Reading Notes: Adam and Eve, Part B

 

The Garden of Eden. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

    I read Leaving the Garden from the Adam and Eve unit. In the Bible, Adam and Eve are sent out of the Garden of Eden because they disobeyed God. Not much else is said about what happened to Adam and Eve or where they ended up. We can assume that they would have had to now be on their own. The reading talks about what happened to Adam when he was forced to leave the garden. It describes why God did not place Adam in certain places. For example, Adam was not placed on the northern border of the garden because he would then have been close to the sea where he could wash away his sins and then forget of what he had done. God ends up having Adam stay on the western border of the garden. the reading also says that Adam and Eve were very distraught when they were forced to leave the garden and had to now go to some strange land that was unfamiliar to them.

    I really enjoyed reading this story because it showed how God is merciful but also knows how to "punish." God knows what is best and this reading goes behind the scenes into God's thoughts on a decision that God made. I think this story would be very fun to retell as well. Adam and Eve remind me a lot about people today. We don't always follow the rules and then we get upset when facing the negative consequences of our actions. They had to face the consequences of their actions in this story; however, it says at the end of the reading that God "raised them from their fallen state." Adam and Eve were punished but God still cared about them enough to lift them up when they were down.

Story source: The Forgotten Books of Eden, edited by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr. (1926): The First Book of Adam and Eve 1-2.