Why didn't God want Adam and Eve to eat the 'forbidden fruit'?

Question

What would he have to gain from creating fruit that his priority creation (mankind) could not eat?

And why did he let a snake in there to trick the creation that he loves so dearly?

If anyone says the snake is Satan tricking them and not God, I thought that Satan was banished to Hell so Satan couldnt possibly have been in the same place as Adam and Eve right? I could be wrong about this but it seems to make sense to me

But anyway...my main point is what was God's problem with Adam and Eve eating this fruit? Does God not like to share with the people he loves?

Kaehya - Maintain innocence? I would have thought that believing the snake would be an act of innocence, after all why wuoldnt they trust something that their creator put before them?

Trendz - you have completely missed the point. I didnt ask why they ate it after they were forbidden, I asked why God would forbid it......selective reading - how religious

To all the people who said God was testing his creations obidience - So does that mean that God failed? After all, he created them. I'm sure you will respond by saying that he gave us free-will, but then your first answer is wrong...

Papa Bear - please read the question before answering. You haven't answered what I asked, you have just given a generic religious response

JamesT - So are you telling me that God WANTED them to disobey him? thats kind of sadistic isnt it?

Mich - 'Whats wrong with God wanting to keep one tree for himself?' Thats a very good point that leads me to another question...are we here for OUR benefit or for God's amusement? why would he want a tree to himself?

Answer 1

I've recently wondered the same thing. Check this question out, as it may complement yours.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlN5lCeaGxLffaQbhTjVKi7ty6IX?qid=20070520220523AAE76Zo

If the purpose of the fruit was simply to move Adam and Eve to an existence more independent from God, then isn't it just a plot device? They needed something to move the story along.

It seems a rather arbitrary selection as God does not tell them WHY it is forbidden. A&E were probably a bit confused (I imagine them as somewhat goofy, dim-witted people). Personally, I'd be a little resentful if my father said "Just do it because I said so!"

Answer 2

Ok so one thing is you don't blame God it was their mistake. If it was just Eve, God would've just made another woman but since Eve came from Adam and Adam ate the fruit as well he caused sin to go into all his offspring. He chose to sin against God. So therefore we all inherit sin. This is the short explanation. You should read the whole story in Genesis. They had everything and they messed it up. And were not really being punished we've just inherited what got passed down. Like a disease. We were supposed to be perfect but were not. And we don't automatically go to heaven. if we did then Adam and Eve wouldn't have been put on Earth so that's where we're supposed to be only we were supposed to live forever here on earth. i hope this helps a little. It can seem confusing but once you understand it's really great.

Answer 3

There’s 2 ways to look at this question. Literally or figuratively.
If you believe that the bible is the literal truth it went something like this. The tree was a tool or device that could cause Adam and Eve to become aware of concepts that god did not believe they were prepared for yet. This could be by means of RNA directly writing neural pathways into the brain. God was in the midst of a project and he had a specific time table of steps to accomplish. God also had a rival who sought to sabotage the project but at this point he didn’t take that rival very seriously. Lucifer intervened possibly because he considered humanity a potential threat or future ally of God. The snake was either an animal used by Lucifer or Lucifer himself in a disguise. Snake conned Eve into eating from the tree and feeding the same fruit to Adam. The project was ruined; Humanity was given knowledge of good and evil without ethical knowledge to understand it. Knowledge without wisdom. Kind of like the knowledge to use a gun without knowing what it does. God could either destroy humanity or leave them to their own devices and hope they learned the rest in time. He chose the latter. There is a literal description. It could also be figurative. But that’s a longer post.
As to Satan being banished to hell. Not exactly. Satan was cast out of heaven. He founded hell in a mostly undeveloped area. He is reputably able to go anywhere he likes except heaven. I do agree that God should have had better security for his project and eventually he did incorporate better security but that was after this incident.

Answer 4

What they gained was the experience of committing a sin, the knowledge of which they did not possess. Once they gained that knowledge, their minds began interpreting other things based on that experience.

It would be like a virgin, who has never been taught about sex, than having sex. Their whole view of the world changes.

A good example can be found in the movie, Regarding Henry, with Harrison Ford. An injury causes him to forget most aspects of his life, including that he was married. The first time he slept with his wife, after being released from the hospital is an eye opening experience for him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regarding_Henry

The issue was not the fruit, it was the act of violating a law of God. That act changed everything, him them, and for us. Had he not chosen a woman over God, we would be out living on the planets by now, as humanity expended beyond the capabilities of Earth. We may even have been able to explore the galaxy without the use of space ships, folding space to step from one planet to another, light years away.

But, those are still possible, after Armageddon.

Answer 5

Its the story writers trying to find a way to explain why, as "gods" favorite creation, we do not live in harmony with no suffering. Perhaps they thought that trying to gain wisdom was a big enough crime for "god" to be able to punish mankind. It is also rather convenient because the whole story allows women to be seen as less than men, and allows the church to keep the masses away from knowing the real truth.

Answer 6

I'll answer your question, but first I'll need to clear some fact up for you (I'll quote scriptures to back up what I'm saying, and put them at the end for you).

Firstly, the snake was used by Satan (who is an invisible fallen angel), because it was a cautious creature in the way it moved (Genesis 3:1, Matthew 10:16). Satan (and the angels that follow him) move around the earth now, and have done so throughout human history (Revelation 12:9, Job 1:6, 7). In fact they are the unseen rulers of the world, that's why Satan was able to offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, and why the worlds so messed up (Luke 4:6, Ephesians 6:12).

The fruit itself doesn't mean anything, rather the action of them taking the fruit. Before, God decided for Adam and Eve what was good and bad for them to do. The action of taking the fruit, was like crossing a line in which they were able to decide for themself what was good and bad to do. It was a physical action, that showed they wanted independance from God (Genesis 3:5).

By the way, there is no hell, but that's another subject in itself...




Scriptures

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent proved to be the most cautious of all the wild beasts of the field that Jehovah God had made.

Matthew 10:16
Look! I am sending YOU forth as sheep amidst wolves; therefore prove yourselves cautious as serpents…

Revelation 12:9
So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.

Job 1:6, 7
Now it came to be the day when the sons of the [true] God entered to take their station before Jehovah, and even Satan proceeded to enter right among them. Then Jehovah said to Satan: “Where do you come from?” At that Satan answered Jehovah and said: “From roving about in the earth and from walking about in it.”

Luke 4:6
and the Devil said to him: “I will give you all this authority and the glory of them, because it has been delivered to me, and to whomever I wish I give it.

Ephesians 6:12
because we have a wrestling, not against blood and flesh, but against the governments, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places.

Genesis 3:5
For God knows that in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened and you are bound to be like God, knowing good and bad.”

Answer 7

If you read genesis 2:9 its says that god made grow out of the ground every tree desirable to ones sight and good for food. So there would have been plenty of trees for Adam and Eve to eat. The garden of eden was about the size of Wales so there was no lack. What is wrong with God wanting to keep one tree for himself. He is the creator of everything, he gave them life, he provided them with everything they could have wanted, they were perfect and could have lived forever. It wasnt a hard task for them to not eat from that tree. Just like a parent with a child, you give them everything they need and desire, but there may be something that you forbid them from having. that does not suddenly make you a bad parent.
If they respected Gods wish, they would have shown obedience,respect and appreciation. But they chose to disobey, which has lead to us having all the problems we have now, but that won't last forever. Gods going to step and do something about the problems we see.

Answer 8

Step away from the computer. Go outside and get a life! All this bible stuff is just another way for one set of people to control and manipulate another set of people. Why do you think there are so many versions of christianity (or judeism, or ilsamism) all of whom have the one true faith. Interpretation is a dangerous thing - given a set of scientific results of any test one set of scientists will interpret them one way and another set of scientists will interpret them another. And that's when dealing with scientific facts, so you can imagine what happens with heresay, gossip and handed-down stories (or "the Bible" as it's known) Leave it. It's dangerous!!

Answer 9

God did not want Adam and Eve to ear the 'forbidden fruit' because He does not want their eyes to be open.
remember before this time there were no cause to woman and man / sarpent but after the serpent made them to eat the fruit their eys were open and God told the woman she will cry at child birth, man to surfer before he eat and the deciver serpent was made to crawl on his belly you can read Gen chapter 2 and 3 you will understand it better

Answer 10

Because they would then become like 'us' (Erm, in that particular verse, god seems to be plural!) and know the difference between right and wrong, obviously in god's opinion a highly undesirable state!

And th day they ate of it, they would die (Except they didn;t, did they? God just threw a hissy fit and condemned Women to have labour pains!)

Stick with Harry Potter - the plots are much better written!