Today we lay the foundation from which we will discuss the consequences of the fall of man. We begin with the Serpent using a divide and conquer tactic to bring about the fall of man. To recap, during creation, God planted the Garden of Eden and made every tree grow out of the ground that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were also in the midst of the garden.
God then created Adam from the dust of the earth, breathed life into him and placed him in the garden to tend and keep it. God commanded Adam, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
God determined that Adam needed a helper comparable to Adam and created Eve out of one of Adam’s ribs. Thus, God created man as male and female. Eve was comparable to Adam. They were co-equals and were to function as one unified in purpose. God created man in the image of God as male and female.
Genesis does not tell us how Eve knew of the prohibition against eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, whether directly from God or through communication with Adam. Either way, Eve was aware of the prohibition and the consequences established by God. This is evident from her expressed knowledge of it during her dialogue with the Serpent.
The fall of man begins with Eve acting independently of Adam in dialoging with the Serpent. We can assume that neither Adam nor Eve should have been dialoging with the Serpent and certainly neither should have been dialoging independent of each other.
Assuming that Eve was informed of the prohibition through Adam rather than directly from God, the Serpent apparently targeted Eve apart from Adam. If Eve learned of the prohibition from Adam rather than directly from God, she would be more likely to have doubt about her understanding of the prohibition.
Regardless, the Serpent succeeded in causing the fall of man by dividing and conquering. He viewed Eve as the weak point and approached her without the presence of Adam. This tactic is still the Serpent’s goal today. Divorce is rampant in our society. God designed the family to function as one cohesive Godly unit. Husband’s and wives should unite themselves and their families. As a husband and wife pulls closer to God, they also pull closer to each other. This will defeat the Serpent’s divide and conquer tactics.