Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Genesis 1-3 – Was There Death Before Eating the Forbidden Fruit?
Death in the World Before the Fall?
Was death in the world before the Fall? I always thought not. Was death an unfair punishment or consequence? That has been suggested.
It has been hypothesized that when God told Adam that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die, that Adam couldn’t know what death was. That’s because death hadn’t yet come into the world.
Likewise, when the Serpent approached Eve and they argued over whether death would come, it has been suggested that Eve couldn’t really understand the consequences. That’s because death hadn’t yet come into the world.
So when they received the death penalty for their actions (which was revoked), such was an unfair sentence since they couldn’t really understand the consequence of death.
Let’s try a different hypothesis. Death was already in the world for plants and animals, but not for humans. When Romans 5 said that through Adam death entered the world, Paul is speaking about human death.
Why do I suggest this possibility?
1. Humans were made in God’s image, while animals were not. Part of God’s image is immortality. Humans could be immortal but not plants and animals.
2. Humans had to eat of the Tree of Life to stay alive, so the first couple did understand death. When God said that access from the Tree of Life had to be denied lest they eat of it and live, the Hebrew language means “continually eat” (Genesis 3:22). This matches Revelation 22:2 where the Tree of Life bore fruit monthly, implying continual eating.
Maybe death was in the world, except for humans who did understand that if they didn’t continually partake of the Tree of Life would die.
One lesson for us is continual access to the life-giving blood of Jesus is our Tree of Life.
Comments