When Was ‘The Fall’? :: By Mark A. Becker

When Was ‘The Fall’ in relation to Creation Week?

The short answer to our study theme question is that we do not know, but we should at least be able to offer some parameters of how soon and how late The Fall could have occurred.

How Soon After Creation Could ‘The Fall’ Have Occurred?

Obviously, the answer is very soon after Creation Week.

How Late After Creation Could ‘The Fall’ Have Occurred?

Would it surprise the reader to learn that The Fall could have occurred even up to a hundred years or so after Creation Week?

When Was Cain Born?

It all has to do with when Cain, the first mentioned offspring of Adam and Eve, for according to Scripture The Fall occurred before Adam and Eve had children.

Interestingly, Scripture does not tell us when Cain or Abel was born in the life of Adam and Eve, so we must turn to what we do know: the birth of Seth.

“And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew… And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth…” – Genesis 4:25, 5:3

Adam and Eve were 130 years old when they had Seth.

The question now becomes, how old were Cain and Abel when Cain slew his brother? This might help us gauge how late The Fall could have occurred.

The answer to this question, however, is, again, we just do not know. But we can reasonably speculate.

If Cain and Abel were what we would consider young men, say 20-40 years old when Cain slew Abel – and Seth was born soon thereafter – then, mathematically, Adam and Eve could have had Cain when they were around 100 years or so of age.

So, even though we do not have information on when either Cain or Abel was born, we can surmise that The Fall could have occurred at any time after Creation Week up to around 100 or so years after creation.

When we consider eternity, and that Adam and Eve were created to live eternally before The Fall – and our maximum timespan of when The Fall may have occurred – then 100 years or so would really not be too much “time” at all.

Possible Reasons Adam and Eve Went Childless Before ‘The Fall’

Let us explore if there are any logical rationalizations we should at least consider when it comes to how Adam and Eve could have been childless for up to 100 years or so after creation if this may have been the situation.

In contemplating this, I have concluded there could be many fascinating factors involved when trying to understand why Adam and Eve did not have offspring before The Fall if it occurred up to 100 or so years after creation.

Communing With God

Some have speculated that Adam and Eve only communed with God in commemoration of God’s sabbath day of rest, while others have conjectured that God only fellowshipped with Adam and Eve “in the cool of the day” based solely on the following passage immediately after The Fall.

“And they [Adam and Eve] heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” – Genesis 3:8-9

Does the thought that God only communed with Adam and Eve on either the sabbath day or just “in the cool of the day” make sense to the reader in light of what we know of God?

Consider that the Bible’s overall message is that God created mankind for Himself to enjoy and for His glory. We need look no further than when our Creator became our Savior – fully God and fully man – and came to commune with His creatures at His First Advent, ultimately offering Himself as an atonement for our sins and bringing us back into fellowship with Himself for all who would believe on Him.

By all accounts, Jesus truly enjoyed His relationships with His disciples and His fellowship with people He met during His lifetime and ministry. Therefore, there is no reason to believe that God would not have found immense pleasure in His fellowship and relationships with Adam and Eve, and that these interactions between them all were most likely on a daily basis.

Before The Fall, and in view of eternity, time would certainly be no issue when it came to Adam and Eve’s new life. There would have been no sense of urgency to do or accomplish anything, as humanity has experienced in our fallen world ever since. All things were new and marvelous in their eyes, and they most certainly desired to relish every opportunity and experience available to them as new creations.

Yes, Adam and Eve were commanded to be fruitful and multiply, but taking the time to learn of God’s creation and experiencing all that their eternal lives had to offer would certainly take priority in their walk with their Creator in the Garden He had prepared for them. Not to mention that, as new creations, the maturity level for procreation and raising a family would necessarily take time as they became comfortable with each other and the new experiences their brand-new lives afforded them.

God would certainly be aware of all of this and would assuredly understand their newness of life, getting to know themselves as well as each other and God Himself.

And importantly, for us, keeping in mind that God is omniscient, knowing all things, He was well aware of what the future held for them and the dark turn their lives would eventually take because of the gift of freewill that He gave to them both – a freewill that without which no one could ever be able to experience love.

Communing With and Enjoying Each Other

I would imagine that Adam and Eve, more than any other couple that ever existed, had very much to talk about, getting to know each other and their unique gifts and talents God had bestowed upon them both. Even in our own fallen experience, it takes time to learn what gifts God has given to us and what peaks our individual interests. This would certainly be no different for Adam and Eve.

The intimacy Adam and Eve would have experienced – apart from a sexual relationship – would have been undoubtedly on as grand of a scale as any couple after them, especially considering what they shared together in an exceedingly perfect union, in an exceedingly perfect environment before their fall.

With only each other to lean upon as they grew into who they were as individuals and as a couple, these experiences must have been very profound indeed.

Enjoying and Exploring God’s Creation

Adam and Eve’s God-given intellect before The Fall would have necessarily been superior to any human being, save Christ, thereafter. Therefore, as they grew in their own maturities, spiritually, physiologically, and emotionally, the scientific inquiries into God’s creation must have been substantial and something they would have desired greatly to investigate on all levels as time went on.

I do not think that any of us could ever imagine or comprehend the absolute beauty and diversity of a creation that was exceedingly perfect in every way. And considering that the Garden of Eden was planted by God Himself (Genesis 2:8), how could any fallen mind’s eye produce even an inkling of what Adam and Eve encountered and experienced in the Garden of Eden and the rest of creation.

I personally imagine the Garden of Eden with an abundance of minerals and diamonds, gems of all varieties, precious metals, and other beautiful elements that we can see in our fallen creation today – yet even more glorious than we could ever imagine – as well as the possibility that other beautifully created objects and scenery that may have been lost after the fall, and subsequently the global flood, were also included in this amazing place of God’s creation.

And the foliage! Consider the gardens that fallen man can put together today in a fallen world, and then reflect upon the fact that the Garden of Eden was God’s Garden! What a wonderous place this must have been, and Adam and Eve had it all to themselves with their animal friends and God Himself!

Communing With the Animals

We can only get a darkened glimpse today of how Adam and Eve’s relationship to the animal kingdom may have been by comparing our own relationships with our beloved pets. The love and friendship that many of us develop with our pets often borders on elevating them to familial status in our relationships with them. They are very special to us indeed.

In many of our experiences, we can feel as if we have a very special ability to communicate with our furry companions, as, at times, they can give facial expressions and exhibit behaviors that sure do seem as if they are attempting to relate to us and communicate with us on at least some level. Adam and Eve would have had at least this same relationship with all the animals.

But were Adam and Eve actually able to communicate verbally with many of the animals in this exceedingly perfect creation of God? This, at least to me, seems to be a very real possibility.

Before God created Eve for Adam, God, as He was looking for a suitable help meet for Adam, gave Adam the privilege of naming the animals that God had created – the cattle, the fowl of the air, and every beast of the field.

“And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

“And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.” – Genesis 2:19-20

When Adam named the animals, might there have been more to this event than meets the eye? We do not know for sure, for we are not told.

Unfortunately, though, the only other indication we are given in Scripture, when it comes to the very real possibility that animals might have been able to dialogue with Adam and Eve, is in regard to The Fall.

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” – Genesis 3:1

Satan, in his first possession, selected the serpent to tempt Eve to question God’s intentions for them and not to believe God’s Word.

This event of a talking serpent evidently did not take Eve by surprise in the least. Why? Was this simply a situation of Eve’s innocence and naïveté? Or might it be that the animal kingdom may have had the ability to communicate with Adam and Eve?

We are also told of another example in Scripture of an animal conversing with a human being, and this one was also in a negative connotation.

“And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

“And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.

“And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? and he said, Nay.” – Numbers 22:28-30

What we know of our Creator, when it comes to the possibility of animals speaking verbally with Adam and Eve, certainly does not preclude this very real plausibility, for with God all things are possible, and this was an exceedingly perfect creation before The Fall.

But even if Adam and Eve were not able to communicate with the animal kingdom on a verbal level, surely, they would have spent innumerable hours interacting with every species, as none of them would have ever been a threat to them before The Fall, and all the animals would have been living in perfect harmony with each other, which would have been very cool for Adam and Eve to experience and observe!

As we noted, even today, we seem to have a real chemistry that can consume hours of our time through our relationships with our pets. Imagine the same for every animal God had created for Adam and Eve to enjoy in an exceedingly perfect world!

Slow Maturity in the Antediluvian Pre-Flood World?

The Institute for Creation Research had a recent article titled Living to 900? In this fascinating article was the idea that the people in the antediluvian pre-flood world most probably had slow maturity rates based upon the ages we see in the Genesis record when they had their children. Granted, not every listing of the genealogies necessarily signifies that every offspring was the firstborn, but some undoubtedly were.

The earliest recorded age for a man to have a child in Genesis 5 are Mahalaleel and Enoch at 65, while the oldest age for a man to have a child is Methuselah at 187. Again, we do not know for certain if these ages in these genealogies are for their firstborn, but some may very well have been.

In relation to Adam and Eve, being new, fully mature physical creations – and keeping in mind that they were not in a fallen state before The Fall – the idea that they would have undoubtedly taken their time in their inclinations to learn and experience their new lives and relationship to each other and to God seems more than reasonable and logical.

God Could Have Supernaturally Kept Them from Conceiving

As we touched on above, the sovereign God, who knows the end from the beginning and knowing that Adam and Eve would eventually rebel against His Word, could have easily kept them from conceiving had they been sexually active before The Fall.

This would be, of course, dependent upon if they were even sexually active during this timeframe. Because Adam and Eve were exceedingly perfect new creations, lustful and strong sexual desires inherent in human beings today that so often results in procreation would not have been present in Adam and Eve before The Fall.

Again, they would have had so much to experience individually and as a couple in an exceedingly perfect creation that a sexual relationship with each other may have been the furthest consideration from their innocent and open minds for quite some time in their eternal existence. Theirs would have been a pure love for each other as they grew together.

What About Satan and the Angelic Realm?

The entire angelic realm, including Satan, were also recent creations by God in the beginning of God’s creation.

[Please see Genesis 1:2 – The Gap Theory Is Imaginary for more on this topic.]

All the innumerable company of angels – from their creation and before Satan and a third of them rebelled outwardly against their Creator – like Adam and Eve, would have been intently interested in learning all they could about their Creator and His amazing creation.

In addition to learning about God, some of the interests that the angels may have been inclined to examine and understand more fully to the best of their ability might include:

1. Themselves.
2. The entire creation in general.
3. God’s heaven and throne where they would reside.
4. The mysteries of the universal heavens with all that is contained therein, such as astro physics, the molecular structures and orbital patterns of various planets, stars, solar systems, and galaxies, interstellar astrological arrangements, the universal relationship to time, etc.
5. The Earth, including the sea, fresh water, the air (the atmospheric heaven) and all life within these biospheres, including their biology, chemistry, and genetics. [Genesis 6: Biology and Genetics]
6. The microscopic atomic, molecular, and micro-biological creation.
7. Human beings.

This is just a sampling of interests the angelic realm may very well have been engaged in learning about since their creation on Day One of Creation Week.

Satan, according to Jesus, was a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44), which obviously began in his heart. As such, Satan would be very interested in evaluating both Adam and Eve spiritually, physiologically, and emotionally for his ultimate betrayal and rebellion against God’s creation – that of corrupting those who were created in the image of God.

Satan would logically have been scheming, plotting, and strategizing, attempting to find perceived weaknesses in both Adam and Eve, to render the best and most opportune time to wage his frontal assault on the first humans.

Eventually he did. And all of this would necessarily take some time.

How much time, we do not know.

‘The Fall’

What Adam and Eve experienced after The Fall must have been nothing short of a living nightmare for them. Everything in their exceedingly perfect universe was turned upside down and inside out. It must have been horrifically unimaginable what the first human couple experienced because of their rebellion against the Word of God. Truly heartbreaking for them and humanity, both then and now.

As such, after God intervened, providing them with suitable clothing from the first shed blood of an innocent animal – the first innocent sacrifice prefiguring the ultimate sacrifice that God Himself would provide for the redemption of mankind back to Himself – and after both were driven from the Garden of Eden, Adam would certainly find himself desiring to comfort his wife in her deep sorrow and regret, as she had been deceived by Satan through his possession of the serpent (1 Timothy 2:14).

This is when Cain was most probably conceived – very soon after The Fall.

“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.” – Genesis 4:1

Conclusion

While we cannot definitively answer the question to our theme’s title, we have developed at least a window of opportunity to consider.

Personally, I do not have an opinion on this issue because to do so would require me to offer additional information that would help to confirm such a supposition — information none of us has, as the Scriptures are silent on pertinent details. It is enough for me, and hopefully for the reader, to at least acknowledge this window of time to reflect upon.

It is not out of the realm of possibility, in my mind, that Adam and Eve could have lived 100 or so years without children before The Fall. Did they? I do not know. It is a very intriguing plausibility, nonetheless.

All praise and honor to our amazing Creator, Savior, Redeemer, King, and Lord, that when it comes to the failure of the first Adam, we can certainly rejoice with joy unspeakable when it comes to the last Adam, Messiah Yeshua, God in the flesh.

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” – 1 Corinthians 15:45

Jesus Christ provided a way back to God for all who would put their faith and trust in Him and His finished work on the cross, His death, burial, and resurrection, and for this, we should ever be eternally thankful as we proclaim with Paul…

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

“And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

We have the greatest message ever to be shared with a lost and dying humanity as a direct result of The Fall. We have the message of “the word of reconciliation.”

“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

“And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” – Romans 10:14-15

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May we all keep Answering the Call of The Great Commission, and giving an answer to every man and woman who so desperately needs Jesus and asks us, “Why Am I Here and What Is It All About?”

Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!

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