"What happened?" I exclaimed, as I turned to two of my sons who were already up getting ready to go for their morning run.
They both answered my question at the same time by saying one word, and that one word explained everything: "Osha!"
"Oh," was all I could say. Osha spread my clean laundry all over the floor of my house. I looked at Osha and thought for a second to ask him to put the clothes back in the laundry basket. He is definitely smart enough to do it, but I knew of course he wouldn't. Sigh. I find it so very hard to look at Osha's sweet face and be mad at him — he's just too cute!
Osha is our kitten. She steals everything — flowers from my floral arrangements, ceramic bird ornaments, decorative ribbons and bows, and my summer slip-on shoes. These are forbidden items, but she takes them anyways as soon as any of our backs our turned.
Osha reminds me of Eve when she took a bite of the forbidden fruit, which God commanded Adam and Eve to not eat. God warned them that if either of them disobeyed, their actions would lead to certain death.
"And the Lord God commanded the man,
'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'"
Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV)
But Satan in the form of an upright serpent, (not the slithering kind that one sees today,) tempted Eve with deceiving words, and Eve listened. She believed his lies and partook of the forbidden fruit.
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food
and pleasing to the eye,
and also desirable for gaining wisdom,
she took some and ate it."
Genesis 3:6a (NIV)
The Bible says Eve then offered to Adam some of her fruit. It doesn't say Adam asked Eve for a bite, nor does it say Adam refused Eve's offer just so he could reach out to the tree and greedily grab a whole fruit for himself.
"She also gave some to her husband,
who was with her, and he ate it."
Genesis 3:6b (NIV)
The Bible just says Eve gave some of her fruit to her husband. She didn't ask Adam or try to convince him with words. The verse just says Adam took the fruit and ate it without protest.
Eve was motivated by two selfish desires: to taste a fruit that was so delicious-looking, and to gain wisdom.
But what was Adam motivated by? The Bible doesn't say. We can only speculate. Was it fear at the thought of losing his precious love and being separated from his new companion and helpmate? Was it guilt because he should have protected Eve by stopping her from eating the fruit in the first place? Was it doubt of God's Word because Eve was still standing and very much alive? Was it greed to have more than what he already had? Or was is to please his beautiful wife rather than to please God?
Whatever the reason, we do know that Adam chose to follow Eve's disobedience rather than obey His Creator. Eve chose to listen to the serpent instead of obeying God and before seeking her husband's advice. Eve was tempted by Satan, and Adam was tempted by Eve. Both sinned against God their Heavenly Father.
Then the Bible says both their eyes were opened at the same time. I wonder why God didn't open Eve's eyes immediately after she ate the forbidden fruit? Why did He wait until Adam also ate the fruit? If God had opened Eve's eyes first, would Adam still have been tempted? Hmm . . . an interesting question. I will have to think about it some more. I guess it would depend on what Adam's actual motive was in eating the forbidden fruit in the first place. However, I do think if Adam saw his wife running around looking for leaves to cover herself, he would have had second thoughts about taking a bite of the fruit.
"Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they realized they were naked."
Genesis 3:7a (NIV)
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