The Fall - Monday

It's interesting that the first conversations between God and people in the bible are really negative: The fall of Adam and Eve, and when Cain kills his brother Abel. This occurs right after God said everything he created was very good.

I found some information on "good" used in Genesis - it means functional, complete, works well. Also, the word "evil" in means dysfunctional, works poorly.

I think both these stories represent the exact opposite of what God wants from me. As with my other writing, I'll use the Beatitudes as my lens to look at it this week.

The first test:

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

... The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

... Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

There are so many interesting things to consider here. These are my top ones:

• Where is God during this conversation? Absent.
• God made the "crafty" serpent.
• The tree God told them not to touch is right in the middle of the garden - not out of the way or fenced off.
• The tree of life is there for the taking and gets ignored.

This is a set-up - a test.

I believe God orchestrated the whole thing, and serpent (Satan) is his agent. God is not the victim of a "crafty devil", as if he were powerless or caught off guard. This testing is obviously his intention. A note - Satan takes on the same role in the testing of Jesus, also in Job. 

Satan tries to convince Eve she is poor, that she's blocked from fruit of the trees in the Garden. If fact, she had everything - including the tree of life - except this one thing. She is rich.

Jesus said in the first Beatitude: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God

I think Satan is saying to her: Cursed are the rich, because there is one thing in God's kingdom you can't have.

I spend a lot of time worrying about what I don't have, rather than what I do have. I think about what's been taken from me far more than I consider what is still mine. It leads to chaos...

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Mondays | My heart is in chaos, and God wants to change it
- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God
- Our Father in heaven, your name is holy

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