Adam and Eve: Fall, Children, and Relationship with God

Q: God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. If they hadn’t sinned, would they have had children with all born since then still living? The Bible says after they ate the fruit they knew their actual sex differences — “the eyes of both were opened. (Genesis 3:7)” Why didn’t they have children until they sinned? How many years were they alive before God cursed them?

In the garden, Adam walked and talked with God; was that Father, Son, or Holy Spirit? Throughout the Old Testament God appeared to many, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Isaiah, and Malachi; was that Father, Son, or Holy Spirit?

A: God gave mankind the joyful task of procreation while man was still sinless; we assume that He intended Adam and Eve to begin populating the earth with sinless children, all of whom who would still be alive to this day. Genesis 3:7 doesn’t talk about sexual differences per se, but about shame over nakedness. This, I imagine, was more shame before God than before each other. As you note, the Lord responded to their sin by establishing ongoing penalties against our race and expelling them from the garden. However, Scripture doesn’t say how long Adam and Eve were sinless. I imagine it was a short period of time, since they conceived no pre-fall children.

As to which person of the Trinity actually visited with people throughout history, the Bible says very little. Sometimes, especially in dreams and visions, the Spirit is specifically mentioned but in the other instances, it could have been Father or Son or, perhaps, a “unified” presence of all three Persons.

Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

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Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book What Do Lutherans Believe.

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