Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed.  And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.  In the middle of the garden were the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it.  (Genesis 2:8-9, 16-17, 3:6-7)

The Woman...

She had seen this only once before, this spilling of blood.  Crimson blood from an innocent animal seeping into the ground, slowing staining the dust as its life left it.  Before banishing her and the Man from the garden, the LORD God had clothed them - covered their nakedness - with garments of skin from the animal.

Innocence was slain, blood was shed, so that she and the Man would be covered as they went out into the chaos of a fallen world.  The LORD God had provided.  But it had come at a cost.

Now her son Abel's crimson blood has been spilled out on the ground, soaking into the hard dirt.  The Woman's tears water the soil where he has been cut down by his brother Cain.  How did it come to this so quickly?  The curse of the Fall has spread - is spreading - tears mixed with shed blood, slowly seeping across the hard earth.  She has gained what she craved, what she so deeply desired:  the knowledge of good and evil, the wisdom she thought would be hers by eating the one thing the LORD God had held back from her.  Death is the result and her son Abel's blood cries out from the ground.  Can you hear it?

The LORD God had hinted at a Deliverer when He banished her and the Man from the garden.  The promise of God that salvation would come through the Woman had once filled her with hope.  Surely her son Cain...or would it be Abel?

Now both her sons are lost to her...