|
"Yahveh Elohim took the man and placed him
in the Garden of Eden, to work it and to guard it. And Yahveh Elohim commanded the man saying: You may freely eat of
every tree in the garden. But you must not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of good and bad, for on the day that you eat from
it you shall surely die." Genesis 2:15-17
Adam nevertheless came to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. He was expelled
from the Garden of Eden and was condemned to toil the remainder of his life, to grow his own food.
Several questions present themselves on the above:
1. Adam was warned that he would die on the day that he ate from the tree.
Why does the Torah record that he lived the very long life span of nine hundred and thirty years? (Genesis 5:5)
2. Why was he punished at all? He claimed that Eve gave him
the forbidden fruit: "The woman whom You gave to be with me - she gave me from the tree and I ate." Genesis
2:12 There is no statement in the text that suggests that Adam knew what he was actually eating in
the first place.
3. The Torah emphasizes that his sin of eating from the fruit was "because he listened
to the voice of his wife." Genesis 3:17 Why was in not sufficient to say that he was to be punished for
simply eating from the forbidden fruit?
4. Adam and Eve were both expelled from the Garden of Eden. Why did Yahveh not warn him that this
would happen to him if he ate from the Tree of Knowledge?
The key to resolving these difficulties may be found in the following sentence:
"Yahveh Elohim took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden,
to work it and to guard it." Genesis 2:15
This verse suggests that Yahveh did not create the Garden of Eden to
be a paradise for Adam - so that he would be its guest and spend his life enjoying the generousity of his 'host'. Rather, his
role was to fit in with the Creation and get to know every plant and creature of the garden, work with them and develop his
potential, to make the Garden an even greater place to live in. For nowhere in the text does it say that the Garden
of Eden was created as a perfect place.
Indeed the Bible holds that a person must work to reach his potential
and to function as a useful member of society: Work is essential for everyone,
even those who have enough for all their needs.
Just as the Torah was given with a Covenant, similarly
work was given with a Covenant: "Six days shall you work... and the seventh is a Sabbath to Yahveh
your Elohim".
Indeed, Adam did not taste anything until he did work, as it is
written "He (Yahveh) placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it" and only
afterwards "You may eat freely from every tree in the Garden."
In order for a person to feel close to God, he has to give something
to Him. Adam was required to do this by working on the land. A person who puts in effort, and is closely involved in a worthy
and productive project, sees his own self in it. If he is honest with himself, he will also see the Hand of Elohim in his
success, be grateful and come closer to Him.
When a person feels gratitude for all the good he receives from Yahveh every
day of his life, he will naturally express his gratitude by sacrifice (in Temple times) or through prayer - offered in
sincerity. By doing this, he becomes a 'giver'. This is the relationship that causes the 'giver' - Man, to love the 'receiver'
- God, and serve Him to the very best of his ability.
It seems that this was Adam's failing. He did not work on the land sufficiently.
He did not experience the personal development and closeness with Elohim that came with 'working on the land' -
developing the potential within the Garden that would improve it still further. For that reason he was expelled from Eden,
and had to work harder on the land - not out of wealth, but out of sheer necessity.
Adam may well not have known that the fruit he ate had come from the
Tree of Knowledge. If so, he did not willfully disobey Yahveh's command. (Nor did Eve fully transgress the prohibition
that was given to Adam in the singular before she was created - even though she correctly understood it applied
to her through inference.) Therefore Adam did not deserve to die immediately, nor did Eve deserve to die. However,
had Adam worked properly, he would have known the flora of the Garden well enough to know which fruit belonged to each
tree - ask any gardener! His having been led into accidentally eating the forbidden fruit revealed that he did not sufficiently
perform the tasks for which Yahveh created him for - 'to work on the land' - and, through honest work, spiritually
develop into the great personality that would become the Father of Mankind.
This is a lesson for all of us. Like Adam, we must find out our potential
and develop it, serving Yahveh and Mankind, and leaving the Earth a better place.
"Occupy (stay occupied, doing the will of Yahveh Yashua) till
He comes."
|
