Many have speculated on how Eve knew that eating fruit could make one wise. One theory suggests she saw an animal eating the fruit and surmised that, since animals could eat it, so could she and Adam.
She could simply have been taking note of its attractive appearance.
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Did God tell Eve not to eat the fruit?
God gave Adam and Eve only one restriction in His instructions: “Thou mayest freely eat of any tree in the garden; however, from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, lest thou die.” Whether or not any spiritual properties existed within its fruit is immaterial – what matters is that Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, thus unleashing sin into the world through their disobedience and understanding evil as personal experience rather than knowing Him as their loving father.
Remember, God knew Adam and Eve would consume the fruit, as well as its consequences on them personally and society as a whole. Yet He still wanted them to experience complete relationship with him.
As soon as the serpent approached Eve, he convinced her to consume the forbidden fruit because it would help them gain knowledge of good and evil. Eve believed him and consumed some before giving some to Adam. Eating forbidden fruit changed their lives forever while altering its very fabric; it caused what is commonly known as The Fall of Man or Original Sin.
The Bible doesn’t specify what kind of fruit was present at Eden; however, tradition often depicts Adam and Eve with apples in paintings or other visual representations; but it is essential to remember that Eden wasn’t like a picture book and thus its fruit wasn’t always an apple.
The Bible teaches that human beings were created in God’s image. This doesn’t mean they resembled Him physically (God being spirit, we usually can’t perceive His spirit), but rather they were endowed with his divine qualities such as love, wisdom, justice power and free will. When He saw Adam and Eve eating from that forbidden tree He became angry not because they ate of that fruit but because they rebelled against Him – yet still deeply loved them deeply regardless.
Did God tell Eve not to touch the fruit?
God warned Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:17 that eating fruit from the tree in the center of their garden would surely lead to death, yet Satan tempted Eve into eating from it anyway. When asked by Satan whether what God had said was true, she replied in the affirmative; she mentioned how Adam had warned her against touching it as part of her response; with that wording change came an increase in disobedience against what had been stated by God himself. This small step towards disobedience created a dangerous precedent.
Eve had left out certain words when recounting what God told them, misinterpreting the phrase “surely die” as just “die,” and so introduced doubt into what He had told them – an opportunity Satan took full advantage of to create more doubt in what had been promised by Him. She decided to taste some fruit herself without suffering harmful side-effects from its contact – then gave some of it to her husband before eating some for herself (3:6-8).
The serpent then convinced Eve that eating from the tree would make her wise like God; she believed his lies. After she consumed some fruit from it however, she realized it made her naked for the first time ever and both she and Adam quickly hid themselves behind fig leaves (4:2-3).
Proper knowledge of the Bible is essential in times of temptation and to counter false teaching. Jesus used God’s Word directly when faced with temptation; while Eve misused God’s words when dealing with serpent and allowed it to lead her down path of sin.
Meddling in God’s Word displayed disrespect for it and opened the way for disobedience. As a result, she and her husband both committed sin by eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; through their disobedience they gained knowledge of both good and evil, gained spiritual death (2:16-17; 3:3-6), something which God wanted them to experience so they may understand better the relationship between good and evil in future.
Did God tell Eve not to taste the fruit?
The biblical story of Adam and Eve illustrates God’s creation of human beings who lived harmoniously with all aspects of creation. He placed them in an idyllic garden of peace and abundance where they were free to consume any tree except one: that which brought knowledge of both good and evil–whose fruit would lead them away from Him forever.
Adam and Eve fell prey to Satan’s lies about eating fruit being wise (Genesis 3:4-5). Instead of trusting what God told them, Adam and Eve trusted their desires over what He told them; as a result they listened to Satan and consumed fruit which revealed their nakedness for the first time; to hide from God they made fig leaves to cover themselves up (Genesis 3:9-13).
According to rabbinic teaching, Eve made an addition to what God said when she said “neither shall ye touch it”. This attempt at justifying disobeying His actual command not to consume fruit violated Proverbs 30:6 which cautions against adding or subtracting from God’s Word.
Eating the forbidden fruit did not immediately kill them, but it would alter their lives irrevocably. The Fall brought with it pain, suffering and death into God’s once “very good” creation as well as spiritual death that separates us from Him (Jesus Christ).
As punishment for their rebellion against God, Adam and Eve were banished to live in His cursed world, toiling for food while struggling against old age before ultimately facing their ultimate penalty: death. Yet their disobedience hasn’t decreased His love or desire for fellowship with them – He will send a Savior to reconcile them to Himself so they will one day join their Creator again in a better heaven and earth (Romans 8:22). So don’t despair of turning from sin; believe only Jesus can save. It’s never too late!
Did God tell Eve not to smell the fruit?
The Bible informs us that Adam and Eve were forbidden from eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16-17). Although no specific kind of fruit is identified by this passage, tradition suggests an apple. Furthermore, God did not forbid them from consuming other forms of fruit – just those from this particular tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil!
As Eve approached the Garden of Eden, her advisor made a persuasive case: that God’s prohibition was not as strict as they imagined. Furthermore, if they consumed some fruit they might become like one of God’s sons-a very tempting offer! Who wouldn’t want to emulate one of the world’s most powerful figures?
Eve was misled into listening to Satan’s argument and trusting it over God’s. Rather than taking time to carefully read through and consider her options before listening to Satan, Eve believed his claim that He wasn’t being fair in His restrictions; which was an extreme error on her part.
Adam and Eve both disobeyed God and experienced immediate repercussions as a result of their sinful acts, each choosing to pick fruit despite His warning against doing so (3:3-6). Adam had the same result – both disobeyed Him immediately with immediate consequences (3:4-6).
God intended for them to remain innocent and free; eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil would cause them to lose that freedom and lose their innocence and innocence. God intended for them not to do this, yet He knew they would disobey His commandment by eating this forbidden fruit.
No one really understands why God created or allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, or why He allowed Satan to tempt them with its fruit. Some theologians suggest it was for testing their faithfulness or trusting Him rather than themselves for answers; whatever their motivation, God knew Adam and Eve would eat its fruit; He knew their disobedience would cause sin into their world, leading them down a path toward death as a consequence.
