The Beginning of Wisdom

The word Genesis simply means beginning. The book begins with the words, "In the beginning God..." It makes sense then that if all things began at God's initiative then He has greater wisdom than anything that comes after those words. If that is logical, then why did Eve think fruit could impart greater wisdom? Wouldn't something have to demonstrate its wisdom in order to hold the promise of sharing it? We can't make fun of Eve as simple or foolish if we do the same things. Think about some of the superstitions in our world that believe in the power of inanimate objects and you'll see that we haven't advanced far beyond Eve's belief in the power of fruit.

Those of us whose worship regularly includes a celebration of the Lord's Supper are familiar with the verbs Genesis uses for Eve's actions in the garden. They are simple but they are so familiar to me that they jump off the page, she took and ate. We use the words that the Gospels tell us Jesus used at the Last Supper, "Take, eat." There is a huge difference between these two taking and eating moments, not the least of which is that Eve took and ate in disobedience to the Lord's command to not take and eat of that particular fruit while the disciples (and we) take and eat in obedience to His command. Jesus also did one other action that we don't see in Genesis, he blessed the bread. Eve couldn't ask God to bless what she was doing and she knew it.

We are told again and again in the Old Testament that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. How would the fear of the Lord have been wisdom in Eve's case? For her and Adam, fear came later, after they had disobeyed. Fear isn't just adoration, it is also acts as restraint if we believe that sin has a price. What is the price of sin in our lives? For Adam and Eve there was, in addition to being tossed out of the garden, a relational price in their relations with God and with one another and it only got worse in the second generation.