August 3: Free Will: The Ultimate Love Gift

… And [the serpent] said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1b)

Now Eve had previously heard correctly the instruction of God. The divine command began with a revelation of Yahweh’s abundant generosity of tangible gifts: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat…” (2:16) which highlights the magnanimity of the Maker even as He immediately alludes to an additional gift: the gift of choice: “…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (v.17).

From the outset, yes, even in a perfect (unfallen) world, the reality of human free will is made clear. Yes, indeed: each of us is a free moral agent. The word surely adds emphasis to the word die.  The subject of death is, well, deadly serious! But, in verse 3:3 when Eve responded to the serpent’s question (which was itself a distortion of God’s words) Eve quoted the command of God yet weakened it by leaving out the word surely. Though Eve had been personally instructed in the sublime ‘schoolroom’ of the garden of Eden, she did not take every word (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4, Luke 4:4) as seriously as she should have. Subconsciously, along with her weakened interpretation of the divine command, she felt the need to add something that sounded very strict: “nor shall you touch it”. The one forbidden tree had been placed by the Creator in the midst of the garden, adjacent to the tree of life (2:9). To accidentally touch it in the course of a day would not constitute disobedience to the LORD. This side-by-side placement represents the constant temptation to disobey that the Creator foresaw in His omniscience.

In hindsight, can any of us possibly overstate the consequences of this conversational exchange? It is ironic that, in the course of the conversation between the serpent and Eve, the very next verse reveals the serpent adding surely back into the “quote.” This demonstrates his knowledge of the word and will of God, and also reveals his willful choice to lie about what God has said by mixing in his simultaneous use of the word not, which totally negates the command of God. Look again at this exchange:

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” (vv.2-4)

You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2