THE NEED FOR THE PROPHETIC GIFT
When Adam and Eve came from the hands of God, each was a perfect being. They had been made in the image of God, and were given “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Genesis 1:26.
The earth and all that it contained was to be under man's dominion. As to his stewardship, he was accountable to no one but God.
Not only was man given a general supervision of all things, but he had a special responsibility in the area that had been set aside as his home. “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed … to dress it and to keep it.” Genesis 2:8-15. God had spared no effort to make the first human home on this earth all that heart could desire. His particular attention and interest is indicated in the expression, “And the Lord God planted a garden.”
It was God's plan that Adam and Eve should reproduce, and that their children should populate the whole earth. As the parents had been made in the image of God, so their children would reflect the divine likeness. Eve had been especially designed to be a perfect companion for her husband. God planned that she should be a helpmeet; that is, suitable, or becoming to him. A perfect husband, a perfect wife, a perfect home, a perfect environment—this was the divine blueprint for a perfect world.
The first pair had free access to everything God had created except one tree which the Creator had designated “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2:9. They were clearly instructed that under no circumstances were they to eat of the fruit of this tree. They were not so much as to touch it. Genesis
3:3. God had pronounced the whole creation “very good.” Genesis 1:31. There was nothing harmful in this tree itself; but God knew it was essential that the love and obedience of these newly created ones be tested so that character might be developed.
In the mind of Adam and Eve there was no inclination to disobey their Creator, no tendency to do evil. On the other hand, every effort had been put forth by the Creator to enable man to live without ever yielding to the temptations that would be brought by Satan, who had been cast out of heaven as a result of the war between his forces and those of Christ. Revelation 12:7-9. Every trait of character was noble, every desire holy. He was made only “a little lower than the angels,” and had been crowned with “glory and honor.”
Psalm 8:5. He was “the son of God.” Luke 3:38. Provision had been made to supply his every need and desire. There was every reason why he should always be obedient to the will of God.
But the Bible record tells us that the first real test of Adam and Eve's loyalty to God ended in their following their own inclination rather than the command of God. Satan, using the serpent as his mouthpiece, persuaded Eve that God was withholding from her and Adam something that would be good for her and her husband. While the temptation was apparently a trivial one, Satan had schemed cleverly to bring upon the unsuspecting Eve a synthesis of all temptations. By an appeal to what John calls “all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (compare 1 John 2:16 with
Genesis 3:6), the devil deceived Eve (1 Timothy 2:14) and led her to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When she offered the fruit to her husband, he ate also and thus sinned deliberately.
Changes in Man's Relations and Thinking
With the entrance of sin into the world, there began a sequence of events and changes in man and in the natural world around him that made it impossible for man's relation with God to remain as it had been from the day he was created. Even though God came again to the garden to talk with the transgressors, barriers had been erected which changed every relationship. Isaiah states the matter concisely: “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you.” Isaiah 59:2. Not only were there barriers between the created ones and the Creator, but basic changes took place in the mind of man that made it impossible for God to deal with him as in the past. As a background for the study of the place of the prophetic gift in the relation between God and man, it is essential that one understand the conditions that made the gift necessary. What happened to the mind of man as the result of sin?
He could no longer see God face to face. Exodus 33:20. It seems obvious from Genesis 3:8 that the coming of the Lord into the garden was a usual occurrence. Apparently Adam and Eve had enjoyed talking with the Creator on many occasions; but, because of God's nature it is impossible for sin to exist in His presence. To shield our first parents from the brightness of His glory, which would have brought them instant death, God veiled His face as He did later when talking with Moses. Exodus 33:20-23. That Adam and Eve could no longer see God as He truly was, made a difference in their relation to Him. Two persons cannot maintain the same kind of fellowship at a distance that they do when constantly together. Adam's transgression caused the beginning of a separation which has continued for six thousand years. Small wonder that men who maintain that separation today know so little of their Creator.
He came to know evil as well as good. Genesis 3:22. It was God's plan that man should know nothing but good. It was not necessary to know evil in order to develop character. All that was essential was that evil should be resisted and good should be cherished. However, the impulses that led Adam and Eve to a knowledge of evil have been carefully cultivated by man, and it has become easier to yield to evil than to hold to good. God's plan would have meant a continual growth of good in the life of every man. Not only did man transgress the divine law, but there was introduced into his mind an entirely different kind of thinking. His mind could never again be exactly as it had been.
He became afraid. Genesis 3:8-10. Adam and Eve had known no fear; there was nothing to cause them to be afraid. Their lives were in full harmony with the will of God, and every creature on the earth was subject to their command. They could see the character of God revealed in all things that had been made.
As long as they remained away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil there was nothing that could harm them. But when they had rebelled against God and He came to talk with them, they were afraid. What had happened? “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.” 1 John 4:18. They had failed in love. Where before there had been constant devotion to the Creator and joy in His presence, now, when they heard His voice, they ran to hide. No longer did they have perfect love which would admit no fear. Seeds of terror sprang up to choke an ever-growing affection. Fear has increased steadily through the ages, until, in the last days, there will be an unprecedented time when “men's hearts” fail “them for fear.” Luke 21:26. This constitutes a sign of the nearness of the end.
He became subject to death. Genesis 2:17; Ecclesiastes 9:5. The work of Christ is described as being to
“deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
Hebrews 2:15. Death will be the last of man's enemies to be destroyed. 1 Corinthians 15:26. The knowledge of the imminence of death has done much to shape man's thinking and actions. Age, physical infirmity, senility, are factors to be reckoned with in every life—factors which would have had no need to be considered had it not been for the disobedience in Eden.
He began defending himself against God's inquiries. Genesis 3:12. Few persons are willing to accept their responsibility for sins of either omission or commission. Slyness and scheming have become an integral part of human thinking in an attempt to shift blame from self to another. Misrepresentation and outright lying have resulted, until today many persons endeavor to shift responsibility for wrong in an attempt to better their own position at the expense of others. Adam did not want to bear the consequences of his own rebellion, and his thinking had changed sufficiently to cause him to try to lay the blame for his action upon the one whom God had made to be his beloved companion.
His mind was corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3. “Simplicity” is used here in the sense of “purity.” Previously man's mind had been uncontaminated by outside influences. Now, instead of working in a simple, straightforward manner, Adam's mind was confused. The kind of thinking he had been accustomed to was spoiled. It was like the dead flies in the apothecary's ointment that Solomon uses so vividly as an illustration of man's folly.
He became blind, ignorant, alienated from God. Ephesians 4:18. As the centuries passed, man degenerated more and more, so that Paul's description of the spiritual condition of the Gentiles is accurate. The