The evolution of Adam - Partaking of the fruit and feeling naked

in #religion7 years ago (edited)

Today we look at the immediate results of partaking of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.

It is feasible that the fruit contained a substance that would bring about a physical change that would alter the bodies of Adam and Eve, resulting in aging and eventual death, but the act of disobedience or defiance would have a more immediate effect.

Whereas the couple had, up till now, been innocent they now experienced new feelings and emotions.

Some of these we are told about.

Whereas before partaking of the fruit they had felt no shame about being naked, now they felt vulnerable and the need to cover up.

Their response was to sew together fig leaves to make aprons.


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Then, when they heard the Lord was coming they attempted to hide themselves from his presence. When Adam was questioned as to why he had done this, he mentioned that he was afraid, because he was naked.

Obviously his feeble attempts at covering up, not only his nakedness, but also his willful disobedience, had been woefully insufficient.

It was a whole new world for Adam and his wife.

By starting to experience the opposite poles of emotion they were able to comprehend more fully.

What had, up till now, been a homogeneous paradisaical existence of neutrality, now began to condense into polar opposites.

Being able to experience both they were consequently beginning to understand and comprehend that some feeling, states and emotions were more desirable than others. They were beginning to develop a knowledge of good and evil by their own experience. Not unlike our own turbulent experiences as we exit the paradise of childhood and enter adolescence.

Adam was beginning to learn about cause and effect, that present actions have future consequences. The future would be affected by actions made in the now. No matter how unpleasant that future might have been to contemplate.

He and his wife were taught the consequences of their choices and from here on Adam refers to his wife as EVE as he contemplates that she will now be the mother of all living.

The interview is ended with a very small but intriguing aside.

Adam and Eve are not left to their nakedness, shame and fear, that the fig leaves were unable to cover.

GEN 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

They were only considered and felt adequately clothed once a coat of skin had been provided.

This begs the question: What was the difference between a coat of skins and a fig apron?

In order to produce a coat of skin the animal would need to be killed and the leather cured. Hinting at a slightly longer process that just one simple interview. Also this hints at the shedding of blood or sacrifice and that the results of disobedience and transgression cannot fully be resolved through our own feeble efforts.

It was only the sacrifice and shedding of blood that would sufficiently cover the consequences of Adam's willful act of defiance.

This act of clothing Adam and Eve in coats of skin, that had been produced at the cost of the life of an animal, would also hint at the blood and sacrifice that would be required to overcome all of the results of the fall.

Previous parts of this Series.

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Where do these notions originate?

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Delving a little deeper

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Into the detail

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Some conclusions

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Some more conclusions

Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - The implications.

The evolution of Adam - a conundrum

The evolution of Adam - Who is Adam

The evolution of Adam - Two trees and choice

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i'm not gonna lie. this is so...something like an eye opener as i can see... but it just my insight 😊 all in all i love this article 😊

"Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve." I agree that the cynics do not contribute and the the skeptics do not create...but doubters are my favorite kind of people. Inquisitive by nature, they find it difficult -if not impossible, to doubt any story not based on fact.

I can't wait to go down your list for more thought-provoking articles. Thanks!

That kind of doubter transforms into a seeker and does not remain a doubter.

Hmmm. That rings true to my ears. Hurray for doubters and seekers!

You mean hooray for cynics? Hooray for Socrates? Hooray for....... actually I feel just talking to you is a waste of my time.

Freedom of though, freedom of expression...look it up.

Sounds like a liberal thing :)
I tried to provoke your thoughts but seems it is a one sided thing.... which is why i said pre-hand "waste of my time"....

Besides freedom of thought(fix your english please!)
and Freedom of expression

You have the freedom of selective hearing; you choose to have an incomplete picture and portray it as an complete image.... you are still a searcher.

Thus you are a searcher who pretends to be more (who sells products of steemit).

I'll end it with saying I belong in a different world; a more ancient one.... but enjoy your life! No wonder people of other planets have shown no interest for us; only a war-conquering race would want to come here..... I wonder if there are good creatures willing to go so far as to prevent them from making a strong hold here......... blog away blogstar!

Wow, your grammar and language skills are really good. Forgive my spelling. Out of the three languages I speak, English is the one I find more difficult not only to write but to pronounce. Thank you for taking the time to mention my horrible typo and write such nice comments. So kind of you. ;-)

When you say "cynics do not contribute" then I disagree... but funny enough you later mention doubters as being your favorite kind of people.... CYNICS is derived from cynical "believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity".

Distrust = Doubt

IF the Cynic can proof that someone is acting purely on self-interest then he does achieve something BUT it is up-to the people to listen to him (if this does not happen, if the person who acts on self-interest tries to make fun of the cynic and all the idiots laugh along.... who is not achieving? Is it the cynic or is it the people who gather around the person whom behaves only for his self-interest that achieve nothing?

Believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity.

https://www.gearbubble.com/gbstore/biznznet this is your webshop..... you made it why? to make money? because it benefits you (self-interest).

The best way to fix your quote is that the cynic is most likely to become the martyr (and why does someone become a martyr; because the people around him DO NOTHING).

(don't think this world is without a new Diogenes...)

Just FYI.... Before I follow someone, I check out their "about" lines. They SAYS A LOT about a person. The quote which evidently upset you, was not originally mine. It was @gavvet's (the author of this post). I got it from HIS "About" line. I found it interesting and worth commenting on.

I noticed that your "about" line is empty and that your profile picture is that of a scarred little boy picking his nose... I'm not your enemy Aurelius. I'm sorry that, for whatever reason, my comments upset you. Peace out.

I hate the quote... Barack Obama used it as well... I have a philosopher that I like; Diogenes of Sinope - he is a cynic; if you say that cynics achieve nothing then you might as well say that "no one achieves anything"; what do we achieve in life?

There is a disease mentioned after him.... insults about cynics are about bad cynics (whom I personally would not call cynics; when you use it the way the quote is aimed you better aim at the MASTER cynic and then the quote becomes unusable ); people who do not believe in the good of others nor of their selves and thus doomed to never believe in the good of others.

I believe you are good. I do. And Obama is a douche.

Very well explained! It is fascinating how the whole Bible comes together as a whole even just reading Genesis.

love this. very easy to read and fabulous insight.

shedding of blood or sacrifice and that the results of disobedience and transgression cannot fully be resolved through our own feeble efforts.

remarkable!..this can also be seen in scripture regards pass over...where they put the lambs' blood on their doors and the sickness passed over the houses with blood.- it being God's will. Even when we assume 'choice', that temptation is just another means of our judgement.

Signs and types everywhere.

I agree. & believe in the idea of our world, life , existence - all pre written, no escape as such :]

I must say your article gave a lot food for thought.

Nice article. I would add that it's important to look at Adam's response to God's obviously rhetorical questions. When asked if he had done what he wasn't supposed to do, he laid out our basic fallen nature in one sentence. He said to God "this woman that you gave me..." God desired confession, yet Adam blamed his wife, and ultimately God for his own freewill choice. We see the same pattern to this day all around us. Sometimes, even in the mirror.

or he just plainly stated the sequence of events in simple terms...

Do you really believe that, or just trollin'? Because I have many children, and whenever they get busted, they do the exact same thing as Adam with the intention of passing the buck! What you've said doesn't make any sense in the context of the the Bible as a whole. Confession is met with mercy 100% of the time. If Adam had confessed instead of placing the blame elsewhere, they wouldn't have been expelled from the garden (Hosea 6:6 "...I desire mercy not sacrifice.").

Likewise, if Judas had confessed, he would have been right there with the other apostles, and his sermons would have most likely dealt heavily with the subjects of conversion and mercy. Had events played out this way, it may very well have been Judas Iscariot who would write the epistle explaining how we will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye.

edit: it just occured to me that the answer is much simpler. We can know this wasn't an innocent explaination in plain terms for one reason. You see, God didn't ask Adam "what happened?" God asked Adam explicitly "Have YOU eaten of the fruit that of which I told YOU not to eat?" The plain and simple contrite answer to this question would have been "yes father." This would have opened up the door to penence and reconciliation. The actual answer he gave was a convoluted attempt to shift the blame away from himself. This is why they were punished so harshly.

And let's not forget that Eve then, did the same thing and blamed it on the serpent!

Fascinating. Personally, I think the bucolic state of pleasurable neutrality was just fine. One wonders why their creator felt the need to mess with it.

And if it is indeed a parable of imperfect humans and not a deity too proud to admit error, then perhaps the story would look much the same and make more sense without the latter.

Variety is the spice of life, the same thing every day gets pretty boring.

It is only in experiencing opposites that we get to figure out what we like and what we don't like and hence are able to discern what is good and what is evil. There was no error on the part of deity, this new adult and accountable state was the desired state and the innocence of childhood does not accomplish much in the way of real growth.

The exercise of free will is more desirable than a robotic puppet. The fall introduced free will to its fullest extent and hence responsibility and accountability with it.

Ahhhh but why does the creator require their growth at all? Why not simply make them as desired from the start? Why make them innocent, create the circumstances for that innocence to be lost and then spend the rest of human history punishing the entire species for what was ultimately and entirely said Creator's idea?

If free will itself is the highest possible good (which is the only conclusion I can see that follows from the story as presented), then the only sin is to not act in accordance with one's free will.

Perhaps its not the Creator that requires their growth but the created that needs to experience the growth for themselves.

Experience is only gained by (dare I say it) experience.

One must taste the bitter to fully comprehend the sweet.

True Justice requires free will and accountability for actions, but with accountability come consequences, good or bad for the exercise of that free will.

We operate in an environment surrounded by laws and consequences.

It is in figuring out the nuances, that we are able to fly, yet without breaking the law of gravity.

Holy Sh%t! What an intelligent conversation I stumbled across. I bet you can feel my IQ several dozen points below the two of your's already. But I felt compelled to comment as I've been living out of a backpack for the past 10 years, continuously "budget" traveling around the world. One thing for sure is that you should "dare to say it" Experience is only gained by experience.

That is what has been keeping the fire lit within myself. I love love love to travel! That's all I know. It's given me perspectives on the world that I would never have had. Before I left the US, I was just another ignorant American, now I see how all over the world people are trapped in belief systems that often keep them complacent as well as a host of other negative attributes.

It's interesting being new on here. Steemit has been a real trip of an experience in itself. I find myself being quite useful to the community and I've already done quite a bit of travel consultation so far. It makes me happy to help others. Keep up the good work!

-Dan "World Travel Pro!"

And that is the purpose of experience... Perspective and depth of character.

Character can only be developed by testing said character.

That is why I love to travel. Get out of my comfort zone, challenge myself, and learn from other people and cultures. I'll be doing a month in Laos in a few weeks. Now I'm hanging in Koh Phe Ngan Thailand.

What about you? How did you get to be so wise, captain gavvet?

Not wise yet... still plenty to go and lots more pondering to do.

Born and raised in South Africa... you experience a lot of diversity if you want to.

I love this. I never got the revelation of the bloodshed before their clothing before now. God bless you for bringing the understanding. Indeed, everything about the scripture is highly significant.

I also punches a few holes in the no death before Adam line of thinking.

wow what an interesting article, really makes you think, i'm definitely going to check out more of your blogs and u just got a upvote ;)

I hope you enjoy the others in this series.

Their sense of shame was the immediate response of a guilty conscience. Now, however, Adam and Eve both realized that they had done wrong, and so they contrived to cover themselves by sewing fig leaves together

It's almost a Rod Serling type twist how the tree of the knowledge of good and evil turned out to not be some supernatural entity that would elevate mankind to the level of his creator. No, it was just a beautiful tree with some tasty fruit like all the rest. The knowledge of good and evil came about in a purely natural way. They had to experience and partake in evil in order to have any knowledge of it. And, unfortunately, this knowledge had the absolute opposite effect than what they were lead to believe! Que Twilight Zone music.