Should Women Be Blamed for the Original Sin? (M. Zeitler)

Ask the Rabbi:
Should Women Be Blamed for the Original Sin?

by Rabbi Michael Zeitler

That’s a good question which has been asked for thousands of years!

Let’s go back to the beginning for the answer. In Beresheit (Genesis) 2:8-9, 15-17 it says:

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil….The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Based on this statement to Adam, the Lord was giving him free choice. He did not make us to be automatons! As the first man on earth, Adam was given the responsibility of being obedient to God. His choice was his own: he could listen and adhere to God’s instructions or not. I believe that because Adam was created in the image of God, he had full capacity of his brain. Today we only use ten percent!

Even with his keen mind, Adam was incomplete and lonely:

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:20-22).

Genesis 3: 1 says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

This is where the root of the original sin began because doubt was placed in Eve’s heart by this question “Did God really say? Any time we doubt God, it opens the door for the ha satan (satan) to come in, bringing confusion into our lives.

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” (Genesis 3:2-3).

Now we don’t know exactly how Adam related God’s instructions to Eve. He might have said,  “Eve, God said, don’t touch that tree over there, and on second thought don’t even look at it!”  Who Knows? She did misquote God’s word, whether she knew it correctly or not. That was all satan needed to gain the legal right to plant sin in her heart.

“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5).

The enemy appealed to her heart and her pride to make her long for something more than she already had.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it (Genesis 3:6).

Notice that she saw that it was good for food (lust of the flesh), pleasing to the eye (lust of the eyes), and good for wisdom ( pride of life). The first sin included three of the cardinal sins! They have been our downfall ever since.

Women have always been blamed for the original sin. Could that be a grave injustice? Look at the next verse:

… She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Most people never noticed that line! We always pictured Adam tending to the animals or picking fruit on the other side of the garden, but he was right there, listening to every lie the serpent said  to her. Not once did he interrupt the serpent or direct Eve to leave and follow him. Instead he made a conscious choice to disobey God’s instructions! His sin still affects us today. The misconception that Eve acted alone has kept women from being all that God has called them to be, including being excluded from the pulpit.

Ladies you are exonerated as of this day from your chains of bondage from this lie that has kept you bound. Hallelujah!

Rabbi Michael and Gail Zeitler
God is stirring more and more believers to embrace the Jewish background of their faith in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. Messianic Rabbi Michael & Gail Zeitler travel to churches and conferences to restore to the Body of Messiah what was stolen from them over the centuries: their Jewish roots!

Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.