“Eve Didn’t Eat that Apple!” by Katie Taylor
Eve Didn’t Eat that Apple!
That’s right! Because her name wasn’t Eve yet. In the book of Genesis, Adam names all of the living creatures, but if you’ve never noticed the significance, timing and overwhelming sweetness of his naming of Eve, you’re in for a treat. I have read this story dozens of times and never seen it until last week. I am about to pop with excitement to share!
Did you know that the word Eve means “life” or “life-giving?” I find this surprising because when I think of Eve, I think of the Fall and of death entering the world. But yet, her name means life! And I believe this has everything to do with God’s gracious response to our sin.
When God arrives after Adam and the woman ate the fruit, before speaking to them about the consequences for their sin (which is necessary) the FIRST thing He does is address the serpent; “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head (Christ’s defeating blow to Satan on the cross) and you will strike His heel (Satan’s meager attempt to hurt Christ).” (Genesis 3:15) Can you imagine how intently Adam is listening to this? He has the weight of the world and the heaviness of shame on him. He has disobeyed the Holy One he is seeing face to face. And he listens as God speaks to that serpent and promises a victorious redeemer. Wow!
The most beautiful part to Adam must have been God saying this redeemer would come from his wife’s offspring. While it wasn’t going to be easy, He wasn’t going to wipe them out and start over with better people. He was going to use them, broken people who had disobeyed God. This is the very beginning of God using broken people to bring Christ into the world and draw His beloved children back to Himself. Upon hearing this, Adam was filled with great hope. Yes, there were consequences, but first there was the promise of grace. And a path forward to a redeemer who would crush the one who led them to fall.
And so right after God finishes speaking, we have this beautiful verse; “And Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all the living.” (Genesis 3:20) Adam had just told God, “the Woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it,” basically calling her the reason for death. And then Adam hears God’s promise and names her “Eve,” meaning “life.” She did not have a single child yet! After encountering grace, Adam does not identify her in her sin; He speaks to who she will become! Isn’t that amazing?!
Eve is the mother of all the living; she’s the mother to all people and she’s the mother of Christ who was born of a woman. The one who ushered in death became the mother of all life.
It’s beautiful to me because I relate to Eve. Had I been in the garden, I would have eaten that fruit too. I’ve chosen death and felt the crushing weight of sin and shame. Looking back, I see those painful moments created a pathway to Christ. He has graciously redeemed me and also blessed me with the gift of children. Praise the Lord! He works through my brokenness to bring life and healing to others. My identity has become THE LIFE that overcomes and crushes the enemy.
There is so much more to this familiar story than I saw before, and the layers are endless! Instead of reading Genesis and thinking “what an apple!”, I now think “what a God!”
And I’m changing the way I tell this story to my children. Rather than a woman named Eve who ate an apple and gave birth to all things bad, it’s about a woman who chose death and, in God’s mercy, was still used to give birth to all life – including the life that would crush that serpent. She received her name after the fall, and it spoke not to who she was in that moment of sin, but to who she would become. To find abundant grace, we can look no further than the first sentence after God’s response to the fall. The one who chose death becomes life….just like us!
Written by ~ Katie Taylor
3 Comments
Katie, thank you for pointing out that God responds to our failures with grace and mercy; it’s been that way from the beginning and it’s still His response. Good news!
I was told in graduate school that the Adam did not name the woman until after the fall because he had not yet exercised authority over her, as he did the animals. In the naming of the woman he was showing that he was now to be head over her. I get that, it makes sense as an act of grace to make order out of chaos, but Katie, your proposition speaks to my heart. He did not name her, because he didn’t yet know her name. God had to tell him. Out of death, speak life… beautiful.
Love this! And we get to speak life and hope to those in our lives!