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189 - Adam 14 - How Adam and his wife tried to excuse themselves in the LORD God's conversation with them
Texts -- BIBLE: Genesis 3:8-13 ---- CHANGED in KORAN: Suras al-A'raf 7:22-23
Contrast 1 -- BIBLE: Yahweh walked in the garden. -- KORAN: NO walking of Allah in the garden. >> Meaning >> BIBLE: Yahweh comes into the world as Immanuel. -- KORAN: Allah does NOT come into the world as Immanuel.
Contrast 2 -- BIBLE: Adam and the woman heard the voice of Yahweh and they hid among the trees of the garden. They tried to hide from the face of Yahweh. -- KORAN: Their Lord called to both of them. NO hiding among the trees of the garden and NO face of Allah to hide from. >> Meaning >> BIBLE: If Adam and his wife recognized the voice of Yahweh, this means that they knew what he sounded like. They were acquainted with him. He is NOT described as being their Lord (never in the whole Old Testament), as though they were his slaves. However, they discovered the new reality of being afraid of him and therefore they hid from his face behind trees. -- KORAN: There is NO way of hiding before Allah, whose face is NOT mentioned here. Why? He is their Lord, which makes them his slaves. When my Lord calls, I must immediately obey, or else he would destroy me. The relationship to Allah is totally different than the relationship to Yahweh.
Contrast 3 -- BIBLE: Yahweh asked Adam, “Where are you?” Adam answered, “I heard you and was afraid, because I am naked, so I hid myself.” -- KORAN: Allah did NOT inquire about the whereabouts of Adam and Adam did NOT give a spiritual reason for his hiding. >> Meaning >> BIBLE: Even when we sin, our God cares about us and comes to ask us, where we are. With this question he wants us to discover and acknowledge our sin. This is what Adam began to do, when he conceded that out of shame of being naked, he was hiding. Yahweh is keen that we find out about our sin and its nature. -- KORAN: Asking about the whereabouts of Adam in the Koran would be tantamount to conceding that Allah does not know everything. This is why the Koran OMITTED this question. Also, Allah's interest is NOT primarily that we discover and acknowledge our sin.
Contrast 4 -- BIBLE: Yahweh then asked Adam, “Who told you, you are naked? Did you eat of the forbidden tree?” Yahweh did NOT warn Adam about Satan. -- KORAN: Allah did NOT ask a question about Adam's nakedness. Their Lord asked, “Did I not forbid this tree for you? Did I not tell you, Satan is your enemy?” >> Meaning >> BIBLE: The aim of Yahweh's questions was to lead Adam to discover and acknowledge his sin, that he was naked because he had eaten from the forbidden tree. Yahweh did NOT mention the snake in this context. -- KORAN: For Allah the nakedness of Adam is of NO importance. He wanted Adam to acknowledge that it was not Allah's fault that Adam slipped, because Allah had forbidden him the tree and had warned him of Satan. Through his questions Allah tried to vindicate himself before Adam and his aim was NOT that Adam should discover or acknowledge his sin.
Contrast 5 -- BIBLE: Adam responded: “The woman that you set with me, she gave me from the tree and I ate.” -- KORAN: Both Adam and his mate (i.e. wife) responded: “Our Lord! We did evil to ourselves.” >> Meaning >> BIBLE: This is the most tragic answer that one could expect. Adam did not acknowledge his sin, but indirectly blamed Yahweh for his sin: Yahweh had made the woman for him and it was she who had caused him to sin. This was the second impertinent sin of Adam. He did not only eat from the forbidden tree, but also accused Yahweh indirectly as causing his sin. -- KORAN: Here BOTH Adam and his wife responded. Their response proves that they were perfect Muslims. They acknowledged that they are slaves of Allah by calling him “Our Lord!” And they did not indirectly accuse Allah, but they indirectly vindicated Allah by conceding that it was their own fault that this happened, by saying that they had harmed themselves. Here the Koran INVERTED the message of the Bible. By this the Koran SUPPRESSED the true nature of our sin, which makes us want to rebel in the face of God.
Contrast 6 -- BIBLE: Yahweh then asked the woman, “What did you do?” She answered, “The snake deceived me so that I ate.” -- KORAN: NO separate question to the woman in the Koran. And NO excuse of the woman saying that it was Satan's fault. >> Meaning >> BIBLE: By turning to the woman, Yahweh proved that she was also created in the image of God and able to directly communicate with God. But like her husband she also did not acknowledge her guilt of sinning, and she also indirectly accused Yahweh by saying that one of his creatures, the snake, caused her to eat and thus sin. She was not better than Adam. -- KORAN: This biblical teaching is OMITTED in the Koran. Both Adam and his wife had accepted that Allah is their Lord and that they were his slaves, and both had conceded that it was their own fault, thus indirectly vindicating Allah. Again, the Koran here SUPPRESSED the true nature of sin working in the woman.
SUMMARY -- BIBLE: Both blame somebody else for their sin. And the new reality is: Fear from Yahweh's face. -- KORAN: Both confess their fault. And the new reality is: We did evil to ourselves.