The story of Adam and Eve may be the most familiar in all of the Bible. For time’s sake (and not to insult your intelligence), I will quickly recap one of the most famous stories ever told.

• Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden, and after seeing that everything else had a mate, God gave Adam a wife–Eve.

• God tells Adam and Eve to eat of any tree in the Garden sans one: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

• Satan tempts/deceives/lies to Eve, and she ends up eating the fruit, then taking it to her husband, Adam, who also eats it.

Let’s pick up there, shall we? Now, in our feeble minds, we may try to rationalize things. After all, it was one mistake. Should one mistake cost them everything they have? God seems to say yes. Hadn’t He warned them? Hadn’t He told them that they weren’t supposed to eat of the tree–just that one–yet they decided they wanted to anyway? But still–it was just once. Surely one little teeny-tiny mistake wouldn’t upset all that they had known.

Wrong.

God speaks to Adam and Eve, even though they’re trying to hide, and asks them why they’re hiding from Him. They say they’re naked. God asks who told them they were naked, and then directly asks if they ate from the tree. Then the blame game starts. “This woman whom YOU gave me…” then “The serpent…”. No accountability. No responsibility.

God commands them that they must leave the garden. Now, do you think that God was happy to do this? I don’t. After all, He first made them adequate garments to wear before sending them out–an act of love.  I don’t think God was happy that they had eaten the fruit, and I don’t think He was happy that they had to leave the garden. Don’t you think He was enjoying walking with them in the cool of the day? Yet it was necessary to send them out–it was justice. God couldn’t be a liar. If they ate of the tree, they had to be banished, simple as that.

Does God still mean what He says?

Our society tends to be very permissive. So long as you want to do it or you think it’s ok, it’s fine. There will be no repercussions, and no other group who may disagree has any right to tell you otherwise. We aren’t the first society like this. Moses said in Deuteronomy 12:8, “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today–every man whatever is right in his own eyes…”. In the times of the Judges things were the same:

“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” – Judges 17:6, 21:25

Even the wise man spoke of this kind of society:

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.” Prov. 21:2

Was this ever ok? Just because the majority felt this way, did that mean that God accepted it? No. God has always meant what He said. Throughout this study we will look at different instances wherein God stated His will, it wasn’t done, and the consequences surrounding it. Hopefully, we can all come to the understanding the God does mean what He says and we will all answer for any deviation we take from His will. Just because our society or the religious world around us accept things does not mean that it is ok, or that God will overlook it. We will be accountable, just like Adam and Eve.