As of the tree of life which stands in the paradise of the future it is said, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life”; so in Eden man’s immortality was suspended on the condition of obedience. And the trial of man’s obedience is imaged in the other tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From the childlike innocence in which man originally was, he was to pass forward into the condition of moral manhood, which consists not in mere innocence, but in innocence maintained in presence of temptation.... Only by choosing the good in presence of the evil are true manhood and real maturity gained.—The Expositor’s Bible, Genesis, Marcus Dods.
Like the great Teacher of Nazareth, the prophetic author of this marvelous story was dealing with the deepest experiences of human life. His problem was to make clear and plain even to children the nature of that inner struggle which we call temptation. He accomplishes his end by the use of the simple story and dialogue. Attention and interest are fixed from the first on the experiences of a certain man and woman. The story has all the personal charm of those fascinating popular tales which come from the ancient East. Its prologue, the primitive story of creation, was old centuries before the days of Moses. In the first scene the actors are the serpent, the woman, and the man. In the dialogue between the serpent and the woman is brought out vividly the struggle that raged in her own mind between her natural inclinations and her sense of duty. In the second scene Jehovah appears. The acts and motives of the man and woman and the terrible consequences of sin are portrayed so concretely and dramatically that even the youngest and simplest reader can fully appreciate them. The thoughtful reader, however, soon discovers that the marvelous biblical narrative is far more than a mere record of the experiences of a primitive man and woman. Like the inimitable parables of Jesus, it is a chapter from the book of life.—Heroes and Crises of Early Hebrew History, Charles Foster Kent.
Among the many religious teachings with which this marvelous story abounds may be noted: (1) Innocence does not become virtue until it is tested and proved by temptation. (2) If the testing is to be effective, the temptation must be of a character to appeal to the individual tested. (3) Sin is not God’s but man’s creation. (4) To sin is to act in accord with the baser and more selfish rather than the nobler and diviner motives. (5) An act of sin destroys a man’s peace of mind and purity of thought. (6) Sin unconfessed is a sin constantly committed, and it absolutely prevents even God himself from forgiving the unrepentant sinner. (7) In keeping with the law of cause and effect, sin brings its own inevitable punishment. (8) The worst effect of sin is the severing of the normal, harmonious relations between God and the individual. (9) Most of the pains and ills of life are the result of some one’s sin. (10) Man must learn in the school of pain and toil the lesson of obedience. (11) Even though guilty and unrepentant, man is still the object of God’s unceasing love and care—Ibid.
AIM
To show through the story of the first disobedience the character and consequences of all sin, and to point out the only way to escape from it.
LESSON PREPARATION
The story that we have in this lesson must make an appeal to every child because there is no child in our Junior Department who has not had the experience of being disobedient, and also, doubtless, of trying to hide both the sin and himself from the one disobeyed. Probably there can be no more effectual way of beginning the preparation of this lesson than for the teacher to think back to his own experience as a child, and recall in what manner he made his way back through repentance and forgiveness to a complete restoration of the feeling of loving freedom that should exist between parent and child. The attitude of the one in authority is always a very important factor, but even with the most wise and loving of parents or guardians, the natural tendency of the one who transgresses is to concealment. With the facts of the story clearly in mind and the memory of one’s own experience as a guide, it should be easy to make the children realize that disobedience always brings unhappiness in the end, and a sense of separation from those who love us; that the worst thing anyone can do is to try to hide a disobedient act, because the only way to get back to the right road again is through the opposite course—brave confession instead of cowardly hiding or denying, repentance and the determination to forsake instead of clinging to the wrong.
Prayer is always the most essential part of our lesson preparation, and in this lesson especially we need to pray that we may be given such heavenly wisdom and so much of love in our own hearts that we can make the children see the heavenly Father as a God of infinite love and compassion, one who hates sin but loves the sinner. Many people who are now teaching children have testified that in their own childhood, from the way in which these Old Testament stories were presented, they saw in God only an avenging Deity, eager to punish or destroy. We must always remember that Jesus never presented his Father and ours in that way, and that he whose life was given to provide a way of escape for sinning humanity said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”