Written 10/08/21
The story goes, Adam and Eve were chillin naked in the Garden of Eden after the LORD God (LORD in all caps is an indicator that the Bible is speaking of God as the Creator. A lower case Lord means ‘master’, like Lord of the House Stark) Eden means ‘delight, place of pleasure, perfect’ so it’s cool to think that us humans just chillin naked with animals and fruit brings YHWH (Hebrew for LORD) perfect, delightful, pleasure. Awe, swoon!
Anyway, along came the serpent to be known as Satan and through temptation Eve bit the Apple and then she passed the apple to Adam causing Sin to enter the world.
Discernment Alert! Are you ready for this egg to crack player one? Whenever I discover something, I always hear the TikTok sound “That’s weird?” as a way of reprieve from being lied to my whole life. The Bible is fun, just go check it out for yourself. I’m going to use the New Revised Standard Version because it's the most popular among scholars and yet the most distributed Bible for outreach is the New King James Version. I’ll touch that one later, stay tuned.
Truth:
#1 Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden
#2 Eve was approached by a talking Serpent
#3 She was tempted
#4 She did bite into fruit
#5 She did physically give Adam the fruit
#6 The act brought Sin into the World
Take a Deep Breath because this is AWESOME!
My Deceptions:
#1 - Genesis chapter 2 doesn’t really specify that naked means just of the flesh. Gen 2:25 says, And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed. We assume the verse is speaking about the flesh because of Verse 24 explaining why husband and wife are bonded united, "when two become one-ah-on". However, it doesn’t really specify that it couldn’t also mean naked from emotion either. Shame is a feeling is it not? Feelings come from where, our hips? No, deception - I believe that Adam and Eve were both naked in flesh and naked from negativity, it’s an emotion, a perception of embarrassment or humiliation. It’s why I started smoking marijuana as a teen, shame just goes out the window when you're baked. I’m not promoting pot, remember I quit, so this isn’t justification to dope up, but it’s a cause to cease and desist judgment for anyone who does.
#2 - I suggest reading first Genesis 3:1-7 real quick so I’ll wait while you do that. Go to the Resource tab and download the Bible Gateway App and choose the NRSV to follow along.
Ok, ready? Gen 3:1 says this, Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Nowhere in this passage does it say the serpent is Satan, or Lucifer, or the Devil, or Sir Hiss. Who remembers that snake from Disney's Robin Hood? Why are snakes always the villain? Well because the animal is cursed from God’s wrath or his remorse from their act of disobedience... like any loving parent - Gen 3:14. Many non-believers have a hard time grasping that it was a talking snake and we know that animals don’t talk. Oh, but thanks to Science and theguardian.com, it’s been proved and recorded that these lists of animals in fact can and do communicate human speech: Orca Whales, Rocky the Ape, Koshik the Elephant, Parrot’s, and Noc the Beluga Whale. Also, thanks to YouTube, so do some cats.
#3 - Gen 3:4 says, But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5 for God knows that when* you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,** knowing good and evil.” In the CSB, it translates the first asterisk *God knows that on that day you eat. So the moment she eats it, change is immediate, instantaneous. The second asterisk has two meanings, CSB **divine beings, and NRSV **gods. So you will be the master of your own universe if you eat it and it’s instant gratification. Yes, she was tempted, but she was also what? Tricked? Lied to? Betrayed? Or was she simply given a gift to be like a divine being, god, master of her own universe, given free will, self control, knowledge, intellect, freedom? There’s arguments on all sides so I suggest we think for ourselves since after all, we can and are free to do so.
#4 - Where does it say “Apple”? Why do we automatically assume that the fruit was an apple? Probably because of scholars assuming that because an Apple is mentioned in fourteen other verses speaking of the apple of his eye, apple trees, apple metaphor for love, describing literal apples in the background, so when John Miltion published Paradise Lost in 1667 with the fruit as an apple should’ve been a huge indicator of how many people didn’t actually read the Bible for themselves. Nope, just lemmings of the mass population displaying how easy it was to be deceived through instant gratification instead of educating themselves. It’s 3 chapters in people! Today, we have children's books, the Davinci Code, and Apple Inc. all mocking this ignorance. I have to admit, this discovery makes me want to shroom, know what I mean? Don’t go get shrooms! Calm yourself Iago.
#5 - Which act brought sin into the world? I’ve been told (spoon fed to non enlightenment) that it wasn’t so much her bite, but her offer to Adam is what brought sin into the world. Why? A sin, is a sin, is a sin, is a sin so why does it matter which sin and where for the blame to be justified? If I control my child’s every move so that they don’t sin then I’m removing what from them? Freedom, free will, growth and development maybe? How did we get pharisees and Sadducees to begin with anyway? Greed? Control? Gluttony? Sloth? Envy? Anger? Lust? How about PRIDE? What really is in our box?!
#6 - Why do we assume that Eve walked over, ran to, waved the fruit in front of his face and repeated what the Serpent told her? That’s how it was explained to me in church, another indicator of adults not really reading their Bible and yet teaching the young minds things they don’t really know. Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Wanna talk about gender equality, well there you go. He was right there listening to the same sneaky snake, being tempted with a gift they know nothing about except not to take it, and implicated himself with his own disobedience. Way to suppress women for men’s folly.
Here’s the Everlasting Hope! It’s just a book, read it for yourself, and the Truth shall set you free. This entire mind blowing expansion was only on seven verses in the third chapter of the first book. Imagine how many eggs, keys, discoveries, we can find if we read all 66 books with all the verses in between. Remember, our boxes are fragile and should be cared for with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and LOVE so the books left out of the Bible…. Probably for a reason. Read the OG first and then explore with discernment.
Proverbs (literally means to give advice) 3:5-8 is literal advice for the process. Pay attention, all caps LORD too not just Jesus, not just the Spirit, not the false gods, not the aliens, not you as the master of your own universe, not the pastor, not your mama, not Kal-El, not the Guru, not the Stallion, not the Pope, not Trump, not Fauci, not religion, not government, not science, but the Creator. The OG, the top of the pyramid, the literal apple of the eye, the αρχιτέκτονας (architect in Greek, I just learned how to say it!), the top of the spiritual food chain, Elohim YHWH, the all caps LORD God. How can we advance to the next level player one without recognizing the true source of our existence?
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
8 It will be a healing for your flesh
and a refreshment for your body.
You got this! Read all about It!
Huh, that’s weird.... almost like that newspaper boy was inspired or something.
References:
Samuel Stolton
Sat 10 Feb 2018 12.59 EST
Talking animals: we aren’t the only species capable of speech …
Theguardian.com
Animal Behavior, The Five
Tech Issue
Nina Martyris
April 30, 20178:00 AM ET
'Paradise Lost': How The Apple Became The Forbidden Fruit
Npr.org
The Salt: What’s on Your Plate
Food for Thought - Knoxville Team
Most Influential People of 2020
Photo "The Gold Apple"
Taken: 4/4/2016 @ 12:49pm
Reggio Emilia, Italy.