Episode238 "Listen to God's voice!" - Genesis 3:17-19

Gen. 3:17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Once again, let’s quickly review where we’ve been in this story so as to interpret this Scripture in its immediate context. When the serpent tempted Eve and she ate the forbidden fruit, she gave it to Adam, who also ate it. But the LORD confronted Adam first. He reminded him of the command he had given Adam not to eat of one specific fruit in the garden. (Gen. 3:9-11) He then interrogated Eve before addressing the serpent and pronouncing the curse upon it.

As we read last week, the LORD then backtracked to Eve to explain that the blessing of bearing children would be experienced with greater pain because of her disobedience, and the harmony designed by the LORD between her and Adam would suffer. She had been formed from Adam’s flesh and bone and received the LORD’s command through him. Yet, she listened to the lie of the serpent and brought her husband to participate in this act of disobedience. The LORD’s pronouncement to her that “he (Adam) shall rule over you” seems to suggest that she will even experience a measure of forced subjugation to Adam, something that would not have occurred or have been necessary in their pre-fallen condition.

NOTE: My opinion is that these people, made in the image of God, would have conducted themselves toward each other as do the members of the Trinity. In the New Testament, we often read that Jesus only does what the Father wants him to do. As God himself, he submits to the Father. Yet we see other Scriptures in which the Father gives all authority to the Son. In short, there appears to be mutual submission within the divine Godhead. This is important for us because we often think that submission to others makes us less important and is a negative thing. That clearly isn’t true with God. I believe what we see here is that because of sin, there will be resistance to a harmonious mutual submission and conflict within human relationships. There would be a sense of competition instead of perfect cooperation within marriage relationships. The cooperation will not be so natural now that they have acted out of accordance with God’s will and character.

In verse 17, God returns to Adam to explain the consequences of his sin. Adam will also experience pain. His work is going to get more difficult. In Genesis 2:15, Adam’s responsibility was to tend to the garden. What appeared to be easy and pleasant work will now be painful and troublesome.

Notice that this curse on the ground was not because Adam had listened to his wife. It was because he obeyed his wife’s words contrary to the LORD’s command. Adam ought to have recognized that Eve’s invitation to eat was in contrast to what the LORD had commanded, and he should have refused. In fact, he should have even tried to stop her from eating it.

The LORD cursed the ground so that Adam’s survival would be toil. The ground would produce thorns and thistles, and he would experience pain when harvesting food to eat. Finally, he would die, just as the LORD had said would happen if he disobeyed.

The most obvious takeaway from this section seems to be the importance of discerning and obeying the LORD’s words. Sometimes, people close to us may attempt to encourage us to do something that doesn’t seem right. Regardless of the relationship, we need to trust and obey God’s voice first and foremost.

Episode237-"The Pain of Disobedience" - Genesis 3:16

Gen. 3:16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

To review, the LORD gave Adam and Eve one prohibitive command not to eat of the fruit of one specific tree in the garden. The consequence of disobeying that command, the LORD informed them, is best translated as “dying you will die.” It means that death would be a definite reality for them. It is not evident how quickly that might happen. We are left to wonder, “Will this be immediate?” We don’t have to wonder too long because it appears they disobeyed this command rather quickly after the serpent deceived Eve, and she ate and gave some to Adam, who ate the fruit along with her. But they did not die immediately. In fact, rather than God striking them down for the offense, the LORD provided coverings for their nakedness, which represented their shame. It seems obvious that he would not bother doing this if death would be an immediate judgment upon them. Furthermore, when the LORD approached them in the garden and elicited confessions from them, there was an indication that they would be around for a while. The LORD began by pronouncing a judgment upon the serpent who twisted the LORD’s words and impugned God’s character in the deception. The LORD spoke of a seed, or descendant of the woman, whom the serpent would bruise his heel. Yet, that seed would bruise his head. This suggests that while the serpent has upended the authority God had given his people to rule over the earth, the serpent would ultimately be crushed. It’s a glimmer of hope that God would someday set everything right according to his purpose in creation.

Concluding his verdict and judgment on the serpent, the LORD turned to Eve and told her that an immediate consequence of her disobedience was increased pain in having children. In fact, in the Hebrew language, what is likely conveyed here is a sense of anxiety in conception through the physical pain of birth. This pain is not just a natural consequence of her disobedience, but something the LORD brings upon her for this disobedience. I must admit that I ask myself, “Why this?” The text doesn’t explain it outright. Perhaps it is because Adam and Eve understood that the LORD’s first command to them was to be fruitful and multiply, and they understood this as an important part of their identity and purpose, which continues to be so after their “fall.” Because Eve is the one who will conceive and bear children, the LORD is giving her a reminder that disobeying God will bring pain. As she looks forward to her seed that will someday crush the serpent’s head, it will not come without anxiety and pain.

The LORD continued with the second part of her sentence by saying, “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” Hebrew experts have debated the exact translation of this, but the bottom line is that there will now be a conflict of authority within the relationship. What began as the perfect compliment of a partner to the man, will now manifest conflict at times.

I would caution anyone from the tendency to read and judge this ancient story through the lens of our 21st-century AD proprieties concerning gender roles. What is most important to observe from this story is how people radically upset the harmonious state of life on earth through a simple act of disobedience. It is not difficult today to see the divorce rate in our world, recognize other interpersonal conflicts, and know this is not the ideal state of humanity in the world. We long for harmony, peace, and healthy relationships. That was God’s intent for us in the beginning. My hope is that as we read this, we recognize that we sometimes violate God’s righteous ways in our minds, words, and actions. When we do, it has terrible results and tends to bring pain and conflict into our lives. Let’s humbly acknowledge how relevant this story is to us today and continue in this story to see both the tragic consequences of disobedience to the LORD and the hope that he offers in spite of our rebellious ways.