Old Testament Story

At first it was all very good and humanity was included in that evaluation.

But that is not how we experience the world now. So what happened to change it? What went wrong?

God had created humans innocent but with the potential of choosing good or evil. For humans to be moral beings, to be good or evil or a mixture of the two, there must be a choice for them to make. God provided for them abundantly but He also gave them the command, "... of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat"  (Genesis 2:16 ESV) Here it is important to note that the word for 'knowledge' in the Old Testament is often nearer in meaning to our word 'experience'. So the way the human pair responded to this command would result in their experiencing good or evil according to their choice.

But the man and woman chose to disobey this command with catastrophic results. Mind you, have you ever thought that if the Old Testament god were anything like the creature of most peoples' imagining, then he would have simply wiped humans off the earth there and then. In that case you would not be where you are at this moment reading this book?

What were the immediate results of this disobedience?

The man and woman hid from the Lord God because they had fractured their relationship with Him by their disobedience. They no longer felt comfortable with Him; they no longer enjoyed His Presence.

God gave them the opportunity to face up to what they had done. However, when He questioned them, their replies were not very promising. The man put the blame for his own action on both the woman and on God. After all, he was not going to take responsibility for what he had done. (Sounds remarkably modern, doesn't it?) "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate". (Genesis 3:12 ESV)

The woman didn't do much better: she blamed the serpent. The relationship between the human pair was fouled up, as each was seeking to pass the blame elsewhere.

The environment too was spoiled. Sin, human wrongdoing, disobedience to God is the reason why so much is awry in this world.