Why were Adam and Eve given two conflicting commandments? Possibly God wanted them to use their agency in the choice they made while in their innocence. Possibly they understood enough that it was better to sin against the lower law in order to gain the higher law.

Eve was clearly “beguiled” by Satan, but I believe God knew Eve very well and knew how she would react to this beguiling. God had taken everything into account and depended on Eve to make the choice she did. Agency is a necessary factor, but God depends on each one of us to make the choice that will move His plan forward. How often do we let Him down?

Eve did not let Him down.

The blame game that follows, when Heavenly Father and Jesus return and ask what happened, often makes me smile, but it is a truly sobering moment. Each one, in turn, while indeed blaming the other, still takes full accountability for their actions.

Another lesson for us.

Elaine A. Cannon, former Young Woman General President, said,

We are like children walking a path in the rain. We can walk in or around the mud of life as we desire, but with our choices come the consequences. And we are rapidly becoming what we are choosing to be for all eternity.

Spiritual maturity is understanding that we cannot blame anybody else for our actions. Some factors may make it harder for us to perform according to God’s plan for us, but being accountable for how we use our agency means being answerable for our own behavior.

It is one of the things I admire most about mother Eve—her absolute strength in personal accountability. When she was called on the proverbial carpet by God, she explained that Lucifer had tempted her with the fruit. But then she admitted, ‘And I did eat.’ (Moses 4:19) (Women’s Meeting, Oct 1983)

Tad Callister, in The Infinite Atonement, suggests two fundamental truths we must consider:

1. “Adam and Eve are to be commended, not condemned. We can only honor these brave, stalwart, righteous examples.”
2. The fall was part of God’s Master Plan. It was not a mistake, an after-thought, or a surprise. “It was a necessary step in the progress of man.” (Bible Dictionary)

When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden there must have been a lot of questions in their heads. I think they understood and remembered plenty, but they were beings on their own, raising and teaching their children without the “good or bad” example of others. Yet, they understood enough to stay true to their covenants and were obedient to the command of the Lord.  Adam, with Eve’s support and encouragement, made sacrifices and wrote down all that the Lord did explain to them. They must have felt so loved and watched over when the angel came to check up on them to give them more information.

Sometimes we are in the dark not knowing why we believe, worship or act on the things we do. But because we have scriptures and the fullness of the gospel at our fingertips, we don’t have to wait for an angel to fill us in. We need to make the choice to seek our own understanding. Just think about that: Adam and Eve didn’t have scripture. They didn’t have prophets, General Conference, Ensigns, Sunday School, or even Family Home Evening manuals. Once they left the presence of God, they were on their own and had to rely on faith.

On whom, or what, do we rely?

As I’ve sat and pondered the situation Adam and Eve found themselves in I have realized just how much I rely on the people around me to guide me, give me ideas, strengthen me, encourage me, build me up when I’m feeling down, help me. I could go on and on. Eve had no one. And face it, we women need each other. How did Eve manage all by herself?

A life without problems or limitations or challenges—life without “opposition in all things,” as Lehi phrased it—would paradoxically but in very fact be less rewarding and less ennobling than one which confronts—even frequently confronts—difficulty and disappointment and sorrow. As beloved Eve said, were it not for the difficulties faced in a fallen world, neither she nor Adam nor any of the rest of us ever would have known “the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient. (Jeffrey R. Holland, CR, Oct 1996)

Eve must have been so determined in her righteousness that her power, strength, and confidence kept her turning toward Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It makes me sad to think that anyone might ever think Eve a weak villain in all of this.

Hugh Nibley explains that the Hebrew word for “curse” given to Eve is the same word given to Adam. She would be cursed in childbirth and he would be cursed as he worked the land. He continues, “The thing to notice is that Adam is not let off lightly as a privileged character; he is as bound to Mother Eve as she is to the law of her husband. And why not? If he was willing to follow her, he was also willing to suffer with her, for this affliction was imposed on Adam expressly “because thou hast hearkened unto…thy wife and, hast eaten of the fruit.” (Nibley, Old Testament and Related Studies)

What makes sense, and follows church doctrine, is that Adam and Eve were in this together from the very beginning. God is not a respecter of persons and He absolutely loves and honors all of His children equally. A husband and wife make a unified unit that should hold one another up in love, loyalty, honor, and respect. This was the case from the time mankind has been on the earth. It is what Jesus Christ taught when He was on the earth. The scriptures teach this important doctrine. And our own homes are the training laboratories.

 

 

So, why did the fall have to happen?

The two “negatives” of the Fall were actually positives.

1. Adam and Eve lacked knowledge, so by partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they now could become as Gods, knowing good and evil.
2. Adam and Eve could now procreate with God’s blessing. By the Fall the human race was born.

The word Atonement means “to redeem,” “to reconcile,” “to ransom,” “to pay one’s dues,” “to make amends.”  But for what? The answer—for the fall of Adam and for the “fall” of each person who sins.

Is Eve to be punished forever for eating the fruit? No. Those waiting to greet us in heaven include “our glorious Mother Eve, with many of her faithful daughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God.” (D&C 138:39)

Thank you, Eve, and Adam, too, for initiating this important part of the plan of our Heavenly Father.

President Ezra Taft Benson said, “No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind.” (Benson, Witness and a Warning.)