WHAT WAS THE ISSUE WITH ADAM AND EVE?

Adam was given a clear, direct, command from God, before Eve was created:

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil [bad] you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Gen 2:15-17

Adam chose to listen to the voice of the woman, instead of to the voice of God:

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded [heard intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.] the voice [voice or sound] of your wife [woman], and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

“Cursed [execrated] [loathed] is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.

Execrated (Def.):   feel or express great loathing for.

18 

Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.

19 

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

Gen. 3:17-19

There are many voices out there. It is crucial that we listen to the right (correct) voice.

Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord.

1 Sam. 15:1

But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

1 Sam. 15: 9

Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”

1 Sam. 15: 13

And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

1 Sam. 15: 15

Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? 

1 Sam. 15:18-19

And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

1 Sam. 15: 20-21

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”

24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed [heard intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.] their voice.

1 Sam. 15: 22-24

Summary:

  • The issue at creation was obedience to God’s voice.
  • Adam listened to the woman’s voice instead of God’s voice, therefore the ground was cursed.
  • Saul lost the position of being king over Israel by listening to the peoples’ voice, instead of God’s voice.
  • The scary thing about Saul’s situation was that he thought he was listening to God’s voice. The entire chapter of 1 Sam. 15. A big mistake:
  • Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.  1 Sam. 15: 13
  • It’s obviously vital to listen to God’s voice. In our case, the Holy Writ.

An aside:   

All [apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole] Scripture is given by inspiration of God [divinely breathed in], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

2 Tim. 3:16

“All” means “all” Holy Writ, not some.

Bottom line:   We can’t be sloppy with God’s Word (Voice).

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