…a lying tongue…
a false witness who utters lies…

Proverbs 6:16-19

We need to be honest about Adam and Eve. Think this through. This couple had perfect human bodies in every way and they had perfect 100% use of their brains; two things we cannot even imagine. The only thing they did not have, before they disobeyed, was the knowledge of good and evil and they didn’t need that because they had God’s (triune God) presence right there with them!  

And what do these perfect, now instantly made imperfect, humans think, say and do once their eyes were opened to good and evil? Did they think right away that they had sinned by eating the fruit? And was that the real sin? Simply eating fruit? 

Surely, they immediately knew that was a disobedience; a sin, but the root sin was rejecting God’s Truth Command. The real sin was their free will deciding that God did not have their best interest in mind and they must have believed that God would not fulfill His promise that they would surely die. Because if they did believe all of God’s command and the promised judgement for disobedience, they never would’ve even talked to that old crooked serpent for any longer than to tell him to; ‘In the Name of our Creator-God; Get behind us!’

I believe they did know instantaneously that they had sinned, and not just by the action of eating a piece of fruit. Just imagine their 100% functional brains in a nano-second gaining an understanding of good and evil. Imagine their shock to see each other not as God’s glorious creations, but as mere humans standing beside each other naked; exposed and vulnerable. Sensations I don’t think they had felt before. Imagine their consternation when they realized the serpent had lied to them…that they had deceived themselves…that they had rejected God’s command and His promised judgement and that now they knew, with 100% surety, that they were ever so slowly dying physically, mentally and emotionally. I wonder if they knew their perfect relationship with their Creator was broken? They knew, I think, but their ensuing actions and words make me think they didn’t quite grasp just how irrevocably it was severed. 

Adam and Eve told themselves two astounding lies! I know this because I told and still, sometimes, tell myself the same lies and so have every other human born since this first couple started lying to themselves. They believed they could fill by themselves, somehow and in some way, the chasm now standing between them and their Creator God. Thus, they made themselves the first attempt at clothes. And they lied to themselves that they could hide from God. So, they did indeed, attempt to hide from Yahweh who was and is everywhere present!

If that wasn’t enough sin spilling into the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve played the first blame game. They gave a false witness about each other the serpent and…. Who did Adam actually accuse to be at fault for all that just took place? ‘The woman…You…God…gave me! Let that sink in as the ultimate false witness!

Not to be outdone, Eve accuses the serpent. She at least admitted she was deceived. But, she, like her husband, took no personal responsibility for her sinful words, actions or thoughts. That is the real sin in a false witness…in the blame game; diverting blame to someone or something else and not facing the sin that lies within ourselves. 

 Is it any wonder that ‘a lying tongue’ and ‘a false witness who utters lies’ are two of the seven things God says He hates in Proverbs chapter six! Just try and fathom what those two sins have done to wreak havoc for basically our whole earthly timeline! 

Of course, Adam and Eve did not have to sin. In their free will, they choose to disobey and reject God’s promise. But, they could have obeyed. The free will God gives us is very precious, it is very provocative and it is very powerful! 

That is why we must, through the Gospel, bring our free will completely under God’s Sovereign Control, Hold Tight to Truth and Refuse to Play the Blame Game!