Reflection

Questions about temptation

Jim Burns considers the temptation of Adam and our actions today

WHO is your least favourite person in the Bible? For me it’s ‘No 1 on the roll’, Adam. But for his disobedience, we could all be walking and talking face to face with God every day and living a life of ease.

Adam had to cultivate the garden of Eden, but the task doesn’t sound all that hard, especially when the stream that flowed there watered it (see Genesis 2:10). Plus it was always sunny, for God hadn’t sent any rain yet (see Genesis 2:5). But then Adam went and spoilt it for us all by eating the fruit of the tree that gave knowledge of what is good and bad.

However, was he really to blame?

Adam certainly didn’t think so, for when God challenged him about eating the fruit, he answered: ‘The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it’ (Genesis 3:12 Good News Bible). Classic – nothing to do with me, mate! Did Adam know where the fruit that Eve offered him had come from? We’ll never know, but she did lead him astray. How often are we influenced by someone to do what we know to be wrong?

Eve hadn’t been created when God told Adam he may eat of any tree in the garden except that one. But we can assume that Adam passed on that instruction, for when the snake spoke to Eve, she confirmed that she knew.

I wonder how long it was after the snake spoke to her that Eve went to find the tree. It’s possible that, the first time, she simply looked at it. Perhaps she touched the bark the next time and finally pulled off one of the fruits. Isn’t temptation like that? It starts with an idea that gradually grows until we rationalise that it won’t do us any harm. And who could pick fault with her desire to ‘become wise’ (Genesis 3:6 GNB)? Surely that’s not a bad thing – except it was, because she was disobeying God’s instruction.

How strange that the first thing they discovered with all their new-found knowledge was that they were naked. Was that all their disobedience got them? Isn’t it often the case that the forbidden fruit isn’t as satisfying or rewarding as we thought it would be?

When Adam blamed Eve, I wonder if he was also implying that it was God’s fault for creating Eve. Eve blamed the snake: ‘The snake tricked me into eating it’ (Genesis 3:13). But the snake didn’t force her to eat the fruit; rather, she wanted to become wise. Talk about a blame culture!

Why did God put the tree in the garden if he didn’t want them to eat its fruit? Was it a test? If so, what was the point, especially if God knew that they would fail and wreck their special relationship?

If we’re honest there are times when we give in to temptation and look to blame others. More to the point there are even times when we blame God for putting temptation in our path. Whether you genuinely believe that or take the view that God allows us to be tempted, we alone are responsible for our actions, no matter how we try and justify them.

Perhaps not much has changed in human nature in the millennia since Adam was on Earth – given the choice between disobeying God and accepting eternal life, how often do we make the wrong decision?

God decided Adam ‘must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree of life … and live for ever’ (Genesis 3:22 GNB) and so God sent him out of the garden. Praise be to God that this wasn’t the end of humankind’s fellowship with him. Just as sin entered the world because of Adam’s disobedience, salvation came from Jesus, who is described by Paul as the ‘second Adam’ (1 Corinthians 15:47 GNB). Paul also explains: ‘For just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:22 GNB).

If that wasn’t enough cause for celebration and thanksgiving, we who believe in Jesus as our Saviour finally will ‘have the right to eat the fruit from the tree of life’ in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 22:14 GNB).

JIM BURNS Dunstable