When Did Adam And Eve Rebel?
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries May 2025 (Donate)
Adam and Eve’s fall into sin had to have occurred after Satan fell
into sin. Satan, who influenced the serpent to deceive the woman, had
previously fallen into sin himself. Satan’s rebellion only affected his own
personhood—he didn’t have a dominion to reign over. Immediately, he went after
those who had dominion and those who were made in the image of God—Adam and
Eve.
Biblical Considerations
Upon
a close evaluation, Adam and Eve had to have rebelled fairly soon after their
initial creation. In Genesis 1:28, God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful
and multiply. Had they waited very long, they would have been sinning against
God by not being fruitful.
So,
it couldn't have been for long. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sinned (in part due
to Satan’s actions) and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and this affected
their entire
dominion with a curse (This is why we need a new heaven and a new earth!). This was
prior to conceiving Cain—their first child.
Genesis
5:3 indicates that Adam had Seth at age 130. Adam had at least three children
before Seth: Cain (Genesis 4:1), Cain’s Wife (Genesis 4:17), Abel (Genesis
4:2). Although there were likely others (e.g., the descendants of Adam that
Cain feared after he murdered Abel per Genesis 4:15-15). So, the maximum date
would have to be much sooner than 130
years.
If
we jump back to Creation Week, Adam and
Eve couldn’t have sinned on Day 6 (the day the man/Adam and the woman/Eve were
created) since God declared that everything was “very good” in Genesis 1:31
(see also Deuteronomy 32:4) — otherwise sin would be very good. It was likely
not on Day 7, since God sanctified that day and made it holy. Therefore, it had
to be soon after this.
Ussher And The Tenth Day
Famed
chronologist whose dates appeared in the King James Bible for several hundred
years Archbishop James
Ussher
suggests that Adam sinned on the 10th day of the first month in his
chronology, which is the Day of Atonement[1].
The Day of
Atonement
is presumably representative of the first sacrifice, which God made
by killing animals (from which He made coats of skins in Genesis
3:21) to cover Adam and Eve’s sin.
So
according to Ussher, it was likely the 10th day after the first day
of creation. This would be four days after Adam and Eve were created. This
would be the second Tuesday after Creation.
Is This Date Legitimate?
I
once had a lady come up after a speaking engagement and say that it made sense.
I inquired further.
She
said that Adam and Eve were created perfect in a perfect world, right? I said yes.
She said that their bodies were created perfect too. I said, that’s right.
Then she said that that means that they shouldn’t have had a problem conceiving
on the first try. I said, okay, with a confused look.
Then
she explained to me that a woman ovulates after 2 weeks, which is the ideal
time to get pregnant. Thus, Eve would have had to fall prior to this otherwise
she should have fallen pregnant. Yet they sinned before Adam and Eve conceived
their first child. She said, it made sense to be as early at 10 days after
creation (or four days after Eve was created) because it was prior to when Eve
could have gotten pregnant.
I
remember telling her that she was brilliant and that I’m a guy and I don’t tend
to think about those kinds of things. I think she knew that because she really
had to spell it out for me!
Nevertheless,
we can't be certain of this exact date, we know it had to be soon after Day 7
otherwise they were sinning by not being fruitful.
For
more on the fall of mankind, the fall of Satan and events of Genesis 3, please
dive into the book, The Fall of
Satan.
[1]
Archbishop James Ussher, The
Annals of the World, 1656, Translated by Larry and Marion Pierce, 2003, Master
Books, Green Forest, AR, p. 18
