Paint Party Friday: An Arm and a Leg!

 "This one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." Genesis 2:23

After saying that everything was good in the first chapter of Genesis, God says it is NOT good for the man He created, to be alone. "I will make a helper suitable for him" (Gen. 2:18,20) A study of the Hebrew words for suitable helper yields the meaning "an equal and perfect counterpart". Eve is by no means inferior in standing to Adam.

There is a joke that God told Adam He would provide a partner for him, perfect in every way. Adam then asked what would it take for him to have this perfect partner. God answered, "An arm and a leg." "OK", Adam asked next, "What can I get for a rib?" And the rest is history!!!

 Most of the time, relationships are far from perfect because we are not perfect. And marriage between an imperfect man and an imperfect woman is one of the most "efficient" ways God uses to "perfect" us. Couples are like sandpaper to each other. Sounds painful, but if we are committed to God and to each other, if we do not give up, and forgive time and again, we will eventually get our rough edges smooth!

 "The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise!" Genesis 3:6

Poor Eve! She just wanted to be wise! The serpent in the Garden of Eden was very wise, cunning and shrewd, and all he wanted was for Adam and Eve to disobey God and to follow him instead. First, he plants seeds of doubt about the goodness of God, and Eve suddenly agrees with him. "God says we must not eat of the fruit of good and evil, or EVEN TOUCH IT!" God never said anything about not touching the fruit! How harsh God seems. She can't even touch this beautiful fruit, and now all Eve can think of is touching, taking and tasting this forbidden fruit.

When God made the world, and put man in it, apparently there was a clear distinction between good and evil. There was absolute good and absolute evil. Separate, defined, with a very clear division. The word knowledge is da'at in Hebrew, which can also mean union. Da'at was also used in the Bible to describe the union of Adam and Eve. So we can say that the tree may also be named the Tree of the Union of Good and Evil.

I can see why God did not want man to eat of this tree. Just see what is happening in the world today. So much ambiguity. Moral issues are cloudy. There is so much argument even among Christians about right and wrong. We are so enamored of what "looks fresh, delicious and will make us wise"! The world thinks nothing of killing babies now. We are more concerned about killing of animals. We are just getting farther and farther away from the true wisdom we claim to seek, farther and farther from the source of that wisdom. And that is why, just like Adam and Eve, more and more people are hiding from God, in shame, in frustration, in anger, in rebellion, in confusion.

If only we turn back to God who is all good, and all forgiving. We will find the wisdom, love and peace we all need and want.

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