduced by what she thought was truth.(1Ti 2:14) "...the woman was thoroughly deceived..."  The sheer magnitude of what Satan had done is analogous to what happens when an unstoppable force(sin) collides with an immovable object(Gods Purpose).  Thus was the power of that lie by Satan, as it was the first ever use of free will to go against Jehovah.

   

We have to take into account since this was the first sin ever, why would God need to test Adam & Eve as to their loyalty in the first place?  The track record for Jehovahs creation, since the beginning of creation, was 100% flawless up unto the first sin committed by Satan.  There was no reason to think that Adam & Eve would perform any differently than the angels had, in all eons of time, since the creation of Jesus Christ.  


Considering the perfect track record of creation all the way up to the first sin, it would be fair to say that Jehovah didn’t think, or wouldn’t have normally thought, that Adam & Eve were going to sin in the first place, or perform any differently than any of Jehovahs other creations.  So was the command to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge a test of their loyalty, or could it have been a warning from something that Jehovah knew was going to happen, but what?

Let’s first consider that when Jehovah gives a command and tells us to do something, or not do something, it is for our own good.  He doesn’t do it just because he can, or to prove that he is more powerful than us, but rather there is always a purpose behind what he is telling us to do.  Are these commandments tests, or are they essentially a warning to prevent us from something that will do us harm?  For example, when we tell a child to not touch the stove because it is hot and will burn, is it a test?  No, it’s a warning that hopefully will prevent them from doing harm to themselves.  When we tell our children not to cross the street until they look both ways for a car, is it a test?  No, it’s a warning that a car might cross the street and possibly kill them.  In the same way, Jehovah was warning Adam & Eve not to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge based on his perception of what Satan was going to do.

We must remember that for countless millennia, since the beginning of Gods creative works, Jehovah has been in the presence of his angelic creation, and no doubt forming very close bonds with each and every one of them.  Taking into account that Satan(who was a very close Cherub to God) was obviously developing a bad heart, it would no doubt have become apparent to Jehovah that Satan was considering the use of free will as something he could use for his own advantage.  


Can we humans not detect when our children are talking or acting in a more rebellious attitude? Then try to imagine what kind of attitude one would of had to have before they committed the first and worst sin, in all of history.  This wasn’t something Satan dreamed up at the spur of the moment, but was a long thought out desire that no doubt started as a small seed, and eventually took complete control of him at the culmination of the first sin.

    

Knowing the closeness that Jehovah has with all of his creation, it would be expected that he would observe their behaviors, and be able to read their hearts, just as it says in the scriptures.  Even though the following scriptures relate to mankind, there is no reason to believe it would be any different for the angelic creation as well.

  

2Chron 6:30  "…because you know his heart (for you yourself alone well know the heart of the sons of mankind)"

Gen 6:5  "Consequently Jehovah saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time"

Just because Jehovah chooses not to look ahead into our future, which would thus predetermine the path we take, doesn’t mean that Jehovah cannot see the path we are considering.  Jehovah saw the Cherubs heart, and because free will necessitated it, Jehovah allowed the desire in the Cherubs heart to become fertile, just as it says at James 1:13  "When under trial, let no one say: "I am being tried by God." For with evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone. 14 But each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin; in turn, sin, when it has been accomplished, brings forth death."


So after some consideration, we can see that Jehovah must have been aware that Satan was contemplating the worst thing imaginable, sinning.   

     

So, you may be wondering by now, where does the greatest love story part come into all this?  

Unfortunately for us, we don’t have an audio tape of the words that were spoken back in the Garden of Eden when the sin was committed.  Because of this we don’t know how the words were inflected, except for how we perceive them, when we read them in the bible.  Quite often when something is written, and read by another, it can be taken in the wrong way because of the way we pronounce the words to ourselves.  It happens all the time in emails, texts, and so forth, so that quite often people have to ask what the other person meant by what they said.  In some cases, this is also true in the bible. 

The perfect example is when Jesus told the thief that “truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise”.  Depending on how that is read, and the punctuation used, two different perspectives can be perceived.  Now if we had an audio tape it would be much easier, but since we don’t we must use reason, and make sure the sentence fits with the situation, and concurs with the other teachings in the bible.  By doing so in this instance we know that a comma must go after the word “today” in the scripture regarding Jesus and the thief.  

Another place in the bible that interpretation can occur with words is in the account of Adam & Eve.  In the account we are taught that Adam blames God when asked by Jehovah if he had eaten from the tree (Ge 3:12) “. . .And the man went on to say: “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me [fruit] from the tree and so I ate.”. . .”  Witnesses are taught that the word “you” is inflected with blame, and therefore Adam is stating that it was Gods fault that he sinned.

Unfortunately, because the account is now looked at from the blaming God perspective, no love or empathy is used to reason further on the account. Since Adam was created in Gods image, shouldn't we use this information and apply it to the account?  So let's try something different, and reason on a few things, to see if Adam truly was actually placing blame on Jehovah. 

First of all, Jehovah really did give Eve to be with Adam.  Taken from his rib, and made to be a compliment of him, Eve was Adams perfect soul mate if there ever was such a thing.  Perfect love!  Bound together for eternity, Adam no doubt thought that Eve was Gods greatest creation ever(Ge 2:22-23) .    Secondly, Eve DID give Adam the fruit, and he did eat the fruit, just as he said he did.  So when Adam says  “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me [fruit] from the tree and so I ate.”. . .” it was essentially true in every respect.  

When we read the statement without infering any type of blame or intent, it can be looked at purely as a matter of fact.  In fact, if we read the whole account from the creation of Eve onward, Adam tells Jehovah EXACTLY what happened as it has also been told to us from the scriptures.  It was the truth.  Yes, Adam could have acted in a more accountable manner, but was he actually blaming God for his actions?

When we consider what must have been going through Adams mind when Eve gave him the fruit, we have to ask ourselves why did he do it?  We forget the fact that even though sin was committed by Eve when she ate the fruit, there was still a period of time, before Adam ate, that he still had that perfect love for Eve that had not been influenced by sin yet.  Was it merely selfishness that caused him to make the worst decision he would ever make, or was their something more to this account that we don’t see because we have been viewing the whole account from the perspective that he blamed God for his actions, and therefore see it only as a selfish motive?  When looked at from only that perspective we are blinded to the greatest force ever, that of love.


So take a moment before going any further and try to keep in mind that of all the characteristics of God, the greatest is love, and that when he created Adam & Eve in his image, that would also mean that their greatest attribute would also be love. 

Consider the scripture at Gen 3:12 again, only this time instead of inflecting the word “you” which implies blame, put more inflection on the words “to be with me” which implies a whole different perspective of something much greater. (Ge 3:12) “. . .And the man went on to say: “The woman whom you gave… to be with me…. she gave me [fruit] from the tree and so I ate.”. . .”   When you change the way the words are pronounced you can begin to understand what Adam felt after Eve handed him the fruit to eat.

  

The woman whom Adam loved with all his heart, that was supposed to be with him forever, that was going to be with him as they filled the earth and subdued it, was now going to die.  We can only imagine the intense love they had for one another, and the incredible bond that they shared. Now consider the intense sorrow Adam must have felt knowing his wife, and eternal companion, would not be at his side for all eternity.  We must remember that Eve was literally a part of him.(Ge 2:22-23) 

  

It can easily be surmised that Adam was now feeling the full effects of what happens when the immovable object is hit by the unstoppable force.  Adam was not deceived(1Ti 2:14), he knew fully well the consequences of what Eve had done, and he was now dealing with something that no other creation had EVER had to deal with, the loss of a loved one.  Even Jehovah had not felt this yet, and it was this overwhelming feeling that motivated Adam to eat the fruit.  He would rather die than to live without Eve for all eternity.

How can we truly know this?  

Because we know that true love never fails.  Love IS the perfect bond of union(Col 3:14), and Adams love for Eve was the purest love there has ever been between mates.  It was almost as if, although he did have a choice, his love for Eve demanded that he also eat from the fruit.  Consider what Jesus said at John 15:13, that “No one has love greater than this, that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends. . .”.   Adam knew that by eating the fruit he would be surrendering his soul, so that his eternal companion, and friend, would not die alone.  True love never fails. 

I'm sure by now you are asking that if true love never fails why did Adam not choose God over Eve?  Before we answer that, let’s consider a few things about what each one gained from their sin, and their original intent for sinning in the first place.

  

Let’s start with Satan.  Obviously we know that he gained worldwide recognition.  He gained influence, power, control, notoriety, followers, and many other things that were the desires of his heart.  Although he also knew he would die in the end, at the time of his sin he didn’t care because his desire was overwhelming in his heart, and his pride, and hate for Gods standards were blinding him from any common sense.  In his eyes there was much to gain from the sin, and his motive was based on hate, jealousy, selfishness, etc,etc...

Eve, on the other hand, was thoroughly deceived as we already noted.  Her choice, from her perspective, was going to gain her the knowledge of right and wrong, and to be like God.  Although the choice was selfish, it was not based on hate, but on deception from Satan, and the fleshly desire to be more than she was.  Eve did not think she was going to die, and was in complete denial of the truth she knew from God.  Had she perceived that she would die, it is quite likely she would not have eaten it.  However, in her eyes there was obviously something to gain by eating the fruit.

  

So what did Adam have to gain?  He wasn’t seeking power, or fame, or anything more than he already was.  He wasn’t deceived as Eve had been either.  He knew that if he ate the fruit he was going to die.  Bottom line, his only gain from sinning, if you can even call it a gain, was that he wouldn’t have to live without Eve for all eternity.  Was his decision based on selfishness, as Satans and Eves were?  To a certain extent yes, for he didn’t want to live without his wife, and he put her before Jehovah.  The decision however was motivated by the love he had for his wife.  We can see how powerful that love was in that he chose death over life, even though he stood nothing to gain.

  

That’s what sin does.  It requires sacrifice.  Adam had to sacrifice his wife, or his life.  Neither choice was appealing, however the great love that he held for his wife cast the vote, and he felt that he would rather die with her, than to live without her.  When we look at the next scripture it gives us a clear explanation of why Adam made the choice he did.  This scripture is found right after the creation of Eve, it states (Ge 2:24) “. . .That is why a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh. . .”

And this is how we come to the greatest love story ever….  

Adam & Eves bond was a perfect union.  They were one flesh as the scripture states.  Jehovah designed them to be one, and for this reason Satan knew he only needed to get one of the humans to sin.  Based on his knowledge of Adam & Eve, he knew that once one had sinned the other would most likely follow suit because of the way they were created, because they were one flesh.  It was their design as a perfect husband & wife, and Satan took advantage of that knowledge, and manipulated the perfect bond of love the couple had for each other.

Many will say that Adam still had a choice to not sin.  Yes, he did.  However, according to the way he was created, the odds of him sinning grew exponentially once Eve had already done so.  Remember, Adam had NOTHING to gain by eating the fruit.  I’m not trying to defend his choice, or say that he couldn’t have said no, but there is simply no other reason he would have eaten the fruit?  

Although this perspective is much different than what is currently taught by the society, it really comes down to choice on how we view some of the accounts in the bible.  Because we weren’t there, we can only draw the conclusions we have based on what the bible teaches us about God, and his creation.  Because of the choices made by Adam & Eve, and the consequences of those actions, it is easy to quickly pronounce judgment upon them as being selfish, and as seeing Adam as one who blamed God for the sin.  Unfortunately, that perspective lacks a significantly large detail that has been overlooked, that being mankind’s greatest quality, love.    Looking at the account without love makes it easy to place blame, but may not give us an accurate representation of what actually happened, or why.

    

Even though this perspective is different from the societies, I choose to look at this event from another perspective, one with love.  Since I know Jehovah to be a God of love, and that 99.999% of his creation exudes that same quality, I choose to give Adam & Eve the benefit of the doubt.

  

And I sincerely hope to...one day, see Adam & Eve together again….

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