Originally posted on October 10, 2013
God was angry that His beloved, unique friends whom He had created to be with Him defied Him. All they had to do was what God had commanded, and not eat of that one tree, and they would have lived happily ever after. Since they didn’t, God punished them:
To Woman: ‘I will greatly multiply you sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’
To Man: ‘Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.’ ~Genesis 3:16-19
He still lovingly made tunics for them and clothed them. But since they had eaten of the tree of knowledge, God said,
“Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”–therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden, and He placed placed cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life.“ ~Genesis 3:22-24
Notice how He didn’t tell them not to eat of the tree of life to begin with. He knew that they would not have the power over life, which was uniquely His, unless they first tried to usurp His power.
God has secrets only He can know. He created us, He gave us everything we need to live and flourish and be happy. He only asks one thing: for us to mind His commandments. I’d say the primary commandment based on this story is:
DO NOT SEEK THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
For if man seeks the knowledge of God, he might eventually find it. And therein lies the Power of Life. God will NOT ever share this power with anyone. When you try to seek His knowledge you make war with Him. And He makes that clear. Not just in Genesis and in Revelation, the first and last books of the Bible, but there is also an ominous threat from God to men seeking knowledge in the Prophet Jeremiah’s words…
~Song of Mary~ 