Introduction
At this point in the Edenic narrative, man has been placed in a garden in Eden, given responsibility for the care and maintenance of the garden, named the animals and given a wife. The two trees that pose a decision regarding his future have also been introduced, and we are now ready to examine the probative choice Adam makes.
The narrative is densely packed, full of theology, moral lessons, symbols and eschatology. Words like “serpent”, “work”, “sin”, “temptation”, “cursing”, “pain”, “death”, “banishment”, “cherubim”, “flaming swords” all hint at deep symbolism and meaning. With so much present in this compact narrative, some effort is required to unpack the meaning and significance behind words and symbols.
The Fall represents the climax of the narrative that begins in Genesis 2:5 and ends at Genesis 3:24. We are now at Scene four of seven scenes, with the final three scenes revealing inversion from the first three scenes. [1] The climax of scene four is seen in the choice of man and woman to be like God, which introduces sin into the garden.
The choice they make brings an ironic outcome in that the man who was taken from the ground and placed in the garden, is counterbalanced with his returning to the ground (dust of the earth) and his expulsion from the garden. It reveals the fatefulness of the decision they have made. Everything has changed for all of human history going forward. Their decision proves critical as it initiates God’s redemptive plan.
Complexity is resident in the final four scenes. It is in these last scenes that thematic topics analyzed earlier begin to also interweave like a tapestry into an integrated plan for the ages to come. The choice our father and mother made introduces consequences with deep symbolism, requiring further thematic development before integrating them together. Our analysis begins with an analysis of the Fall.
Thematic Background
Adam was placed in a garden paradise and given the mandate to work and keep it. Ancient Near Eastern gardens were often built by kings to demonstrate their mastery over nature. They were often enclosed by a hedge or wall, restricting entrance and providing protection from their surroundings, seemingly inferred in the Genesis account which chooses the Hebrew word gan, meaning enclosed garden. [2]
Protection was also extended to surrounding lands through royal hunts. Kings sought to protect their subjects from marauding armies and wild animals. Protection from wild animals involved royal hunts to reduce the number of wild beasts that could bring injury or death to subjects or their herds. The hunts served as mock military campaigns, demonstrating the king’s bravery and strength in battle. In defeating wild beasts, he not only extended his dominion but defeated the forces of chaos by taming the wild areas outside of the walled city and garden. [3]
It is likely Adam’s responsibilities reflected this kingly role. It suggests man’s original purpose included protecting occupants from intruders and wild animals while also executing dominion over the land outside the garden by extending its bounds, reclaiming the wilderness and restoring it to a garden paradise. [4] Protecting God’s Garden while participating in God’s restorative program was man’s work.
His work, `abad, points to serving God while keeping the garden. Shamar points to guarding it against unauthorized, dangerous intruding animals. Keeping and guarding the garden from unauthorized intruders was how man was to serve God and his wife. As we will see, Adam failed to guard the garden from a dangerous animal, the craftiest of all creatures, exposing his wife to its wiles. Adam ultimately failed to serve God, not keeping His commands and eating the forbidden fruit.
That the garden had a hedge for safety, that its access was restricted, that it was the place where man communed with His creator, all hint that the garden was a place of sacredness and blessedness. The probative test of Adam also intimates that this sacred place would soon be profaned and its blessedness turned to a curse.
The Temptation of the First Adam & His Failure
Jewish tradition suggests the temptation took place in the center of the garden where two trees were presented: the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It poses a choice Adam and his wife must make: the path of life with God or the path of death apart from Him, the path of obedience ordained by God or the path of autonomy and self-determination. The choice is symbolized in the two trees. Trees are often the place where judgments were made in Scripture:
Commentators differ over the meaning of this tree in Eden, but the most promising approach explains the tree by determining the use of “know/discern good and evil” elsewhere in the Old Testament. In this light, the “tree” in Eden seems to have functioned as a judgment tree, the place where Adam should have judged the serpent as “evil” and pronounced judgment on it, as it entered the Garden. Trees were also places where judgments were pronounced elsewhere in the Old Testament (Judges 4:5; 1 Samuel 22:6-19; cf. 1 Samuel 14:2), so that they were places that were symbolic of judgment, usually pronounced by a prophet. So Adam should have discerned that the serpent was evil and judged him in the name of God at the place of the judgment tree. [5]
There are hints in the narrative of Adam’s poor judgment. The abrupt ending of Genesis 2 “the man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame” tease the reader of changes to follow man’s failure in test. Facilitated by the serpent, the “most crafty” of animals, he asks a question designed to introduce doubt and depreciate God’s sense of goodness. [6]
It is slanderous. God provided pasturage, crops and an underground spring to water the garden. All food needed by the couple was provided in the garden. Yet the serpent made it appear that somehow Adam and Eve lacked. Somehow God was unfair.
The serpent diminished the relationship between God and man by calling God Elohim rather than His covenant name Yahweh Elohim. [7] Eve’s answer provides a hint that she is already on the fringe of relationship with God as she also fails to address God by His covenant name. In answering the serpent, Eve fails to accurately verbalize God’s prohibition concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil:
The woman corrects the snake, but not quite accurately. Whereas the Lord had said, “You may freely eat of every garden tree,” she omits “every” saying simply, “We may eat of the fruit . . .” She also adopts the snake’s description of the Lord God, describing him simply as “God,” and most significantly, she adds to the ban on eating of the tree of knowledge a prohibition on even touching it “lest you die.” These slight alterations to God’s remarks suggest that the woman has already moved slightly away from God toward the serpent’s attitude. [8]
Perversion of God’s Word & Its Reasons
The woman’s response alters God’s word in three important ways. First, she “took” from God’s word, stating only “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden” when God’s word stated of every tree of the garden, they could freely eat, making God appear more restrictive and less benevolent than He was. Second, she “added” to God’s word the restriction “and you must not touch it,” again making God appear more restrictive than He was. Third, she altered God’s word, saying “Lest you die” where God had said, “you will surely die” making God’s judgment seem a bit less certain. [9]
The probationary test was completed though neither the man or woman had yet eaten the fruit. Their failure was manifest in misquotations and resulting misrepresentation of God’s character. They were guilty of 1) taking from God’s word, 2) adding to God’s word and 3) altering or modifying God’s word.
One of Christ’s most strenuous objections to the Pharisees was their guilt in adding to God’s word. It was not their only sin. Alterations were evident in allowing divorce for any reason and by giving their traditions pre-eminence over God’s word. In giving their traditions precedence, they were guilty of effectively taking from God’s word. [10] They were thus guilty of the same failures as our earthly parents.
Adam’s failure resulted from a three-fold appeal: the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was 1) good for food and 2) pleasing to the eye, and also 3) desirable for gaining wisdom, and she took some and ate it, while giving some to her husband. The fruit was tempting in that it appealed to the lust of the flesh (good for food), appealed to the lust of the eyes (pleasing to the eyes) and appealed to self/desirable to make one wise (pride of life). 1 John 2 warns of these three forms of carnality:
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
John warns not to love the world as those who love the world do not have the love of the Father in them (vs 15). His words sharpen the contrast, showing how Adam’s choice was devoid of the love of God and was motivated by worldly desire. The serpent enticed them to substitute what was worldly for what had true value. The world is passing away but those who follow the commands of God live forever (vs 17).
The choice our earthly parents made brought separation from God and death. In choosing the fruit of the forbidden tree, they turned their back on God, preferring to be like God, self-determinant and making their own decisions. They failed to trust God and follow His command.
The breach would impact all creation for generations to come. Adam failed to guard and keep the garden from the dangerous serpent and failed to prevent his wife from eating of the tree, choosing rather to follow her lead and share in her sin by partaking the fruit. The impact would soon be felt with their exile from the garden.
The Testing of the Last Adam and His Triumph
Christ’s birth, death and resurrection inaugurated a new creation and Palestine was an interim Edenic garden for God’s new creation of Israel. How did Synoptic authors leverage these concepts in their presentation of Jesus as the last Adam, the new man and first man of the spiritual new creation? A parallel can be seen in the judgment of Christ regarding a choice symbolized in a similar “tree”, the cross (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24). Unlike the first Adam, Jesus’ chose the path foreordained by God, showing obedience to His will:
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26
By choosing the path ordained by God, Jesus made the appropriate judgment at His tree, being judged in His body for our sin so that we may die to sin and live for righteousness (2 Peter 2:24). The basis of Jesus’ decision was to entrust Himself “to Him who judges justly” (2 Peter 2:23) rather than to rely upon His personal desire or personal judgment.
Note the result: The choice of the first Adam brought death. The choice of the last Adam brought life. The choice of the first Adam brought a curse. The choice of the last Adam removed the curse. The choice of the first Adam brought exile from paradise and estrangement from God. The choice of the last Adam brought a return to paradise and reestablished relationship with God.
While highlighting the better judgment of the last Adam, the Synoptic authors also introduced a narrative early in Jesus’ ministry with parallels to the temptation narrative of Genesis 3. That all three Synoptic writers included the narrative suggests that it was by design.
Christ as the Last Adam
The narrative involves the temptation of Christ by Satan in the wilderness at the close of a forty day fast. During the fast, he dwelt with the wild animals (Mark 1:13) in the wilderness (i.e., outside the garden that the Promised land represented), a heightening of the last Adam over the first Adam, who remained in the garden that provided all the food he needed and had only to protect the garden from wild animals. Goppelt notes evidence supporting those details were included by design, reflecting well-known Midrashic teachings:
Typology is really present and it will not escape the notice of anyone familiar with the ideas about Adam’s fall that were prevalent in Judaism. The evangelist himself seems to allude to them purposely. This is the only adequate explanation for the statement in Mark 1:13b. . . . This is no mere description of the external form of the event without any reference to its meaning, any more than the description of John the Baptist is in Mark 1:4, 6. These are the very features that Jewish tradition used to embellish the account of Adam’s stay in paradise. This connection seems to indicate that as Adam was once honored by the beasts in Paradise according to the Midrash, [11] so Christ is with the wild beasts after overcoming temptation. He thus ushers in the paradisiacal state of the last days when there will be peace between man and beast (Isaiah 11:6-8; 65:25). As Adam in Paradise enjoyed angel’s food according to the Midrash, [12] so the angels give heavenly food to the new man. Jesus reopens the Paradise closed to the first man. Whether the evangelist had all these details in mind will have to remain an open question, but anyone hearing this story who had become acquainted with Old Testament history in this form through the synagogue, as the early Christians had, could not understand these phrases in any other sense or derive any other meaning from them. [13]
These particulars confirm the writers intention to present Jesus’ testing as that of the last Adam, in which Jesus as our spiritual father, exceeded that of the first Adam, our physical father. There is further heightening in that Jesus was alone when tested, where Adam and Eve were together. Importantly, heightening can be confirmed in the temptation of Christ which came directly from Satan rather than through a serpent as Satan’s representative.
Contrasting the events in Matthew 4 with Genesis 3 shows heightening in Christ. Adam and the woman had all sustenance provided, whereas Jesus was in a weakened and susceptible state, being hungry. The assault came not through a serpent but directly from “the tempter.” Both Mark and Luke are more direct, calling him Satan (Mark 1:12-13) and the devil (Luke 4:1-2). The direct reference shows Satan is the anti-type of the serpent, removing any uncertainty in meaning of the serpent or subsequent curse upon the serpent and by implication Satan. [14] Kitchen draws this link:
The first serpent in Scripture is the subtle creature of Genesis 3, used by Satan to alienate man from God (Romans 16:20; 2 Corinthians 11:3), controlled by the devil like the demons in men and swine in New Testament days. For its part, the serpent was put under a curse that it would never rise above its (already customary) creeping posture (Genesis 3:14). The serpent thus remained a biblical symbol of deceit (Matthew 23:33), and the arch-deceiver himself is “that old serpent” (Revelation 12:9, 14-15; 20:2). [15]
That Satan used the serpent explains the curse on serpents while not precluding the curse’s extent to cover Satan. The language of Romans 16:20 supports that the serpent is typical of Satan, linking to the curse on the serpent (Genesis 3:15):
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. (cf. Genesis 3:15)
Revelation 12 is more direct and affirms the true meaning of the symbol of the serpent:
9 The great dragon was hurled down–that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.
John’s vision not only identifies that the serpent of Genesis 3 has its antitype Satan, but carries us through to his destruction at the end of the age:
1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. Revelation 20
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation 20
Satan, the great tempter whose deceptions precipitated man’s fall, is seen in the end of the age judged by God and destroyed, a signal that the restoration of the garden-paradise has been consummated and going forward, there is no longer any threat of falling or deception. Man’s testing is complete, his probation is ended, and he can now spend eternity at rest in paradise with Christ.
Christ’s Temptation, Victory & Its Implications
How was Satan’s defeat accomplished? How did Christ subdue him, taking dominion over him? Matthew reveals Christ was tempted as the first Adam was tempted, focusing upon the same three forms of carnality: lust of the flesh (“tell these stones to become bread”), lust of the eyes (the devil “showed him all the kingdoms of the world”) and pride of life (“If you are the Son of God,” “throw yourself down”). Christ’s response to Satan was markedly different. The last Adam did not take away, add or alter God’s word, but quoted God’s word exactly in response to each temptation with the preamble “it is written”. By quoting God’s word directly, there was no opportunity to misrepresent God’s word or character, inadvertently or deliberately. [16] His answer reflects the perfect relationship between He and the Father.
A further implication is found in Jesus’ decision to quote God’s word. The first Adam was to model God’s rule over the universe in subduing chaos. God creatively subdued the chaos with His creative word, filling the world with life. Man was likewise to rule and subdue the earth, creatively producing life through the application of God’s creative word, which the first Adam failed to do, but the last Adam was careful to fulfill. Jesus provided a faithful and true testimony of God’s word. In doing so, he subdued the serpent, unlike the first Adam who was subdued by the serpent.
It would lead to Christ’s taking dominion over Satan in judgment at the tree of the cross. In His death and resurrection, Jesus took dominion from Satan, throwing him down from heaven (Revelation 12:9) and will later exile him in the Abyss (Revelation 20:2) before ultimately destroying him (Revelation 20:10). Where the first Adam was given dominion over the earth but lost it when subdued by Satan, the last Adam did what the first Adam could not. The last Adam takes dominion over all creation and over all powers in the heavens (1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 1:21; 1 Peter 4:11; 5:11; Jude 1:25; Revelation 1:6).
In locking Satan in the Abyss and later destroying him, the last Adam will do what the first man could not – prevent the entrance of the deceiving serpent into the new paradisal garden. The last great act of Satanic rebellion in which he leads the nations against God’s people counterbalances the first garden temptation.
In the beginning, mankind was deceived by the serpent through the representative head, the first man, Adam. In the end, all men are deceived by “the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan” through their representation as the nations (Revelation 20:7-19). In each, the deception happens in a garden paradise but in the latter, there is an escalation seen in Jesus’ reign, a global deception with immediate death and destruction.
With the richness of ethical and eschatological lessons present in the Fall narrative, it is important to note that the evangelists were careful to preserve a counter-balancing narrative of Jesus’ temptation. Their care in preserving this episode shows the importance of victory of the last Adam in contrast to the first Adam.
Equally important, in structuring the temptation with carefully included details, the evangelists affirm their understanding that Jesus was the last Adam who had inaugurated a new creation with His coming, envisioned like the first creation, in that there was a paradisal garden (Palestine), an ethical testing of the Adam-figure and a tempter Satan. These elements reveal that the evangelists understood the new creation had come in its inauguration and that they envisioned it like the first creation, including a garden-paradise in which the new Adam was the key figure.
Christ’s Temptation, Antitype of Israel’s Testing & its Implications
When tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Christ was careful to quote the word of God in response to the devil’s deceptions. Jesus chose to quote Mosaic Sinaic commands given to Israel in Deuteronomy 6 and 8. Israel was completing its forty-year wanderings in the wilderness and preparing to enter the land.
In preparation, Moses recapitulates Israel’s history of wanderings, highlighting the appointment of leaders within Israel, the sending out of spies and the ensuing rebellion of Israel, reminding them of their prior failures to obey God while highlighting God’s faithfulness to them during their wanderings. A new generation of Israelites was given these warnings so that they would not similarly fail to obey God.
Israel as God’s Firstborn Son & Corporate Adam
In addressing Israel, Moses entreated them to obey God’s laws, warning them not to add to His commands or subtract from them (Deuteronomy 4:2), [17] but “keep” the commands. Throughout the early chapters of Deuteronomy, words such as shamar and `abad are prevalent. [18] It suggests Israel is a new creation, new in that a new generation is about to enter the land of promise.
In preparation for their new beginning, Israel is also warned against idolatry (Deuteronomy 4:15-31), reminded of the ten commandments to emphasize obedience (5:1-21), followed by a recapitulation of the Genesis 1:28 mandate, “that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey” (6:3), using rabah (see also Deuteronomy 1:10; 7:13; 8:1).
That rabah is repeatedly used for “increase” (as in Genesis 1:28) enhances that Moses is signaling that Israel is a new creation. [19] The description of the land “flowing with milk and honey” (cf. Deuteronomy 8:7-9) also points back to Eden, in which God provided for all Adam’s needs. These scriptures affirm that Moses views Israel corporately as a new Adam, being placed in a new paradisal garden and like the first Adam, given the probative test of obedience to God’s commands. [20]
It would appear that Matthew (and Luke) see a recapitulation of Israel’s wilderness testing in the testing of Christ. That both were tested in the wilderness, that the testing of Israel occurred during her forty-year wandering, versus Jesus tested after forty days (so Matthew)/during His forty days (so Luke) points toward Jesus as antitype of Israel as God’s firstborn son. This view is enhanced by the reference to forty, a number typically associated with testing. It follows the pattern of Adam in that Jesus is shown to have succeeded in testing where Israel as God’s firstborn son failed.
In responding to Satan’s temptation to turn stones into bread, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 that man does not live by bread alone. The context of the passage infers deeper significance:
1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
As with Deuteronomy 6, the passage above opens with Moses pressing the Israelites to worship God and obey His covenantal commands so that they will “increase” (rabah) in the land, recapitulating Genesis 1:28. Moses includes that they may “enter” and “possess” the land, additional echoes of the Fall, as Adam’s failure to follow God’s command banished him from the garden. He was dispossessed of the garden and barred entry due to his sin.
Moses then reminds the Israelites of God’s faithfulness in leading them for forty years, humbling them and testing them to know whether they would follow His commands. Their hunger and thirst had the purpose to humble them so that they would learn to trust in God’s miraculous provision of manna and to teach them that man lives on “every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”. There is implication that their hunger and thirst had a divine purpose to serve as a fast in advance of their testing. At minimum, Moses is telling them that there is much more to life than that which satisfies the “lust of the flesh”.
Again he entreats them to obey the Lord’s commands, reminding them that in the land they are entering, God has provided everything they need. The description of the “good land” in vss 8-9 is another echo of the Genesis 2 garden-narrative.
They are to praise God for their abundance and not foolishly conclude it comes from their own hand, lest they become proud (pride of life) and forget God. There may be a faint echo to the Fall in this warning though it serves primarily to show the faithfulness of God’s new Son in hunger in contrast to God’s firstborn, Israel.
Jesus’ food was every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. These words served as spiritual food, sustaining Him during His testing. Israel, God’s firstborn, failed their test, being too focused upon physical food (Exodus 16:2-4) to hold fast to the more important spiritual food.
Jesus was next taken to a pinnacle of the temple and where Satan challenged Him to throw Himself down to prove Scripture. Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, “do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah”. Note the context with which Moses gave this command in Deuteronomy 6:
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.
Parallels with Deuteronomy 8 are apparent. Israel is to follow the commands of God, which bring the promise of long life [21] and allow Israel to increase greatly (rabah) in their new Palestinian garden, as in Genesis 1:28. Israel is to serve the Lord with all her heart, soul and strength. They are reminded that God has provided a lush garden by His hand alone (vss 10-11) and with His blessings of prosperity, they are not to forget the Lord, who brought them out of Egypt (vs 12). They are again exhorted to serve God and not turn to idols before Moses warns them not to put God to the test, as they did at Massah (vs 16). It is this Scripture that Christ quotes, pointing back to Israel’s wanderings in the desert found in Exodus 17.
The events leading up to and including Exodus 17 are also important. Israel had been led through the Red Sea on dry ground, and “when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant” (Exodus 14:31).
Yet after entering the Desert of Shur, after three days without water, “the people grumbled against Moses” (15:24), showing how quickly their faith waned. God miraculously took the bitter waters at Marah and turned them sweet with a piece of wood Moses tossed into the waters (vs 25). God then “issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test” (vs 25). The test involved following his commands and keeping all His decrees, doing what is right in His eyes.
In the next narrative, the Israelites set out for the desert of Sin, where they again grumbled against Moses, complaining that their lives were better in Egypt. Physical hunger brought to evidence a lack of faith. God rained down manna from heaven, and followed with a test to prove if they would follow His commands (16:4). Despite God’s repeated miraculous provision, upon reaching Rephidim, the people strove with Moses, demanding water (Exodus 17:2).
Their bitterness led Moses to complain that the people were ready to stone him. It was no longer just grumbling, but a full rebellion against God and Moses. Yahweh instructed Moses to strike a rock and water flowed from it (vs 6). The narrative concludes with Moses naming the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites “quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’“
This is the background of the passage from which our Jesus quoted. Israel, after repeated miraculous provisions still didn’t believe God was with them. They had inverted God’s plan. It was God who was testing them, yet they refused to yield to His testing. Rather, they tested Him, offensively resisting His will.
This is the test Jesus now faces. Satan attempts to invert God’s order through His Son, by getting Jesus to put God to the test. Unlike God’s firstborn son, Jesus understood that His time in the wilderness was a time of testing for Him and yielded to the will of His Father, succeeding where Israel failed.
Jesus is then taken to a very high mountain and shown the kingdoms of this world. Satan then offers Him these kingdoms if he will bow and worship him. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13, that He must worship the Lord God and Him only, completing the test in contrast to Israel who failed this test throughout her history.
Jesus understood that He would legitimately inherit and rule all the kingdoms of this world if He remained obedient to the will of His Father. What Satan was offering was only a shortcut, a path that bypassed His suffering and death but a path that could only offer the fallen kingdoms of this world. Death would still reign over men and corruption would still rule all creation. What the devil offered, was a poor substitute.
Recognizing this, Jesus remained obedient to the Father and succeeded where both the first Adam, and God’s firstborn son failed. Noteworthy, His success may have been foreshadowed in Matthew 28:16-18 in which Jesus declared His authority over all the kingdoms of the earth and also heaven, an escalation over Satan’s offer. [22]
Implications of Israel as God’s Firstborn Son & Corporate Adam
First, Christ was contrasted by Matthew and Luke against Israel as God’s firstborn son in the wilderness. Christ’s quotations from Israel’s forty-year wilderness experience together with His own testing in the wilderness after forty days points to a recapitulation of Israel’s and Adam’s history. Israel was God’s firstborn after the flesh and failed. Jesus is second-born after the Spirit and successful. The Spirit succeeds where the flesh cannot.
Second, Israel’s portrayal as God’s son opens the possibility her history is church prophetic “history”. It gives deeper meaning to Paul’s warning that we learn from Israel’s history (1 Corinthians 10:)
1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. 6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Paul’s words are quite specific in calling out Israel’s wilderness failures as a warning to God’s new creation, the church. The specific narratives he recapitulates are the testing that Matthew and Luke applied directly to Christ. That they “passed through the sea”, that they all ate “spiritual food and drank . . . spiritual drink” relate to the manna Israel ate and the water flowing from the rock at Massah, though Paul shows the food and drink were intended to be spiritual, not physical in ultimate meaning.
Their idolatry and sexual immorality were at the heart of Moses’s warnings for those about to enter the land. Their grumbling, and Paul’s warning that we not commit the error of Israel by putting God to the test are all exemplars for the church.
If Israel’s time in the wilderness was a time of testing to prove whether she would follow God’s laws, then it follows that the church’s probative time is between Christ’s “Appearings”, to prove whether we will follow His commands .[23] It is schematized in Figure 1.
In making a direct parallel between Israel’s wilderness failures and the church’s current probative time of testing, Paul shows he views the church corporately as the new Israel, Israel-by-spiritual-circumcision, in contrast to the former Israel, Israel-by-physical-circumcision (whom Paul calls “Israel after the flesh”, 1 Corinthians 10:18, AV). This view is enhanced in Romans 9:6; 1 Corinthians 10:18; Galatians 6; Ephesians 2:12; Hebrews 8:8-10).
But if the church is the new Israel, then John’s Apocalypse applies to the church, though dispensationalists argue its application is strictly to ethnic Israel from chapter four onward. It would then follow that the church, like Israel, will fall into captivity (Revelation 13:10), but to a new eschatological Babylon, after the model of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, an outcome that fits well with prophesied events of John’s Apocalypse. Entry into the land would apply to all members of Christ’s new covenant-community, those who believe in Him by faith.
It makes the church’s time on earth a time of testing, if not also the means for purification for entry to the land. John’s description of a new Jerusalem descending from heaven, together with Hebrews’ claims that the patriarchs longed for a heavenly country (Hebrews 11:16) point to the church’s probative time on earth as preparatory for entry into heaven as part of His heavenly community/city of God. [24]
Corporate purification of the church would come through faithfulness during the age, consummating in a time of great tribulation, in which unwavering faithfulness would be required to overcome. Paul’s warning that we will not be tested beyond what we can bear and God will provide “a way” to endure it, seem pregnant with eschatological meaning. His words are not merely sound counsel for our age, but point directly to the final trial between evil and good at the consummation of our age. The “way” God has provided is through His Spirit which gives us the ability to live faithfully even under trial, in fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise and affirmed by Moses (Deuteronomy 29:4).
It brings a final important implication. The generation of Israel that was miraculously delivered from slavery in Egypt, who first-hand saw numerous miracles and experienced God’s commitment to His people were ultimately rejected, falling dead in the wilderness, barred entry to the land. Only those who were of a new generation were granted entry.
There appears to be an eschatological warning to the church in Paul’s words. Those whose hearts are like Israel-after-the-flesh will be barred entry to the land despite their deliverance from the power of sin, their baptism and profession of faith, despite having tasted the spiritual food of Christ, the true manna.
Why? Because they tested God, refusing to evidence faith, and turned to serve idols of the present age rather than having an undivided love for Christ. This view is supported by John’s envisionment of a false pseudo-church as a harlot (idolator) and as Babylon, the country into which Judah fell in judgment for her idolatry, a land from which most refused to exodus when commanded by God through Cyrus (see Romans 9:27-29; 11:2-5).
That John envisioned the harlot commanding great wealth and great worldly power further enhance this view by portraying those who have deep roots in this world – a world that is passing away, lacking eyes to see the invisible emergent spiritual kingdom of God.
In choosing the early Deuteronomistic scriptures, Jesus signaled that the new Israel, the church, would soon follow Him as the new Adam. It points to the church as His new Israel, the recipients of the new covenant for the new spiritual garden, much like Israel of old were recipients of the Sinaic covenant to govern their Palestinian garden. May the reader heed the warnings, serving God faithfully and keeping His commands.
Sin’s Consequences & Its Implications
Eating from the tree brought a number of consequences. Some were sensed near-immediate, while the full impact of others may not have been evident until sometime in the future. We will first examine some key near-term consequences as these begin to trace an outline of God’s redemptive plan.
The serpent’s ploy was that Adam and Eve would become “like God” if they ate from the tree. They would know good from evil. If the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” was the place where Adam was to discern between good and evil, it heightens the subtle deceit employed by the serpent, twisting the truth of the tree’s true meaning, amplifying the serpent’s other misleading claims that God was unfair.
Eating of the tree did not make Adam and Eve “like God”, one of the first consequences realized by the couple. The structure of the passage contrasts Eve’s expectations before eating, with the realization that followed eating: her expectations were that the fruit was “good for food”, “pleasing to the eye” and “desirable for gaining wisdom”. Yet the outcome points to a different reality in which their “eyes . . . were opened”, they “realized they were naked” and they “hid from the Lord”. [25] These consequences contrast with their expectations.
The Consequences of Realization of Nakedness and its Implications
One of the first consequences of eating the fruit was an awareness of their nakedness, for which they sought to “cover up” using fig leaves. [26] Pragmatically, fig leaves are substantial in size and would seem ideal for use, [27] however their unsuitability is soon evident as “they hid from the Lord God among the trees”. They were afraid because of their nakedness, despite the covering of fig leaves.
The Hebrew word for covering is חגורה chagowr and translates as girdle or belt. In contrast, the garment God provided, כתנת kĕthoneth, was a “coat” or tunic, the word used to describe levitical priestly garments which provided substantial bodily coverage. [28]
In choosing the word kĕthoneth, there is a possible hint of their failure as priests, while also inferring that their own covering of fig leaves was inadequate, covering only the loins. God’s priestly garment would be more suitable, a coat covering more of their shameful nakedness.
His covering was made from skins, hinting that their failure would also impact the animal kingdom. Some of the animals under Adam’s care would have their lives ended in order to provide the coats. The death of these animals seems to foreshadow that without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin.
Hebrews 9 reminds the reader of the lawful requirements for sacrifice before worship. The shed blood of various animals would become the standard for worship under Levitical provision. [29] The Levitical sacrifices would eventually be displaced by Jesus, who clarified that it was His shed blood that brought forgiveness of sins and truly inaugurated the new covenant with God’s people:
22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9
27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26
Christ’s claim reveals He is the true blood sacrifice, dating back to this prototypical provision of tunics of skins. There seems to be further Levitical illustration in the laws of the burnt offerings:
These coats of skins remind us of one of the laws of the burnt-offering in Leviticus, which ordained that “the priest that offereth any man’s burnt-offering which he hath offered.” The burnt-offering represented, as we have seen, the Godward aspect of Christ’s work in all its perfect acceptance; an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. The priests might not partake – it was all for God, all consumed on the altar; but Aaron’s sons presented it, and to them belonged the skin, in which they might clothe themselves – a beautiful figure of the standing of the believer as “accepted in the Beloved.” [30]
Scripture speaks extensively of the appropriate covering God’s people are to wear, suggestive there is more foreshadowed in this passage than the preeminence and necessity of blood sacrifice for sin. Implied is the removal of the covering of fig leaves before being clothed in the tunic of skins. The unsuitable must be removed before the suitable garments can be applied. A parallel may be found in Isaiah 59 of the unsuitable garments that must be removed by God’s people:
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. 4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. 6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. (Emphasis mine)
Isaiah rebukes the Israelites, charging them with sins, iniquities, wickedness and lies. He then connects their shortcomings to clothing, assuring them that their empty arguments do not justify their sin and do not cover their failures. These empty arguments parallel the excuses offered by Adam and Eve, [31] each shamefully in denial, refusing to take responsibility for their sins, inadequately “clothed” with their own provision of fig leaves rather than accepting God’s covering for sin, seen in Isaiah 61:
10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
The contrast between God’s garments and those of our own righteousness are emphasized in Isaiah 64:
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
Zechariah 3 provides another illustration of exchanging unclean and inadequate clothing for garments that represent sinlessness. The filthy clothing of the high priest is exchanged with God-provided garments, revealing parallels with the priestly implications of the tunic God gave Adam:
1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.”
Zechariah 3 is particularly germane as Joshua is typical of the Messiah, the branch, Jesus Christ. [32] As Christ is the last Adam, it ties Joshua’s change of clothes to God’s provision of righteousness. The pictures are parallel. The theme of being clothed versus naked carries forward in Scripture with nakedness symbolic of being ashamed, exposed, sinful or wicked. [33]
Exposing one’s nakedness was considered dishonoring and naked flight from battle humiliating (Amos 2:16; Isaiah 20:1-6). [34] There may also be irony in the association of shame with exposure of the reproductive members, possibly a subtle reminder of the shame and guilt sin imparted to the seed of man, a reminder each time he would attempt to bring forth the Messiah. [35]
The approach to God and His altar had in mind the avoidance of nakedness or exposure (Exodus 20:26; 28:42). There is a sense in this requirement that man needed a suitable covering for his sins before approaching a holy God. [36] Nakedness, which in the garden had been associated with innocence, now has its meaning supplanted with shame, sin, wickedness and failure before God. [37] The need to remove the sin, shame and wickedness carries forward to the New Testament where Paul introduces a new concept in Romans 13, to be clothed in Christ, putting on the “armor of light”:
11 And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Paul contrasts the “armor of light” with the “deeds of darkness”, detailing his analogy by comparing various forms of sinful and shameful behavior with living a life in conformance to Christ. We are to put off the sins of darkness and clothe ourselves with Christ. It is through the power of Christ that we are righteous, and it is by His enablement that we then can perform acts of righteousness as He has put in us a new nature.
The theme of being properly clothed extends even to eschatology. In Matthew 22, Jesus related the parable of the wedding banquet in which He likened the kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet a king prepared for his son. The invitees made excuse and chose not to attend, even abusing and killing some of the king’s servants.
The enraged king “sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city” (vs 7), a prophetic allusion to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The king then gave instruction to his servants to invite anyone who would attend so that the hall was full.
The parable then adds “when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes” (vs 11). The man was speechless when asked how he got in without proper attire. The king’s instructions show zero tolerance. “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (vs 13).
The king is God the Father, the son is Jesus and those who made excuse and abused the king’s servants were those in the Jewish community who rejected God’s invitation to His kingdom. [38] “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” is an obvious reference to judgment in the lake of fire.
The austere closing of the parable reminds the hearer that their response must be based in faith that is demonstrated in righteous behavior. True acceptance of the invitation requires putting on the appropriate garments, whether Jew or Gentile. It reminds the hearer that entrance requires adornment with the righteous robes of Christ. This point is emphasized in Revelation 19 regarding the wedding dress of the bride of Christ:
8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
If we contrast the opening chapters of Genesis with the closing chapters of Revelation, we note that innocence (symbolized in nakedness) was lost in the Fall and not restored; rather replaced by robes of righteousness and purity. It completes an incredible transformation. What began as sin and failure that brought death to all men, ends in purity and holiness, with a greater restoration of eternal life with God in a garden paradise, clothed not with human deeds of self-righteousness but with garments of true righteousness provided through Christ. Sin has been atoned and sinners have been made holy.
The Consequences of Eyes Being Opened and its Implications
After eating the fruit, their eyes were opened “and they realized they were naked”. While this statement is left largely unexplained, it seems that both, in realizing their nakedness, felt a measure of shame for their sin and sought a way to cover it.
If so, then the opening of their eyes must have been a great disappointment. It came at a cost of lost innocence. What they saw had to be deeply displeasing to them. Ironically, with their expulsion from the garden, soon they would no longer freely see God, the source of all life and blessing. It would seem that their eyes were opened to their guilt while also shut to the spiritual realities they had prior been able to openly see.
The spiritual realities had moved beyond their field of view, pointed to in a number of later passages including (Genesis 21:19; Numbers 22:31; 2 kings 6:17, 20; Jeremiah 3:2; Ezekiel 12:2), [39] suggestive of ironic inversion. Those who sought to see, in seeing, lost their ability to see. Deuteronomy 29:2-4 is notable as it highlights that the Israelites had seen the great miracles of God in Egypt, His signs and wonders “but to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear” (vs 4).
They had seen with their physical eyes yet could not perceive the significance because their spiritual eyes were closed (see also 1 Samuel 12:16). It ultimately led to the rejection of that generation, barring them from the land of rest. [40]
This idea appears extended to the wicked in judgment. Psalm 69:23 says, “may their eyes be darkened so they cannot see” (similarly Deuteronomy 28:34, 67 which alludes to despair and death). Yet this judgment is in no way limited to those outside the covenant-community but applied to the wicked within the covenant-community. It is seen in Isaiah 6:9-10. Those who were specially called and separated to be a light to the eyes of those in the world were guilty of preferring spiritual darkness.
It means God’s people are ever seeing, yet never perceiving. God’s judgment was to close their eyes lest they see and repent! God’s judgment seems to put them beyond repentance given their callous indifference. They were condemned to becoming like the idols they worshipped, that “have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see” (Psalms 115:5; 135:16; cf. Isaiah 44:18; Jeremiah 5:21).
There is particular irony in this judgment given that Adam’s sin had as its root idolatry. Yet Isaiah (and other prophets) offer hope with the promise to turn the blindness to spiritual sight (Isaiah 29:18; 30:20; 32:3; 33:17-20; 35:5; 52:10; 60:2-4; Mal 1:2-5), pointing to Israel’s restoration (e.g. Micah 7:10).
When turning to the New Testament, Jesus affirmed the Isaianic judgment placed upon Israel (Matthew 13:15-16; cf. John 12:37-40; Acts 28:25-27) choosing to speak in parables so that only those (a remnant) who had spiritual eyes could perceive His meaning (cf. Mark 8:18; Luke 10:23), confirmed in Pauline testimony (Romans 11:7-10).
That Jesus healed the blind, opening their physical eyes (Matthew 9:30; 20:33; John 9:14), seems to anticipate Him as the One who would perform the greater miracle of opening the spiritual eyes (Luke 24:31), reversing the curse of Isaiah 6.
The blinding of Saul followed by his restoration of sight, affirmed his spiritual blindness while anticipating the opening of his spiritual eyes (Acts 9:8, 18). His loss of physical sight pointed to his spiritual blindness while the restoration of his physical sight pointed to the opening of his spiritual eyes.
Jesus, as the One promised by Isaiah to restore spiritual sight, also speaks directly to the church of Laodicea, counseling her to “buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see” (Revelation 3:18), urging them to repent. In this verse, John ties together nakedness with having their eyes open to see, an apparent chiasm with the Genesis 3 Fall-narrative.
The Laodiceans, whose earthly wealth deceived them into thinking they had no need, were described as poor, blind and naked (vs 17). Their earthly wealth was false wealth. They needed gold refined in the fire, an allusion to spiritual wealth that comes through testing.
Their wealth had apparently bought them earthly garments that did not cover their shame much like the fig leaves couldn’t cover the shame of Adam. And they were blind and needed to repent in order that their spiritual eyes could be healed and opened to the reality of God’s spiritual kingdom. Like Adam, they strived for physical fruit that was within grasp, only to find themselves naked and blind to true spiritual fruit that God desired for them.
The thematic development of spiritual blindness is schematically presented in Figure 2. In ironic inversion, those who sinned, in seeking to have their eyes opened, are seen to be spiritually blinded. That Adam’s sin was idolatry – putting himself above God, is seen recapitulated in Israel who was similarly blinded by their sin of idolatry. Due to their continuing unrepentant hearts, they sinned further in rejecting their Messiah, the One ordained to restore their sight. [41]
Their rejection brought a second national destruction of greater judgment. The remnant that repented represents a new Israel whose sight is restored by Christ through the Spirit. If they are careful to hold fast to the truth of Christ in the coming new Edenic testing, they will overcome and spend eternity with Christ. Those throughout the age who reject Christ or fall away, will similarly see the judgment of destruction.
The brief analysis concerning having eyes opened begins with a rather vague statement that their eyes were opened and closes with a parallel seen in the counsel offered to the Laodecian church. That parallel provides a strong echo back to the Fall, suggestive that John is warning those of the new creation to avoid making the mistakes of the first Adam.
What they saw with the physical eyes was fruit that was pleasing to the eyes and reaching for it, they failed the test. Their probative failure was immediately recognized as they realized their nakedness and sought to cover it, foolishly thinking they could cover their sin through their own efforts with physical fig leaves.
John, in reflecting back to this story has broadened and deepened the meaning, revealing the eschatological truth that those who have the benefits of the Laodecian church, not be similarly deceived by the desires of their physical eyes. Pursuit of such earthly things blinds one spiritually, leaving them unaware of their shameful nakedness before God. They must repent.
The tree that was good for food, pleasing to the eye and desirable to make one wise, had brought failure to our earthly parents in testing. Now a similar “tree” demands a similar discernment between right and wrong, by posing a similar danger to the covenant-community in testing. That tree offers worldly riches, seeming autonomy and security, but its pursuit opens one’s eyes to their failure and guilt while blinding them of God’s immeasurable and unimaginable blessings.
Hebrews 4 offers a different perspective that is focused upon Israel’s failure to enter their rest due to unbelief. The author notes that there are still some who have yet to enter that rest (vs 6) and warns that “today” is the appointed day to believe by faith and not harden our hearts, quoting Psalm 95 which deals directly with Israel’s disobedience in the wilderness when tested. We are to “make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following [Israel’s] example of disobedience” (vs 11). The word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (vs 12). The author concludes with:
13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account
We are to be careful as God is not blind and nothing escapes His sight. Everything is seen naked and uncovered before His eyes, to whom we must give account. Our eyes should ever be open spiritually, that we do not fail the test as Adam did, or as our forerunner Israel did and thus be held to account by being rejected from entry into God’s eternal presence.
The Consequence of Hiding and its Implications
One of the consequences of the Fall was the attempt by Adam and his wife to hide from God in the trees. Nominally, it was to hide their nakedness, though implication seems they hid from the shame of their sin and disobedience, evident in their realization of nakedness.
Their attempts to cover their sin failed and so they hid from God. Irony is seen in their flight from Yahweh, rather than humbly approaching Him for forgiveness. They may have hid in part for fear of judgment, given God’s warning they would die. Consistent with the Adamic sin, later authors frequently recorded the wicked hiding from God’s wrath, both pagan and Israelite (Joshua 10:16-17, 17; 2 Chronicles 18:24; 22:9; Isaiah 42:22; Amos 9:3).
Fear of judgment is understandable given their disobedience. And it appears the benevolent, loving relationship between Yahweh and man had changed post-Fall as Scripture records times when men fled and hid themselves from God’s appearing and presence (1 Chronicles 21:20; Daniel 10:7). The close relationship of companionship between God and man was damaged, bringing a healthy fear of the One who had all power and authority over creation. There was an awareness of personal inadequacy post-Fall in standing before God.
Yet this relationship, while damaged, was not beyond reach as Scripture frequently refers to those who are hidden safely with God (2 Kings 11:3; Isaiah 49:2). At times their safety came about with the assistance of God’s servants (Joshua 6:17, 25; 1 Samuel 19:2; 23:23; 1 Kings 18:4, 13; 2 Chronicles 22:12). At other times, the hand of God moved upon those in hiding from their enemies (1 Samuel 13:6; 14:11, 22). These few examples show that though the relationship was damaged, Yahweh’s commitment to His creation and to men remained steadfast. Beneficent cooperation with the Almighty could still be achieved while man waited for the fulfillment of the promised Seed.
With the arrival of the promised Seed, further developments can be traced through the New Testament. The LXX chose εκρυβην to describe their hiding, with the root words κρυπτός kryptos and κρύπτω kryptō. These occurrences offer some insights. Where Adam sought to hide his sin, New Testament authors warn that nothing can be hidden from God’s eyes.
Rather, we should expect that everything done in secret will be revealed and thus we must guard our motives and intentions that they remain pure (Matthew 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2; Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 14:25). That God knows our hearts and motives should impel us to renounce hidden shameful ways (2 Corinthians 4:2), illustrated in the impure motives in the parable of the bags of gold (Matthew 25:25). 1 Timothy 5:25 reminds believers that good deeds are often obvious and will not remain out of sight forever, a motivator to good deeds.
Christ counseled the righteous to perform their good deeds hidden from view (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18), introducing ironic inversion. In the first garden, Adam acted unrighteously and then sought to hide his unrighteous deeds. But in the new Edenic garden inaugurated in Christ, it is the righteous deeds that are to be hidden from others as they cannot, and need not, be hidden from God. [42]
Further irony is seen in Christ’s words that the testimony of His people must not be hidden but be a light on a hill (Matthew 5:14) while noting that His kingdom was hidden like a treasure in a field (Matthew 13:44). Yet upon finding it, the man hid it again, sold all that he had to purchase the field. The first Adam hid himself in the garden after failing his probative test. The last Adam found a treasure (Adam’s fallen race?) hidden in a new garden, and hid it again until He could purchase the entire garden.
Colossians 3:3 adds further mystery when it speaks of us as dead, though our lives have been hidden with Christ in God. Is Paul expressing our unique position as already in heaven but not yet as our feet remain still in this world? Though hidden in the field of the world, we are also hidden with Christ in heavenly places.
Those hidden in the field and hidden in Christ also have things hidden within them. Paul speaks of a Jew as one inwardly, hidden in circumcision of the heart, not flesh (Rom 2:29) and Peter speaks of women showing hidden inner beauty as testimony in 1 Peter 3:4. These scriptures suggest that because the Spirit is hidden within us, we should testify with our lips and perform good deeds, that the world can “see” what is hidden, invisible and unseen within us.
There may also be a measure of irony present. The kingdom of God is unseen (hidden in a field) and its subjects are similarly to perform good deeds in an unseen (hidden) way, consistent with the unseen kingdom in which they have membership. What similarly should motivate these unseen good deeds is an unseen Spirit hidden in us. Consistent in thought, the activities of the unseen kingdom are to be unseen, much as the power behind the community is unseen.
Enigmatically, Jesus spoke in parables of things hidden since the creation of the world (Matthew 13:35), parables that while seeming intended to enlighten only His followers, did bring what was hidden from the beginning of the age, out of hiding at the end of the age. Yet though enlightening His followers through parables, some things remained hidden from them. They were incapable of seeing the need for His death as this truth had been hidden from them (Luke 18:34). This would be later revealed following His resurrection.
As Jesus taught that His kingdom is hidden in the world, He at times hid Himself from His opponents in the world (John 7:4, 10; 8:59). In the case of the Feast of Tabernacles He claimed it was not His time, though later openly declaring His message to all without hiding anything (John 18:20; cf. Matthew 5:14).[43] Jesus urged a crowd He was teaching to walk in the light while it was there, before they were overtaken with darkness. Urging them to become children of light, He then finished His teaching and hid Himself from them (John 12:35-36), in an action that seems to portend their failure to heed the call to be His followers.
The fulfillment of that prophetic act is affirmed in Luke 19:42 when Christ proclaimed the peace He was to bring to His people would now be hidden from their eyes and they would be destroyed by the Romans. One is left to ponder if Christ’s prophecy was not recapitulated by John at the end of the age, in which he envisioned a Roman beast in Revelation 17:9 (the seven heads are seven hills, a cipher for Rome) that destroys the harlot, the false church/false Israel (Revelation 17:16).
Does this possibly explain the background of John’s promise to the Pergamum congregation that overcomers will receive the hidden manna, Christ? It is striking that Pergamum is described as the place where Satan lives, soon to be revealed in his final embodiment as a seven-headed ten horned dragon. Also significant is the reference to the martyrdom of Antipas, put to death in “your city”, revealing the ferocity of Satan’s attacks.
That John speaks of some who have followed the idolatrous teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans points to end-time Satanic testing of God’s people in their new garden. Could Christ’s warning to repent be designed to spare the Pergamum congregants Christ’s judgment to fight against “them”, the idolators and false teachers in their midst, much as Christ prophesied Jerusalem’s destruction for their false teachings and idolatry?
It leaves much to mull in the search for ethical lessons. An important outcome is found in the damage done to the relationship between Adam and God even before his expulsion from the garden. Noteworthy, the relationship is seen to have changed from the human side first, with man seeking to cover his failings and hiding from the One to whom he was always to give account.
More important is Yahweh’s unwavering commitment to Adam and his wife. The limitless extremes He undertook to restore relationship are remarkable given there is nothing hidden from the eyes of God. We will all give account one day and while this should strengthen our resolve to do good and turn from evil, it cannot be forgotten that there is forgiveness when we stumble and commitment to our purification and holiness. God is committed to transforming us into the image of His Son.
Also important is the inversion in the new Edenic garden. No longer are we as “children” of the last Adam to test God by reaching for the forbidden, as we have been invested with a new Spirit that empowers us to live faithfully. It releases us from the need to hide unrighteous deeds.
Now, we can focus upon hiding our good deeds within the new garden, knowing our Father sees and will reward, knowing that good deeds are often sufficiently manifest that they light up the world, bringing glory to God. The hidden seed of the Spirit should bring visible fruit of good deeds in humility, hidden from the world.
At an eschatological level, we have become part of the kingdom of God, a kingdom that has rent the firmament asunder, flooding our world with truth and light. That flood is unseen, having spiritual origins. It is as a treasure hidden in a field, out of sight, awaiting the consummation of redemption. Yet its interim out-workings are manifest in the changes it brings to those who join. Its spiritual truths, hidden from the world, are perceivable to its subjects.
What is hidden corporately in God’s kingdom is seen reflected in what is hidden in its individual members (see Figure 3 for schematic representation). Perceiving the unseen hidden spiritual truths, the truths of the kingdom of heaven is critical to avoid the mistake of our Jewish forerunners whose earthly kingdom became aberrant and thus destroyed. As John warned, we must be free of the prostitution of idolatry and resist the temptations of the devil if we hope to feast one day on the hidden manna.
This seems to be a key eschatological message. For if John is hinting that Pergamum faces a testing in the new garden, they must bear in mind that failure brings ejection from God’s new garden – spiritual death, much as Adam’s failure brought ejection from the first garden. We currently are hidden with Christ, and thus already enjoy His presence in God’s new garden, a privilege we should loath losing.
John’s message of death and destruction is escalated over the first garden. His prophecy in Revelation 6:15-16 shows that none who behave unrighteously will escape judgment – not the kings, princes, generals, rich, mighty, or anyone else, slave and free. Like the first Adam, they corporately (as a harlot) will hide not in the trees, as Adam did, but in caves, thinking it more secure.
Unlike Adam, they hide not when God calls their name. Rather, they will call upon the mountains and rocks to fall upon them and hide them from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. Yet in escalation of the end-time judgment, physical death offers no relief as the greater judgment of hell awaits with no further redemptive opportunities. They will face eternal damnation. This same fate awaits those who fail to overcome.
Relevance to Christians Today
As if lacking irony, John, following Ezekiel concludes his Apocalypse with a surprising revelation that in the final Edenic garden stands two trees of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. We are not told how these leaves will serve to heal God’s elect, yet it is striking that the fig-leaves of our first parents could not heal the sin or guilt of their rebellion, yet the leaves of the tree of life apparently will.
The apron of fig-leaves only showed their inability to make life-giving choices. The clothing of the first Adam and that of the first corporate Adam are seen to be inadequate and incapable of taking away sin. But the last Adam, Christ, has clothed us in His righteous garments, opening the way again to the tree of life, whose leaves, in contrast to the fig-leaves of our first parents are efficacious.
Also ironic was the opening of their eyes by sin, bringing unexpected blindness that resulted from their spiritual death and subsequent expulsion from the presence of God. That theme is recapitulated in the corporate Adam Israel, who is blinded spiritually by God for the sin of idolatry (Isaiah 6:9-10). Neither the first Adam nor the first corporate Adam could restore their spiritual sight, though Jesus as last Adam, restores spiritual sight to the fallen race of the first Adam and similarly the fallen race of the corporate Adam.
John warns however, that spiritual sight can be lost by God’s new covenant-community in Christ, much as it was lost by the Sinaic covenant-community through the idolatry of reliance upon what is seen with our physical eyes, rather than trusting in what Scripture allows us to see and perceive spiritually. Christ can judicially blind members of His new covenant-community for sin (Revelation 3:17-18) as God judicially blinded Israel for her sin and idolatry.
In an Edenic echo, John’s warning links blindness with nakedness, integrating these themes with a third theme of physical earthly wealth. That the Laodiceans are urged to buy gold refined in the fire, a cipher for righteousness amidst persecution contrasts strongly with earthly wealth through compromise with an unrighteous world, much as white clothes to wear points to a contrast with expensive earthly outward adornment, and eye salve to see contrasts with failure to realize their reliance upon obtaining what they see with their physical eyes. Ironically, there spiritual blindness makes them incapable of seeing their shameful nakedness before Christ. They must repent and change their ways if they are to be included in the great eschatological triumph of Christ.
Earlier themes pointed to God’s new covenant-community already in a new Edenic garden that is spiritual. From this starting point, the Edenic echo of John’s warnings suggest a time of testing for the new covenant-community after the model of the first Adam and after the model of the first corporate Adam.
Unsurprisingly, this final testing is escalated over the prior tests. Where Adam was tested in a garden by a serpent and the corporate Adam was tested in a wilderness outside their garden by hunger, thirst and idolatry, the new covenant-community is envisioned tested in a new spiritual garden by the great dragon Satan in his final manifestation as a seven-headed, ten-horned dragon-like beast that does not entice with idolatry but demands idolatrous worship of all living.
There is a second escalation seen in the great harlot Babylon, who is the final manifestation of all demonic carnal, physical enticements with added delusive power against God’s people.
As this testing is spiritual, the last corporate Adam, the body of Christ, must be spiritually discerning, maintaining a faithful covenant-lifestyle so that they do not fall from the new eschatological Edenic garden like the first Adam and the first corporate Adam when exiled from their Palestinian garden to Babylon.
Failing under persecution and threat of death, or holding fast to the kingdoms of this world and all they offer is a sin of unbelief in the enduring unseen things of God’s kingdom that can bring expulsion from God’s eternal redemptive garden.
John’s warning to Pergamum to avoid idolatry despite intense persecution seems to point to the coming persecutions of the Antichrist. His warning to Laodecia of blindness and nakedness of earthly wealth seems to point to the dangers of the harlot Babylon and putting one’s confidence in what one sees with their eyes. These were sins of the former corporate Adam that must be avoided by God’s people in the final testing so they may enjoy the hidden manna that is Christ and maintain membership in the new garden. [44]
Many can be expected to fall away under persecution, threat of death (2 Thessalonians 2:3) and carnal enticement (Revelation 18:4). To overcome will require spiritual eyes that can discern the unseen kingdom of God as enduring, and the things seen with their physical eyes as passing away. This differentiator is key to eternal membership in God’s kingdom.
[1] See Table 2, Eden: Its Structure, Symbolism & Family History
[2] Strong’s Concordance available at www.blueletterbible.org
[3] Note Jeremiah 28:14 where Nebuchadnezzar is said to be given control even of the wild animals, emphasizing to the Israelites that God had given complete dominion to him.
[4] Adam’s responsibilities to protect the garden from wild animals did not include hunting and its associated bloodshed however.
[5] Beale, G. K., We Become What We Worship, A Biblical Theology of Idolatry, Downers Grove IL, IVP Academic Press, 2008, p. 129. Beale argues that the very name of the tree implies magisterial responsibilities of judging or discerning good from evil, the Hebrew expression referring to kings and those in authority making judgments (2 Samuel 14:17; 19:35; 1 Kings 3:9; Isaiah 7:15-16), p. 128. Brown notes in 2 Samuel 19:35 that Barzillai’s reference to good and evil towb wāra` implies ability to enjoy the pleasant epicurean things of life, contrasting this knowledge against that of 2 Samuel 14:17 where David is praised for his ability to discern good and evil, implying that discerning good from evil applied to moral dilemmas. Brown, William P., The Ethos of the Cosmos, The Genesis of Moral Imagination in the Bible, Grand Rapids MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999, p. 147
[6] The Genesis narrative introduces the idea of sin and failure of mankind’s representative head without considering the broader question of the origins of evil. Milne notes, “Sin was present in the universe before the Fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1f; cf. John 8:44; 2 Peter 2:4; 1 John 3:8; Jude 6). The Bible however does not deal directly with the origin of evil in the universe, being concerned rather with sin and its origin in human life (1 Timothy 2:14; James 1:13f.). The real thrust of the demonic temptation in the account of the Fall in Genesis 3 lies in its subtle suggestion of man’s aspiring to equality with his maker (‘you will be like God’ 3:5)”. Milne, B.A., The Illustrated Bible Dictionary Part 3, Sin, Wheaton, IL, Inter-Varsity Press, Tyndale House Publishers, 1980, p. 1456.
[7] It does not seem coincidental that the serpent does not call God by His covenant name Yahweh. It hints that the one behind the serpent is in fact not in covenant relation, seeking to create doubt about Adam and the woman’s relationship with God.
[8] Wenham, Gordon J., Word Biblical Commentary Genesis 1-15, Waco, Texas, Word Books, 1987, p. 73
[9] The NIV does not adequately capture the modification. God used the Hebrew word muwth. The woman used the word pen. The AV better captures it.
[10] In giving their laws preeminence, they effectively made the commands of God of no consequence, taking them from the Word of God.
[11] Apocalypse of Moses 16 available @ http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/pseudepigrapha/apcmose.htm
[12] Adam and Eve 4 available @ https://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/fbe/fbe009.htm
[13] Goppelt, Leonhard, Typos, The Typological Interpretation of the Old Testament in the New, Grand Rapids MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982, p. 98
[14] Wenham notes: “Early Jewish and Christian commentators identified the snake with Satan or the devil, but since there is no other trace of a personal devil in early parts of the Old Testament, modern writers doubt whether this is the view of our narrator.” Gordon J. Wenham, Word Biblical Commentary Genesis 1-15, Waco, Texas, Word Books, 1987, p. 72
[15] Kitchen, K.A., The Illustrated Bible Dictionary Part 3, Serpent, Wheaton, IL, Inter-Varsity Press, Tyndale House Publishers, 1980, p. 1420
[16] John seems to adopt this approach in the close of his Apocalypse as a surety that his visions are the words of God while providing a warning to those who would attempt to add or take from his prophecies (Revelation 22:18-19). His words seem to deliberately echo the events of Genesis 3.
[17] Deuteronomy 4:2 (and 12:32; likely also 29:19-20) are the source of John’s warning of Revelation 22:18. Beale calls John’s warning “a new law code for a new Israel, modeled on the old law code directed to the nation of Israel”, noting that the Deuteronomistic passages warn against idolatry, as does John (21:8, 27; 22:15), offer life in a new land (Deuteronomy 4:1; 12:28;so Revelation 21:1-22:5 with 22:14, 17-19) and apply plague language for unfaithfulness (Deuteronomy 29:21; so Revelation 22:18). Beale notes the background of the Deuteronomic passages speaks of idolatry and concludes that John’s warning of adding or taking from Scripture is a warning against the false teachings of idolators. Beale, G. K., The Book of Revelation, A Commentary on the Greek Text, Grand Rapids MI, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999, p. 1150-1151
[18] It is remarkable how often Moses uses shamar to urge Israel to keep God’s commands, His covenant and remember Him in these early chapters of Deuteronomy (4:2, 6, 9, 15, 23, 40, 5:1, 10, 12, 29, 32; 6:3, 12, 17, 25; 7:11, 12; 8:1, 2, 6, 11). Similarly, `abad is used repeatedly to warn against serving idols (Deuteronomy 4:19, 28; 5:9; 7:4, 16; 8:19) instead of serving Yahweh and His laws (Deuteronomy 5:13; 6:13). Their heavy presence flags a new beginning, a new creation of Israel in the land. This view is enhanced by the recapitulation of the blessing to increase in number, consistent with the blessing of Genesis 1:28.
[19] To argue that Israel is a new creation is straightforward given that the old generation that was delivered from Egypt had now passed away and there was now a new generation of children about to enter God’s land. Given the new generation, it was necessary to renew the covenant to assure that all those who entered the land had also entered into covenant relationship with Yahweh and had agreed to abide by His commands (See Deuteronomy 29).
[20] This view is unsurprising given that Yahweh often envisioned Israel corporately as His son, His firstborn, His bride or wife. Also interesting is how Israel viewed the Ark and Menora as trees of life, setting a choice between God’s commands as a tree of life and idolatry, seen in the worship in the groves and trees as a tree of knowledge of good and evil.
[21] The promise to live long in the land is seen fulfilled in Isaiah 65:20, with the inauguration of the new heaven and new earth. The reason for its prophesied fulfillment is the coming new covenant, in which Israel are invested with a new heart (of flesh) and a new spirit that enables Israel to live faithfully to God’s covenant. With faithful living, comes its fulfillment which was not possible under the old covenant due to Israel’s intransigent unfaithfulness. Often, it is claimed that Isaiah 65:20 is fulfilled during the Millennium, since living as long as Isaiah claimed is not yet seen as fulfilled. That conclusion results from the strict application of literalism to Isaiah 65:20. But such literalism is unnecessary and mars the meaning of the passage. Isaiah is clear that the long lives he prophesied come with the new heaven and new earth which occurs commensurate with Christ’s first coming, confirmed in Ephesians 6:3. His description is not to be understood as literally individual lives of greatly extended length but that the prophecy’s fulfillment is unbounded, fulfilled beyond measure.
[22] So Allison, Dale C. Jr., The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, Volume 1, Edinburgh, T&T Clark Limited, 1988, p. 352
[23] Scholars often argue that forty is a round number, or a number that simply implies a long time. If indicative, then it is possible that John’s use of forty-two months in Revelation could point toward a time of testing. If so, then it suggests per our analysis of the timing of the new creation, that the church age (which has been argued as forty-two months), is a time of testing while she abides on earth, awaiting the Parousia. If John intended to emphasize that his prophecies concern a time of testing for the church, it would explain his adoption of forty-two in distinction with 1260 days and a time, times and half a time.
[24] The concept of heaven as the true spiritual land is not in conflict with the idea of God’s people inheriting the earth, as John envisions ultimately the descent of the heavenly city to the earth, a flag that the consummation of God’s redemptive plan conflates heaven and earth. This view is consistent with the discussions of creation as a cosmic temple. See The New Testament Transformation of God’s Temple
[25] The Hebrew word for desireable, חמד chamad, means to covet and is applied in Exodus 20:17 of the tenth commandment, suggestive of Eve’s sin as coveteousness. Wenham, Gordon J., Word Biblical Commentary Genesis 1-15, Waco, Texas, Word Books, 1987, p. 75
[26] As the subject of clothing has already been analyzed, only an abbreviated discussion will be offered here with points immediately relevant to the Fall. For further discussion on clothing/nakedness, see Marriage in Eden and its Redemptive Symbolism under The Wedding Garments
[27] The fig tree (and figs) becomes an important symbol of God’s people Israel in the Old Testament and the fig tree became the only object cursed by Christ (Mark 13:11-21) for failing to bring forth its fruit in season, symbolic of Israel’s failure to show spiritual fruit. Whether the use of fig leaves here foreshadows this symbol is impossible to ascertain. The fig tree, full of leaves with no fruit as a symbol for Israel, may have been cursed by Christ as a result of Israel’s reliance upon her own self-righteousness (the covering of leaves) that Christ so strongly objected to. There may also be some irony in man’s attempt to use the leaves of this third tree, in contrast to the prior two named trees (Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil) as Revelation 22:2 shows the new Jerusalem with two trees of life whose leaves are for healing (not covering) of the nations.
[28] The Hebrew word kĕthoneth used here is the same word used to describe Joseph’s coat of many colors and the coat (tunic) of the priests (Exodus 24). It thus foreshadows the appropriate attire or “covering” needed to meet with God. It also provides clues why Joseph’s brothers were envious as this coat would be emblematic that Joseph would serve as priest and head of the family/clan.
[29] The preeminence of blood sacrifices also seems to be illustrated in the story of Cain and Abel where Abel’s blood sacrifice was approved over Cain’s sacrifice of the first fruits. A similar order is evident in Israel’s feast days with the Passover coming before the feast of the first fruits.
[30] Habershon, A. R., The Study of the Types, London and Glasgow, Pickering & Inglis, Seventh Edition, p. 104-105
[31] This is seen in Eve’s attempts to blame the serpent for deceiving her and Adam’s attempts to blame his wife for giving him the fruit and blaming God for giving him the woman!
[32] Wright, J. S., The Illustrated Bible Dictionary Part 3, Zechariah, Wheaton, IL, Inter-Varsity Press, Tyndale House Publishers, 1980, p. 1677
[33] See Genesis 9:21; Exodus 32:25; Leviticus 18:6-19; 20:17-21; Deuteronomy 28:48; 1 Samuel 20:30; 2 Samuel 6:20; 2 Chronicles 28:15, 19; Job 26:6; Isaiah 20:2-4; 47:3; Jeremiah 49:10; Lamentations 1:8; 4:21-22; Ezekiel 16; 22:10; 23:10-29; Hosea 2; Amos 2; Habakkuk 2:15-16; Micah 1; Nahum 3:5; Mark 14:52; Acts 19:16; Hebrews 4:13; Revelation 3:18; 16:15; 17:16
[34] Brown, William P., The Ethos of the Cosmos, The Genesis of Moral Imagination in the Bible, Grand Rapids MI, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999, p. 158
[35] Gage, Warren Austin, The Gospel of Genesis, Winona Lake IN, Carpenter Books, 1984, p. 95
[36] Note the Fast of Atonement, a time of humility and affliction, typically teaches the need for a covering before approaching Yahweh.
[37] Ironically, Jesus was stripped naked for His crucifixion, emphasizing our shameful sins that He took upon Himself, being made a public spectacle for all to see. Likewise there is a parallel with the first Adam who sinned while naked. Adam in effect, became a partaker, or took upon himself, the sins of his wife by eating of the fruit. He then sought a covering for his sin. The last Adam, took upon himself the sins of His church, but rather than seeking a covering, was stripped naked yet became a suitable covering for us.
[38] Note also Revelation 16:15 which declares a blessing that appears parallel to this parable “Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
[39] While it may not seem that Hagar was lacking spiritual sight in failing to see the well, it can be argued that her lack of spirituality and trust in God blinded her to God’s provision. In her desperation, she could only see death rather than the provision of life Yahweh had graciously provided.
[40] Given that those who lacked spiritual sight fell dead in the wilderness without achieving restoration, one wonders if the sign that the dead was raised (their eyes being opened in 2 Kings 4:35), had some symbolic significance.
[41] Though Moses affirmed Israel’s inability to perceive spiritually the miracles of their Egyptian exodus, Yahweh raised up spiritual leaders to teach and direct the people, yielding a faithful remnant throughout Israel’s history. It is likely the remnant represents those who in faith, recognized their failures and in repentance, sought Yahweh with their whole heart. Thus, even before the coming Messiah, Yahweh was gracious to reveal Himself to the faithful. Those of our current age can have the greater gift of restoration of spiritual sight through Christ if we respond in repentance and seek His face.
[42] One of the more noteworthy good deeds done hidden from view, was that of Joseph of Arimathaea in secretly requesting the body of Jesus from Pilate (John 19:38) so that He could be planted in a garden from which He would later be resurrected.
[43] John 18:20 seems exemplary of the testimony of Christ and His kingdom to the church for their testimony which Christ preached in Matthew 5:14. The church then, would have a model of how to faithfully show forth their testimony as a light on a hill.
[44] In support of the idea of a garden-type eschatological covenant-community temptation, Paul employs an interesting illustration to the Corinthians that is a temptation echo from the fall (2 Corinthians 11:3) in which he warns them not to be beguiled as Eve was through subtlety.