This week we end the Torah and begin again. We end with every tribe being blessed. We also conclude with the Festival of Sukkoth. During this Festival the Jewish people take fruit, palm leaves, a branch, and a part of a willow tree. Here they are commanded to take the fruit and they work their way backwards to the source of it all. The fruit is the end result. Without the leaves the fruit won’t grow. Without the branch the fruit won’t grow. The willow tree represents the water source as it has to be next to the river to grow. Where does the water come from? It comes from the Lord. God is demonstrating how to take the fruit. When you take the fruit remember where it came from. Who planted the original garden?

We now start over in the book of Genesis we learn of the very 1st fruit taken from a tree. The fruit was the only fruit Adam and Eve were told not to eat. Look at the description of the fruit.

“The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.”

The tree was beautiful and the fruit looked delicious. Everything was based on appearance. We do not know how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden before the fall. However they never desired it until someone brought it to their attention. They were happy and content until the serpent made them question God and His wisdom. He sowed a seed that caused them to take the fruit. His seed caused an instant harvest that cause sin to enter the world. The sin caused a curse that caused everything on the planet to suffer. The man now has to work to eat by the sweat of his brow. The woman now has pain in child birth and her husband will rule over her. The animal kingdom is now cursed. Did you ever notice that Adam and Eve were not caught of guard the the snake spoke. After this event no other animal speaks. The snake is cursed more than all the animals it now crawls on it’s belly and eats dust. The ground was then cursed now there are thorns and thistles.

They did not honor God. Now God has given His Creation a new land a Garden if you will. When they enter this new Garden God is showing them how not to curse the new land. We can learn a lot by seeing how the Torah ends and begins.