Each week will be posted a series of True and False questions, with the answers appearing below. The object of these questions is for you to test yourself--not a test of obscure Bible trivia but a test of whether you are holding to Biblical revelation or myths and legends passed down by ignorant men. You should ask yourself, “If I have believed this myth, what other myths do I believe?” The goal is that you will be challenged to faithfully read and study the holy Scriptures and base your convictions on the holy, eternal, inerrant written Word of God.
True or False - According To The Bible....
Before the fall, nothing ever died Eve caused the fall The fall is the record of why snakes do not have legs Work is as a result of the
6. Before the fall, nothing ever died - False There are several problems with this belief. It is true that God the Holy Spirit makes it clear that death entered the world through the sin of Adam. Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” It is also true that an aspect of the curse of the Fall for Adam was his personal death, the future deaths of mankind and unfruitful labor through toil and trouble (Genesis 3:17-19.) This curse does not specifically state, though, that the death of plants and animals began with the curse of Adam. In Genesis 1:14 God the Holy Spirit records the creation of “seasons.” Then, in Genesis 8:22, God reaffirms in the Noahic Covenant the continuation of seasons: "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease." The existence of seedtime and harvest, summer and winter would assume seasonal cycles of life and death by vegetation. In Genesis 1:29 & 30 God gives man rule and dominion over all animal and plant life. In terms of harvesting and eating plants and animals the natural conclusion is that they would be killed in the process. True, certain fruits and vegetables can be eaten without killing them but, equally true, there are others which cannot be consumed without killing the plant. Since Adam had rule over all the plants, it stands to reason that he consumed all types of food bearing plant life including those that could only be eaten by killing them in the harvesting process. It is the author’s contention, as well, that Adam killed and ate the animals, just as he did vegetables. Last but not least, Adam was given a job by God in Genesis 2:15 “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” Even though this work preceded the Fall and was enjoyable, rewarding and fruitful; even though, since it was before the Fall, there were no evasive weeds, parasites or difficulties faced by modern farmers—still, Adam had to cultivate the garden. We can assume in the hoeing, planting and cultivating of a Garden of Eden that natural occurring plants were removed and cast aside. We can also assume that the occasional insect was killed in the process. We also know that certain herbivores, when grazing or eating plants, devour the entire plant--roots and all. This, too, would certainly come under the heading of death, in terms of plant life.
7. Eve caused the fall - Romans 5:12, 18,19; I Timothy 2:13, 14 -False This can be grouped into the second myth, which states that “because of Eve/Woman, there is sin in the world.” It is one of the great coups of satan and one of the great acts of prideful hypocrisy of men in the church that this teaching has survived. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. God the Father clearly states that unfruitful work and death are in the world as a result of the judgment of Adam, not Eve. (Genesis 3:17-19 “Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.") Adam is rebuked for listening to Eve, but God does not condemn Eve for deceiving or seducing Adam to sin, nor does God allude to the fact that Adam was deceived or seduced into sin by Eve. Adam is held directly responsible for listening to Eve and then deciding on his own to sin. The Bible never teaches that Adam was deceived or seduced into sin by Eve. Instead, just the opposite is true. The Bible teaches that, while Adam rebelled in a calculated manner, it was Eve who was deceived. God the Holy Spirit teaches in1 Timothy 2:14 “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” This is contrasted with God the Holy Spirit’s teachings on Adam, the sin of Adam and the consequences of this sin. Notice the emphasis of God the Holy Spirit in Romans, chapter 5: Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Romans 5:15 “… if by the transgression of the one the many died …” Romans 5:16 “… judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation…” Romans 5:17 “… by the transgression of the one, death …” Romans 5:18 “… through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men…” Romans 5:19 “… through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners…” The Fall, the curse, death, sin and all of its consequences fall squarely on the shoulders of Adam and the men who followed him. Just as in the time of ignorance, poor women were berated for producing female children instead of males, when, in fact, it is the man’s sperm which decided the gender of the child, so today many poor women are blamed in the church for the sin, death and toil of the world when it is man who alone bears this responsibility.
8. The fall is the record of why snakes do not have legs - F Genesis 1:24-25 “Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.” The Hebrew words used here are forms of one another: OT Strong’s number 7430 “ramas” (raw-mas'); a primitive root; properly, to glide swiftly, OT Strong’s number 7431 “remes” (reh'-mes; from OT: 7430; a reptile or any other rapidly moving animal: - that creepeth, creeping (moving) thing. Thus snakes, worms and other animals that slither or glide upon the ground were created on the sixth day. The curse of satan (Genesis 3:14 The LORD God said to the serpent, " Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life;) was the curse upon a specific fallen angel - satan and was not an allegorical myth as to why there were snakes. The curse of satan occurs in Genesis chapter three, while the creation of snakes occurs in Genesis chapter one.. The teaching that the curse of satan is the explanation for the existence of snakes is born out of a low view of holy Scripture, an ignorance of preceding chapters and a lazy approach to the interpretation of the Bible by negligence to both the context of the passage and the study of the original Hebrew. It is an attempt by liberal and secular academians to reduce the Holy Scripture to mythology and should be rejected and opposed at all times.
9. Work is as a result of the Fall - F Work preceded the Fall. In Genesis 2:15, God puts Adam to work in the Garden: “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” This is not the jungle, as depicted by the ignorant, but the Hebrew word here is more like an estate or plantation. The Hebrew word used here is “Gan” meaning; a garden (as in fenced) thus an estate or plantation. Adam was to work this garden. In addition, in Genesis 2:19, God the Holy Spirit reveals to us, “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.” So, before the Fall, Adam was not an indolent simpleton, lazing about in a jungle of delight but, instead, he worked hard for the Lord in obedience. It was the Fall resulted in unfruitful work (Genesis 3:17 – 19) but it was not the beginning of work. It is wrong to say that if Adam had not sinned then we would never have to work. It is equally wrong to say that as one grows more spiritual and has more faith, one may attain to a state of grace where all ones needs are fulfilled by faith and one never need work. God the Holy Spirit forever puts this to rest in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 “For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work , then he is not to eat , either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.” Work then is a Christian virtue and the example of Adam as an obedient child of God working hard precedes the fall. By His Mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon Director - Grace Community International
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