De-Cluttering Eden by Bruce C. E. Fleming, Founder of the Tru316 Project (Tru316.com)
Have you or others piled clutter and even worse on what happened in the Garden of Eden?
We need to work through the weedy clutter and clean out anything that the Bible doesn’t say.
To declutter, first make a plan. Better still let’s follow the plan God put into the telling of Genesis 2-3.
My wife, Dr. Joy Fleming found the 7-point pattern God uses to tell us what happened in Eden.
These points start and end with entering and leaving the Garden of Eden. The high point of it all is in the center section in verse 2:25 where the man and woman are naked before each other and unashamed before God. Before that high point, in Genesis 2, God is at work making life in the Garden better and better.
After that high point, in Genesis 3, Satan-in-the-serpent attacks. There are different responses from the woman and the man. Then, there is God’s judgment of the serpent-tempter, the woman and finally the man.
The biggest surprise I had in learning what my wife discovered in her doctoral research on Genesis 2-3 came in Genesis 3:16. Lot’s of clutter has been piled onto that verse. People claim to see many things that simply aren’t there. When the clutter is taken away we see that God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way!
All of this we put into our book. Happily no one else had written a book with the title we wanted to use. So here it is: The Book of Eden, Genesis 2-3 with the subtitle, God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.
Here is the outline of the seven sections of Genesis 2-3.
1. 2:5-15 God’s creation of the man and placement in Eden
2. 2:16-17 God’s command
3. 2:18-24 God’s creation of the woman and the first marriage
4. 2:25 Harmony in Eden
5. 3:1-5 The attack by the serpent-tempter of both the woman and the man
6. 3:6-7 Transgression of God’s command
7. 3:8-25 The results of disobedience and expulsion from Eden
Part 1. 3:8-13 Interrogation
Part 2. 3:14-19 God as judge and prophet
Part 3. Aftermath and expulsion from Eden
I encourage you to declutter much more with me as I teach verse by verse through Genesis 2-3 on the episodes of Season One of The Eden Podcast. Or, you can get The Book of Eden, Genesis 2-3. It contains all that’s covered on the podcast plus there are Study Guides for each of the 8 chapters in the book. Get your copy from Audible or Amazon of The Book of Eden.
