Eve's sin: lust.

A very special kind of lust (part 1)

By Elizabeth Prata MsEd
Eve is in a perfect garden having a perfect marriage. We know it was perfect because everything before the Fall (when sin was introduced into the world) was perfect (Gen 1:31). She had a perfect husband (Gen 2:18; 20b). Adam had dominion over all the animals. (Gen 2:19) There was no confusion of gender roles. (Eph 5:25). She had a perfect body image. (Gen 2:25). She was spiritually perfect and walked with God in the cool of the day. (Gen 3:8). All was well. Now Lucifer the fallen angel came to Eve, that old serpent, who is the devil- so Revelation 20:2 reminds us of his names. Satan means adversary and devil means blasphemer. That old serpent who is the fallen angel Lucifer came to Eve and talked with her. His first recorded words are "Hath God really said...?" (Gen 3:1). They had a conversation. Then... "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat." (Gen 3:6) OH, NO!! And people usually stop there in the study of this eternal take-back moment. But let's go a little deeper. 'And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food...' Saw means discern, behold or make to enjoy. Well, they weren't starving, were they? Presumably they had had food before this, all that they wanted from all over the garden. Why was she seeing THIS tree as good for food all of a sudden? "...and that it was pleasant to the eyes". This is the second time we see the verse mention 'eyes'. (She saw...pleasant to the eyes." The word for pleasant is usually translated desire, but it really means "exceedingly, greedily, lusting." Wait, all of a sudden Eve is reduced to an exceedingly lusty state of greediness, panting after...fruit? More on how in part 2. The word for pleasant in verse 3 is 'avah', or 'taavah'. There is a parallel event in the bible that talks about lust of this kind. The parallel is named Kibroth-Hattaavah, alternately spelled, Qibrowth hat-Ta'avah. It translates to "the graves of lust." The graves of lust, one of the encampments of Israel in the wilderness, where they desired of God flesh for their sustenance, declaring they were tired of manna, Numbers 11:34,35; 33:16. Quails were sent in great quantities; but while the meat was in their mouths, God smote so great a number of them, that the place was called "the graves of those who lusted," Psalm 78:3031, a monument to warn mankind against the sin of discontent, 1 Corinthians 10:6. (Bible Dictionary). In Mark 7:22 there is a list of the unclean things in a man: "Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." But in most translations the evil eye is translated 'envy', with the Greek word for it being

ophthalmos. You will recognize our word opthamology, the branch of medicine for anatomy, physiology and treatment of the eye. You get envious of things you see that other people have. The eye again. What is all this about the eye? "Eve saw that it was pleasant to the eye," the evil eye, lust and envy coming in through the eye? There are a lot of warnings in the bible about the eye. Proverbs 3:7 - "Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. Eve wanted to be wise in her own eyes." Eve did not depart from the devil Proverbs 15:30a "The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, Proverbs 22:9 "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed for he giveth of his bread to the poor." Matrhew 6:22 "The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light." It is talking about the mind's eye. There is a connection between your eyes and your heart. What you look at betrays your heart condition. The moment when Eve 'saw' the fruit and she lusted for it, she betrayed her heart condition. She turned away from Godly things to lusting after the things of the world. THAT is when the first sin came. "She saw that it was pleasant to the eyes" and not just pleasant to the eye, but wanting that fruit heartily, greedily, exceedingly. All of a sudden, that is ALL she wanted, her world focused on that fruit- to the exclusion of God. The verse immediately preceding the eye being the lamp of the body in Matthew 6:22 is "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." (KJV) Because at that moment Eve saw the fruit and lusted after it, became double minded. Single here does not mean having one eye, lol. It means being singleminded. Wesley says, "If thine eye be single - Singly fixed on God and heaven, thy whole soul will be full of holiness and happiness. If thine eye be evil - Not single, aiming at any thing else." All this talk about the eye doesn't mean just to look. Christians go window shopping every day, looking at all sorts of goods. If you have the right heart condition, you look at a boat or a new house or a dress or golf clubs and you say, those are nice, but you don't suddenly turn into a puddle of exceedingly lustful slavering desirous people like Eve did wanting the fruit. You have the right heart condition. What makes the difference then? Satan.