Adam and Eve (Gen 3)

The original Korean text: http://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025326358

 

Eve was tempted by the Devil and ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to her boyfriend Adam, who ate it. When God asked Adam why he had eaten the fruit, Adam said that Eve had given him the fruit. When God asked Eve why she had eaten, Eve said that the snake (the Devil) had tempted her.

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God's punishment was severe. He sentenced that the snake should go on belly and eat dust all the days of it's life, that Adam and Eve should be expelled from Eden. And God gave Eve labor pains, and made Adam sweat to get food and to live. And God made Adam the lord of his wife Eve, and made Eve a woman who has to do all good and pretty things to receive the love of her husband Adam. ("And your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. (Gen 3:16)")

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But was it really a harsh punishment for them? Is God only a God of revenge? The punishment God gave to man was that of love and healing. God was shocked to see Adam throw away his girlfriend Eve like old shoes (that is impute all the blame to her). He also knew why Adam had forsaken Eve.

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The reason why Adam and Eve were separated from each other was that the place was a paradise. In the paradise, you don't have the problem of food, clothing and shelter. Therefore, you don't need others as helpers in the paradise. (Today is like a paradise abounding in food and amenities, so that people tend to live independently and to separate from one another, husband from wife, wife from husband, children from parents.) There was no need of clothes in the paradise. So Eve did not have to wash Adam's clothes once in a while. Would Adam have forsaken Eve like old shoes if she had cooked a meal every day for him and washed his clothes?

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God sent out these two into a pay world to restore their relationship. Adam and Eve had to live in the world where they should work hard to earn money, work hard in the fields to get food, do laundry, and cook meals every day. So they became indispensable to each other. Decisively, Adam brings food from outside at the risk of his life, Eve enjoys the food and gives birth to a baby, Adam's baby, at the risk of her life.

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Everything God does is for our benefit. Sometimes even the punishment of God is for our benefit. God is love. If we love each other in this harsh world, we can live a more rewarding and happy life than in Eden.