Echoes of Eden: Adam and Eve Revisited by Abram and Sarai

 

The partaking of the forbidden in the very first human story finds its expression in multifaceted ways that continue even today.

The Importance of the Early Genesis Narratives

The "Beginning" narratives of Genesis contain the genetic code that finds expression and bears fruit in the rest of Scripture and throughout the history of human experience. These early chapters provide templates for subsequent events that detail God's relational advancement with fallen humankind. Every chronicle echoes these beginning accounts and reveals applicable facets drawn from the episodes in the Bible's first chapters. 

It's a messy story, to say the least, but that's just the backside of the tapestry view. As we follow the common threads through the fabric of these Biblical accounts, a much bigger picture comes into view. We will see how the genius of God beautifully weaves His eternal plan through the warp of rebellious humanity, which resists Him at every turn. 

This article will recast the events of the Genesis chapter three garden narrative and view them through the lens of Abram and Sarai's experiences. 

Adam was appointed to the garden, and Abram was appointed to Canaan

Appointed Spaces and Places

Adam was created outside the garden, planted in Eden, and then later placed inside the garden.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground ... The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 

— Genesis 2:7-8

Through the downfall of the first prototypical human family, the consequent exile from the garden of Eden left humankind outside God's sacred appointed space. 

Humanity continued to stumble over itself outside of Eden from the flood until the tower of Babel. At this juncture, God called one man, Abram, out of the metropolitan Ur of the Chaldees, located within the territories of Nimrod's idolatrous urban developments, including Babel. God's promise included placing Abram in a new land.

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

— Genesis 12:1

Initially, Abram obeyed the call to the new land God was preparing for him.

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him ... So they (Abram and family) came to the land of Canaan. 

— Genesis 12:5 

All was going well until a challenge presented itself.

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. 

— Genesis 12:10 

At first glance, it appears Abram is making a sensible decision to go down to Egypt, given the severe famine in the land. However, a couple of clues suggest this may not have been part of God's plan. The first clue appears in the expression "went down." It seems like a minor geographical detail, since he had to go south to reach Egypt. But in the Biblical narrative, such phrasing can carry deeper, more connective meaning. Going down can metaphorically mean a decline in sound decision-making. Going down in a moral sense also applied to the southern kingdom of Judah's King Jehoshaphat when he agreed to ally with the northern kingdom of Israel's evil king Ahab to reclaim Ramoth Gilead from Syria.

Then it came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel. 

— 1 Kings 22:2

Jehoshaphat's going down does not refer to a geographic southward direction, since Israel was north of Judah. "Going down," in this case, signals a spiritual decline. The Chronicle's rendition makes it clear that Jehoshaphat chose poorly. 

Then Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, returned safely to his house in Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you. 

— 1 Chronicles 19:1-2

The second clue in Abram's case is less apparent, as God does not tell Abram to go to Egypt, nor does the text indicate that Abram consulted God for such instructions. Abram appears to go to Egypt of his own volition. 

Abram's wrong decision prompts a warning from God later, in an incident involving Abram's son Isaac, when another famine strikes the land. This time, God explicitly warns Isaac not to go to Egypt.  

There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar. Then the Lord appeared to him and said: Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 

— Genesis 26:1-2 

Abram's leaving the land may reflect the possibility that Adam left the sacred garden space, which led to the conversation between Eve and a beast of the field. The Biblical text is unclear about where this conversation took place. It simply states that Eve conversed with a "beast of the field." The field was outside the garden space.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 

— Genesis 3:1

 As we shall see in the next section, Abram's departure from the promised land led to a compromising encounter between Sarai and the Pharaoh of Egypt, much like Eve's encounter with the serpent. 

Additionally, the famine in Abram's experience parallels the unfaithful view of perceived lack in the Adam and Eve story. Although there was a severe famine, God could have supplied Abram's needs, as he did for Isaac, had Abram stayed in the land, despite the ample provisions for Adam.

Abram convinces Sarai to hide the fact that she is his wife by telling Pharaoh that she is his sister, in an attempt to save himself. When Sarai is taken by the Egyptian princes, Abram says nothing.
James Tissot
Brooklyn Museum

Adam's Passivity Reoccurs in Abram

On their way down to Egypt, Abram concocts a plan to save himself from an imagined worst-case scenario. His plan ultimately jeopardizes his wife, Sarai. When overlaid with the garden temptation scene, a possible unseen facet of Adam and Eve's garden failure emerges.

And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.” 

— Genesis 12:11-13

In the following events, Abram's greatest fear comes to pass when Pharaoh's princes notice Sarai's beauty and take her for Pharaoh. She was most likely about to become part of Pharaoh's harem, although no mention of killing Abram was noted. Like Adam, Abram said nothing. He remained fearfully and passively silent while Sarai's virtue was about to be compromised.

So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 

— Genesis 12:14

With Abram's behavior in mind, Adam may have feared the sinister being who first tempted Eve. Like Abram, Adam passively watched the scene unfold and said nothing. The Biblical text clearly states that Adam was with Eve when the scene took place.

... She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 

— Genesis 3:6

Abram went so far as to accept gifts from Pharaoh because of Sarai. Abram knew this was a customary ancient Near Eastern practice of taking a wife, yet he remained silent. 

He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 

— Genesis 12:16

Out of necessity, God intervened on Sarai's behalf by plaguing Pharaoh's household. More was at stake than Sarai's virtue. After the fall, God promised Eve a savior seed, and Sarai was next in line to carry out that plan. Had He not, the Messianic strategy to recover humankind would have been irrevocably contaminated. 

As with Adam and Eve, these decisions were not without consequence. Abram and Sarai returned to their homeland with Pharaoh's gifts, including Hagar, a female servant. This event sets the stage for another significant glitch in the developing Messianic program. 

A final Edenic observation from Genesis 12:14, noted earlier in this section, concerns the Egyptians' and the princes of Pharaoh's seeing and taking. Seeing and taking things that looked good but were evil got Adam and Eve into trouble. In the case of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, taking another man's wife was not good but evil. Like the alternate tree in the garden, it was considered forbidden. 

In the next section, Sarai, like Eve, has her own "seeing and taking" moment.

The taking and giving of forbidden things.

The Taking and Giving of Forbidden Things

God promised Abram that he would become a great nation.

I will make you a great nation; 

I will bless you 

And make your name great; (in contrast to Babylon's inhabitants making a great name for themselves) And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, 

And I will curse him who curses you; 

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 

— Genesis 12:2-3

 Abram's account gives us a more detailed look at one of the Bible's earliest missions, focusing on specific placement within a prepared territory. God's original plan pointed toward kingdom expansion through fruitfulness and multiplication.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it ...

— Genesis 1:28

God's mission statement to Abram confirms the Adamic vision of an expanding kingdom intended to bless the whole earth and its inhabitants.

The "many nations" part of God's promise to Abram included descendants, but according to the next portion of Scripture, this did not happen immediately after God's proposed deal. 

... the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram (do not be afraid like Adam was). I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 

But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring (seed in Hebrew); indeed one born in my house is my heir!” 

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 

— Genesis 15:1-4

 Abram wondered whether he had misunderstood how family development was supposed to occur, since no child had yet been born. He considered that perhaps it would be through his servant Eliezer that God's promise of a family would be realized. God reassured Abram that the promised seed would come through him.

Ten years had passed. Now Sarai was getting impatient and decided to take matters into her own hands.

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar (gifted by Pharaoh during Abram's unapproved trip to Egypt). So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain (build) children by (through) her ... ” 

— Genesis 16:1-2

In justification of her next move, Sarai blamed God for withholding from her and accused Him of preventing her from bearing children. This scene conceivably captures a facet of Eve's thoughts as she considers the possibilities and potentials of the forbidden tree, as we shall see in the entire conversation between the serpent and Eve. 

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ' Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'” 

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise (includes the idea of success and prosperity), she took of its fruit and ate. 

— Genesis 3:1-5

The setting above features a crafty creature that invites Eve to see God as someone holding out on her. The Hebrew word for "wise," śāḵal (šakal), in the verse above is not the usual word for wisdom. This word conveys ideas of success and prosperity. Both Sarai and Eve imagined that their success depended on taking matters into their own hands. 

The biggest temptation for both Sarai and Eve was to control events by pursuing their own solution to achieve their desired outcome rather than trusting God's promise.

Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife ... 

— Genesis 16:3

Sarai's taking her maidservant Hagar and giving her to her husband to succeed in childbearing is reminiscent of Eve taking fruit from the forbidden tree and giving it to her husband in the Garden scene. Acquiring Hagar and using her to fulfill Sarai's desire for a son was wrong and not part of God's Messianic plan.

The Genesis garden narrative ends with God's confrontation of Adam and a rebuke for listening to his wife. 

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’ 

— Genesis 3:17

The Scriptures echo this event with the following observation about the affairs of Abram and Sarai, linking the two events.  

... And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. 

— Genesis 16

The conflict between Ishmael and Isaac was a direct result of Abram and Sarai's partaking of forbidden things. Consequently, Hagar and Ishmael were sent away. 

Concluding Consequential Components

Abram and Sarai illustrate a different facet of fruit development from a seed event planted in the first opening scene of the Bible. Their experience offers an inside view of the possible thought processes that led to Adam and Eve's fateful decision. Perhaps these events can also offer us an applicable lens through which to view our own life stories and outcomes.

Adam and Eve's decision had far-reaching consequences that are evident today. Humanity's conflict with God and with one another still rages.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam 

— Romans 5:12-14

The seed of Adam and Eve's sin germinated and came to fruition in the lives of their sons, Cain and Abel. Cain's killing of Abel clearly illustrated a disregard for God's prescribed ways and the value of fellow humans. The broken familial bonds precipitated by Cain's hatred toward Abel became an invasive, persistent problem throughout the rest of Scripture. 

Similarly, Abram and Sarai's departure from God's will and ways resulted in far-reaching consequences, including conflict between Abram's sons, Isaac and Ishmael. When sin enters the equation, hatred and hostility are sure to follow. Fortunately, the story doesn't end there. God masterfully worked out His salvation plan through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  

For as by one man’s (Adam) disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s (Jesus) obedience many will be made righteous 

— Romans 5:19

His redemptive offering extends to all who recognize the seed of sin in their own lives and are willing to call upon Him for salvation.

... if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 

— Romans 10:9-13

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