[Paul Miletus]

Originally Posted by Gubei

Dear Paul,

I'd like to ask some questions for clarification.

1. When did Isralites get infused with the venom (i.e. sin) first? When Adam fell in the Garden, or when Isralites were bitten by snakes in the wilderness?

2. If it was when Adam fell, to be more specific, is it when Adam doubted God's word (i.e disobedience) or when Adam ate the tree of knowledge of good and evil (i.e. physical eating of something)?

3 If it was when Isralites were bitten by sankes in the wilderness, how come non-isralites who have no biological connection with Isralites have to be declared as being sinners because of the incident in the OT? Is it because Isralites are the "representative" of all human beings? I'm very doubtful of that... Adam and Christ are two representatives of all human beings, though.

Many thanks Gubei, for your post.

1. The scene in the garden of Eden was the first instance when man fell and corrupted by sin and death by eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Numbers 21 is another scene which vividly points to what exactly what happened in the first fall of man. The Old Testament is full of repetitive illustrations which have meaningful spiritual truths that cannot be found in the New Testament. We need to remember that the Old Testament is a shadow of the New Testament; and the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
   
2. Adam's doubt is part of the overall process of man's fall which ended in eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil which is identified as "man's disobedience".
   
3. God worked with the nation of Israel first on behalf of all man-kind and through God's economy man-kind can become God-kind. I totally agree with you that there is only one "first Adam" (man-kind) and one "last Adam" (God-kind).