Eve's sin: lust. A very special kind of lust (part 1)

Eve is in a perfect garden having a perfect marriage. We know it was perfect because everything before the Fall (when sin was introduced into the world) was perfect (Gen 1:31). She had a perfect husband (Gen 2:18; 20b). Adam had dominion over all the animals. (Gen 2:19) There was no confusion of gender roles. (Eph 5:25). She had a perfect body image. (Gen 2:25). She was spiritually perfect and walked with God in the cool of the day. (Gen 3:8). All was well.

Now Lucifer the fallen angel came to Eve, that old serpent, who is the devil- so Revelation 20:2 reminds us of his names. Satan means adversary and devil means blasphemer. That old serpent who is the fallen angel Lucifer came to Eve and talked with her. His first recorded words are "Hath God really said...?" (Gen 3:1). They had a conversation. Then...

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat." (Gen 3:6)

OH, NO!! And people usually stop there in the study of this eternal take-back moment. But let's go a little deeper.

'And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food...' Saw means discern, behold or make to enjoy. (More on this in part 2.) Well, they weren't starving, were they? Presumably they had had food before this, all that they wanted from all over the garden. Why was she seeing THIS tree as good for food all of a sudden?

"...and that it was pleasant to the eyes". This is the second time we see the verse mention 'eyes'. (She saw...pleasant to the eyes." The word for pleasant is usually translated desire, but it really means "exceedingly, greedily, lusting." Wait, all of a sudden Eve is reduced to an exceedingly lusty state of greediness, panting after...fruit? More on how in part 2.

The word for pleasant in verse 3 is 'avah', or 'taavah'. There is a parallel event in the bible that talks about lust of this kind. The parallel is named Kibroth-Hattaavah, alternately spelled, Qibrowth hat-Ta'avah. It translates to "the graves of lust." The graves of lust, one of the encampments of Israel in the wilderness, where they desired of God flesh for their sustenance, declaring they were tired of manna, Numbers 11:34,35; 33:16. Quails were sent in great quantities; but while the meat was in their mouths, God smote so great a number of them, that the place was called "the graves of those who lusted," Psalm 78:30-31, a monument to warn mankind against the sin of discontent, 1 Corinthians 10:6. (Bible Dictionary).

In Mark 7:22 there is a list of the unclean things in a man: "Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." But in most translations the evil eye is translated 'envy', with the Greek word for it being ophthalmos. You will recognize our word opthamology, the branch of medicine for anatomy, physiology and treatment of the eye. You get envious of things you see that other people have. The eye again.

What is all this about the eye? "Eve saw that it was pleasant to the eye," the evil eye, lust and envy coming in through the eye? There are a lot of warnings in the bible about the eye.
  • Proverbs 3:7 - "Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. Eve wanted to be wise in her own eyes." Eve did not depart from the devil
  • Proverbs 15:30a "The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
  • Proverbs 22:9 "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed for he giveth of his bread to the poor."
  • Mathew 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light."
It is talking about the mind's eye. There is a connection between your eyes and your heart. What you look at betrays your heart condition. The moment when Eve 'saw' the fruit and she lusted for it, she betrayed her heart condition. She turned away from Godly things to lusting after the things of the world. THAT is when the first sin came. "She saw that it was pleasant to the eyes" and not just pleasant to the eye, but wanting that fruit heartily, greedily, exceedingly. All of a sudden, that is ALL she wanted, her world focused on that fruit- to the exclusion of God.

The verse immediately preceding the eye being the lamp of the body in Matthew 6:22 is "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." (KJV) Because at that moment Eve saw the fruit and lusted after it, became double minded. Single here does not mean having one eye, lol. It means being singleminded. Wesley says, "If thine eye be single - Singly fixed on God and heaven, thy whole soul will be full of holiness and happiness. If thine eye be evil - Not single, aiming at any thing else."

All this talk about the eye doesn't mean just to look. Christians go window shopping every day, looking at all sorts of goods. If you have the right heart condition, you look at a boat or a new house or a dress or golf clubs and you say, those are nice, but you don't suddenly turn into a puddle of exceedingly lustful slavering desirous people like Eve did wanting the fruit. You have the right heart condition. What makes the difference then? Satan, and I have an idea of how he did it. More in part 2.

Comments

  1. Great post, anxious to see part 2!

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  2. I split it into two parts because part one is solid bible and part two will be weird supernatural, lol. 'The vampire's hypnotic stare', and more. ;)

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  3. My husband was watching that show "Ancient Aliens" tonight, and they were talking about the Nephilim-- but not in terms of what they really are. They were saying they were "aliens." They also called Jesus an alien. I hate that show.

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  4. I can't watch that channel any more for that very reason.

    Now about the Nephilim. I have been corresponding with Paddy Heron, who wrote the Return of the Nephilim and the Pyramid of the Apocalypse, also he wrote about the antichrist. He recently did a radio interview where he was talking about looking closely at the scriptures to see who the Nephilim are/were. He is of the interpretation that the Nephiim WERE the fallen angels. We usually refer to the offspring as the nephilim but the name nephilim comes from Naphal, which means fallen. All the angels referred to who followed satan are always referred to as fallen. He thinks the giants were sure, the offspring, but a sideshow to the real deal, which were the amazing powers of the race of angels who overtook the earth in those days.

    he also believes that the antichrist will be a fallen angel, the AC is referred to as 'the beast from the pit" and Appolyon (or Abaddon) which means destroyer. Apollo was one of the original gods ad those original gods are locked up in the pit at Tartarus.

    These are two new but sound ideas that I have been mulling and studying and praying for guidance as to how to move forward. I didn't dispense with the motion that the Nephilim are the actual fallen ones because it makes sense to me.

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  5. Hmm, those are interesting takes on it. I'll be praying on it, too, though my study is in another area right now. I'm anxious to see what you find!

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  6. Hi Elizabeth,
    I too am looking forward to the next post!

    Reading your comment regarding antichrist...I am figuring you have heard of Walid Shoebat, here is a link
    http://www.shoebat.com
    He tends to think the antichrist is Muslim or Islam. I have heard from Joel Rosenberg that the 12th Iman could be the antichrist, now I am not sure if Walid claims this as well, but he sure does have some interesting stuff that I am in prayer over.
    I just finished listening to a cd series that has really opened my eyes to jihad and other Muslim practices. He related these to some Bible verses from Ezekiel, Isaiah and Daniel. He also says that the triple 6 is the jihad band that people wear around their fore heads and arms. But he said it is six three score and six. I believe there is a video link on the site I gave you that explains it.

    Blessings girl,
    <><

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  7. Great, insightful post. There is also something to be said about how we can restore this broken relationship by looking at the cross (God) singlemindedly - the fruit and the world fading in the background.

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  8. Please write and tell us what you know about this man, Paddy Heron, that convinces you that he is doctinally, theologically correct and why we should take what he says as truth. I'm not getting it.

    I've just read a few blog posts by him, and I encourage you, Elizabeth, to be very, very careful. I would not say they are "sound ideas", but something a single person has come up with and sells books with. His trashing of people with degrees in theology is one of my first clues - especially since he himself has a degree or two (honorary as well as earned). Do we throw out the teaching of McArthur, Jr. because he is a trained theologian? Must the masses be uneducated theologically, and only a few like himself hold degrees?

    I am also concerned that Heron is not associated with any particular church. Why is he afraid to say what he believes theologically? This is the way cults get started - "I have the correct interpretation and no one else does." If End Time theology and events were so simple to understand, more than this particular man would understand them and there would be little, if any, disagreement. I'm talking about between Godly men who say what they believe, preach it, study it, spend dozens of hours each week in the Word and prayer. There is a reason there are 4 main views, and many more sub-views, of End Time events - it is not easy to understand Apocalyptic literature today, especially in the West (where most of this stuff is coming from) when it was written with an Eastern mind-set (logic and thinking are very different between the East and West). I pray and I study the Word, fellowship with Christians each week - does God love Paddy Heron (or you) more than me and therefore shows you the truth and denies that truth to me? That the Holy Spirit would give a select few special knowledge and with-hold that knowledge from the vast majority of Christians throughout history is beyond my understanding or ability to believe.

    Do I believe Christ is returning soon? YES!

    Do I believe God is a man? NO! (see Heron's view that we are made in the image of God, therefore God physically-altho-a-spirit looks like us, or we look like God, or some such heresy. "At one point Jesus states, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” In other words, He looks like his Father. Even though God is spirit, apparently He has an image and it is that of a man." http://watchman-news.warn-usa.com/secret/2011/04/12/prophecies-of-the-antichrist-part-5/ There is a Second Commandment - Make no graven images of God - which would include saying God looks like a man and forming that image in your mind, a very subtle and humanly pleasing lie that appeals to our self-pride. Even copying and quoting those words makes me shudder with revulsion!! We are not to think of God as looking like anything in heaven or on earth. If we are going to be that literal, then Jesus looks like a door, or maybe he really looks like a loaf of bread (Bread of Life AND 'this is my body, broken for you') and the Holy Spirit would look like a river and God the Father has wings and feathers, etc.)

    Please, please be very careful when listening to this man who seems so far off the beaten path. If so many of his ideas are new, there is probably a very good reason for that. After all, Satan is the father of lies and appears as an angel of light and in these End Times even the Elect would be deceived, if that were possible.

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  9. Wow, interesting topic.
    So, maybe I'm not understanding what you are saying, but are you inferring that Eve actually sinned prior to eating the apple? If so, then the ability to sin was present since Adam and Eve were first created?
    Now that worries me. Because, once raptured, aren't we suppose to return to these "perfected" bodies that were like what Adam and Eve had before that "sin." And, on top of that, does that then mean that we could still have the ability to sin? Although, I guess the counter argument would be maybe - technically a "yes" but since Satan won't be present to tempt us, nor anything "evil" after the rapture, then we won't sin because there won't be a temptor?
    I don't know, just food for though I guess.

    -Chris

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  10. Oh my goodness. Chris's comment has just thrown me into another whole huge thought mode!!
    One of my weird fears is that I will be able to mess up heaven. I always go back to thinking, if satan could do it, what makes me think I wouldn't? Crazy, I know. But nonetheless...
    I will be prayerful, thank you for sharing your studies with us.
    -Jennifer

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  11. Chris, yes I am saying the moment when Eve sinned was when she turned her heart away from God and let the thought stay within her mind to eat the apple. Thoughts are sins, that is the first step to sinning.
    Mark 7:20-23 "And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

    For something to come out of us, like Eve's action of pulling the fruit off the tree and eating it, the first step is the thought, then the word, then the deed. That is the progression.

    Look at Matthew 5:28: "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

    We're taught that satan builds fortresses in our mind, to capture our thoughts. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" Matthew 15:19.

    Though Adam & Eve were crated without a sin nature, and Lucifer was created without a sin nature and he sinned in heaven no less, you have nothing to worry about. Here is Gotquestions.org answer to whether we can or will sin in heaven after we are glorified:

    Question: "Will it be possible for us to sin in Heaven?"

    "Answer: The Bible describes heaven in great detail in Revelation chapters 21-22. Nowhere in those chapters is the possibility of sin mentioned. There will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:4). The sinful are not in heaven, but in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). Nothing impure will ever enter heaven (Revelation 21:27). Outside of heaven are those who sin (Revelation 22:15). So, the answer is no, there will be no sin in heaven."

    "What does that mean for us? If there is no possibility of sin, does that mean we will no longer have a free will in heaven? Perhaps in heaven, our ability to choose will be similar to that of the angels. The angels had a one-time choice to obey God or follow Satan. There is no possibility of further angels sinning and joining Satan in his rebellion. The holy angels are "elect angels" (1 Timothy 5:21). Similarly, the elect in heaven will be "sealed" in their decision to forsake sin and trust in Christ. We will not even have the choice to sin. At the same time, having been delivered from sin and evil, and viewing the wonderful glories of heaven, we would not choose sin even if we had the choice."

    At some point you just have to trust by faith the promises that we will live in perfection and glory with the Savior forever, and these things will never come to mind again.

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  12. Anonymous who is concerned about Patrick Heron,

    Yes, I agree the times call for discernment, study, and caution.

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  13. Hi, I was just reading your comment, "he also believes that the antichrist will be a fallen angel, the AC is referred to as 'the beast from the pit" and Appolyon (or Abaddon) which means destroyer." AND . . . it totally reminded me of how the Mahdi is said to be hiding in a deep well in the ground since the 13th century. So the man that half the world is waiting to call the savior is believed to come from the deep pit in the earth.

    You can't just make this stuff up. It is crazy. The prophesies about the anti-christ will be fulfilled according to the specific details of Scripture.

    and I hate the history channel too.

    -b

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  14. I was just hearing a teaching by Chuck Missler and he says that in Isaiah it clearly calls the anti-Christ "the Assyrian" and the Roman Empire used to cover such a huge area of land that ancient Assyria was part of the Roman Empire.

    He thinks that the anti-Christ will be of middle eastern descent. But he still fully believes Dave Hunt's European/Roman take on everything else. I have been really interested in all this lately too.

    Oh, and also how it talks in Revelation about how the saints will be beheaded for their faith in Christ during the tribulation (those who come to Christ after the rapture and refuse the mark). And how beheading is primarily a muslim thing ??? I love looking into this stuff too. Thank you for posting all of this.

    --B

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  15. Really !! Beheading is not necessarily only an Islamic thing you trying to build a case that is one sided study your history

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