Moms in the Bible - Eve

Chapter 5 – Eve

It seems that everyone has heard of Adam and Eve and has a general concept of the story of how they got kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Let’s look at what happened next: Eve got pregnant, gave birth, and became the first mother. Poor Eve has gotten a bad rap for the whole serpent-apple-sin thing so she needs a second chance to redeem her reputation. And she does so with the first words out of her mouth as a mother: “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Notice how she
gives credit to God for the whole miraculous reproduction feat.

I have to feel really sorry for Eve because she raised her two sons, Cain and Abel, and then lost them both in the most horrible way imaginable. I cannot fathom what it must have been like to have your first born son murder your second child. Then Cain was banished so she never saw him again either.

Eve must have had a strong faith to get over such a tragedy.  At some point after that the Lord blessed her again and she had a third son, Seth. When he was born she said, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” Wow, that simple sentence brings tears to my eyes. It shows proud faith and joy, followed by sorrow, and then regret, in that order.

Nothing is said about anymore children born of Eve, but we know that her husband, Adam, lived 930 years and had other sons and daughters so Eve probably had centuries of raising children, too. Since the Bible tells us that Adam was 130 when Seth was born it’s pretty likely that Eve was of a similar age. That makes me wonder just how long she grieved over her first boys before getting pregnant again – maybe decades.

Next Saturday – Gomer