8…IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL…PART 2
(Based on GEN 3...For more, read there.)

In the cool of that evening, when YHWH comes walking in the garden looking for His friends Adam & Eve they're feeling so guilty about what they've done that instead of rushing out as usual to take God's hand & walk with Him, they actually hide from Him. Behind a tree. Maybe behind That Tree! YHWH calls out to them, "Adam, where are you? Eve, where are you?" Adam & Eve know deep down the game's up! They are found out! Shamefacedly they come out from behind their cover. Then they begin to make excuses. Their first excuse is they've suddenly realised they were naked & are ashamed to meet God looking like that. But YHWH pounces on what they say. "Mmm..." God says. "Who's been telling you you're naked?" Oh, I know! You've been eating fruit from That Tree I warned you not to touch, haven't you? From the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil? That's why you're seeing yourselves so differently, isn't it? Seeing Me differently, too, no doubt! What on earth made you do it?" Now as well as leading them to tell whoppers, one of the other things the fruit from That Tree has done is make Adam & Eve cunning! Not very nice to each other any more. So Adam tries to pass the buck to Eve. He says to God, "She made me do it!" Now Adam would never have said that kind of thing about Eve before, but now things are different. When God turns to Eve, she blushes & doesn't know what to say, but just then she happens to catch sight of a snake slithering through the grass. If Adam can pass the buck, so can she. Quick as a flash she says to God, "That snake tricked me into doing it." Well! YHWH is flabbergasted! He knows things will be bad once they eat that fruit, but this bad? Just in case, God says some pretty harsh words to the snake that make it slither away as fast as it can, but God is so hurt by what Adam & Eve have done, so hurt He can't trust them now, He tells Adam & Eve they can't live in Eden any more. Life won't be so good & enjoyable, all fun & games any more. Because they've chosen to do what they want instead of what God wants, God knows they won't enjoy living there any more anyhow. So He sends them off to find somewhere else to live, though He knows they won't find things so easy. You know, God is really more upset than Adam & Eve are! Then, to try to stop others from making the same mistake & picking & eating forbidden fruit that makes people too big for their boots, God sets angels to guard the tree & protect others from coming to harm from it. It's been a sad day for Adam & Eve, & for God too. One of the consequences of their disobedience, so the story goes, is that human beings can't live for ever. Not in their earthly bodies, anyway. That, according to our oldest story-tellers is the answer to someone asking questions round the fire like, "Why do we always have to work so hard?" or "How is it people die?" Things will never be the same again! But that's another story... Next time: Snakes in the Grass…..