comprised the reasonable limitations God placed upon angels. Jesus said that faithful holy angels in heaven neither marry nor are given in marriage. (Matt. 22:30, NW) So all the angels before the deluge of Noah’s day who cohabited with the daughters of men missed the mark of perfect obedience. These evil-minded angels proved to be no true friends of God and together with their ringleader, Satan the Devil, they have been cast out of Jehovah’s heavenly household as enemies. They thereby entered a free-will course of badness that brought unhappiness upon themselves and will end up in their total annihilation.—Luke 8:31, NW.

MARK OF INTEGRITY IN EDEN

11. What was the mark of integrity that God set in Eden?

¹¹ But what about original perfect man? What was the legal mark of integrity set before him to direct his course wisely before his Divine Friend and Benefactor, Jehovah God? It was a clear-cut specific law, a violation of which God would consider an act of unfriendliness, treason, and thus sin, and was definitely set before perfect Adam and his beautiful wife. “And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: ‘From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.’” There was no vagueness about this mark. It was easy to understand. It was easy to keep. The consequences for missing this mark were also clearly stated, namely, that for such treasonable act man would “positively die.”—Gen. 2:16, 17, NW.

12, 13. Why was God justified in setting this mark before Adam and Eve?

¹² Jehovah God was absolutely within his right to make this mark of integrity for man’s good. He knew man better than man did himself because Jehovah was the creator of man. Jehovah knew it was for man’s good that he be reminded by this constant mark that he was an inferior dependent upon his Creator-Superior. In fact, Jehovah manifested true love as the God of love by arranging for such a guidepost between God and man. This legal restriction worked no hardship upon Adam and his wife, as it was denying them nothing necessary for their happy life in the paradise garden. They had the legal right to eat fruit from the other trees, but as to this particular tree it was withheld.

¹³ An exceedingly valuable gift was in store for Adam if he had proved worthy. Jehovah God had placed Adam and Eve in a vast estate in the eastern part of a section of the earth called Eden. This large estate had been brought to a high degree of cultivation, having been designed and laid out by God into a beautiful paradise garden-park. Additionally, this estate was well stocked with friendly animals of every family kind. Likewise it was well planted with food-bearing trees and plants of every description. Actually this estate was to be merely the gateway to an eventually expanded possession of the entire globe with its untold mineral resources. Here in a setting of inspiring beauty, peace and harmony and amid great natural wealth Adam and Eve found a happy home. Surely the great God of every perfect gift was within his right to test Adam before he passed over such valuable rights of permanent possession to a proved friend. Who today would freely turn over a priceless gift of property to an enemy? No one in his right mind would. So in God’s case. Man must first prove himself a loyal, trustworthy friend of the God-King. In accord with this principle Jehovah God later tested Jesus here on earth as to his fitness and worthiness to be King of the new world.—Gen. 2:8; Heb. 2:18, NW.

14. For what further reason did Jehovah test Adam and his wife?

¹⁴ Adam and Eve were originally placed in this amazing estate with no set life tenure. It appears that all other forms of animal life flourishing in the earth had limited life spans granted them. (2 Pet. 2:12, NW) Each particular animal kind would live its span of years to make a contribution toward the growing wealth of the earth, then to conclude its existence in death for its offspring to carry on the life work assigned to that race or species of creatures. (Incidentally, Adam’s observing the conclusion of existence of the animals added force to the word “death” that Jehovah used in announcing to him the penalty for failing to keep the mark of integrity.) But as to Adam Jehovah God did not define his life span. Rather the term of his life span was left open, conditional upon keeping the legal mark of loyalty. However, the organism of man was originally made to enable him to live forever. Thus God had the further right to test Adam and his offspring as to their worthiness to enjoy the greatest of gifts, namely, that of an unending life span, everlasting life. This still greater gift was bound up in connection with another legal guidepost in the garden, known as “the tree of life.”—Gen. 3:24, NW.

GOOD AND BAD

15, 16. (a) Apparently of what nature was this mark of integrity, and why? (b) What examples are there of other legal symbols?

¹⁵ What seems to be signified in that the mark of integrity was connected with a “tree of the knowledge of good and bad”? It appears that no physical benefit nor harm came from the literal touching or eating of this forbidden tree. Rather the dealing with this tree seemed to affect the conscience. We note that when Adam and Eve later did eat of the fruit of this tree the Bible does not record any physical reaction but does indicate that their consciences immediately registered guiltiness. “Then the eyes of both of them became opened and they began to realize that they were naked.” (Gen. 3:7, NW) The opening of their eyes could not have referred to their physical eyes, because these must have been fully open at the time they performed the illegal act. So it was the ‘eyes of their heart’ or conscience that reacted, and not that they received a physically enlarged brain capacity filled with divine wisdom. (Eph. 1:18, NW) Another interesting fact—it is always a ruler that “knows” or judges between what is right and wrong or good and bad. This is observed in God’s statement upon Adam’s expulsion from the garden, where it is inferred that Adam had decided to become his own judge to “know” what is “good” and “bad.” By so doing he had rejected the heavenly Superior Authorities. “And Jehovah God went on to say: ‘Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad.’” These observations add up to conclude that the tree served as a legal sign or symbol, a guidepost, between the God-King and man in their governmental dealings with each other.—Gen. 3:22, NW.

¹⁶ As to the guidepost nature of this tree we have something of a similar significance in the case of the heap of witness or pile of stones set up at Galeed as a legal sign between Laban and Jacob, which governed the legal conduct of the one toward the other. (Gen. 31:48-53, NW) Another example, a modern one. When a legal document of great importance is put into an envelope and sealed shut by an official seal impressed in sealing wax, the exclusiveness of the document is violated when an unauthorized person breaks the wax seal. It is not the physical breaking of the wax seal that is criminal, but it is the illegal attempt to pass the forbidden seal, which is merely a legal symbol or barrier to what is inside the envelope, that is criminal.

17, 18. (a) What is the definition of “good” and of “bad”? (b) Who determines what is good? What confirms this?

¹⁷ Next we ask, What is “good”? and What is “bad”? Good is that which is right, complete and in harmony with Jehovah’s rules and principles of proper conduct. Bad is directly to the contrary. It is that which is wrong and out of harmony with rules and principles of proper conduct. God as Creator pronounced and judged the results of several creative days as being “good.” (Gen. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, NW) Is an immature one or a child in position to make rules of proper conduct and thus define what is good and what is bad? No, of course not. For this reason earthly fathers must discipline their young to hold them to standards of goodness defined by a superior authority. (Heb. 12:7-11, NW) It is not the inferior that determines the rules of goodness, but it is the lawmaking superior that does. Jehovah God is the one who is the final judge and ruler to determine really what is good and what is bad.

¹⁸ A certain one came to Jesus asking him about what is good. Jesus gave him the right answer showing that Jehovah God is the only one who determines good and creatures must follow what God commands because God always commands what is right. “Now, look! a certain one came up to him and said: ‘Teacher, what good must I do in order to get everlasting life?’ He said to him: ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is that is good. If, though, you want to enter into life, observe the commandments continually.’”—Matt. 19:16, 17, NW.

19, 20. (a) How was sin introduced to this earth? (b) Why did the original sin not involve illicit intercourse of the sexes?

¹⁹ Jehovah God’s right to determine what is good was basely set at issue in Eden about six thousand years ago by Satan the Devil. He transmitted to Eve wrong thinking and stirred up a wrong desire in her as an inferior to defy her sovereign ruler Jehovah and instead to judge for herself what was good and bad. “For God knows that in the very day of your eating from it your eyes are bound to be opened and you are bound to be like God, knowing good and bad.” This evil desire in Eve became fertile and she took action to eat of the forbidden tree. “Consequently the woman saw that the tree’s fruit was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, yes, the tree was desirable to look upon. So she began taking of its fruit and eating it. Afterward she gave some also to her husband when with her and he began eating it.” Here to their everlasting shame Adam and Eve missed God’s mark of perfect obedience and integrity. From that very hour they entered a course of unhappiness, lawlessness, uncleanness and eventual death. They had defied the rule and word of the Sovereign Majesty himself and thus had committed an act of high treason.—Gen. 3:5, 6; Jas. 1:14, 15, NW.

²⁰ At this point it must be observed that Adam’s original sin did not involve illicit intercourse as is claimed by some sects of Christendom. Sexual intercourse was not the point at issue, it did not comprise the set mark for man, it had become lawful by an earlier commandment for a husband and a wife to have sex relations. (See Genesis 1:28.) Adam’s original sin was his bad act in missing the set mark, it was his treasonable rejection of the God-King Jehovah by accepting another form of rule as to what was good and bad.

UNHOLY CONSEQUENCES

21, 22. What were the consequences of Adam’s sin? What is family disability?

²¹ The consequences of this one traitorous act of willful sin proved to be devastating not only to Adam but globally to the resultant Adamic family, “just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12, NW) Adam, now a lawbreaker and an enemy of his former God-King, was promptly summoned to court by Jehovah, found guilty along with the woman and the Satan-controlled serpent and sentenced. Adam and his wife were forthwith dismissed as traitors from God’s holy organization. The man was sent out of the perfect garden of Eden, was given a limited life span of existence that would end up in death and was forced to take up residence in the uncultivated part of the earth to earn his livelihood by the sweat of his face. (Gen. 3:16-19, NW) Jehovah God being no longer their loving friend and wise counselor and they being out of union with God’s organization, Adam and Eve were forced to shift for themselves according to their immature and inexperienced judgment. The stresses and strains of hard work, the disappointments and heartbreaks of man-made organization, and even the stark tragedy of seeing the first human die, their own son put to death by a murderous, maddened brother—all these trials tended to throw out of balance the functions of the once perfect human organism. Sicknesses developed and finally death ensued. Remember how the terrible strain on the nervous system of the perfect man Jesus as he hung on the tree hastened his death.

²² Children inherit the assets and liabilities of their parents. Since Adam died an unholy one, a traitorous outcast, one who had not acquired the rights of possession to the lovely garden-estate of Eden and one who had not obtained any right to an unlimited life span, these disabilities or disadvantages came upon his offspring. And so as a rebel patriarchal head Adam brought family disability upon all the human race.

23, 24. (a) What sort of record did sin make during the first 1,600 years? (b) How did Jehovah look upon these results?

²³ His having to rely upon unholy, imperfect judgment of what was good and bad after his expulsion, Adam’s remaining years of his 930-year life span would be spent in farther and farther missing God’s original mark of true integrity. This down-road tendency of corruption would lead to greater degradation upon his children generation after generation. Finally, after about 1,600 years, man became so unholy and degraded, missing the mark of perfect integrity by such a great degree, that Jehovah felt regrets that he had made men in the earth and he felt hurt at his heart. Only Noah proved in a large measure to be righteous. Noah had not become as degraded as his contemporaries although he too was missing God’s original mark of perfection because he had been born a sinner.—Ps. 51:5.

²⁴ “Consequently Jehovah saw that the badness of man had become great in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time. And Jehovah felt regrets that he had made men in the earth and he felt hurt at his heart. So Jehovah said: ‘I am going to wipe men whom I have created off the surface of the ground, from man to domestic animal, to creeping animal and to flying creature of the heavens, because I do regret that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah. . . . Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his contemporaries. Noah walked with the God.” (Gen. 6:5-9, NW) Some will ask, Since God destroyed all but eight good people in the deluge of Noah’s day, what have been the prospects for man’s being uplifted to perfection thereafter? For the answer to this question please see the succeeding article.

The Way for Man’s Attainment to Perfect Integrity

1. Whom does the gaining of the restored paradise on earth involve?

IN THE previous article we have seen how man lost paradise by breaking his integrity toward God and so missing the mark. Now we shall study how paradise restored is to be gained by the redeemed descendants of the sinner Adam. Their gaining the restored paradise on earth does not mean a universal return of every last member of the first Adam’s family. Rather we shall see that this involves only those who come into a new family arrangement under another Adam, a life-giving Father who heads a new flock like a wise shepherd.—Isa. 9:6; John 10:11-16, NW.

2, 3. Why was no law given by God to Adam after his expulsion from Eden, and when and to whom was a complete code of laws governing all of life’s relations given?

² To begin, we ask, Did Jehovah ever restate his mark of perfect obedience to Adam after his being dismissed from the paradise of Eden? There is no evidence that God ever spoke to rebel Adam again after his court trial in Eden’s garden. Since God gave his law to Adam when he was perfect and yet Adam selfishly broke the divine law, God would not give to the now imperfect, rebellious Adam any restatement of his law or any new set of laws in the hope of his attaining to the mark of perfect integrity toward God the supreme Lawgiver. Later Jehovah did speak to Adam’s descendants such as Abel, Enoch, Noah and Abraham, giving these imperfect but holy men some revelations of His purposes, and there is the record that God imposed obligations upon Abraham and gave him commands, statutes and laws (Gen. 26:5, NW; 2 Pet. 1:1, 21; 3:2), yet there is no record that a complete, detailed code of laws governing all the relations of life was ever given to any of them. In fact, Paul shows that until the day of Moses there