The Beginning: The Age of Innocence
There are seven dispensations throughout the bible that divides different time periods of God's work and purposes toward man. In this study I am going to focus on the very first dispensation which was known as the age of innocence. When God created man and woman, they knew no sin. They only had one commandment they must follow and that was do not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Before God even told them the one thing forbidden, he first told them all the things they could do and have in the garden. Genesis 1:28-29 lists them as the following:
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
Verse 29 stated they could eat of every fruit yielding seed as it was meat for them. I am lead to believe that the one tree they could not eat from must not yield seed. (Umm) Hold this thought. We will come back to it.
In Genesis 2:15-17 we read that God is telling the man he created before forming the woman, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Following this God informed man of the consequences if he did eat from the tree. "for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
This leads us up to the actions that caused man to fall in Genesis chapter 3. This is when doubt first entered into the world in the form of a serpent who charmed the more vulnerable of the two creations. He twisted God's words to make the forbidden fruit delightful and desiring to their innocent eyes. Eve now seeing the fruit was good for food took and ate and then gave it to her husband who was with her. Nothing happened in the moment the woman ate the fruit as it wasn't until Adam took that bite that verse seven says, "the eyes of them both were opened."
Food for thought on the actual fruit itself. I believe this fruit was a very important part of this whole story. A discussion was started at my place of work on what I thought the fruit was. Several thought it was an apple, some said pomegranate, and others said grapes, but these all yield seeds. This went on for the whole week and into the next. One person had several people ask me, "What was the fruit?" They had no idea why they were asking, but I began to take it into real consideration. Lord, what are you trying to tell me? As I read the Bible, words began to stand out such as in Genesis 1:29. They could eat of every fruit tree yielding seed, so I feel that the one tree they could not eat must not yield seeds. I found there is only one fruit actually mentioned as a fact of being in the garden. Genesis chapter 3 as Adam and Eve's eyes were opened they then knew good and evil and realized they were naked and sewed themselves clothes made from what? Fig leaves!!! What! Mind blown.
Food for thought on the actual fruit itself. I believe this fruit was a very important part of this whole story. A discussion was started at my place of work on what I thought the fruit was. Several thought it was an apple, some said pomegranate, and others said grapes, but these all yield seeds. This went on for the whole week and into the next. One person had several people ask me, "What was the fruit?" They had no idea why they were asking, but I began to take it into real consideration. Lord, what are you trying to tell me? As I read the Bible, words began to stand out such as in Genesis 1:29. They could eat of every fruit tree yielding seed, so I feel that the one tree they could not eat must not yield seeds. I found there is only one fruit actually mentioned as a fact of being in the garden. Genesis chapter 3 as Adam and Eve's eyes were opened they then knew good and evil and realized they were naked and sewed themselves clothes made from what? Fig leaves!!! What! Mind blown.
As my pastor would say, I am going off on a rabbit trail for a moment. " I must say the Bible did not say they ran off from where this took place. The serpent tempted them at the place they ate the forbidden fruit. Their eyes were opened there, and they clothed themselves there. My immediate thought in reading this was, do figs have seeds in them? Oh, boy! Let the research begin! I had to look this up. I found the most common figs are called Ficus Carica in their latin term. They belong to the Natural Order, and they do not have seeds. They are described as a flower only turned inside of what is called the skin. Figs are parthenocarpic which can develop without pollination. Parthenocarpic means the natural induced production of fruit without fertilization of ovules, which makes the fruit seedless. There is much more to this fruit, but you don't have to take my word for it, look it up. There are many video's and websites explaining this fruit in much further detail. I will list some sources at the end of this journal.
Back to the moment their eyes were opened as this was the moment the Age of Innocence ended, and death entered into this world for all mankind. Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 that as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. Sin did not enter into the world simply because they ate the fruit. It was the act of disobedience to the one rule God demanded. Realizing their nakedness they attempted to cover themselves by sewing the fig leaves into aprons. Wow, do you remember the first time you knew you did something wrong? That yucky feeling of guilt and shame caused these two creatures to hide themselves from God. Back in Genesis 1:26 God had given dominion over the entire garden to both of them. In creation God made the man in his own image, but made the woman for the man as 1 Corinthians 11:9 tells us. Understanding the order of God, Adam was the one responsible for his actions and for his wife's actions. Is this why they both had to partake in sin before their eyes were opened? It could be why it wasn't until Adam partook of the fruit that their eyes opened.
Who are we that God is so mindful of us? Moses told us in Genesis that we are created in God's image and according to His likeness. We are different from the rest of His creation. He gave mankind dominion, morals and reasoning skills, and not to mention free will. This makes us unique and the opportunity to have a relationship with our Creator. He desires to walk with each of us in the cool of the day, but by sin we were separated from Him. We have been given a way to be reconciled back with Him if we choose to. God over time prepared a way of reconciliation back into His presence and that is the hope we find in the New Testament.
Web links a few sources about figs:
https://biblehub.com/topical/f/fig-tree.htm
https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/figs-in-the-bible/
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/all-you-need-know-about-figs-ficus-carica
Interesting information found while researching:
*The most famous depiction of the fig as the forbidden fruit was painted by Michelangelo in his masterpiece fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 1510. Eve is holding a fig.
*The fruit in Western Europe was often depicted as an apple which originated in Central Asia possibly due to a misunderstanding or a pun of the native Latin noun mălum which means evil. Another Latin noun mālum borrowed from Greek which means apple.
https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/figs-in-the-bible/
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/all-you-need-know-about-figs-ficus-carica
Interesting information found while researching:
*The most famous depiction of the fig as the forbidden fruit was painted by Michelangelo in his masterpiece fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 1510. Eve is holding a fig.
*The fruit in Western Europe was often depicted as an apple which originated in Central Asia possibly due to a misunderstanding or a pun of the native Latin noun mălum which means evil. Another Latin noun mālum borrowed from Greek which means apple.
The next study to follow is Call to Repentance:
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