The Motives for Obeying God

God demanded of Adam that he not eat from the tree of knowledge; Adam could eat the fruit of any other tree in the Garden of Eden, but not that of the tree of knowledge: "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress and to keep it. And the lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:15-17). Eve, Adam's wife, was the first to break God's commandment. She encounters the serpent, who tempts her to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. He lures her by saying that she will not die if she eats the fruit and that, indeed, she will be like God. Eve, who is later to blame the serpent for her actions, is tempted by motives of power. "And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:4-5). …