But When You Do…

God Said to Adam, eat from any tree, eat all you want. Just don’t eat from this certain tree. It was the tree of knowledge – knowledge of what you ask? Good and evil. He said don’t eat from this one because if you do – you will surely die. It is the first instance n the Bible about several things. The first instance of – the wage of sin being death. Eat from that tree, go against what I command and you’ll die. It is also the first instance of free will. Look below at the NIV version of Genesis 2:15-17, specifically the last line… for when you eat from it…

God KNEW, He knew they were going to do what He told them not to do. So don’t eat this but when you do… Even being told the wage of sin is death they could not resist temptation. They had to have what they shouldn’t or couldn’t have.

Genesis 2: 15-17 NIV   15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 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.”

Recently I had a conversation about this verse. God said you’ll die so why didn’t they die. Well they did in a figurative way. They were blind to sin and all the various bad parts of it while they had not eaten from that tree, but as soon as they ate they realized they were without clothing.

Genesis 3:4-5 MSG    4-5 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”

God punished them all including the serpent. He had to hold them accountable for doing what He told them not to do.

Genesis 3:14-19 MSG        God told the serpent: “Because you’ve done this, you’re cursed,  cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, Cursed to slink on your belly  and eat dirt all your life. I’m declaring war between you and the Woman,  between your offspring and hers. He’ll wound your head, you’ll wound his heel.” 16     He told the Woman: “I’ll multiply your pains in childbirth;  you’ll give birth to your babies in pain. You’ll want to please your husband,  but he’ll lord it over you.”  17-19    He told the Man: “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from,  ‘Don’t eat from this tree,’ The very ground is cursed because of you;  getting food from the ground Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;  you’ll be working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds,  you’ll get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you’ll end up dirt.”

God gave them punishment, it wasn’t death but it was something they would think about, no doubt for the rest of their lives. He needed them to begin mankind, to inhabit the Earth.

Over the thousands of years we’ve exercised our free will so many times and so many times God has forgiven us. I think about how He saw what was happening here and was so hurt that He told Noah to build an arc, a man raised in the desert – build a ship it’s going to rain and flood the Earth. He tasked Noah with keeping the animal population alive and moving forward. He also brought family so man could keep going too.

In the Old Testament time the wage of sin is death. That’s the reason why there were offerings, animal sacrifices meant to please God and take away man’s sins. They were very careful about the animal, it had to be unblemished, it had to be young. Remember while the Jews were in Egypt, the plague was coming so the Jews slaughtered a fresh lamb and painted the door posts with it to keep death from coming to their home. In the time of Nehemiah, the wall around Jerusalem was damaged badly, he was tasked with fixing it.

When he gave the orders, he told the people in charge of the sacrificial animals, to build the wall in front of the stalls where these animals were kept, these people knew the value of these animals and wanted them to be secure and safe from any intruders, Nehemiah knew these men would build a good wall in front of the animal holdings. They did just that.

After all this time of being disappointed in man, God finally sent the ultimate sacrifice. He sent Jesus to bear the sins of man. The wage of sin was still death and so Jesus died a sacrificial death for all of our sins.

Watching the 4th season of The Chosen the last scene is Jesus riding in to Jerusalem on the colt while the towns people put down the psalm leaves to welcome Him. I know what comes next and I could not help but think – leading the Lamb to slaughter. The one true pure person who ever walked this earth – without sin and He has to die. Don’t get me wrong, I am more than grateful for His sacrifice. I also just really feel the next parts of His life were gut wrenching, they were so difficult it takes my breath away. I can’t even imagine being His Mom or one of His followers watching this unfold. How heartbreaking.

Funny how it evokes so many feelings that are opposites. Grateful yet horrified. Understanding why He had to do what he had to do, needed to go through this yet baffled by how His own people could throw Him to the wolves. They would allow a murderer to go free just so they could be rid of someone who was pure and good, speaking the truth of life.

I’m personally glad the last part of Jesus life did not last long, I can’t imagine if it had. Oh my gosh, the beating, the imprisonment, the torture, the mocking and the crucifixion. It is just more than anyone should ever bear, much less the man who did.  

Free Will – But when you do – it was that free will that caused so much to happen and ultimately became the reason why Jesus had to come.

Lets Pray

Heavenly Father, thank You for the lessons of the Bible, beginning in Genesis and all the way through.  I know I am a sinner but I am grateful that the Lamb washed away my sins and the sins of those reading this. For that I thank You. Stay with us Lord and keep us on the right side of Good and evil. Thank  You for being ever watchful over us. In Jesus Name - AMEN