Adam, Eve, History, Truth (6)

In the Genesis 2 account, after God has formed the man out of dust, we read that He breathes into the man and the man becomes a nephesh. This word has multiple meanings (soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion) and I want to focus on one in particular: appetite.

In a series of stimulating lectures by an OT professor over a decade ago, we were taught that the Hebrew root of the word meant open. The illustration he used was the open mouth of a baby bird. That image stunned me because it reversed my view of the pre-Fall creation. The idea that we came into the world "hungry" from the beginning is a different kind of idea. It is certainly different from the idea that we were complete and whole and static. Instead, even before the Fall, it seems that we had needs and desires, an appetite.

A few verses later we read that it was not good for the man to be alone. This, too, because it is so familiar, can be overlooked. If there were perfect bliss in the pre-Fall state, then why is it not good? The reality is, the 'adam  had desires and needs. At least one, companionship, was not fufilled. We know he got hungry, there was a garden full of food. It does not say much about sleep, he slept when the material for the woman was scooped from his side/rib. Perhaps he did get tired and slept at other times as well?

All this to say, some of what we see as the burdens of life may in fact be part of the original plan. Hunger, desire, need.... Maybe even before the Fall there was struggle. Maybe struggle makes us grow and develop. Perhaps the difference is, post-Fall, our intimacy with God has been damaged and the fruit of our labors has been cursed by our sin. Maybe that is why it is so hard to believe. Maybe faith is the greatest loss from the Fall. Or maybe it is love. We see how quickly the man and woman damage each other, the brother murders brother. Perhaps the Fall  has diminished out capacity to trust, hope and love.

I think these stories can and should penetrate us. We need to ponder them, less as a means to attack and destroy others, but rather as a mode of encounter. Did God speak these words to us? I think so. I think herein we find an insight into the Truth of life. But it is a God who is not at our own beck and call and not as a God who is less than us. It is insight into a SOMEONE who far exceeds our capacity to know Him or understand Him. I have reflected this week on Genesis in the hopes that people would enter into the depth of the text. I also hope that the authority and truth of the Word can be respected even as we try to understand the nature of the communication and the reality that it is divinely inspired literature.