Day 15 : Original Sin (Adam and Eve)
The story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis is not history but a theological reflection by the people of Israel on the reality of good and evil.
This story speaks a timeless truth known to all humanity : human beings, like the angels and enjoy the gift of freedom, yet we sometimes choose to abuse that freedom by trying to put ourselves at the center of creation and displacing God. This is the essence of original sin
Reading Genesis 3
Expulsion from Eden
1. Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He asked the woman, "Did God really say, You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden?"
2. The woman answered the snake : "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden ;
3. it's only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, "You shall not eat it or even touch it or else you will die. "
4. But the snake said to the woman :"You certainly will not die!"
5. God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil
6. The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it ; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her and he ate it.
7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked ; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
8. When they heard the sound of the Lord God walking about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among trees of the garden
9. The Lord God than called to the man and asked him : Where are you ?
10. He answered, "I heard you in the garden ; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid."
11. Then God asked : Who told you that you were naked ? Have you eaten from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat ?
12. The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with me - she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it."
13. The Lord God then asked the woman : What is this you have done ? The woman answered , "The snake tricked me so I ate it."
14. Then the Lord God said to the snake : Because you have done this, cursed are you among all the animals, tame or wild ; on your belly you shall crawl and dust you shall eat all the days of you rlife
15. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers ; they will strike at your head while you strike at their heel.
16. To the woman he said : I will intensify your toil in childbearing ; in pain you shall bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.
17. To the man he said : Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You shall not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you ! in til you shall eat its yield all the days of you life
18. Thorns and thistles it shall bear for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field.
19. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, from which you were taken ; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return
20 The man gave his wife the name of "Eve" because she was the mother of all the living
21. The Lord God made for the man and his wife garments of skin with which he clothed them.
22. Then the Lord God said : See ! The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil ! Now, what if he also reaches out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life and eat it and lives forever ?
23 The Lord God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken
Reflection
From this story, I learnt that like love finds the way, evil also finds the way.
It can be subtle and gentle too, the temptation may not be so clear cut but it comes to us slowly without we realising it.
Sometimes, we always thought that we are not enough, or God is not enough, God is wrong. Because of this original sin, we replace God as the center of our life. We easily judge people from good and bad
And the effect of the sins are there's always a chain effect, the sins ruin the relationship between two subjects, us and God and us and others. And the other essence of sin we love to blame others, we don't want to take the responsibility for our mistakes and wrong doings. We will try to justify and defend ourselves because of our self righteousness.
And there's always consequences after we do sins. It's not that God punish us but evil wants the payback time.
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