Topic: The necessity of the Fall of Adam and Eve:

Genesis 2:16-25 > Moses 3:15-25 > Abraham 5:11-19 > Abraham 3:4 > Genesis 5:5 > Genesis 3:1-7, 22 > Genesis 1:28 > Romans 5:12 > 2 Nephi 2:19—20, 22-25 > 2 Nephi 9:6 > Alma 12:22-34 > Genesis 3:22 > Alma 42:2-10 > Alma 34:9 > Alma 42:11-15 > 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

The account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is simple in its telling and to some that may be all it is a simple story. But to those who give it serious study and thought they will find it full of meaning from which there is much to learn. Some may find it difficult to understand asking themselves the question, “Why would God begin the human race this way?” or, “Is there any truth to this story or is it simply folklore?” I have heard quite a variety of explanations from many different people. Yes, there are those who believe that the story is only figurative; they believe it is not an account of an actual occurrence, or if there were an Adam and Eve, then most of the story is figurative. Others believe that the fall was a result of sexual sin. In the examination of this scripture train, I hope that we can come to a satisfactory understanding of Adam and Eve, the fall, why it occurred and the necessity of it.

Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 through 25 gives the account of God giving Adam the commandment not to partake of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. “The Knowledge of Good and Evil”! This is very important to understand. Adam and Eve are told they can eat of any tree of the garden save this one particular tree, “The Tree OF The Knowledge of Good and Evil”. As I contemplate on the meaning of the name of this tree, there is no other conclusion that I can come to than this: Adam did not have the knowledge or the understanding or the comprehension of good and evil. Just as a small child does not have a knowledge or an understanding, or does not comprehend right and wrong, good and evil, neither did Adam; God created him and placed him on the earth in an innocent state. Understanding this is vitally important to our understanding of the story, the role, the mission of Adam. He is at this time completely innocent!

Continuing on with these verses, we learn that if he ate of the fruit that he would die in the day he did so. At this point we need to also examine Moses chapter 3 verses 15 through 25. In verse 17 there is an important difference in the two accounts, “Nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, it is given unto thee.” This important sentence introduces the gift of agency to Adam. He is given the gift of choice. Next in this verse, we also see that Adam is also made accountable for whatever his choice will be. Now, in the previous paragraph, I mentioned that Adam was created and placed on the earth in an innocent state. So, we must ask ourselves at this point, “Can Adam, in this innocent state, comprehend this gift of agency and the resultant accountability?” The gift of agency, given to Adam, is a gift to each of us and we will be held accountable for the choices we make. 

As we read further, we learn that Eve was not yet with Adam and once she is created God, Himself, brings Eve to Adam and gives her unto him. Is it correct to assume that if God gives a woman unto a man that they are married? Yes indeed! For in verse 24, Adam calls Eve his wife. The knowledge that we gain from this verse completely rules out the possibility of sexual sin being the cause of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were husband and wife, given to each other by God.

Another very important verse to consider is verse 25. The scripture teaches that they were both naked and not ashamed. Why were they not ashamed? Is it because, as mentioned earlier, they were as two innocent children who have no understanding? Remember that when the serpent, the devil, came to tempt Eve, one of his ways of justifying the action of eating the fruit was that it would open her eyes; or she would gain knowledge of things, which at present she had no understanding or knowledge of. We will discuss this more later.

In the book of Abraham, we have one more account of the creation and of Adam and Eve; there is one more very important teaching here that we  need to understand in order to understand the story of Adam and Eve better. In chapter 5 verses 11 through 19, we learn that God’s reckoning of time and man’s is not the same, we learn that Abraham saw that God’s time is reckoned after the time of Kolob, which only makes sense; time will differ according to the planet on which one dwells.  Another important point is that God had not even given man his reckoning at this time. Abraham chapter 3 verse 4 teaches us this relationship. It teaches us that a thousand years to man is as one day to God. So when God stated to Adam, “For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die”, we know that God was speaking a factual statement; for in Genesis chapter 5 verse 5 it states that Adam lived 930 years, just 70 years short of the thousand years that makes up one day to God. So Adam did die in the day, God’s day that he partook of the fruit.

Let’s turn now to Genesis chapter 3 verses 1 through 7. We read the account of the devil tempting Eve and of her partaking of the fruit. What happened, why did Eve partake? Yes, the devil tempted her, but Eve did not have to partake just because she was tempted to do so. She had her agency to choose to partake or not, but she chose to partake. Let’s examine the devil’s words to Eve. “Ye shall not surely die”. Is this the truth or a lie? The truth is that Eve would die spiritually for she would be removed from the presence of God, thrust out of the garden and two, she would bring upon herself a physical death; it would not occur immediately as we learned earlier, but it would occur in God’s reckoning of a day, but she would die. So this statement of the devil is a lie! “In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Is this the truth or a lie? Genesis chapter 3 verse 22 teaches us that this statement is true. Adam, then, partook of the fruit in order to fulfill the commandment of God to stay with his wife and together ‘become one flesh’ (Genesis 2:24).

Why did Eve partake of the fruit? I believe there are two reasons. One, the devil’s temptation was very enticing. Verse 6 states that, “That the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes.” She did not immediately turn away from the temptation, she dwelt upon the words of the devil, considered them, looked upon the fruit and then, two, she recognized that she was indeed lacking wisdom or knowledge or understanding, so she chose to partake. The devil mixed truths and lies together to offer Eve an enticing temptation. We don’t know if Eve recognized that or not, but we do know that she recognized her lack of knowledge and decided that it was better to partake and have knowledge than to not partake and continue as she was. She then offered the fruit to Adam; Adam partook of the fruit for the reason stated in the previous paragraph. As a result of eating the fruit, they became as the gods knowing good and evil. Immediately they recognized they were naked and hid from God due to their nakedness. So we see that a change did come over them; they had lost their innocence, their eyes were opened and they recognized and understood right from wrong, good and evil.

Now, here is another fact that needs to be stated. The other commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve, according to Genesis chapter 1 verse 28, was to multiply and replenish the earth. Adam and Eve dwelt in a state of innocence! From what we have read they had no understanding of their sexuality prior to their eating of the fruit. This being the case, how would they ever have known how to have children? They could have never have kept this commandment. Might the fact that Eve knew the commandment, but did not understand it be one of the things that motivated her to partake of the fruit of the tree? More of this will be spoken of later. Reading in Romans chapter 5 verse 12, we read that by Adam sin entered into the world. It does not say that Adam’s choice to partake of the fruit was a sin; it only says that sin entered the world. Another point to ponder upon is that if Adam had not partaken of the fruit then he would have remained in the Garden of Eden and Eve would have been expelled. So they would have been separated and being separated they would never have been able to bear children. Also from this verse, we learn for certainty that death entered into the world upon their partaking of the fruit.

So what logical deduction can we make at this point? Adam and Eve were given two conflicting commandments. One, Multiply and Replenish the Earth. Two, Do Not Partake of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In their state of innocence, they could never have multiplied and replenished the earth. Thus, God gave Adam and Eve their agency, their right to choose. Eve, being tempted by the devil, may have come to some realization that there was much she did not understand and that there was much she needed to learn. So, she chose to partake of the fruit and Adam seeing that she had partaken and knowing that she would be expelled from the garden chose to partake as well in order for the two to stay together, thus keeping the commandment to cleave unto his wife.

Now let’s turn to 2 Nephi chapter 2 and read verses 19 and 20. Here we see, as promised by the Lord, Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden as a result of their eating the forbidden fruit. Then in the next verse, we are taught that it was not until after they were driven out that they brought forth children, the first family. Moving ahead to verses 22 through 25 we learn some very interesting facts, some of which we do not understand from a study of the Bible. First, if they had not partaken of the forbidden fruit then they would have remained in the Garden of Eden forever. Second, all things would have remained in the same as they were in the day they were created. Third, there would have been no end. Fourth, they would have had no children. Adam and Eve would have remained forever in an immortal state and in a state of innocence in the Garden. There was no death. There was no child bearing. Nothing would have ever changed. Eve’s partaking of the fruit was the right thing to do from our point of view. 

Verse 24 teaches us something very important. Our Heavenly Father, in all His wisdom, knew exactly what would happen. In fact, He placed everything just the way He wanted it. He placed Adam and Eve in an immortal and total innocent state in the Garden of Eden. He also placed the serpent there; yes, I believe that God knew exactly what He was doing. The serpent just didn’t show up or sneak by an unaware to God. Rather, God placed him there to give Adam and Eve their agency, their right to choose. How can we have freedom to choose unless we have at least two choices to choose between? So God had to provide a way for both views to be presented so that a choice would have to be made. God gave His two commandments and then He allowed the serpent to provide the alternate choice. God knew that the serpent would beguile Eve and He knew that Adam would then partake of the fruit in order for them to keep the second commandment. Adam and Eve were not dummies; they were simply innocent. Because they were innocent, what they did cannot be counted as sin. Sin is willful rebellion against God. It can only be classified as a transgression. So, in 2 Nephi chapter 9 verse 6, we learn that the consequences of their transgression came about as promised by God. Death came into the world, both the temporal or physical death and the spiritual death as I mentioned earlier. Spiritual death is the separation of mankind from God. Remember in an earlier verse that Adam freely partook of the fruit in order that mankind could come into the world and so that mankind might have joy. Joy can only come as we make proper and good choices using the agency God gave us. It is God’s intent that we have joy in life. Adam and Eve could not have experienced true joy while in a state of innocence in the Garden.

Now let’s turn to Alma chapter 12 verses 22 through 34 and Genesis chapter 3 verse 22. Here we will continue to learn and our understanding will continue to unfold. There was another tree among the many trees in the Garden; it was called the Tree of Life. One of the reasons Adam and Eve were thrust out of the Garden was to prevent them from partaking of the Tree of Life. Prior to their partaking of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they were free to partake of the Tree of Life. As long as they dwelt in an immortal state the Tree of Life was freely eaten of. Once they had partaken of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, partaking of the Tree of Life was forbidden; doing so would have placed Adam and Eve back into an immortal state, with the knowledge of good and evil. You will recall that once they partook of this tree, sin entered the world. Now they were in a fallen state and in this fallen state they would have lived forever. Do you see what is coming? They are living in a fallen state; if they were to partake of the Tree of Life, then they would live forever in this fallen state. In addition, since they are living in a fallen state they would eventually give way to sin. They would live forever in their sins! If there is no death, there could be no resurrection; if no resurrection, there could be no judgment. If no judgment there could be no awarding of a final reward. Additionally, if there is no death and resurrection, what good would an atonement do? There would be no use for a Savior! There is no physical death for mankind to be redeemed from. How can a man be redeemed from death if there is no death? How could mankind be redeemed from spiritual death, which is separation from God, if mankind could not repent? Repentance would be useless since we would never die, never be resurrected and never have opportunity to return to the presence of God. They would have been forever miserable for there would have been no way out of this sinful and fallen state; no hope for a better world. So, the teachings in Alma chapter 12 make perfect sense. Adam and Eve did not die immediately, but rather a time was granted to them in order to prepare to meet God again. This mortal time is our probation, our chance to prove ourselves, to show God that we want to return to Him. Therefore, this time now becomes a time for us to learn the things of God, to grow, to become more like God through repentance of sin, a gift of the atonement of Christ.

The plan of God, the plan for His children to grow, to learn and to become more like Him is now in full effect. Mankind has their agency! Mankind has a knowledge of good and evil! Mankind is in a mortal physical state where he can be acted upon by good and evil. He has everything he needs to fulfill his purpose on earth except a Redeemer. How will he over come death, both physical and spiritual? However, because God in all His wisdom and knowledge knows all things, He prepared a Redeemer from the beginning. God, through His holy angels began revealing the plan of salvation to Adam and Eve. In order to guide mankind back to His presence, He taught them His plan for them, the Plan of Salvation. In order to protect mankind from the temptations and evils of the devil, He gave them commandments, which would provide the necessary guidance and protection they would need. If mankind would follow God’s plan and keep His commandments then they would stay spiritually alive in God. If they strayed from His plan and broke the commandments then they would become captive to the devil and his angels and die a permanent spiritual death being cutoff forever from God. Thus we learn in the Alma chapter 34 verse 9 and chapter 42 verses 11 through 15 that God prepared an atonement to be worked out in our behalf by His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Christ would bring the full effects and full measure of mercy into the world, thus God would not only be perfectly just, but perfectly merciful also. Because of the atonement all mankind may, through faith in the Atoner, the Redeemer, even Jesus Christ, repent of their sins and thus become reconciled unto God; we eventually become one with Him. 

This Scripture Train is titled: The necessity of the Fall of Adam and Eve. We have learned that it was God’s plan that Adam and Eve make the choice to fall from this beautiful paradisiacal world so that mortality could be brought into the world, so mankind could fully exercise his agency and choose whom he would follow, God or the devil. They chose to fall to be able to bring children into the world, they chose to fall so that they could die, be resurrected and have the opportunity to return to the presence of God.  1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 21 and 22 now becomes much more meaningful to us; by man came death and by Christ came the resurrection. In Adam all die, in Christ all are made alive.