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The Forgotten Books of Eden · 19 of 293

First Adam and Eve: Chapter XVI

The first sunrise. Adam and Eve think it is a fire coming to burn them.

1.AFTER this Adam and Eve ceased not to stand in the cave, praying and weeping, until the morning dawned upon them.

2.And when they saw the light returned to them, they restrained from fear, and strengthened their hearts.

3.Then Adam began to come out of the cave. And when he came to the mouth of it, and stood and turned his face towards the east, and saw the sun rise in glowing rays, and felt the heat thereof on his body, he was afraid of it, and thought in his heart that this flame came forth to plague him.

4.He wept then, and smote upon his breast, and fell upon the earth on his face, and made his request, saying:—

5.“O Lord, plague me not, neither consume me, nor yet take away my life from the earth.”

6.For he thought the sun was God.

7.Inasmuch as while he was in the garden and heard the voice of God and the sound He made in the garden, and feared Him, Adam never saw the brilliant light of the sun, neither did the flaming heat thereof touch his body.

8.Therefore was he afraid of the sun when flaming rays of it reached him. He thought God meant to plague him therewith all the days He had decreed for him.

9.For Adam also said in his thoughts, as God did not plague us with darkness, behold, He has caused this sun to rise and to plague us with burning heat.

10.But while he was thus thinking in his heart, the Word of God came unto him and said:—

11.“O Adam, arise and stand up. This sun is not God; but it has been created to give light by day, of which I spake unto thee in the cave saying, ‘that the dawn would break forth, and there would be light by day.’

12.“But I am God who comforted thee in the night.”

13.And God ceased to commune with Adam.

Asked of Guide

Why did Adam think the sun was a god and fear it as punishment?

Adam feared the sun because he had never seen its light or felt its heat while in the garden; he only knew God through voice and the calming presence at night, so the sudden “flaming rays” felt like a punitive blaze. The chapter says Adam “thought God meant to plague him therewith,” imagining the sun as a new agency of judgment because brightness and burning were unfamiliar sensations tied to divine action.

God corrects him directly: the “Word of God” tells Adam the sun was created to “give light by day” and is not God, and God reminds Adam that He was the one who comforted him in the night. This mirrors Genesis’ basic ordering of day and night and echoes themes in the Book of Genesis where God names and explains creation to humanity.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.