This one was Eve; and together Adam and Eve walked and talked in the garden of Eden, and enjoyed the good things that God had provided for them.
But alas! a time came when everything was spoiled. Satan, that enemy of all that is good, took the form of a serpent and went to the woman and talked with her, trying to make her dissatisfied with God. He asked her if God had said they should not eat of every tree of the garden. She told him they could eat of the fruit of the tree, of the garden, but God had said they must not eat, nor even touch, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil which was in the midst of the garden; and if they ate of it, they must die. The serpent told the woman that they would not die if they ate the fruit, and it would make them very wise.
How sad it is to think that the woman listened to the serpent and believed what he told her, and disobeyed God!
She looked at the beautiful fruit, and thought of the serpent’s words and how nice a thing it would be to be wise, and she was overcome; she took of the fruit and ate it and then she gave some to Adam and he ate it.
Ah! that was a sad day for Adam and Eve, and the sad results of their sin have been felt for thousands of years by their descendants. The serpent had told them partly true; they became wise, but it was to know evil, and to know that they had sinned. When God spoke to them they tried to hide among the trees. It is always so when people do wrong—they want to get away from God, but no one can hide from Him. He knew all about what Adam and Eve had done, and how Eve had talked with the serpent. He asked Adam if he had eaten of the fruit that He told him not to eat. Adam could not say no, but he tried to screen himself by throwing the blame on the woman, and when God spoke to her, she tried to throw the blame upon the serpent. But they were all wrong, and God had to pronounce a curse upon each of them, for sin must be punished. He told the serpent he should be cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field; and He said he must crawl un the ground, and eat dust all the days of his life. Then God told the woman that she should have pain and sickness; and to Adam He said, He would curse the ground for his sake; it would not be like the beautiful garden; it would bring forth thorns and thistles, and he would have to work very hard to get his food, and he should labor and toil until he died, and then his body should be put into the ground, for God said to him, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” And they had to leave the beautiful garden, for the tree of life was there, and God said if they would eat of that, they would live forever; but they had already eaten of the forbidden fruit and were condemned to die. So God drove them out of the garden and placed angels with flaming swords to guard the way to the tree of life.
That was a heavy punishment that Adam and Eve had to bear, was it not? And they were not the only ones who suffered; their children and their children’s children have felt the dreadful effects of the curse.
God said they must die, and from that day to this, death has reigned; and sickness, sorrow and misery are in the world; labor and toil and weariness are everywhere; and all the result of the sin of our first parents.
Perhaps some of you, dear children, may reason in this way—I do not think it was very bad to take some fruit and eat it; but let me tell you what made it so very bad; God had forbidden it, and to disobey God is a serious evil. When God speaks we must heed, or we will have sorrow.
And now let me give you a word that God speaks directly to you, and may you give heed to it. It is this,
“Children obey your parents in all things; for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”
Let us learn from the fall of Adam and Eve, to give heed to what God tells us.
There is another lesson for us to learn also, of which we may speak another time. R.
ML 10/01/1899