The Fall in the Garden

Jim and Bob learn about...

...The Fall in the Garden

(Puppets up)

Jim: Hey Bob! How’s it going?

Bob: Oh, I'm fine. But Adam wasn't in the story I'm reading.

Jim: Huh? Adam? He was the first man, right?

Bob: That’s right!

Jim: But why did you say he wasn’t doing good? I thought he was living in the garden of Eden, and that can’t be too bad!

Bob: But Adam and Eve made a big mistake in Genesis chapter 3. Genesis 2:16-17 says: “And the Lord God commanded the man 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 you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Jim: So they couldn’t eat from one certain tree?

Bob: That’s right. Think of it: A whole garden full of trees and plants, and they could eat from ANY of them except for one.

Jim: Wow! Life must have been pretty good in the garden.

Bob: Oh, it was. But there was about to be trouble there, too.

Jim: What?

Bob: Genesis 3:1 says: “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’”?”

Jim: Say that again?

Bob: He was basically trying to trick Eve. He said: “Did God say you couldn’t eat from ANY tree in the garden?”

Jim: Oh! That little trickster! HE TRICKED HER WITH TRICKY TRICKS!

Bob: Yes, he did. Well, Eve didn’t understand that she was being tricked. Verses 2 and 3 of that same chapter say: “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Jim: So Eve was just telling the snake what God had told her and Adam?

Bob: Yes and no. We’re not sure if it was a snake she was talking to…the Bible calls it a serpent. And later on we learn that it has legs.

Jim: Oh. So like a lizard?

Bob: Sorta. Anyway, Eve tells the serpent that she and Adam are not allowed to eat from that specific tree. And the next two verses tell us what the serpent said.

Jim: What did he say?

Bob: Genesis 3:4-5 says: “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘you will not surely die. 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.’” The serpent was trying to make it sound like God had told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit because if they did, they would be like God!

Jim: Is that true?

Bob: No. No one is like God! But Eve didn’t know that. (dramatic) So she took the fruit from the tree…

Jim: (gasp) Oh no!

Bob: …gave some to Adam…

Jim: No, stop, stop, stop!

Bob: …And…kids, do you know what Adam and Eve did? (wait for answer) That’s right! They ATE the forbidden fruit!

Jim: NOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOO!

Bob: Yes, they did. And when they did, their eyes were opened. They knew right from wrong. And they knew that they had disobeyed God by eating the fruit. That’s when they figured out that the serpent had tricked them!

Jim: But it was too late! They had already eaten it!

Bob: They figured that out, too. So, instead of facing God and his anger, they hid from him.

Jim: But that’s silly! God would have helped them!

Bob: I know. But they were afraid he would be mad at them, so they didn’t want him to find them.

Jim: Sweet! Like Hide-and-go-Seek!

Bob: (stares at him a second, then sighs) Why do I even try?

Jim: (clears his throat) Um…anyway, did God find them?

Bob: He did. And when he asked Adam and Eve why they were hiding, they had to tell the truth. God was very upset that Adam and Eve had broken his rule.

Jim: So what did he do? Did he punish them?

Bob: Not yet. He just asked Adam why he had broken the rule. Verse 12 says: “Then the man (that’s Adam) said, ‘The woman you gave to be with me (that’s Eve), she gave me of the tree, and I ate.’”

Jim: What? He was trying to blame Eve!

Bob: Yes, he was, and if you listen, it also sounds like he was blaming GOD. He said “The woman YOU gave to be with me.” He was trying to avoid punishment.

Jim: How did Eve respond to being blamed?

Bob: God asked her the same question. Verse 13 says:

“Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’”

Jim: So Eve was trying to blame someone, too! Eve was blaming the serpent.

Bob: Exactly.

Jim: Did the serpent try to blame someone?

Bob: (Laugh) No! There was no one left to blame!

Jim: So what did God say then?

Bob: Genesis 3:14 tells us. It says: “So the Lord God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.”

Jim: “On your belly you shall go…” That sounds like God was making the serpent into what we call a snake!

Bob: That’s right!

Jim: So, Adam and Eve got away with their disobedience by blaming everything on the serpent?

Bob: Nope. God punished them, too. Eve would have to go through a lot of pain when she had children, and Adam had to work with weeds and thorns when he farmed.

Jim: When he farmed? Did he plant the garden of Eden?

Bob: No. God drove Adam and Eve OUT.

Jim: NOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Bob: Yes. He set a fiery sword to guard the entrance, so that Adam and Eve could never come back!

Jim: But that’s not fair! The serpent tricked them!

Bob: I know. That’s how the devil works, Jim. He tricks people.

Jim: That devil is not very nice!

Bob: Too true. He’s the opposite of nice.

Jim: So, is that how the story ends?

Bob: Of course not! Adam and Eve’s story continues until the last word of the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, and beyond! In fact, they’re story will never end until the end of time.

Jim: Wow. That’s really cool, Bob.

Bob: It truly is, Jim.

Jim: So, will you have another story for me tomorrow?

Bob: I just might, Jim. I just might.

END SKIT