Forbidden Fruit

It was an exhilarating experience for us. My partner and I were in a delightful world. It was a garden, full of trees and plants. Blooming buds and flowers and fresh fruits. Fruits that were good for food. The sights, sounds, and scents of the place were way out of the earth!

                                   My partner Adam told me about the instructions given to us by the Great Creator. We were to work and tend all the plants in this Garden, which was in Eden. We were free to pluck and eat the fruits from all the plants in here. But He forbade us to eat from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

                                   This instruction riled me. I wanted to know more. "Really!" I asked him, "What do you mean by forbade? What will happen if we eat fruit from that tree?"

                                   Adam told me that our Creator said this, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in that day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

                                   I had to keep quiet. What can we say when our Creator said that it was harmful to us to eat that fruit? But as I glanced at it when my partner took me to see it, I was entranced. That particular forbidden fruit somehow appeared to be more pleasant to look at and more lovely to eat.

                                   Life went on pleasantly otherwise. Almost every evening when it was cool, we used to walk in the garden along with our Creator God, pleasantly conversing with him.

                                   One morning as we were tending to the plants, a stranger came in. He was looking handsome in his own way and had an endearing way of convincing us. He came and spoke to me, though my partner was with me. This handsome stranger spoke to me and asked me, "Did actually God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree that is in the garden?"

                                   Not having directly heard God say this, I looked to my partner Adam. I thought he should respond to this question. But he remained silent. I could not wait for and so I spoke on and said, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die."

                                   I added the bit about touching the fruit as it seemed appropriate to me.

                                   The serpent, for that handsome creature, was on, replied to me. He said, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

                                   Flummoxed, I watched the tree and its fruit closely. I saw that it was extremely pleasant to look at. From my knowledge of the other fruits I ate, this fruit looked like it is going to be very tasty and good to eat. Not able to help myself, I went ahead and plucked the most good-looking fruit from that tree. Once it was in my hand, I put it in my mouth and took a large bite of it. It was juicy and delicious. Looking at my partner Adam, I offered it to him too. He hesitated a bit but only for a second. He too took the forbidden fruit from me and ate it.

                                   An earth-shaking revelation occurred to both of us as we relished that fruit. "Adam," I cried, "We are naked! How on earth did we not realize this earlier?" Grinning sheepishly, he replied, "I am not sure Eve, what shall we do now?"

Grabbing some fig leaves, I sewed them together with some bramble thorns.

                                   Hastily we wore those fig leaves to hide our bodies. This made us feel a little in control of ourselves. But in our hearts gnawed something, pricking us at our hearts. A rather uncomfortable feeling. We felt somehow. As if we have done something we shouldn't have.

                                   After starting us on this downward trend, the serpent slunk away into some slimy pit. Only Adam and I were left facing each other. We looked at each other and mourned the loss of our innocence. The loss of the glory of God which had clothed us before we ate of this forbidden fruit. "What is God going to say to us, Eve?" asked Adam plaintively.

                                   "I just don't know, Adam," I replied. We both plunged deeply into our thoughts as the day grew hotter in our garden.     

As the afternoon gave way to a cooler evening, we both began to sweat. What are we going to say to our Creator God? Surely, He will come in the evening to talk to us? Deciding to hide from Him is best, we both hid by evening, hoping to avoid all contact with God.

                                            As we got closer to the usual time, we heard His voice. He was calling out, "Adam, Adam, where are you?"

                                            Tumbling out of our hiding places, we had to confront him. Thankfully He initially asked Adam. I was happy that God was not calling me. But as the conversation continued, I found that when God asked Adam why he disobeyed Him and ate the fruit, Adam pointed to me. He blamed me, the God-given help-meet, for his, Adam's disobedience. Saving his skin, just like my Adam, I thought. God asked me, "What is it that you have done?" I didn't know what to say. I too shifted the blame. I said, "the serpent deceived me, and I ate."

                                         Then God conveyed the punishments to each of us. I was interested to see that He did not ask the serpent why she tempted me. Maybe He felt the serpent cannot but tempt? I am not sure. After He cursed the serpent to be a mud eater and a crawling beast, God turned to me. I cringed. He pronounced, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain, you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."

                                        I felt humiliated. But that was what I deserved, I realized. Even my mate Adam was cursed by God for what he did. He was to sweat and work hard for us to get our food, from now on. We slowly realized that the world we knew, has disappeared. We have to adjust to the new normals now.

                                            All this happened because, tempted by that serpent, we ate the forbidden fruit, I realized. Many a time I thought, “How I wished that we hadn’t done that!”

                                         But in this bleak scenario too, the grace of God appeared. He had a look at our miserable faces and sloppy fig-leaf dresses, He slaughtered some animals and took their skins and made us modest dresses and gifted them to us. I was happy with my dress as it covered me well and made me look decent. So was Adam.

                                      We were sent out from Eden and the entry was barred for us by Cherubim with flaming swords who were guarding the gate. Adam and I then consoled each other and became intimate. I conceived and bore my first child. In much pain, I delivered a boy and named him Cain. We were wondering if this boy would be the deliverer that God promised for us. But it was not to be so. Our second son Abel grew up to be a gentle fellow. He kept sheep and was faithful to God. The eldest Cain worked the ground and had a different nature. As they grew, I realized how different these two boys of mine were.

                                     We were trying to reach God and reconnect with Him somehow. The children went to bring some offerings to God and put them close to the barred gate of Eden. It seems that Abel and his offering of a lamb were preferred by God. Or so they thought. Cain being the firstborn was not happy. I don't know what happened between them.

                                      But Adam called me and told me one day that Cain had killed Abel. "Killed? What do you mean Adam?" I cried. We realized that because of his jealousy, Cain had murdered his brother. I was heartbroken. This was my first loss. I wept and wept but could not get my son Abel back. To add to my sorrow, God asked Cain for an account of his younger brother. He judged him for his sin in killing Abel. He made him a nomad and so Cain had to go. So I seem to have lost both my sons.

                                   By God's grace I got another son and named him Seth, 'God's appointed'. Our family began to spread on earth. Seth also got married to one of my daughters and had a son whom he named Enosh. From this time onwards, we as humans began to call on and pray to God, our Creator. Adam and I continued to have many more sons and daughters before we went the way of all the earth and died.                                                                             

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