“That Adam broke this law, and was adjudged unworthy of immortality, and sentenced to return to the ground from whence he was taken—a sentence which defiled and became a physical law of his being, and was transmitted to all his posterity.” (Article V — Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith)
Some have found fault with the wording of this Article — particularly the phrase beginning with “a sentence which defiled . . . etc.” It is maintained that the sentence did not bring mortality upon Adam and that the assertion that it “defiled . . . his being” is man-made and does not express what actually happened within and to the bodies of our first parents. Let us now examine closely the divine record and see if such criticism is justified.
The Warning
When God had placed Adam in the garden, planted eastward in Eden, he commanded him, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The warning was intended to be directive to the man, with a reminder of the punishment that would follow should he disobey. It will be noted that the only judgment to be passed upon the man was death! None of the other calamities announced in Genesis chapter 3 are even mentioned. It is important that this fact be kept in mind as we examine the account.
The Sentence
It is argued that the actual sentence as given in Gen. 3:19 was not necessary in view of the clarity of the law (2:16,17′), insofar as death being visited upon Adam and Eve was concerned. The warning of Gen. 2:17, in effect, became a sentence once the commandment is broken, thus making the pronouncement in 3:19 redundant. This reasoning sounds plausible enough by itself, apart from other facts brought to light in the whole account. A similar line of reasoning could be brought to bear on personal transgression and the punishment of death which would follow. Since we are warned, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:4) and that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23) is the actual judgment seat of Christ necessary? Must sentencing of the unjust to everlasting punishment be made at all ? Using the same reasoning as some do in regard to the experience of Adam, the answer must be in the negative. A logical step further in this direction would do away with the requirement of even raising the unfaithful, since their final end is to return to the grave anyway. Such human reasoning, however, ignores other essentials of the whole counsel of God. A warning is not a sentence. Though Paul warns us that ‘he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption”, the actual carrying out of the warning must and shall await the coming of Him to whom all judgment has been committed. The apostle further attests that “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish will be rendered to “them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth . . . in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” (Rom. 2. 8. 9, 16) The punishment is certain and inevitable, but will not become effective until “the day” when the secrets of men are judged.
Adam was told that “in that very day” he would surely die. Here, indeed was a warning of a future punishment, which, in this case was to be accomplished on the same day on which the transgression occurred. The judgment, though certain, as in the case with the incorrigible wicked, would not be implemented until the sentence was pronounced. Do all the facts as they appear in the record support this conclusion? Let us take note of the following facts:
- There is no evidence that Adam and Eve became dying creatures when they partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Gen. 3:7 states only “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” This is quite in keeping with what the tree was empowered to do. It could not kill, and the narrative no where suggests that its fruit was poisonous. It may be styled a “tree of death” in the same sense that “the sting of death is sin” (1 Cor. 15:56)
- Adam was told (some time after the transgression occurred) that he would return unto the ground. Just how long after, we are not told. However, it seems likely, and the tone of Gen. 2:17 appears to demand that the sentencing took place on the same day. In verse 8 of chapter 3, the language suggests an habitual practice of the Elohim in association with Adam and Eve; i.e. walking and conversing with them each day “in the cool of the day”—probably in the late afternoon. Since the day was reckoned from sundown to sundown, late afternoon would occur at the end of the day. It would therefore be reasonable to conclude that the trial and sentencing took place on the day of the transgression; it being the very next occasion when the Elohim would walk and converse with the pair after their sin.
- None of the other punishments outlined in chapter 3 are mentioned in chapter 2. The subjection of the woman to the man, the multiplying of her sorrow in conception, the sorrows that would attend Adam’s activities, the curses that would hamper his work, and the great labor which he would have to expend in eking out an existence upon their expulsion from the garden are all part of the sentencing which was given after the interrogation of the Elohim (see Gen. 3:9-13).
The Punishment
In what sense did this sentence defile and become “a physical law of his members”? Were not Adam and Eve already defiled through their experiment in sin? The answer to the latter question must be yes, for the record states, “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;” (3:7) Having experienced sin, and with the sudden awareness of awakened passions and excited propensities, they no longer enjoyed a good conscience with God. They had suddenly emerged from innocency in which they experienced neither shame nor fear into a terror filled existence in which they sought to remain out of sight of the Elohim. “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.” The first pair were soon to be made to realize that their Creator was a God afar off as well as near. They were filled both with fear and shame. The aprons, hurriedly fashioned from fig leaves, though concealing their nakedness from each other could not suffice to hide their sin from the Almighty. They had indeed been enlightened to know good and evil. Never again would the sharp line between right and wrong be so clearly defined as in the ordeal that shortly awaited them. But, the equality with the angels which they expected to achieve still lay beyond their grasp. Their conscience truly became defiled, and their aroused propensities would hamper their obedience to future commands of God.
In what way, then, were they further defiled, and how did the sentence pronounced upon them become a physical law of their beings? The word, “defile” means to be foul, polluted; especially in a ceremonial sense; to contaminate. Under the law an Israelite who came in contact with an unclean animal’s carcass would become unclean, and remain so until even (Lev. 11:24-25). This was true whether the animal were clean or unclean (VV39-40) Contact with a dead body of a person caused one to be defiled for seven days (Num. 19:11). The defiling element in each case was death; the principle operating upon and within the bodies of all living things. The frequency with which the Israelite could become unclean (defiled) in relation to death would serve to impress him with the fact that death was the result of sin. Every time he came in contact with death he would be reminded of the presence of sin, and of the first sin in Eden. Since, as we have shown, death only became effective when the Lord pronounced it upon Adam (Gen. 3:19), it was in this sense of the word, a defilement. Adam did not know his wife until after their expulsion from the garden (4:1). Since everything was to bear after his kind, the defilement with which Adam was afflicted, was transmitted to all his posterity. A physical process of decay was begun in the bodies of Adam and Eve, and would have to be passed on to their children.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One