Did Adam and Eve really exist?
Do we believe the Bible or the scientists, who claim that Adam and Eve are just myths of different peoples? Jesus and his disciples believed that Adam and Eve really existed. In fact, God sent Jesus to redeem the world from the curse of sin which one person [or two] brought into the world. Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to everyone, because all have sinned.
1 Cor 15:45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Act 17:26 From one man he made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth, fixing the seasons of the year and the boundaries they live in,
1 Gen 2:4 This is the history [account, generations, records] of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day (yowm, at that time) that Jehovah God made earth and the heavens.
5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,
6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.
7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Also, Paul testifies of our ancestors: 1 Tim 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
14 And it was not Adam who was deceived. It was the woman who was deceived and became a lawbreaker.
2 Cor 11:3 However, I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by its tricks, so your minds may somehow be lured away from sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Mat 19:4 He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
There is sufficient evidence in the Bible to confirm the historical existence of Adam and Eve.
The time span of generations
Luke 3:23 Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,
26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah,
27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,
28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er,
29 the son of Josa, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,
30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim,
31 the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Joram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,
34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah
36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
In the above list, Noah appears fairly close to Adam. Also, Noah’s eldest son Seem is on the list. On the other hand, the milestones of human development mentioned in Genesis chapter 4 are not included in the genealogical list of Jesus.
I draw my attention to the fact that there are only 8 ancestors between Noah and Adam, but a multiple number (75) between Noah and Jesus. Part of the explanation may be that people often reached in the early days of mankind an age nearly 1000 years and when approaching Jesus’ times, most often under 100 years. At what age, an ancestor, who is nearly 1000 years old, got his first son, affects the total length of generations. In my opinion, the age of the first child was about the same as today. For example, Abraham’s wife Sarah laughed at the Lord when he promised her a son; even though both Abraham and Sarah had passed the normal childbearing age (NKJV Sarah had passed the age of childbearing). From this we can conclude that Satan quickly received followers from the newly-created humans; only eight generations and God was ready to dispose of the entire mankind he had created.
After Adam and Eve Gen Chapter 4 states: Gen 4:1 The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with Jehovah’s help.” 2 Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
16 Cain went out from Jehovah’s presence, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17 Cain knew his wife. She conceived and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe. 22 Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah.
An interesting question is: what happened before Adam? The creation days (yown) of God were long, not 24-hour days, but hundreds of millions of years. After all, Earth’s estimated age is 4.5 billion years.
We also do not know how long Adam and Eve lived in Paradise in peace and quiet until Satan in the form of a serpent came to deceive Eve. We also do not know how much time passed from Satan’s deception to Adam and Eve’s first son Cain was born. However, we know that ”Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. (Gen 5:3). 4 The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of sons and daughters” (5:4).
Were there hominids before Adam and Eve?
If we believe the scientists, in Africa there were hominids over several million years ago on the basis of fossil findings, and these hominids developed slowly over millions of years. When the Bible lists the names and professions of Adam’s and Eve’s posterity, there are professions such as shepherd, farmer, tent maker, music instrument player, a brass and iron toolsmith. Even Enoch, the founder of the first city, as mentioned, he was the son of Adam’s son Cain. The contradiction seems to be the timing; modern science schedules these advances of mankind to 40,000 years back in time. The genealogy of Jesus cannot go so far, only about 4,000 years back.
Could it be that the great flood had destroyed all the hominids? There could not have been a lot of human beings, Adam’s offspring, because only a few generations had passed from the birth of Adam and Eve. Science wants to believe that man has developed from these hominids. Believe it if you want. Every living thing is created by God because God created life. In theory, it is also possible that hominids were God’s first version of man, but it did not satisfy God. As Adam and Eve and their descendants did not meet God’s requirements, he decided to destroy all people from the earth. However, God did not want to totally destroy the animals, so Noah was given the task of collecting two specimens of each animal species into the ark.
– After having written this I found the opinions of two researchers Rana and Ross. They presented a theory that the original home of the hominids was in Mesopotamia and not in Ethiopia: ”What if the Garden did not include Ethiopia, but was limited to Mesopotamia? The “out of Africa” theory uses genetic similarity to date and locate the original humans. However, this genetic evidence does not mean the first humans lived in Africa. They could have migrated. Many human populations have collectively migrated thousands of miles. Moreover, the Bible teaches that the first humans were formed in the Garden, but their population expansion occurred outside of the garden’s territory. Therefore, they could have migrated to East Africa, as anthropology teaches”.
The human race differs from animals for example in that human genetics have much less diversity than animals. “This means that when comparing DNA sequences for any two chimpanzees, any two bonobos, any two gorillas, or any two orangutans, a much greater genetic difference will be observed than for any two human beings compared. Human similarity is observed worldwide, regardless of race and ethnicity” (Rana, Fazale, and Hugh Ross. Who Was Adam?: A Creation Model Approach to the Origin of Man. Colorado Springs, 2005).
The Fall of Adam and Eve (paraptōma)
Satan’s temptation: Gen 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.” 3:4 The serpent [Satan] said to the woman, “You won’t surely die,
5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” — 22 Jehovah God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever…” To whom did God utter these words? To the angels who were involved in God’s creation.
Did Satan lie to Eve? Not directly, this is what God testifies in verse 3:22: Jehovah God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil.” This is exactly what Satan promised. Satan is, however, the father of lie:… doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar and the father of it. (Joh 8:44). – Satan knew that the best lie is one in which at least half is true. The other side can be as in Adam and Eve’s case that Satan covered what Adam and Eve should have known and remembered, that is, the punishment following the offense.
What should we think of the temptation of Satan, that eating from this forbidden tree Adam and Eve would gain more understanding and become like God to knowing what is good and what is evil. Satan, therefore, did not lie; God Himself proves that Satan’s promise was fulfilled and “man has become like one of us so that he knows good and evil.” Now we can ask: Why should not a man know good and evil? It is the core issue of all Christian doctrine. It can also be said that the essence of Jesus’ teaching and the way to salvation also requires that we have full knowledge of it. Surely some wiser man can explain the matter and give a comprehensive answer. In fact, I would say at least this: God wants man to learn to know good and evil through obedience. Now Adam and Eve learnt to know it, but through disobedience and the subsequent punishment.
It is not that Adam and Eve ate the fruit of this forbidden tree. Disobedience was their offense.
The tree of life. God ‘feared’ that Adam and Eve would eat from the tree of life and live forever. Therefore God set an angel to guard the path to paradise and the tree of life so that they could not enter and eat from this tree. By eating the fruit of the tree of life they would have received eternal life. Why was it necessary to place an angel to make sure that Adam and Eve would not have access to Paradise? The simpler would have been to hack the tree so that it would no longer produce fruit.
The Bible, however, tells that God gave Jesus eternal life. It will not be necessary to eat the fruit.
The Revelation tells about the tree of life in the final pages of the Bible:
Rev 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of my God 22:2 Between the street of the city and the river there was the tree of life visible from both sides. It produced twelve kinds of fruit, each month having its own fruit. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 22:14 Blessed are those who do his commandments (NASB Blessed are those who wash their robes), that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
In these verses about the tree of life in the Book of Revelation, there is much symbolism and figurative expression.
… it produced twelve kinds of fruit … each month having its own fruit … the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations
First of all, I believe that in the upcoming new world we are in the spirit body. All evil has been overthrown and evil people have been punished. In Revelation 22:14 “washing their robes” is also a figurative expression meaning that such people no longer sin; they are like Christ. Why then does Revelation speak of eating the fruit of the tree of life? And why does it need to produce new, different fruits every month? Even here, my understanding is inadequate. The spirits do not eat fruit except “the fruit of the spirit”. Perhaps it is a continuous spiritual growth to gain and intensify the spiritual abilities needed by God’s new and more demanding tasks. In my view, in the New World, the universe of God is built further and “mountains moved” as Jesus said we could do with the power of faith.
Finally, the importance of the message of Revelation is emphasized: “If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city “
22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book.
19 If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book
What about Adam and Eve in the earthly paradise? Was the tree of life also a figurative expression or was the tree real? If the question was not of a real tree, why was it necessary for God to set a cherub to guard Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree?
What is meant by knowledge of good and evil? That’s what the Bible teaches. To do against God’s will is sin and evil. The good is, according to the Bible, to do the will of God. Why should not this be known?
Perhaps the prohibition was a question of something else, that they were tried to remain loyal in the small. Adam and Eve were not limited to anything other than one tiny command to be followed. Obeying or disobeying this command would settle their future; if they were obedient to God, they would live in paradise – perhaps forever. If they did not commit sin, they would not be subject to the consequences of sin i.e. death.
Gen 3:5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise [give understanding], she took of the fruit of it, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.
Satan realized that man had the need to understand and this is also what Eve had realized; to eat from this tree they would gain more understanding. Satan, later known as the “god of this world”, has used this tool to this day. Man wants to know and understand and know how to do everything. Think of what achievements man has achieved, even just over the past hundred years. If this trend continues, there will be even greater achievements in science. Soon we are going to have self-guided cars, which could not even be dreamed of a hundred years ago. Robots will perform operations in the hospital and stem cells can grow new members into the human body. As such development is progressing, mankind becomes more and more secularized and apostasy takes over. Only a small minority is interested in God’s truth and the will of God.
Is the tree of life a real tree or a figurative expression of something? I incline strongly to the figurative expression.
Spiritual Food
1 Cor 10:3 Paul speaks of spiritual food and drink: … and they all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock… Deu 8:3 He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Jehovah does man live.
We could even consider the question of the punishment of God. The violation of Adam and Eve was their first. I might ask: would it not have been fair to give a less severe punishment for the first-timers, like a warning and not so forceful punishment for all humanity – even for generations to come? Of course, they knew that they had earned the death penalty, but did they even understand what death means? Death was not an immediate execution, but an aging body, which would ultimately lead to death. Adam and Eve also brought death to future generations who were not guilty of a violation against God. They inherited the exposure to sin from the first humans. God knew in advance that this will happen. God also knew that the first sin would lead to a huge expansion of sin, and then finally to salvation through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
God was sorry that he had made man on the earth
Gen 6:5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 Jehovah was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
7 Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground; man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
For the first time, God was disappointed when Satan succeeded in attracting first Eve and with him Adam to break the command of God not to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Adam and Eve received their punishment and were driven out of Paradise.
It did not take many generations until the whole human race was full of evil. God decided to destroy all people, but Noah, with his three sons and their wives, received mercy from God. Why did God repent (nâcham; a primitive root; properly, to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly, by implication, to be sorry, i.e. (in a favourable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavourably) to avenge oneself, repent (-er, -ing, self), and became so grievous to mankind so strongly? He is all-knowing, and knows everything beforehand: the evilness of men could not come as a surprise. Why did God also have to destroy the cattle, the reptiles, and the birds? Why did God, however, want two copies of each species of animals in order to replenish the earth? Why did God repent? Remember that God knew what was going to happen and he did not take action to prevent it.
A similar event happened when Moses climbed up to the mountain to meet God. When he was not back, the Israelis gathered their golden bracelets and smelted them and made a calf to serve it as a god.
Exo 32:9 Jehovah said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and, behold, they are a stiff-necked people.
10 Now, therefore, leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.” 11 Moses begged Jehovah his God, and said, “Jehovah, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.” 14 Jehovah repented (nacham) of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
God had also a short temper for the Israeli people’s behavior. Could God not prepare for such misconduct that he could have thought in advance of punishing some other way than the people’s destruction?
God is a jealous God
Exo 34:14 for you shall worship no other god: for Jehovah, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
26:28 Then I will walk contrary to you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins.
Deu 4:24 For Yahweh your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Deu 29:23 and that the whole land of it is sulphur, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: — 28 and Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day.
Our God is a fiery God. He is also jealous and does not tolerate other gods. These emotions blend and produce problems for translators too. Take for example Num 4 25:11 “… so that I didn’t destroy the children of Israel in my jealousy”. We can contemplate God’s impetuosity in the final judgment; will God destroy the evil and ungodly men, or is his fire a cleansing fire? See my article on the cleansing fire of God.
