v.8We proceed now to learn how the LORD dealt with the disobedience. The Lord is once again the sovereign
and majestic subject in this account. Whereas His previous actions revealed Him as the Creator and Benefactor,
this narrative demonstrates Him to be a compassionate Judge of sinners.
After Adam and Eve sinned, they sensed the awesome presence of God. Where they had perfect harmony and intimacy
with God, there is now alienation and fear, which led to their hiding from God.
v.9
We are clearly told that it is not the sinners who sought after God but God who sought – and He is still seeking
– after sinners. From the beginning of the Fall till today, God is the Missionary,
who came to seek and save the lost and dying.
v.10 Fear is a result of the guilt of sin. Adam was afraid because he was
naked. This obviously stands for more than a lack of covering, in view of the shame and fear generated over
it. All sinners will fear God when their guilt is uncovered.
v.11 The grammatical
construction of the question in Hebrew places the emphasis on the tree that was forbidden – “Hast thou eaten of the
tree?”The question was whether or not he ate (and he was also reminded that
it was a violation of God’s command).The matter was to God was clear-cut.
v.12 Attempts
at self-vindication took place before the confession.Adam tried to transfer the blame to Eve, and even tried to blame
God for providing the woman before confessing to the fact that he “did eat.”Whereas the woman was the joy of his life – God’s best gift to him,
she is now the blame.
v.13The Lord’s question to the woman is worded very emphatically, with
the force, “Do
you realise what you have done?” Likewise, the woman tried to evade the
blame by shifting it to the serpent for deceiving her. But she eventually confessed, “I did eat.” God demonstrated His patience and wisdom in the penetrating
questions. They were fearful, defensive and evasive in the confrontation with truth but they eventually did
confess, and that was sufficient.
v.14 The LORD
God now pronounced His judgements.We must understand that these are not commandments to be obeyed but
declarations of how life now must be. For
example, if a woman avoids pain in childbirth; or a man, sweat in his labours, they have not violated a commandment. The very fact that they need to find ways to avoid these proves that God’s judgements are in effect.
The word “curse” is used only of the serpent – from whom the Lord did not seek
a confession. The basic idea of a “curse” is “banishment from the place of blessing.” All of creation will
be barred from the fullness of fertility and harmony, but the serpent more than all the rest for his part in the
crime.The terms that explain its curse speaks of humility – “upon thy belly thou shalt go”.
v.15 The second
part of the curse hinted that something other than the serpent was present because some force behind the serpent
would continue the struggle that started in the garden.This continuing conflict will end with the “seed” of the woman delivering
the crushing blow, after receiving the crippling blow.
The first and earliest indication of God’s plan of redemption is given here. This is the only place in the
Hebrew text that “seed,” or “descendants” is grammatically constructed as “her seed.”Almost 100% of the times in the Old Testament, descendants are described
as the seed of his father, rather than of his mother. Hence, the Virgin Birth of Christ and the future confrontation,
where Christ will emerge victorious over Satan, are no accidents of history.We still need progressive revelation (i.e. the later books of the
Bible) to bring us to a clearer understanding, but the Messianic emphasis here is quite unmistakeable.
v.16 The first
part of the effect of sin on the woman deals with childbearing. That which was
intended to bring the greatest joy to womanhood would now contain great pain. When we observe that “sorrow” and “conception” are identified with “bring forth children,” God’s pronouncement is there will be physical
and emotional pain associated with the process of, and the ability for, childbirth.
The second part deals with the beginning of perpetual conflict within human experience – the struggle for domination
and manipulation among humans. The word “desire” when examined in light
of 4:7 refers to “a prompting to evil.” The meaning is because the woman took the lead (i.e. prompted the man to sin in offering him the
forbidden fruit), instead of maintaining a partnership, the man would “rule” over her.“Rule” does not refer merely
to “leadership” but it actually describes “dominion, mastery, lordship,” which can have a rather harsh application.
Hence, the verse does not teach the qualities of the work of the Holy Spirit – the godly submission of the woman
to the loving leadership of her husband. Instead, it pronounces the effects of the fall on the relations
between man and woman in human society. A brief survey of the history of the human race would demonstrate
male domination as a key characteristic of man at his worst, whereas woman at her worst would be retribution to man.
Life in the Spirit for believers in Jesus Christ removes the sting of the curse so that a much more harmonious
and loving relationship in marriage is distinct possible reality.
v.17-18 God’s
judgement on man began with the observation that he “hearkened,” or “obeyed” his wife and ate, in willful disobedience to God’s clear instruction. Adam’s passive participation
in the act, which brought sin into the human race, was inexcusable because he was not deceived but willfully chose
to obey his wife, even though he knew it violates God’s command.
He ate, and so he would experience painful toil in eating. It would be a continual reminder of sin.
Man would have to work hard to scratch out a living because the ground would be cursed, or hindered from enjoying
fertility.
v.19 Man’s
difficult toil in life would continue till he died and returned to the dust.
Their disobedience had cause death to replace life, and death itself would remind all mankind that they remain
earthbound, as dust. Man may dream of being like God, or attempt to become a god, but God declared, “dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return.”
God is not an irate Deity, sulking, and determined to teach these rascals a lesson, which they will not soon forget.Like
a surgeon who cuts with his scalpel only that he may heal, God initiates a means of redemption through His judgements.
Hence, He places at the respective points of highest self-fulfillment in the life
of a woman and a man problems of suffering, misery, and frustration, to bring them back to the place of true blessing
in Him. Death, in view of the suffering brought upon the human race, is a gracious
provision, a release from the vicious cycle of sin, suffering, and sorrow in life, until the ultimate victory by
the Seed of the woman is completely realised (1 Co. 15:51-57).
v.20A careful look at the verse will show that it indicates Adam’s faith.
The name “Eve” signifies that the woman has become a pledge in the continuation
of the race, celebrates its survival, and anticipates the eventual victory over death.
It showed that they accepted their lot in a fallen world but held on to the positive side of it – that life would
continue, in spite of the prospect of pain, sorrow, and death as punishment for their sin.
v.21 Sin could
not be covered by a bunch of leaves snatched from a bush as man passed by but only by pain and blood. Sin cannot be atoned for by any mechanical action. Suffering must ever follow wrongdoing.
Man cannot rise above the consequences of sin, except by the intervention of God – an intervention which tells
of the sorrow He suffers on our account.
An animal’s life was taken and its skin used to cover their shame. Here began a pattern of substitution that
the Israelites would experience in their sacrificial system performed by their priests.The only satisfactory clothing came would have to come from God, and
another would have to die in their place to cover their sin and shame. This was ultimately and completely
fulfilled when Jesus Christ died on the cross in our behalf.
v.22 The story
close with the Lord’s decision to prevent mankind from extending life in such a painful state. They have become like God in that they have known good and evil, but unlike God, who is holy, they knew evil only to become
its slaves. Hence, God acted to prevent them from continuing on perpetually in that evil condition.
v.23-24Sin brings death. Death is separation.God intended man to live in abundance, joy and intimacy with Him but
man chose to displace himself from Paradise, separating himself from God. The cherubim guard the way to the
tree of life, which indicates that the way to life is available but only in the way God would provide it (cf. Jn. 14:6; Rev. 22:1-3).