The First and Second Sins
After the first sin man no longer has to love and serve God, but can do so with the option of going against Him. The implications of the sins of Adam and Eve and Cain ultimately define their importance. Without the first sin humanity could never truly show God obedience and love, but would instead be automatons of his will. Before they eat of the tree of knowledge, they have no choice of whether to disobey God or not, save eating from the tree. God, by not allowing them to eat from the tree, also does not allow them the knowledge to know any better than to eat it. The first sin also makes the second sin possible. Man would never have been tending flocks and working to get food from the earth had Eve and Adam not eaten from the forbidden fruit. Jealousy was also a trait man would not have without the ability to tell good from bad. Cain's sin is also more than just an act of jealousy. By God giving Cain such harsh punishment, the readers of the bible are treated to just how seriously the bible goes against murder. Had the first murder not been chronicled and dealt with, murder may not have had the baneful reputation the Christian and Jewish religions have given it. Neither sin is unimportant for these reasons, but the first
The motives for the first sin all rely on Eve listening to the serpent. The serpent piques her curiosity in the tree by saying the tree will make her and Adam like God. After the serpent has given her a reason to want to eat from the tree, Eve makes up other reasons it would be okay to eat from it. "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it," (Genesis 3:6) the reader can clearly see here that Eve makes up other excuses for wanting to gain wisdom from the tree. The other motive is also the responsibility of the snake: he said to Eve that she would "not surely die," even though Eve tells the serpent that God told her she would if she ate or touched of the tree. A blatant lie like that being told to someone who cannot know the difference between good and bad should remove the blame of the first sin on Eve's shoulders. Cain's sin was the murder of his brother Abel. His sin is much less straight forward than the first sin. Cain tricked Abel into going out in a field with the intention of murdering him, and then he did murder him. Immediately after Cain kills Abel, God asks him where his brother is. Cain lies to God saying he does not know, and God, being Omniscient among other things, immediately cries to Cain that he has killed his brother. He punishes Cain by decreeing that the ground will not grow anything for him, and that he will be a restless wanderer of the Earth. Cain himself is upset by this conversation with God even more than the last one, and lets Him know this time. God feels some pity on him and gives him a mark that will make sure no one attempts to kill him because of his sin, and anyone who does would suffer vengeance seven times over whatever is done to Cain. Cain goes on to have a family and start a city and has among his offspring the ancestors of all musicians, and shepherds. However, one of his sons is also the second murderer in history. A clear pattern is seen for the motivations of both sins here: desire. Eve desires to be more like God and Cain desires to be in God's favor. In both cases, the humans are not told what
Some common words found in the essay are:
Adam Eve, Adam God, Eve Cain, Eve Adam, God God, God Cain, Abel Adam, Eve Adam's, Adam Eve's, Cain Cain, adam eve, tree knowledge, god punished, eat tree, cain's sin, fruit tree, eve listening serpent, deception secrecy, murder abel, god punishes, ability tell bad, eating tree, sins adam eve, tree knowledge adam, fruit tree knowledge,
Approximate Word count = 1475
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
