The Probation of Adam and Eve

Why couldn't Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil?

God was establishing law and order for the human race. Although they were full grown, they had to develop mentally. It was important that God placed boundaries on them. To command them not to eat was a necessary prohibition. God placed them on probation - to test them to see if they would obey His command. 

God was sending a message to them that they could not do anything they wanted to do - they had a higher authority they were accountable to. 

The serpent comes and talks with Eve. He questions God's word to her so as to create doubt. Secondly, he lies to Eve - telling her that she would not surely die if she partook of the fruit (Gen 3:9). They would be like God knowing good and evil (Gen 3:5). Adam and Eve were made perfect without sin, yet they were temptable. When both of them ate the forbidden fruit, the Bible says their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. It was at this point that mankind was first aware of what evil was. The result? They hid themselves because of their guilt and shame. They sewed fig leaves to cover themselves. Man was no longer innocent - he became a sinner.

Who were they hiding from?

It had to be God for there was no one else there in the garden. The act of sewing fig leaves to attempt to cover and hide their shame was insufficient. I'm certain in their minds that now they felt they had sufficiently covered their nakedness, all was well. Their nakedness was not the problem, their disobedience to God's command was the problem. When one obeys the Lord, sin is not a problem. We do not deny it's existence and power, but as the scripture say when we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal 5:16).

As God was walking in the cool of the day He asked Adam, “Where are you?” The Lord did not ask Adam’s whereabouts because He didn’t know. He was commanding Adam to reply to Him. Adam replied,”I heard the sound of you in the garden I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself” (Gen 3:8-10). See what happens when we disobey? Shame sets in, then fear. That is why they tried to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord. 

Adam and Eve failed their probation miserably. The result of their sin brought about the fall of the human race. They heeded the devil’s word over God’s. They accepted a lie instead of the truth. Any wonder why it is man’s nature to run from God? We do not want to deal with the guilt and shame of having to face Him. Many people try to “rid” themselves of their guilt (they think) by denying the existence of God altogether. This way in their mind, they have absolved themselves of guilt. That is nothing but denial. Telling oneself that God does not exist does not deny His existence. 

Our fidelity to God is put to the test when there are options to rebel against Him. The Lord knew that evil lurked in the garden with the devil taking on the form of a serpent. Why did He allow the tempter to come, and why didn't God warn them ahead of time? God needed to test them for them to see if they loved Him with all their heart soul mind and strength. Sadly, they failed their first test of obeying God and resisting evil. 

The Bible tells us in 1 Tim 2:13 the Eve was deceived but Adam was not. He willfully disobeyed God. There should be no wonder where are rebellious spirit comes from - our first father. 

in the final analysis, Adam and Eve's actions toward God set the tone for how mankind would behave thereafter. Man's systemic wickedness to this day is the result of the original disobedience way back in paradise. Man has been sinning so long now that He loves it and is no longer ashamed of it (John 3:19). God being the loving Father He is planned our rescue by sending the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us from the wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10).

                                                                                                                                                  

Hophni and Phinehas

Hophni and Phinehas appear in the beginning of the book of 1 Samuel. Who are they? They were priests, and they were the sons of the High Priest Eli in Shiloh in the land of Ephraim. The Bible says the Lord desired to kill them. Why? 

They both showed contempt or disrespect for the Lord's sacrifice. When a person came with their offering, and the meat was boiling in the pot, Hophni and Phinehas would take a three pronged fork and take whatever portion came on the fork from the pot and claim it for themselves. When the one offering the sacrifice protested, the two sons would say that their father (the High Priest) will not accept boiled meat only raw. The problem with this is that the fat of the animal was supposed to be burned on the altar. The evil sons said if the one sacrificing would not listen to them, they would take the offering by force - thus stealing what belonged to the Lord. In addition, Hophni and Phinehas were also sleeping with the women who would bring their sacrifices (1 Sam 2:12-17,22).

It is important that we do not miss the import of what is going on here. These men are despising God and the office they are in. To be in leadership and engage in gross sin is a very serious matter. It would be just as heinous as if this were a Pastor or elders
at your local Church were stealing the money and sleeping with the women in the Church. Because these men were evil and unwilling to repent after being warned by their father Eli explains why God wanted to put them to death (1 Sam 2:25).

 Eli was a poor example to his sons. He knew what they were doing and did nothing about it other than to verbally rebuke them. At best he should have removed them from their holy office. At worst, they should have been sentenced to death. Eli did neither. Neither son listened to their father proving their disdain for his instruction, leadership and authority. In hating their father’s instruction, they were ultimately hating God, the most serious offense of all. At the end of the chapter an unnamed prophet pronounced the death of Hophni and Phinehas. The “man of God” as he is called also rebukes Eli for stating that he honored his sons above the Lord. When the sons were robbing the sacrifices of the people, Eli benefited too (1 Sam 2:29). Eli was somewhat complicit in the evil of his sons - he was eating the meat from their stolen sacrifices. As a result, the man of God told him that he and his father’s house would be cut off from the priesthood. That prophecy came true once Eli’s sons were killed by the Philistines (1 Sam 4:11). When Eli heard the news that the Ark of the Covenant had been captured by the Philistines, he fell out of his chair, broke his neck and died (1 Sam 4:18).

What should we learn from this tragic account? 1) That we should take the Lord seriously and fear Him. Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were priests because they were from the tribe of Levi. Their responsibility was to lead and teach the people in the ways of the Lord (Lev 10:9-10). You cannot do that when you are worse than the ones you’re supposed to be leading. Also. 2) If we are in constant rebellion against the Lord, we should be very afraid. Not to be afraid is far worse. Why?

To be unafraid of the consequences of your sin is to be deceived by it. Our sin if allowed can seduce us into thinking that we are somehow impervious to its effects. One does not realize how egregious their sin is and how it is an affront to God Almighty. The writer is guilty of this often. When one is judged by their sins, they do not see it coming from far away to avoid it. Judgement comes swiftly and unexpectedly like a mighty rushing wind.

In the case of Hophni and Phinehas, they had hardened themselves so deep in their sin that they became incorrigible. Their consciences had been seared (1 Tim 4:2). God decided that it was time for them to face ultimate justice, death (Lev 10:1). When men are in leadership and are supposed to be the instruments of the Lord's reformation and righteousness yet you corrupt God's holy priestly office by living wickedly on purpose with no contrition, how can there be any hope for them? Only death awaits (Rom 6:23). That ended up being the fate of Hophni and Phinehas.

God loves the sinner but hates the sin

I have written and spoken about this matter on a few occasions. I need to discuss the matter again. I want to for your consideration, present another angle to this subject. As most people know, sin is rebellion against God and man. The Bible says the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Would the writer be out of line if he said, “God hates the sinner because of their sin?” I would say no because the Bible supports that phrase.

Psalm 11:5 reads, “the Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.”

David declared in Psalm 139:21-22, “do I not hate them O Lord that hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them my enemies.” David is showing his righteous zeal for the Lord. Anyone who opposes the Lord is not only God’s enemy, but his enemy as well. David’s hate in this sense is justified. You cannot be friends with those who hate God. As a believer if they are God’s enemies, they HAVE to be ours too!

It is important that a distinction is made. God hates all sin, but because God’s overarching virtue is His love, He shows compassion to sinners. But I also believe those who are overtly, bloodthirsty and impenitent in their wickedness God will show them no mercy. They arouse God’s righteous anger, and in due time, God will punish them to satisfy His justice.

Here is the new wrinkle I want to put into this discussion.

God is symmetrical I believe when it comes to rewards and punishment. What I mean is that when someone does well, the person is rewarded not the good that they do. You cannot reward the good without the person right? The good deed could never exist without the person performing it.

Also, negatively speaking, we cannot punish sin without punishing the one who committed the sin. Sin could never exist unless someone consciously commits an act of sin.

The title phrase can be misleading. What I mean is that we cannot divorce a person from their sin. We as believers have to lovingly confront it. Just like we do not sever a person from their good deeds, we cannot sever a person from their bad ones. My point, loving the sinner and hating the sin means we do not ignore the sin, we expose it to the sinner.  Because if we ignore it, we are actually doing the opposite, we are hating the sinner and loving the sin! That means we are in sin ourselves. We are  not doing the person a favor by claiming we love them by covering up their sin. It is not a popular idea, but the greatest thing you can do for a sinning brother or sister is to lovingly confront their sin so that they can confess it to God, forsake it and receive deliverance for therein lies true freedom.

The kindness of the Father clearly revealed in scripture is that God loves sinners and despises their sin at the same time.  It is also undeniably true that God hates evildoers – meaning He does not love them at all. They are his enemies.

For the record, the Bible never records the phrase, “God loves the sinner but hates the sin.” But it is indeed true. God loves sinners. If He didn’t, He never would have sent Jesus Christ to earth to save them from their sins (Matt 1:21; John 3:16).