Who told you that you were naked?
When I created you,when I brought you both together
because it is not good for man to be alone,
you were naked
and you felt no shame.
Yet
when you heard me now in the garden,
walking in the cool of the evening,
you were afraid
because you knew you were naked
- who opened your eyes?
To make coverings for yourselves,
you sewed fig leaves together;
you hid.
Did you eat from the tree
from which I had commanded you
not to eat?
I commanded you
not to eat
from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil.
That tree,
like every tree I caused to grow out of the ground,
including
the tree of life in the midst of the garden,
was pleasing in appearance
and good for food.
Why would you wonder whether I really said
that you cannot eat from any tree in the garden?
You even said
that you may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden.
I did say,
"You are free to eat from any tree of the garden."
I also said,
"But
you must not eat
from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil,
for
on the day you eat from it,
you will certainly die."
Yet you said
that I said this
about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.
That tree is the tree of life.
That tree I included among the trees
pleasing in appearance
and good for food.
You however
looked upon the other tree,
the tree of the knowledge of good & evil,
and looking upon that tree,
you said that I said,
"You must not eat it or touch it or you will die."
These are not the words I said.
Even the serpent, that most cunning
of all the wild animals that I had made,
said no!
It was the serpent who had said to you, the woman,
"Did God really say,
'You can't eat from any tree of the garden'?"
But
after saying no to your reply,
the serpent said,
"You will not die."
I said you will certainly die
on the day you eat
from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil.
You said I said this
of the tree in the middle of the garden.
The serpent cunningly confused the two
and deceived your with his words.
That deceiver said,
"God knows that, when you eat it,
your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God,
knowing good & evil."
I know what I know.
.
I know that
I created the heavens and the earth
and that it was good.
.
I know that
I said,
"Let us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness."
.
I know that
I formed you from the dust of the ground
and breathed the breath of life into your nostrils,
and that you became a living being.
.
I know that
I planted a garden in Eden
and placed you there.
.
I know that
I placed you in the garden of Eden
to work it and watch over it -
to be fruitful, mulitply, fill the earth, and subdue it,
to rule
the fish of the sea, the birds of sky,
and every creature that crawls on the earth.
.
I know that
I have given you
every seed-bearing plant
on the surface of the entire earth,
and every tree whose fruit contains seed,
to be food for you
and for everything having the breath of life,
the breath I myself breathed into them.
.
I know that
I commanded you
not to eat
from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil.
.
And
I know this thing that you have done -
You, the woman,
listened to the serpent's words,
and
you, the man,
listened to your wife's voice,
and
you both
ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
"Do not eat from it."
.
You, the woman,
because of what the serpent said,
wondered about what I really said,
and looked upon the tree
of the knowledge of good & evil.
You saw that the tree
was good for food
and delightful to look at,
just as every tree was
that I caused to grow in the garden I planted for you -
but
this tree, from which I commanded you not to eat,
you saw as being very desirable for obtaining wisdom.
From this tree
you took some of the fruit and ate it.
From the fruit of this tree
you gave some to your husband who was with you,
and he ate it.
.
When then the eyes of both of you were opened,
knowing you were naked,
you hid from from me.
But
the coverings you have made for yourselves
are not enough to hide your shame,
for you must be clothed by me.
.
Curses will come because of what has been done.
.
I will curse the serpent
more than any livestock and
more than any wild animal.
.
You, the woman, will bear children in anguish -
I will intensify your pain.
Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will dominate you.
.
You, Adam, were there with your wife
when she spoke to the serpent,
when she saw the tree from which I commanded you not to eat,
when she reached out her hand and took some of the fruit,
when she ate it, then gave some to you as well.
You, too, ate from that tree,
listening not to my voice but to the voice of some other.
Painful labor will be yours as well -
as the woman in bearing children,
so you in bearing responsibility to feed your family.
Because of you, the ground is cursed -
it will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow you'll eat bread
until you return to the ground.
.
I will send you away from the garden of Eden
to work the ground from which you were taken.
For you are dust, and you will return to dust.
.
Yet there is hope
and the one who loves me
will put faith in the promise of that hope.
.
There is One who will come
to bring relief
from the agonizing labor caused by the curse.
I will put hostility between the serpent and the woman,
between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.
The seed of the woman
will strike the serpent who will strike his heel.
.
This promised One
will redeem you from the curse
by becoming the curse for you.
.
By faith, receive the promise of relief
from the pains of childbirth
and responsibility of life.
The promise refers to the Seed which shall be formed in you
to reconcile you to me.
I, the God of peace,
will crush the Serpent under your feet.
.
Then, conformed to the image in which I created you,
you may become like one of Us,
not only knowing good & evil,
but wise enough to discern between good & evil.
.
Then may you reach out and take from the tree of life,
and eat,
and live forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment