When Moses wrote the Book of Genesis 1400 years before Jesus arrived, he was writing in a way that his people could understand. He wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy towards the end of his life. The nation of Israel was about to enter the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, and Moses wrote these books to help them make sense of their place in the world. Genesis offers us a perspective that shapes our view of God, the world, mankind, and our place in it all.
Occasionally Genesis seems to contradict itself, which can be confusing to readers. We have to keep in mind the context, though. When Moses wrote this account, he was writing to tell the Israelites something about themselves. The stories in Genesis might have gaps and room for disagreement, but they were all written down for a purpose. Moses was telling the Israelites something about their place in the world, something that would help them understand mankind and themselves.
There are questions about The Garden of Eden, for example. Where was it? What was in it? Scholars, archaeologists, and historians have even taken all the clues in Genesis and tried to locate the Garden of Eden. None of that is the most important thing. What is most important to know is that the Garden of Eden was sacred space. It was a temple – the first temple. Later, Moses built a tabernacle, where God dwelled with the Israelites as they moved from place to place. Then Solomon built a temple where God would dwell in the Holiest of Holies. They were places where God would meet humanity and humanity would meet God. They were all seeking what was lost in the Garden so long ago.
God’s first words to humanity in that sacred space were words of freedom: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden” (Genesis 2:16 NIV). Some of us grew up with an idea of a restrictive God who was always boxing us in with thou-shalt-nots. He seemed to have a rule for everything and robbed life of fun and enjoyment. That’s not the God we are introduced to in the very beginning. We are introduced to God with the words, “You are free.”
Within that freedom, He did put a caveat. He said, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat it, you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17 NIV). He gave the first humans every tree but one tree. That is still freedom, however. Nothing about that should make us feel like God was trying to rob us of anything.
The second thing he does here is give us, His image-bearers, a choice. God made us and then immediately gave us the power to choose. We had the choice between all the trees and just the one tree. He gave us the responsibility for our own lives. From the very beginning, we were made responsible for the life we live and the path we take. And like a good father, God outlined the consequences to our choices. He said, “If you do this, you will certainly die.”
People inevitably ask why God even put a tree in the Garden that would be forbidden. Why not remove that one tree from the equation entirely? The answer is that God wanted a relationship with His creation, and the only way to have a real relationship is to have trust. So God gave humans the option to choose Him or not choose Him, to trust Him or not trust Him.
Relationships require trust, and love requires choice. You have to be able to choose to receive love or reject love. In giving us the ability to choose, God also had to provide the possibility for evil. Evil is the absence of what is good – the absence of what is love, the absence of trust. Evil is the absence of the likeness of God.
When Adam and Eve started their lives in the Garden, they were naked and felt no shame. They had no reason to pose, no reason to hide. They had no fear of exposure or being discovered. They had no regrets, no unfortunate decisions. There was nothing between them and God. There was perfect love between them and God, as long as they chose to place their trust fully in Him. But it was a choice they would have to continue making day after day, and as we all know, eventually they made a different choice.
Today, be thankful that God made choice an essential part of being human. If the consequences of your choices seem heavy, remember, too, that God sent His Son to make up for all the mistakes we would make. Because of Jesus, we can move past those setbacks and still seek out the relationship God is always offering us.
