Mark Horne » Blog Archive » Your mission field includes your mouth, hands, and feet.

Reflecting on the difference between the Law’s commands and wisdom makes me realize how obvious it is that Eve was growing in wisdom when she answered the serpent.  Proverbs 5.8 says of the immoral woman:

Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house

That is not what the Seventh Commandment says. The Law contains no prohibition against being near the door of a temptress. (And of  course, I don’t think this is an absolute prohibition. It is about the habits and expectations you develop as normal behavior.)

And so Eve was Lady Wisdom in response to the serpent.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Of course, the Serpent pressed on and Adam stood by silently even though he was the only one who had actually heard God prohibit the tree. So it was all undone.

But Eve started off running well.