Sabbath School for Adults: Education: Lesson 1: Education in the Garden of Eden

Tuesday September 29

Missing the Message

As we saw yesterday, Eve—even in her language—watered down what she had been taught despite God’s clear command.

Though she didn’t misinterpret what the Lord said to her, she obvi-ously didn’t take it seriously enough. One can hardly exaggerate the consequences of her actions.

Thus, when Eve encountered the serpent, she repeated (but not exactly) to the serpent what God had said regarding the trees in the garden (Gen. 3:2, 3). Of course, this message wasn’t news to the serpent. The serpent was familiar with the command and was therefore well-prepared to twist it, thus preying upon Eve’s innocence.

Examine Genesis 3:4-6. Besides directly denying exactly what God had said, what else did the serpent say that, obviously, succeeded with Eve? What principles did he take advantage of?

When the serpent told her that part of the message was incorrect, Eve could have gone to confer with God. This is the beauty of Eden’s education: the access the students had to their Mighty Teacher was surely beyond anything we can now fathom on earth. However, instead of fleeing, instead of seeking divine aid, Eve accepts the serpent’s message. Her acceptance of the serpent’s revision to the message requires some doubt on Eve’s part about God and what He had told them.

Meanwhile, Adam wanders into a difficult situation himself. “Adam understood that his companion had transgressed the command of God, disregarded the only prohibition laid upon them as a test of their fidelity and love. There was a terrible struggle in his mind. He mourned that he had permitted Eve to wander from his side. But now the deed was done; he must be separated from her whose society had been his joy. How could he have it thus?”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 56. Unfortunately, though knowing right from wrong, he also chose wrongly.

Think of the deceptive irony here: the serpent said that if they ate of the tree, they would “be like God” (Gen. 3:5, NKJV). But didn’t Genesis 1:27 say that they were already like God? What can this teach us about how easily we can be deceived and why faith and obedience are our only protection, even when we have been given the best of educations, as had Adam and Eve?