8. What did Adam and Eve know, and what questions arise?
8 By looking around and seeing the beautiful garden in which they lived and the perfect match that Jehovah had given them, Adam and Eve could come to know for themselves the beautiful qualities of Jehovah, that is, they could come to know everything that was encompassed the name of Jehovah.
Adam and Eve knew the name of Jehovah and also other truths that are very important about him, such as that he was the creator and that he gave them life, as well as a beautiful paradise in which to live and a perfect match.
Without a doubt Adam and Eve were able to know the personality of Jehovah God first hand. From what they saw in their own remarkably adaptable bodies, for each new animal, each different plant, flower, and tree, and each field and forest that man saw, they had every reason to admire Jehovah\’s wisdom and come to know everything. what his name implied. (Gen. 1:26-28; 2:18)
8. b) What questions arise?
Two questions arise: first, would they continue to meditate on all that Jehovah had done for them, second, would they continue to strengthen the love and gratitude they felt for him?
According to the texts read, Jehovah told Adam and Eve that they could eat from all the trees in the garden except for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, because the day they ate it they were going to die, however satan distorted the truth by ask him a question that questioned Jehovah\’s generosity.
When Satan approached Eve through the serpent\’s words, he was challenging Jehovah, implying that Jehovah was withholding something from the woman without any rights. With this he made Eve believe that she would be free and independent of God. Thus this evil celestial creature rose above God in the eyes of Eve and became her god. With his actions he placed man and woman under his leadership and control.
With this command that God gave Adam, he was not taking away their freedom to do whatever they wanted, that is, he was not taking away their free will. Having the right to decide what one wants to do is not the same as having the right to decide what is right and what is wrong. Adam and Eve were free to decide whether or not to obey God. However, only Jehovah has the right to decide what is right and what is wrong. This is what \”the tree of the knowledge of good and bad\” that was in the garden of Eden symbolized.
Satan threw a poisoned question full of lies to Eve: \”Did God really tell you that you can\’t eat from all the trees in the garden?\” With this he implied that God was not generous. And so he managed to sow doubts in Eve because she wondered if God was denying her something good. (Gen. 2:9)
10. How did Satan directly slander God’s name, and with what effect?
10 Satan directly launched a slander against the name of God, because with what he said he implied that Jehovah was a liar as a result satan became the devil and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit that he had forbidden, and then also giving it to Adam.
From before this event in the garden of Eden, Satan\’s heart was completely estranged from its Creator, since his words constituted a clear contradiction of what God had said and a slander against Him. He did not accuse God of having been unconsciously wrong, but to deliberately misrepresent things at your convenience. With the words: \”By no means will they die\”, he managed to make Eve forget the clear rules of God which she knew very well and instead believe in the lies of the devil. (1 Tim. 2:14)
Satan\’s lies led Eve to disobey God and eat the fruit that He had forbidden her. Then she gave Adam the fruit, so Satan made the first human beings disobedient to their creator.
satan got Eve to focus her attention on the tree and the fruit, and not on her relationship with her heavenly Father, who had given her everything she had. Sadly, Eve ate the fruit, thus demonstrating that Jehovah was not the most important being in her life.—Gen. 3:6.
11. What could our first parents have done, but what did they fail to do?
11 Adam and Eve could have shown love, loyalty and obedience in defending Jehovah\’s name, no doubt Jehovah would have rejoiced.
They must have defended Jehovah\’s name. They could have said something like the following: “How dare you speak ill of him? Leave me alone!\”. With these words, Adam and Eve would have shown loyal love for their creator, and Jehovah would have been delighted to hear them defend her against Satan.
He must have reacted with complete disgust and righteous indignation at questioning God\’s law. Eve should never have looked at the tree as something desirable, instead she should have seen the opportunity she had in front of her to show that even though we are human beings we can rejoice our Creator, because because of the love we have for him we can resist his trials and temptations.
Taking an example, how would we feel if a loved one we trust, a stranger accused of having lied to us? It would certainly annoy us so much that we would respond in an authoritative way. Eva\’s reaction should have been similar but it wasn\’t. After all, who was the serpent to question the justice of God and the word of her husband? She was nobody, Jehovah had given them everything, instead this snake was a simple stranger and her word had no value. As a lesson we are left with that we must always pay attention to who or what we are listening to and whether this is positive or negative for our relationship with Jehovah.
As if that were not enough, Eva, apart from paying attention to a complete stranger who spoke negative things about her Creator, also ignored the principle of headship. Eve should have consulted with Adam before making any decisions. (Prov. 27:11).
12. How did Satan sow doubts in the mind of Eve, and what did Adam and Eve fail to do?
12 By attacking Jehovah\’s reputation, satan wanted to make Eve doubt that Jehovah was a good Father. A good father always wants the best for his children so when satan told Eve that her Father was lying to her at his convenience, Eve began to trust more in the words of a serpent and allowed sin to be born in her heart and in your mind.
Adam and Eve did not defend Jehovah\’s name, rather Eve made herself the first human idolater by lusting after the forbidden fruit, and this wrong desire led her to disobey God\’s command. Adam also became guilty of idolatry by allowing a selfish desire to rival his love for Jehovah and subsequently disobeying the Creator.
We must all be very alert to the tactics that satan uses to make us doubt, among these are discouragement, the occult, adultery, fornication, selfishness and many more. Unlike Eva, we must remain alert and vigilant of the possible places where we can be more vulnerable, be it work, school or non-believing family members.
As a conclusion to this subtopic we can highlight an important lesson. Any pretense of independence from Jehovah God is sheer folly; But those who have true wisdom put their faith in Jehovah and his Word, and do not trust their own knowledge. We must continue to strive to defend from others, and from our own inclination to sin, the great name of our God Jehovah.
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