Growing Up: The classic tale of adolescence transition from child to adult. God represents the parent. He watches over His children and doesn’t want them to grow up and be tempted by the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. However, we all eventually grow up and we do need to understand right from wrong, instead of being sheltered by our parents to only see the fantasy good of childhood. It is a story of learning about consequences for our actions, whether with or against our parental authority. The transition is complete when we grow up and men have to work (“toil”) and woman start having their periods and giving birth to children to start their families. Yes, parents want their kids to stay young forever, so they can hold on to their youth a little longer, but that is not the natural cycle of things.
Caution When Making Choices: The story also cautions about the snakes that can lead us down the wrong path in life. It hints at the temptations that parents know can have everlasting consequences for their children, so make your choices wisely.
Blaming: Some comedians poke fun at the fact that this the first time a man blames a woman and she in turn passes the buck to the snake. But God doesn’t let the man off the hook. We are all responsible for our own actions.
