The many parallels between Eden and Exodus
Several parallels, and one mirror image, tie together two iconic Old Testament stories.
On their face, they couldn’t be more different. The Garden of Eden, so lush, so fern, so perfect you wonder why humanity ever left.
And an Exodus so long and hard and hungry that Israel felt they were better off slaves under Pharaoh.
But the parallels between the creation story and Israel’s exodus, between when the Israelites fled Egypt and arrived home in Canaan, are many.
The Sabbath: Not just for God anymore
Last week we talked about the reintroduction of the Sabbath in Exodus 16. When last seen in Genesis 2, it was God resting after six days of work.
Perhaps Genesis 2 carries an implication that we should follow God’s lead, but it offers no such instruction. That changes in Exodus 16:23, when Moses hands down the law: “Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.”
Remember, the Israelites are between jobs at this point. Between homes. Between countries. They’re not working. To avoid a mutiny, God sends down manna — “It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey,” per Exodus 16:32 — which is dropped off by a chorus of quails.
What Israel is asked to take Sabbath from are not the trades and jobs they knew in Egypt. But the collection of manna. There wouldn’t be any. Because God wouldn’t send the quails, as he himself would be honoring the Sabbath.
All that was asked of Israel, at that point, is that it take the day off. Israel translates to “struggles with God.” The record shows it struggled to honor the first Sabbath, too.
Not since Eden have we seen a workless environment. Just the opposite. Genesis 47 depicts the Egyptians selling themselves into serfdom for seed packets.
Prohibition: ‘Or you will surely die’
Exodus 19:12 offers a prohibition similar to Genesis 2:17, the order that Adam not eat from the tree of the knowledge of food and evil, “or you will surely die.”
This time, Israel is ordered to not touch Mount Sinai, that “whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.”
“Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy” is the opposite of how the infamous tree was handled — left unprotected, until man had eaten from it.
Only then did God hire security. By Exodus, he has learned not to take chances. Claiming the mountain is off-limits is fine, but placing limits around it removes the guesswork. No room is left for “oops.”
Sexual stigma: ‘Lest your nakedness be exposed’
In Genesis 3, God only realizes something’s wrong when Adam and Eve hide from him, then reappear with clothes on.
Clearly their eyes have been opened. It doesn’t take much questioning for Adam to tell all. In so doing, he becomes history’s first snitch.
The Edenic ideal, be fruitful and multiply, is only practiced after man leaves the garden.
Only then are Cain and Abel born. Had Adam and Eve nailed the timing, they could’ve got one in before childbirth hurts. Instead we’re left to trust that there was a lesser-pain version of childbirth, even though no such birth ever takes place.
Sex is now consequential. It is now private. With man’s eyes open, the first thing we decide to do is cover up.
But not until Exodus 19:15 is anyone told not to have sex. By now we’ve seen a town, Sodom, destroyed after its menfolk try to have sex with two angels, by force. We’ve seen sex sold, third-party, between sister-wives, for the price of a few mandrakes.
We’ve seen Lot’s daughters both have sex with their father. Earlier, Lot had offered them, unsuccessfully, to the angry men at Sodom. But they had eyes for the angels.
We’ve seen rape and false rape allegations.
But only in Exodus 19:15 does God give the order: “Abstain from sexual relations.”
Made aware of sex, the first thing man does is limit it. Not go wild. God passing down a sex ban is the new part. In this sense, Eden and Exodus are not parallel stories, but mirror images.
In Genesis 3:11, God asks Adam and Eden: “Who told you that you were naked?”
This brings a turning point in the relationship between God and man. By Genesis 3:14, God is cursing man.
Things have changed.
How much they’ve changed shows in Exodus 20:26.
God has just handed down the Ten Commandments. He had ordered an altar built for burnt offerings.
After giving his orders, God has one last instruction for Moses: “Do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.”