The First Sin: Not What You Might Think

Who committed the first sin and what was it?  Would you say it was Eve, when she ate the forbidden fruit?   I have a feeling that that would be the answer many would give, for that is the first overt sin recorded in the Bible (Gen 3.1f).  And yet in the New Testament it is not Eve, but Adam, who is given credit for bringing sin into the world.  Rom 5.12 says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin….”  So why does Adam get credit for the first sin when it is Eve who committed the first sin?  The answer is not too difficult to discern.  In Gen 3.6 we read, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”  Notice that last line: “she gave to her husband with her”.  If the words “with her” have any significance (and I think they do), they suggest that Adam was right there beside his wife while she was being enticed and deceived by the serpent and when she chose to disobey God.  If so, he was strangely silent.  But whether he was in her immediate presence or simply nearby but out of earshot, it seems clear that though Eve led him to eat the forbidden fruit, Adam failed to take the lead in protecting her from spiritual harm.  Lending support to this is the fact that God confronted Adam first, not Eve (vs.9).  And even then he failed to take the responsibility of leadership, blaming his wife instead of taking the blame himself (vs.12).  So the first sin was not eating the forbidden fruit nor was it committed by the woman.  The first sin was the failure of the man to be the spiritual leader.

Have things changed much since?  Not if the Biblical record is any indication.  On two occasions Abraham put his wife in harm’s way by lying to protect himself.  Isaac did the same.  In the days of the Deborah, nothing was done about the evil in the land until “a mother in Israel” arose (Jud 5.7).  Solomon was lead into idolatry by his wives.  Ahab was led by Jezebel.   In the days of Isaiah, “there was no man…no one to intercede” on behalf of justice (Isa 59.16).  In Jeremiah’s day God couldn’t find a man to seek the truth (Jer 5.1).  In Ezekiel’s day there was no man to stand in the gap (Ezek 22.30).  In Jesus’ day the men among the disciples never understood Jesus’ clear predictions about his death (Lk 18.34), but at least one woman seemed to (Mt 26.12).

The period recorded in the book of Acts seems to be an exception to the historical rule of the failure of men to lead.  Maybe things weren’t ideal even then, but the men in that period really stand out.  They took the lead in the church and no doubt in their homes as well.  Does that seem a stark contrast to what we see today?  Who are often the most dedicated to the work of the kingdom of God, the most spiritually minded, the most into the word of God, the most prayerful?  Is it not the women?  Men, let us not be guilty of Adam’s sin.  Let us not remain strangely silent while the women lead in spiritual zeal and devotion.  Let us assure that male spiritual leadership is the rule of experience in our churches and homes today as it was in the first century.

© 2006 Randy Hohf