Tuesday, August 16, 2016

I Wish I Hadn't Done That

Adam was 130 years old when his son Seth was born, the very image of his father in every way. After Seth was born, Adam lived another 800 years, producing sons and daughters, and died at the age of 930. Genesis 5; 3, 4, 5 The Living Bible

All of us at one time must have said, “I wish I hadn’t done that.”

I heard a sermon on the radio how Genesis lists a genealogy with the striking conclusion: and he died,--and he died, -- and he died. The minister was talking about the fact of the curse, with our desperate need of someone to save us.

It occurred to me that Adam must have seen many people die before he did, maybe even thousands. That idea made me wonder if Adam grieved heavily as he watched people die. How hurt was he when Eve died? He had given her the name Eve, calling her the Mother of all Living. Was he there when she died? What were his thoughts now she was dead?

All this death was because of his choice in the Garden of Eden. As his descendants were born and died, even as repentant before God, Adam must have felt extreme guilt. I wonder if he walked closer to God after he left the garden. Did he ask for forgiveness each time someone died? To see a corpse for the first time and realize you were the leading cause! How horrible for both Adam and Eve!

Before his banishment from Eden, the smell of death and decay weren’t even a possibility. What must have it been like to experience the smell of death for the very first time? We have it with us all the time. In and around our homes, a common odor we never think about; our garbage cans, disposal units, dead leaves, overripe fruit, old food, rust, mold, bathtub rings, dirty clothes. We live with it and hardly ever think about it.

We watch movies and TV shows where death is the opening and closing scenes. There are many procedural shows where death is the attraction. The news tells us the horror of murders, crashes, suicides, accidents, and wars and we take it all as natural. We read obituaries and attend funerals because we know what they are. It must have been a shock to Adam the first time he saw death, even of an animal that first dead animal skin now covered his sinful, dying body. How awful it must have been to find his son Cain the instrument of the first hands-on life taking of his lineage!

It must have been so wonderful for Eve to give birth to Seth. She gave God glory recognizing this new child as Granted, or Given of God. She knew this child would be the line from which the promise of Salvation would come. Adam and Eve knew that at some point, God would do something about the curse of their sin and their posterity would be again live in perfect harmony with God. This must have been such a treasured promise when the true understanding of death was suddenly surrounding them.

Wow! What an ending to think about when you’re the first person on earth!

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Originally this was a page from my journal, which became the basis for

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