I learned man’s fallen nature does not like to sin alone. When we do something, we know we should not do, our human reaction is to bring others down with us. “…she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:6 ESV).
Eve gave her husband the apple to eat, after she had taken a bite. Assumedly, she would have already had her eyes opened to the truth of evil, but she still allowed her husband to walk the road of sin with her. The old phrase, “Misery loves company” was never truer than in the Garden of Eden.
I also found it interesting the Bible says Adam “…was with her…” This is another truth about sin. If we do not know why we believe what we believe, our convictions will not be strong enough to stand against popular culture. Peer pressure overtakes us, and we will go along with the crowd. What would have happened if Adam had said to his wife, “What are you doing? Don’t eat that!” I learned how important it is we surround ourselves with godly people in our lives that will hold us accountable and help keep us from taking a wrong turn in life.
“The man (Adam) said, ‘The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’” (Genesis 3:12 NIV). I feel like I am listening to a 3-year-old, “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t made her. It’s your fault! She made me do it!” We should think about this the next time we do not accept responsibility for our own actions and try to blame others. We are acting like Adam. We are mimicking one of the first sins, and a childish one at that.
Summarizing, the three things I learned about the first sin: we want others to suffer with us when we make poor decisions; when we are tempted, instead of standing up against the crowd, we tend to cave to peer pressure; when we sin our first reaction is often to blame others.