God now pronounces judgement and sentence on each of the trio that went against the rules that he set up. We do not know why he put the trees there if he did not want the man and the woman to touch them. We do not know the mind of God, the one who brings everything into being.
The story is so human though. And it is said that we ARE made in God's image, so we are easily led to interpret God's actions and emotions as similar to our own. Parents put things out of reach of their children and say do not touch them. The children will explore, however, and especially when reaching a certain age will seek out and experiment with whatever is there. What is forbidden becomes familiar.
God comes home and finds his liquor cabinet raided and his children drunk, their virginal consciousness irrevocably changed. What is he to do? He locks up his liquor and puts a guard on it, angels who never sleep with flaming swords. The message is clear. You two may have fallen into dualistic thinking but you are not going to gain access to the tree of life. No eternal life for you.
The man and the woman are banished from the garden. But first, God takes care of the serpent. The somewhat amicable relationship between the serpent and the woman is destroyed. They will now be enemies. The serpent now has to crawl on the ground and "eat dust" every day of its life. Its offspring and the woman's offspring will naturally look to harm and destroy each other.
The woman is next in line for judgment. Her punishment is twofold. God says her pains in childbirth will be increased. Plus "your yearning shall be for your husband, yet he will lord it over you." The gender battle begins.
The man no longer has easy pickings. Work is introduced. He can only get food from the soil through hard labor. This is a life sentence, says God. It will be so until the man returns to the soil from which he was made. "For dust you are and to dust you shall return."
Death now enters the garden. Up until now, no mention has been made of any animals being killed. It appears as if the man and the woman are vegetarians. Before they leave, God makes clothes for them "out of skins." Something has died so the man and woman can have protective clothing (the earth now has "brambles and thistles"). Fig leaves obviously won't do. The man and woman don the skins and step outside.
The story is so human though. And it is said that we ARE made in God's image, so we are easily led to interpret God's actions and emotions as similar to our own. Parents put things out of reach of their children and say do not touch them. The children will explore, however, and especially when reaching a certain age will seek out and experiment with whatever is there. What is forbidden becomes familiar.
God comes home and finds his liquor cabinet raided and his children drunk, their virginal consciousness irrevocably changed. What is he to do? He locks up his liquor and puts a guard on it, angels who never sleep with flaming swords. The message is clear. You two may have fallen into dualistic thinking but you are not going to gain access to the tree of life. No eternal life for you.
The man and the woman are banished from the garden. But first, God takes care of the serpent. The somewhat amicable relationship between the serpent and the woman is destroyed. They will now be enemies. The serpent now has to crawl on the ground and "eat dust" every day of its life. Its offspring and the woman's offspring will naturally look to harm and destroy each other.
The woman is next in line for judgment. Her punishment is twofold. God says her pains in childbirth will be increased. Plus "your yearning shall be for your husband, yet he will lord it over you." The gender battle begins.
The man no longer has easy pickings. Work is introduced. He can only get food from the soil through hard labor. This is a life sentence, says God. It will be so until the man returns to the soil from which he was made. "For dust you are and to dust you shall return."
Death now enters the garden. Up until now, no mention has been made of any animals being killed. It appears as if the man and the woman are vegetarians. Before they leave, God makes clothes for them "out of skins." Something has died so the man and woman can have protective clothing (the earth now has "brambles and thistles"). Fig leaves obviously won't do. The man and woman don the skins and step outside.
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