WOMEN OF THE BIBLE:
EVE
“And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20).
Do you know that we are good at convincing, blaming and hiding? As sinners, I believe we all have those abilities, and it does not matter if you are male or female. We are persuasive, in other words liars. We make people believe that something is true even if it is not, sometimes we do it for our benefit. If something does not come out the way, we want; we blame someone else. If we do something wrong, we hide. Even little children do that.
When I read about Eve, how she was persuaded and tricked by the serpent to go against God. Everything changed by her mistake. It is easy to blame her for all the bad that happens around us. If she would have chosen to obey God; run away from the devil, and if she would have not introduced Adam to the sin we would be without sin: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so, death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12). God gave her the free will to choose from right and wrong. God gave us all the free will to choose from right and wrong. And WE sometimes choose the wrong.
The convincing can be good and also bad. I think Eve may have thought "nothing happened to me, and this fruit is delicious, I should share with my husband". There is nothing wrong in thinking that way; the wrong thing she did was disobeying God. “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Genesis 3:6). We see how she convinced Adam to break a rule; The only rule they had. “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 shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
We have so many good abilities but sometimes we use them the wrong way. Eve, to me, was a woman that feared the Lord. She had her mistakes like we all have but her mistakes seem to have more impact on the world. I think if Eve would have not been the one to disobey God, someone else would have. Don’t you think if you would have been Eve, you would probably have done the same or even worse? I am sure I would have done worse. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit; not only their eyes were open, but all kinds of SIN came with it.
When they heard God calling them, they hid from God. They hid because they were scared and ashamed but scared and ashamed of what? They were scared and ashamed because they knew they have disobeyed God. “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” (Genesis 3:7-11).
When we disobey there are bad consequences. “And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto 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 shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:13-19).
Then the blame game started. Instead of them asking God to forgive them they were blaming each other, and they also blamed God. We like to blame others for our wrongdoings. Instead of being honest and coming clean, we always point the finger at someone else. You may say I don’t think anyone blamed God. Adam blamed God by saying the woman YOU gave me. So now is God’s fault? “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” (Genesis 3:12). The blame goes on; neither one of them wants to accept the wrong they did. “And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat” (Genesis 3:13).
I think Eve’s weakness was to stay and listen to the serpent. She decided to stay around temptation. That is a weakness most of us have. Stay and listen or stay and keep on looking; instead of running away. “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness”(1 Timothy 6:11). “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him”
(James 1:12).
If you have disobeyed God in anything, I know for certain He will forgive you. “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee” (Psalm 86:5). Remember, though God is gracious enough to forgive us when we disobey, the consequences aren't taken away and can be grievous.
Likhi Roush
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