The Fall - An Intro

After the conflict in pre-mortality where Satan and 1/3 of the hosts of heaven were cast out and after the creation of the world, we find Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that was created for them by the Gods. When placed there, Adam and Eve were given two commandments, 1. Multiply and replenish the earth, 2. Do not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The IM points out 4 characteristics of the state of Adam and Eve in the Garden, 1. Not subject to death. They had committed no sin, so they were not worthy of death. This left them in an immortal state, but not a resurrected, perfected state. It’s the same state that allows lambs and lions to lay down together, the same type that John and the three Nephites dwell in now, I think. 2. In the presence of God. I don’t necessarily think that this means that they were with God all the time, but probably like He comes and goes. 3. They had no posterity. This is a hard one because it was one of the two commandments that they were given. I believe that this was also a consequence of their immortal but non-resurrected state. I also don’t necessarily think that Eve had put together mentally that they couldn’t have children in the Garden. Kind of like if someone told me to build a rocket, I would be like “how am I supposed to do that?” I’d have no idea. Similarly, I think the command to have children was just that, something told to them that they had no idea how to accomplish. 4. They did not have knowledge of good and evil. I think this one was an exercise in logic vs. experience. They probably logically understood the concept of opposites, but had no experience with it. This is where the fruit of the tree came into play. Satan being a fallen angel who rebelled against God is what sets up his presence in the Garden of Eden, talking to Adam and Eve. In the scriptures he’s made to be represented as a serpent, which might make sense because he doesn’t have a body so he has to be visible somehow. I’ve also heard it explained that people just don’t like snakes, so this was a way to explain that natural apprehension. Just as an aside, I have hated snaked my whole life, been absolutely terrified of them, but that has recently changed for a couple of reasons. First, I educated myself, apparently the only venomous snake in Utah is the rattlesnake so those are pretty straight forward, so the rest of the snakes are harmless. Secondly I started looking at pictures of snakes wearing little hats and it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, seriously Google it, it will change your life. Anyway, as a serpent, the scriptures record that Satan first approaching Eve, but the IM points out that due to modern revelation we know that Satan had first gone to Adam, but Adam refused. The scriptures also make it seem like this was a really quick, simple event that takes place, where Eve is tempted to eat the fruit and does it in the same encounter. I think the one thing that is overlooked in this process is that it probably took a lot of time and thinking, and probably talking to God about the mental incompatibilities of being commanded to have children when it was physically impossible to do so. Satan probably brought these ideas up to her many times and as she probably thought about a lot of it, probably even discussed these ideas with Adam and with God. We don’t know how much time they spent in the Garden. I assume it was eons of time, so I don’t think that this was a “everything is perfect,” to “ok sure, let’s disobey the Father,” in the same afternoon. There were a lot of mental disconnects that Eve would have had to work through before coming to the conclusion that she should eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In the scriptures it feels like it is such a rash decision, made in haste, but I don’t think that’s what happened at all, I think it was a long, drawn out process that even though was ultimately her decision, was debated with both Adam and God.