What ladies can learn: One of the biggest events of human history; definitely the biggest goof-up in human history. No girl likes to read this story, because we all know Eve messed it up for the rest of us. Stupid Eve.
But before we judge Eve, let's look at the facts: Eve disobeyed God. She didn't submit to God's rules, God's authority, her husband's leadership, or her husband's spiritual authority. She rebelled against God and against her husband (we mentioned earlier that Adam was Eve's spiritual leader and that Adam was probably the one to tell Eve not to eat from the tree). She sacrificed all the good she had known, all of God's good plans for her and for humanity. Why? Because she wanted to know everything.
Ahem. Remind you of someone? Yourself or somebody you know?
Ladies are, naturally, quite curious. I've seen girls do all kinds of things, just because they want to know "everything" about a friend or situation. These girls aren't satisfied with the information God brings their way; they "need" to have more information, and if God won't bring it their way, then they "need" to go get it themselves (even if it means rebelling against God's authority, God's rules, their parents' authority, and their parents' rules). Gossiping, lying, breaking promises, backstabbing, secret-telling, eavesdropping, snooping--I'm sure you've experienced some of these things, too. In the process, however, these girls mess up the wonderful plans God has for them and for everyone around them. Look around: you're surrounded by Eves. You may even be one of them.
Don't gossip. Be content with whatever God chooses to reveal to you and whatever God chooses not to reveal to you.
There's another part to this passage I'd like to touch on: it's the influence girls have on men. Look at the passage. Eve gave some fruit to Adam, and he ate it. Even though Adam was the spiritual leader, Eve influenced him. From this passage, we could infer that he trusted her, too. Maybe he'd taken her advice in other situations, as well. Good ladies are trustworthy, and they're able to give their husbands good advice.
Notice something else: in this incident, Eve did give Adam advice, but she didn't leave it at that. Eve decided to go farther: Eve led Adam, attempting to act as his spiritual "head." She didn't leave the tree, go to Adam, and say, "Sweetie, I have something to ask you. I know you said God doesn't want us to eat from that one tree, but the serpent said we'd know everything if we ate from it. What do you think? Will you eat from it first?" She just ate from it, then led Adam in eating from it. This doesn't just apply to Adam and Eve as a couple; Adam and Eve represent mankind and womankind. Do we try to snatch the spiritual leadership away from men, or are we submissive to them?
A couple more points, and we'll be done:
- Notice that, even though Eve tried to be a leader, she still wasn't really the spiritual leader. Death didn't enter the world until Adam ate the apple.
- Eve received a couple consequences for her actions. First, childbearing (which she was still commanded to do) would be painful. Second, there would no longer be any "perfect" marriages. Wives would work hard to please their husbands--losing sight of the ultimate purpose, which is helping God and pleasing God--and would be disappointed, because they would not be able to please their husbands. Men, in turn, would "lord over" their wives in domineering fashion, totally taking their wives' work for granted. That doesn't mean God doesn't want any more marriage, but it does mean that we need to be on guard against these problems in our relationships with authority figures, parents, dating relationships, and--eventually--our marriages.
- Notice that Adam was given the curse of difficult work and Eve was given the curse of painful childbearing. This doesn't mean that income is suddenly Adam's job and his alone, and that childbearing/rearing is suddenly Eve's job and hers alone. Men are the primary income-workers, and only women can give birth, but collaboration is still beneficial.
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