Learning From Mother Eve’s Mistakes

ESPECIALLY FOR WOMENWhen her focus shifted from the Creator God to His creation, Eve became the first materialist!Learning From Mother Eve‘s Mistakes Eve, the unique woman formed by God’s own hand, became “the mother of all living” (Gen. 3:20 NKJV). Like any loving mother, she would want her daughters to learn from her mistakes rather than by their own bitter experiences. Moreover, God tells us that “whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Then 1 Corinthians 10:11 also tells us that “all these things happened to them as examples, and they are written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” God uses examples from past ages, examples of both good and bad behavior, to encourage us to do what is right and to warn us of the disastrous consequences of wrong doing. The Positive
Eve gives us both a positive and negative example. Thus her life provides us with many lessons of which we can only notice a few. To begin, let us travel in thought to the dawn of human history and to the place where “the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden” (Gen. 2:8). We look around with wonder at the multiplied proofs of the goodness of God. Everything we see is good (Gen. 1:31). Such beauty and abundance almost overwhelm us as we sense that all of nature is in perfect harmony with itself and with its Creator. Unblemished life and vigor characterize everything. What a breath-taking scene! We would like to admire it longer, but time is passing, and we must find Eve. There she is, as we might expect, helping Adam tend the garden. She was created for this role “as a helper comparable to him” (Gen. 2:18), and “a helper suitable for him” as another translation puts it. We are captivated by her beauty, skill and joy as she helps her man in their God-given task of ruling over the unfallen earthly creation (Gen. 1:28). Eve is aware that, having been made “in the image of God” (Gen. 1:27) she shares with Adam in both the high privilege and awesome responsibility of being the visible representatives of the invisible God on earth. The thought strikes us that Eve has everything a woman could long for! She has good looks, brains, vibrant health, a beautiful home and a position of importance. She has the perfect husband to love and be loved by unselfishly. Spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally she is his perfect counterpart. Hers is the original “marriage made in heaven” with no arguments, no hurt feelings, no tears! Truly, Eve is blessed by God with every temporal blessing in an earthly paradise in Adam her head (1 Cor. 11:3). Her natural response to this in whatever activity she is involved is to “do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). Obeying the Word of God, whether spoken directly to her or through her husband, Adam, is her delight. The Negative
Before we start envying Eve, we must hurry on to a very different scene. We cannot really see Eve, but we catch a glimpse of her beautiful long hair. She is again by her husband’s side, but now with fear and shame they are both hiding “from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8). At God’s call they emerge, clothed physically with self-made fig leaf coverings, but painfully aware that their guilt is not covered; for “all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13). Poor Eve! Who would envy her now? What has caused the tremendous difference? First, let Eve speak for herself: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Gen. 3:13). God’s Word validates her statement, saying, “the woman being deceived fell into transgression” (1 Tim. 2:14). We need God’s validation for we can no longer trust Eve’s judgment or her words. Eve did not plan to disobey God – but she did! The Deception
How did the deception take place? Apparently, Eve first listened to the voice of a mere creature, the serpent, not knowing that he was also “called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). Then she counted his words as having the same value and authority as the Word of God. Finally, she believed the lie, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). In this process of being deceived, Eve left her “helper” role in which she acknowledged Adam as her “head,” and she took life-changing decision-making into her own hands. Soon after failing to seek Adam’s counsel, she contributed to his downfall. Finally, Eve was deceived into expecting personal spiritual benefit to come from partaking of the fruit of a tree (Gen. 3:5-6). She depended on the material creation to provide the fulfillment and maturity which only her Creator could give. When her focus shifted from the Creator God to His creation she became the first materialist! Who can measure the greatness of her loss? A Lesson
Now, how does this all relate to us who are Eve’s daughters late in history? Having been born with a sinful nature, and constantly being attracted by a multitude of cunning voices, we are in even greater danger of being deceived than she was. However, unlike Eve, we need not be ignorant of Satan’s devices (2 Cor. 2:11). Through careful consideration of mother Eve’s mistakes we can learn to recognize deception in our lives by the following three tests. First, if something else takes the place of the Word of God, as the supreme and final authority in my life, I am being deceived. Second, if I ignore the God-established order of headship, and instead demand my freedom and my rights, I am being deceived. Third, if I seek fulfillment and satisfaction from any created thing, rather than from my Creator God alone, I am being deceived. Have I learned anything from mother Eve? By Carolyn Gibb