Don’t in Eden: Did God command or warn Adam?
How this one issue affects our entire view of God

If you’re told, “Don’t do this” – or, “You must not do this because …” – do you perceive both of them to be the same? There’s a good chance that you don’t. Over time, as in hundreds or even thousands of years, people’s perceptions of those two commands change. For example, in Eden, did God command or warn Adam? What we’re likely to reject today isn’t necessarily the one rejected in the past. Is it really a big deal? Well, yes, it is. Because how we view a similar statement, one that occurs very early in the Bible, makes a huge impact on how we view God’s character. And then, how we view God’s character, who He is at His core, will impact how we respond to His offer of salvation.

This article has been a long time coming. So much research. So much study, contemplation, and prayer. What I ended up with isn’t what I learned as a kid. There’s a good chance it’s not what you learned either. We have to be willing to set aside things we’ve learned. Things from human doctrines, set up for churches, based on interpretations of things in the Bible. But – some of those interpretations reject Jewish thought on Old Testament, actually Jewish, Scripture. Some ignore cultural and language usage from the ancient Near East – in favor of modern Western thinking patterns and methods. And some frame Biblical events in light of the doctrine that was set up without considering those events.

So, I decided to go through a process with AI – not to learn, but to confirm. To see if Biblical scholars and theologians have considered the things I’m looking at, the meanings I see when I read the Bible in light of ancient times, language, and culture. Am I on track – or off the rails? I was happy to find that others have already gone down the same path. That it does make sense. It can flow from the Bible. Although – it isn’t what passes for widespread church doctrine. Especially not with the ones who look at God as someone looking for every little thing we do wrong, who needs to punish us, who insist we must do additional things to get our salvation – above and beyond what Jesus already did.

For years, I’ve wondered, why isn’t the Good News actually believed to be good news? Since I was a little kid, I wondered, why is God out to get me? Why is He doing all these things to me?

Did God command or warn Adam?

But – it doesn’t have to be read that way. This isn’t new. But then, it’s also not that well known. It’s not talked about very much. And it starts at the beginning. The Beginning. With what we were taught was God forbidding something and we all pay the price for what two people did. Eve and Adam. Eve did eat first, you may remember. But Adam also didn’t correct her when she had that little talk with the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

Those were choices. Bad ones – but choices. Adam was told something. We argue over what it was. Or we just assume it was something. But was it? Let’s find out. We’ll take a different path – choosing to look at the choices we have as far as what went on in Eden. Everything depends on that. Our view of God depends on it.

Yes, this does use AI. But it’s what I call a “Guided Study Using AI Research”. I guide Google Gemini through the process. Asking questions. Making statements, so it can respond. Agreeing or disagreeing, again to get a response. All of that’s included.

But I also add more explanation, making it easier for you to understand the flow. To realize the differences between what’s popular in churches today, versus what the people who wrote these Scriptures meant, based on their time, their culture, and their language.

It’s a reasonable, even preferable, way to approach the Bible, in many ways. After all, we believe God hasn’t changed – we’ve changed. So, let’s go back and see what all of this meant back then. And what that means for us today. I pray you will come out of it as I did after all this research. With an infinitely more positive image of God. A God who I’m not afraid of – but literally hope for a hug from Jesus. Yes, He’s God – deserves our worship, thanks, love, and so many other things. But He also loves us – He died for us! I honestly think we sell God so short – for all He’s done for us, in spite of all the things we do to Him. Let’s make the Good News good again. Let’s look forward to an eternity with the One who created us.

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