dge of sin and a sense of guilt. The covering of light about
them soon disappeared, and under a sense of guilt and loss of their divine
covering, a shivering seized them, and they tried to cover their exposed
forms.
Our first parents chose to believe the words, as they thought, of a
serpent; yet he had given them no tokens of his love. He had done nothing
for their happiness and benefit, while God had given them everything that
was good for food and pleasant to the sight. Everywhere the eye might
rest was abundance and beauty; yet Eve was deceived by the serpent, to
think that there was something withheld which would make them wise,
even as God. Instead of believing
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and confiding in God, she basely distrusted His goodness and cherished
the words of Satan.
After Adam’s transgression he at first imagined that he felt the rising
to a new and higher existence. But soon the thought of his transgression
terrified him. The air, that had been of a mild and even temperature,
seemed to chill them. The guilty pair had a sense of sin. They felt a
dread of the future, a sense of want, a nakedness of soul. The sweet
love and peace and happy contented bliss seemed removed from them,
and in its place a want of something came over them that they had never
experienced before. They then for the first time turned their attention to
the external. They had not been clothed but were draped in light as were
the heavenly angels. This light which had enshrouded them had departed.
To relieve their sense of lack and nakedness which they realized, their
attention was directed to seek a covering for their forms, for how could
they meet the eye of God and angels unclothed?
Their crime is now before them in its true light. Their transgression
of God’s express command assumes a clearer character. Adam censured
Eve’s folly in leaving his side and being deceived by the serpent. They
both flattered themselves that God, who had given them everything to
make them happy, might yet excuse their disobedience because of His
great love to them and that their punishment would not be so dreadful
after all.
Satan exulted in his success. He had now tempted the woman to
distrust God, to question His wisdom, and to seek to penetrate His all-wise
plans. And through her he had also caused the overthrow of Adam, who,
in consequence of his love for Eve, disobeyed the command of God and
fell with her.
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The news of man’s fall spread through heaven—every harp was
hushed. The angels cast their crowns from their heads in sorrow. All
heaven was in agitation. The angels were grieved at the base ingratitude
of man in return for the rich bounties God had provided. A council was
held to decide what must be done with the guilty pair. The angels feared
that they would put forth the hand and eat of the tree of life, and thus
perpetuate a life of sin.
The Lord visited Adam and Eve, and made known to them the
consequence of their disobedience. As they heard God’s majestic
approach they sought to hide themselves from His inspection, whom they
delighted, while in their innocence and holiness, to meet. “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?”
This question was asked by the Lord, not because He needed information,
but for the conviction of the guilty pair. How didst thou become ashamed
and fearful? Adam acknowledged his transgression, not because he was
penitent for his great disobedience, but to cast reflection upon God. “The
woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and
I did eat.” The woman was then addressed: “What is this that thou hast
done?” Eve answered, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”
The Curse
The Lord then addressed the serpent: “Because thou hast done this,
thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field: upon
thy belly
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shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” As the
serpent had been exalted above the beasts of the field, he should be
degraded beneath them all, and be detested by man, inasmuch as he
was the medium through which Satan acted. “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.”
God cursed the ground because of their sin in eating of the tree of
knowledge, and declared, “In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy
life.” He had apportioned them the good, but withheld the evil. Now He
declares that they shall eat of it, that is, they should be acquainted with
evil all the days of their life.
The race from that time forward was to be afflicted by Satan’s
temptations. A life of perpetual toil and anxiety was appointed unto
Adam, instead of the happy, cheerful labor he had hitherto enjoyed. They
should be subject to disappointment, grief, and pain, and finally come to
dissolution. They were made of the dust of the earth, and unto dust should
they return.
They were informed that they would have to lose their Eden home.
They had yielded to Satan’s deception and believed the word of Satan,
that God would lie. By their transgression they had opened a way for
Satan to gain access to them more readily, and it was not safe for them to
remain in the Garden of Eden, lest in their state of sin they gain access to
the tree of
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life and perpetuate a life of sin. They entreated to be permitted to remain,
although they acknowledged that they had forfeited all right to blissful
Eden. They promised that they would in the future yield to God implicit
obedience. They were informed that in their fall from innocence to guilt
they gained no strength but great weakness. They had not preserved their
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integrity while they were in a state of holy, happy innocence, and they
would have far less strength to remain true and loyal in a state of conscious
guilt. They were filled with keenest anguish and remorse. They now
realized that the penalty of sin was death.
Angels were commissioned to immediately guard the way of the tree
of life. It was Satan’s studied plan that Adam and Eve should disobey
God, receive His frown, and then partake of the tree of life, that they
might perpetuate a life of sin. But holy angels were
