Why is that Adam and Eve didn’t give birth to any children in the garden? We see that it was only after they left the garden that they began having children.
On the occasion of man’s first sin, we read in Genesis 3:22-23, “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” We then read in Genesis 4:1-2, “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.”
I believe you are correct in your assumption that Adam and Eve did not give birth to any children in the garden of Eden. The order of the verses already given show us that truth. But, why did they not have any children while still in the garden? Although it was after the original sin of disobedience, Adam gave his wife the name of Eve. We read in Genesis 3:20, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” This seems to indicate that at the time, Adam understood his wife would be a mother.
Because the scriptures are silent on this matter, we must proceed very carefully lest we introduce thoughts in which we have no proof of or no ground on which to base our thoughts. I will introduce a few thoughts with the realization that all I am doing is giving room for scriptural based ideas. I am not, nor can I be, adamant on any of these ideas.
One thought is that there was so little time between the creation of Eve and the original sin that there was not enough time to conceive and bear children. Although we are not told how much time elapsed, we do see that Adam had not even given Eve a name before their fall. This could indicate that the original pair sinned against the Lord very quickly.
Genesis 2:21-25 says, “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Eve, of course, was taken from the side of Adam. After fashioning Eve from the rib of Adam, we read the Lord “brought her unto the man.” Here, the institution of marriage was given to man. Yet, innocence led the way in Eden. Both Adam and Eve wore no clothes and “were not ashamed.” Innocent children have no concern or anxiety about being naked at any time or in front of anyone. Perhaps Adam and Eve shared that same great innocence. If so, they would not have been sexually attracted to each other and would not have engaged in sex. It is only after being sent out from Eden that we read that “And Adam knew Eve his wife…” (Genesis 4:1).
We know that Adam was created from the dust of the earth, and that Eve was fashioned from Adam’s side. Cain and Abel were the first ones ever born. Genesis 1:27 tells us that Adam was created in the likeness of God, as we read, “So God created man in his own image, IN THE IMAGE OF GOD created he him; male and female created he them..” Adam was created in God’s image, but he fell into sin. Romans 5:18 says, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” Because of Adam’s sin, he was judged and all who came after him inherited Adam’s fallen, sinful nature and all are condemned. We read of Adam’s direct offspring in Genesis 5:3, “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son IN HIS OWN LIKENESS after his image; and called his name Seth.” So, while Adam was created in God’s perfect image, everyone since then has been born in the fallen, sinful image of Adam.
No one was ever born in the image of God. All were born in the image of Adam. I believe it was never the Lord’s intent that man would be born in His image…only those created ones were made in His image. We all share the sad lamentation of King David who said in Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” It would not do for Adam and Eve to have children before their fall. They were tried by God in their innocence, and they failed. There would be no point to repeat this failed experiment in their children.
So, here are a few possible reasons why Adam and Eve did not have children while in Eden. (CC) (497.4)