"And unto Adam, He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake" (Genesis 3:17a).
Genesis 3:14-19
Part 5
Yesterday: God’s Penalty for the Woman’s Involvement (b)
“And thy desire shall be to thy husband.”
“And he shall rule over thee.”
Life after the Fall has become much more difficult for women.
Today: God’s Penalty for the Man’s Sin (a)
“And unto Adam He said.”
As He did with the serpent and with the woman, God spoke directly to Adam, the first human of the human race. Being the first points to some interesting thoughts about Adam. With billions more to follow him, Adam was the “Father of the Human Race.” As Adam stood before God, in one sense, he was the entire race in one person. The potential for all humans rested in Adam. As Adam goes, so will go the human race.
Adam’s creation was unique. God had spoken into existence the universe, but this man’s creation was exceptional from the creation of everything else. James Weldon Johnson[1], in his beautiful poem, “God’s Trombones,” described Adam’s unusual creation like this,
“And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of his hand;
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till he shaped it in his own image;
Then into it he blew the breath of life,
And man became a living soul.
Amen. Amen.”
Think of it, Adam was made without parents, had no siblings, and no friends at all, except for his Creator. For a short time in the garden, he was the only human, alone with the animals.
“And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18).
God put Adam to sleep, and from his rib, He made him the woman as his helper. Adam was given the run of the garden with the understanding it was his responsibility to “dress and keep” it (Genesis 2:15). His only restriction was to never eat from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16-17). His Creator was loving and fair. His environment was perfect. His ability to do whatever he wanted to do, near-total freedom, something no other human has ever experienced. He is married to the best wife on earth! ? What else could he ask for? Nothing, his every need, was met by his Creator.
In time, we do not know how long it was until Eve was tempted by the serpent. In some part, her sin was listening to that serpent instead of her husband. No doubt, Adam had the responsibility to teach his wife about God’s only restriction for them and to guard her against the danger of disobedience. Eve ate the fruit first. She did not drop dead on the spot. She then gave it to Adam to eat. Eve was tricked by the serpent. Adam walked into his sin with his eyes wide open! They were found out, and now it’s time for God to tell Adam of his sentence.
God’s discipline for Adam includes two parts. The first is the curse on the ground, and the second part is death. Eve, for her role in Man’s Fall, is included in this also.
“Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife.”
Adam listened to Eve instead of obeying the Creator.
“Then God said to the man, ‘I commanded you not to eat from that tree. But you listened to your wife and ate from it” (Genesis 3:17a, HSB).[2]
Adam did not have a lapse in memory, and he could not argue, “God, I forgot what you said!” He made a deliberate choice, “I will not obey God,” and “I will eat this fruit with my wife.” For a time, Adam removed God from His rightful place in his heart and put Eve there. He idolized her. At that moment, to Adam, she was far more important than God Himself.
God said that Adam was being chastened for two reasons. He made Eve his idol and listened to her, and he disobeyed God and ate the fruit (Genesis 3:17). Come back tomorrow when we consider God’s curse on the ground. See you then.
Quote: “‘My problem isn’t a heart problem; my problem is a poverty of grace problem. If only God had given me _____, I wouldn’t have had to do what I did.’ This is the final argument of a self-excusing lifestyle. This argument was first made in the garden of Eden after the rebellion of Adam and Eve.
Adam: ‘The woman you gave me made me do it.’
Eve: ‘The Devil made me do it.’
It is the age-old self-defensive lie of a person who doesn’t want to face the ugliness of the sin that still resides in his or her heart” [3] (Paul David Tripp).
[1] Johnson was an African American poet born in 1871 in Jacksonville, Florida. His beautiful poem “God’s Trombones” was written to educate people “about the importance of what he calls the ‘old-time Negro preacher.’” Johnson’s quote, a stanza from “God’s Trombones,” was Downloaded: Wednesday, March 10, 2021. From: https://www.enotes.com/topics/gods-trombones/quotes.
[2] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible. It is from Harvest Ministries, Guam.
[3] Tripp’s quote Downloaded: Thursday, March 11, 2021. From: http://www.morefamousquotes.com/topics/adam-and-eve-sin-quotes/.