(presented by: Naomi Blankenship)

The plants that God created were in the field and they grew.  The Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth nor had He yet made man upon the earth to till the ground. 

     The Lord God made man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. 

     The Lord, our God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there He put man, whom He had formed.  Out of the ground, God made every tree that was pleasant to look at and good to grow for food.  God also placed in the midst of the garden the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

     A river went out of Eden to water the garden and from here it parted into four rivers.  The name of the first river is Pison and it encompassed the whole area of Havilah. We know the area today as Arabia.  There in Havilah was gold, bdellium, and onyx stones.  The name of the second river was Gihon and it was through the whole land of Ethiopia.  The name of the third river was Hiddekel which went out east of Assyria.  The fourth river was the Euphrates.

     The Lord, our God put the man into the garden to take care of the garden.  God told man he could eat of every tree in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of which he was not to eat. The Lord, our God told the man that the day he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would surely die.

     God saw that it wasn’t good that man should be alone. God had created male and female of all the animals, so He would create man a help meet also.  This way man could reproduce as all other creations on the earth that God had made and he would have a helper.

     God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, whose name was Adam.  He took a rib from the man and closed up the flesh of Adam.  God took Adam’s rib and created a female human being and took her to him.  Adam said this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.  Adam called her ‘woman’ because she was taken out of man.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they shall be ‘one flesh’.  They were both naked, the man and his wife and they were not ashamed. 

     Now, the serpent was more clever than any other beast of the field that God had made.  The serpent said to the woman, “Did not God say that you could not eat of every tree in the garden?”  The woman replied to the serpent that they could eat of every tree in the garden, except the tree in the center of the garden they could not eat of it, or even touch it, or they would die.  The serpent replied back to the woman, “Yea shall not surely die.  For God doth know that in the day yea eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and yea shall be as gods, knowing good from evil”.  The woman saw that the fruit was good for food, and pleasant to look at, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.  She took the fruit and ate it and also gave some to Adam, her husband, to eat and he did also eat it.   

     After they ate the fruit, their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked.  They sewed fig leaves together to make aprons to cover themselves.

     They heard God, our Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees in the garden.  The Lord God called to Adam and said, “Where art thou”.  Adam replied, “I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid, and I was naked, and I hid myself.”  God said, “Who told thee that thou was naked.  Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof  I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat”?  Adam replied to God, “The woman that thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”  And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that thou hast done?” Then, the woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”  And the Lord God said unto the serpent, “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.  Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel.” 

     Unto the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”  Unto Adam He said, “Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee saying, thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it was thou taken; for dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.”  Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  The Lord God made coats of skin and clothed Adam and Eve. 

     Now that man knew good and evil God knew He had to keep them from eating of the tree of life, or he would live forever.  God sent Adam from the garden to till the ground from which he was taken.  So, God drove out the man and placed at the east of the garden Cherubims, and a flaming sword that turned every way, to keep them from the tree of life.
      
     Sin is in the world today because of Adam and Eve's disobedience to God.  So, children obey God's rules and you will prosper and be blessed. 

     Remember, you must listen to the Lord God and follow what He says to do. Through prayer and reading of His Word we will stay out of trouble and be blessed of God. Do not listen to any serpent or wicked person that says things against the Lord God almighty, or trouble may follow.  Follow the Lord God and be blessed of Him.

     If Jesus (Yeshua) has touched your heart and you would like to accept Him as your personal Lord and Savior, please