The Four Sayings of Eve

[face2face]

Hi all,

This OP was sparked by a talk I heard recently which challenged my previously held beliefs on Eve. Many people may not give her a second thought as she appears on the scene early in Genesis then is gone quickly.

In the past, I had thought the inspection of Adam and Eve was all about them passing the buck, so to speak; Adam --> Eve ---> Serpent, however upon a second look, I see a factual element to their responses which I had not noticed before.

Take Eve's second saying:

"And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I did eat"

It's 100% true - no question about that! It's a frank confession of sin! So while there is an element of passing on the blame, you cannot remove from her, her acknowledgement of her disobedience to God's Law.

As a side note "I wonder, if we excercise such frankness with God about our own sins!"

I also believe this first saying of Eve is the foundation upon which she builds her faith, as we progress through her other sayings.

There is no doubt this admission places both Adam and Eve in a better position with God, Who is able to deal with their disobedience more completely later in the record.

Happy to receive your thoughts.

F2F

 

[face2face]

“We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

I often wondered if this "must not touch" was Adam's inability to explain the commandment? It's the first instance in Scripture where a person adds to the Word's of God. It reveals a lack of understanding and immaturity in Spiritual things and could well explain why Eve was so easily deceived.

This addition to the strict letter of the law (Ch. 2:17) is interesting when we consider the volume of Words which have been added to God's Word over thousands of years...truly disturbing, it is.

Needless to say the first two sayings of Eve reveal the responsibility of Adam to teach her was beyond him.

"The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head"

F2F

 

[face2face]

It is written "Because she was the mother of all living" This may be true literally, but it also has a figurative significance. Eve represents the
bride of Christ, the church associated with the Covenant of promise, "the mother of us all" from which the promised seed originated.

But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written: “Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”

It's her third saying which holds incredible meaning both to her and her seed!

 

[face2face]

Eve said "I have gotten a man from the Lord"...have a think about the significance of these words especially in relation to Chapter 3!

 

[face2face]

Eve said "I have gotten a man from the Lord"...have a think about the significance of these words especially in relation to Chapter 3!

I've been doing some research on this idea that the name Cain sounds like the Hebrew for gotten. If this is true then its a play on words.

She evidently imagined that the birth of her firstborn was the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 3:15. This would make sense, as the trauma of being sent from the Garden would be something she would want to see rectified through the promised seed.

She saw him as He who shall be (Yahweh), and used language indicative of this without recognising the significance
of the Yahweh Name as per Exodus 6:3

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord (Yahweh) I did not make myself known to them.

It's clear Eve understood the covenant made in Eden of a promised seed, which would crush the head of sin (flesh), but in terms of the details she was very much in the dark.

There is no doubt she had faith and longed to see this promised seed.

 

[face2face]

In fact, Eve not knowing the future made a mistake.

John wrote "Cain was of that wicked one, and slew his brother" (1 John 3:12).

He was the "word of the serpent made flesh," as later, the Lord Jesus became "the Word of Yahweh made flesh."

Incredible contrast when looking at the seed of the woman crushing the head of the seed of serpent!

1 John 3:12, Consider the depth of this verse! Cain was of the Wicked One; that is, he was a son of sin — of the serpent-sin, or original transgression.

Eve wasn't to know such a seed would come from her womb...though we can see two distinct lines of people would come from her. The line of Cain and the line of Seth.

She had to witness the enmity (hatred) between these two peoples.

F2F

 

[face2face]

The fourth and final saying of Eve

"And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew"

As we all know, there is so much we are not told of the circumstances around this birth, nor do we know what Eve might have been told, but the boys name signifies appointed. My take is Eve new the birth of Seth contain the purpose of God, in eventually bringing peace to the earth by removing the enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. However, having the knowledge that these two groups of people would mingle up until the time of Noah caused God to once again intervene to save the line of Christ in the earth.

The redemptive work of God in the seed of the woman is a tremendous story spanning thousands of years, and one can only imagine the awe and wonder in Eve who being the mother of all living will one day behold the glory of it.

F2F

 

[Enoch111]

...one can only imagine the awe and wonder in Eve who being the mother of all living will one day behold the glory of it.

We are not told in Scripture as to whether Eve was deemed to be righteous by God. We do know that Abel is the first person mentioned in Hebrews 11 as being righteous because of his faith. So it would be pure speculation to say anything about Eve. Of course she was "the mother of all living" simply because all human beings descended from Adam and Eve.

 

[face2face]

We are not told in Scripture as to whether Eve was deemed to be righteous by God. We do know that Abel is the first person mentioned in Hebrews 11 as being righteous because of his faith. So it would be pure speculation to say anything about Eve. Of course she was "the mother of all living" simply because all human beings descended from Adam and Eve.

That's correct, though you can't use Hebrews 11, as the people chosen in that text are specific and not an exhaustive list of faithful believers.
In regards to Adam & Eve I think its fair to say they were not like Cain - doubt you would argue that!

 

[Robert Gwin]

Hi all,

This OP was sparked by a talk I heard recently which challenged my previously held beliefs on Eve. Many people may not give her a second thought as she appears on the scene early in Genesis then is gone quickly.

In the past, I had thought the inspection of Adam and Eve was all about them passing the buck, so to speak; Adam --> Eve ---> Serpent, however upon a second look, I see a factual element to their responses which I had not noticed before.

Take Eve's second saying:

"And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I did eat"

It's 100% true - no question about that! It's a frank confession of sin! So while there is an element of passing on the blame, you cannot remove from her, her acknowledgement of her disobedience to God's Law.

As a side note "I wonder, if we excercise such frankness with God about our own sins!"

I also believe this first saying of Eve is the foundation upon which she builds her faith, as we progress through her other sayings.

There is no doubt this admission places both Adam and Eve in a better position with God, Who is able to deal with their disobedience more completely later in the record.

Happy to receive your thoughts.

F2F

The problem is, she didn't have inherited sin. Jesus' ransom covered those, but Eve was already perfect. When we attain perfection and are given eternal life, if we choose to sin like her, there will be no ransom for us either.