The Fall of Man- Genesis Chapters 3-9

The fall of man is perhaps one of the most important events that recurs throughout literature. Of course most people do not believe in such things literally, as some others do, but it has influenced literature and culture in many ways. Before the fall, man was pure, innocent and without awareness of right and wrong. After the fall we knew the difference between the two and yet we continued on our path of sin. Even though Cain knew murder to be a sin, he slew his own brother in cold blood. Many pieces of literature such as Shakespeare or Gilgamesh, have references to the Bible and events that occurred even though they are not entirely believed in. Enkidu is a character who represented man before the fall, innocent and blind to right and wrong. Once he was introduced to the temple harlot he was changed. This event represented a version of the fall of man. In the bible man “ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked.”(Genesis 3:6) Once again man grew in arrogance and believed himself all powerful. As I said in my past blog, Power Corrupts, man became engulfed in his own pride and arrogance and became corrupt. Men took whichever and any number of wives that pleased them. They slew one another and stole and lied and broke everything that God stood for. This angered God because man was meant to be in the image of Him and ended up corrupt and evil. He destroyed what he had created only sparing Noah who was innocent compared to his fellow man. Along with man God sent all the animals of the world, in pairs, on the ark. This he did so that man would once again start anew and become what God had originally intended. He made the covenant with Noah not to destroy man or the world as he did again. If He had not made that promise we probably wouldn’t be here today. We are all corrupted nowadays. None of us have claim of innocence except babies who do not know any better. But it is God’s covenant with Noah that keeps us safe even though maybe we deserve his judgment.