The Curse - How the World Is (Genesis 3:14-19)

Genesis 3:14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

A Memorial

After Adam and Eve fall into sin, God started in on the serpent (14). He would then address the woman, and finally, the man. But in speaking to the snake, He declared, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life" (14).

Now, in a moment, God will address the devil himself. First, though, God spoke to the creature. To the snake. Forever, the serpent would crawl on his belly and lick up the dust of the earth.

This does not necessarily mean that the serpent was a legged creature before. It could mean that, but the text does not demand it. In fact, I think many of us, if we could detach from how creeped out we are by snakes, would admit they employ a marvelous method of transportation. Only God could create something so incredible. So I have my suspicions that something changed in the serpent's body at this point.

Instead, it seems the fact serpents crawl on their bellies is forever meant to stand for something new. Like rainbows after the flood began signifying God's covenant with the earth, so a serpent on its belly began to signify and remind of the curse God declared on the earth. I even wonder if the widespread fear of snakes many humans have has been caused by this curse from God.

See a snake. Get creeped out. Remember the fall.

A New War

But God went on to declare: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring (15). This reads as much more than an everlasting war between snakes and humans. It reads like a new and perpetual war between our species and the devil's forces. Forever, we war against his insidious ways.

And, before Christ, it is a war we lose.

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience...” (Ephesians 2:1–2, ESV).

So, congratulations Adam and Eve, you've just introduced a new world order. You had the garden, but now you'll have a warzone. Enmity will exist. Your offspring (us) will be drafted into the conflict. There is no exit strategy.

Embedded Hope

Or is there? God gives us some of the first hints at the promise of the gospel: "He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (15). The idea is that though the serpent will hurt the offspring of Eve, he will win the victory because he will bruise Satan's head.

The head injury defeats the heel injury.

And notice the promise ditches the idea of war between Satan's team and humanity. The language shifts. A singular descendant of Eve -- he, not us -- shall defeat the Serpent.

This is widely considered the first implicit mention of the gospel after the fall of humanity. Man sinned. And now God says, "A day is coming when one of Eve's sons will bruise the head of the serpent." Though Satan has greatly hurt humanity, and though he insidiously moved the perpetrators of Jesus' crucifixion, Jesus wins the final victory. He delivers the fatal blow.

"He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross.” (Colossians 2:15, NLT).

And this brief verse now becomes the central theme and story of the Bible. Satan wars against humanity. A struggle between good and evil. We will see it in the very next chapter when Cain kills his brother. Satan will win.

But, throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, Christ prepares to come. And, on the cross, Jesus delivers the blow which crushes Satan. Now, we await His return and the full experience of His victory. Ultimately, Jesus wins.

Genesis 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.”

Pain and Hope

But the passage moves on to describe the curse pronounced upon the woman. Besides the Satanic war against her offspring, the woman would have multiplied pain in childbearing (16). God said, "In pain you shall bring forth children" (16).

Perhaps this signifies the way birth would have originally worked had sin not cast its spell on our world. Maybe pregnancy and birth would have been painless experiences. But, of course, this isn't the case in our current world. Any woman who's endured labor pains, and anyone else who's witnessed it, knows it is a grueling experience.

But it seems the pain of the curse might extend beyond the physical pain of pregnancy and labor, but also the emotional pain. Whether through post-partum depression or the inner angst mothers endure for their children or the physical pains of pregnancy and labor, women all over the world have endured the adverse effects of the fall.

But, as with the curse against the Serpent, there is hope. In labor, the pain of birth is one thing, but there is the hope of a child. And perhaps the pain of childbirth is meant to remind humanity that the pains of this life are working something wonderful.

"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:22–23, ESV).

Or:

" For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison...” (2 Corinthians 4:17, ESV).

Additionally, for the believer, we know the ill effects of the fall can produce God's holiness in us. As we endure through the trials life throws at us, we hope in what they can produce in us. Like labor pains producing the child whom parents love so dearly, so our trials can produce the sanctification we know we need.

Harsh Leadership

But God also said, "Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you" (16).

This is not a reference to the natural relationship the man and woman were supposed to have. Rule means much more than leadership. This is not a reference to:

“But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” (1 Corinthians 11:3, ESV)

Instead, because sin entered the world, and death spread to everyone, women would find the world a difficult place. Adam and Eve were supposed to live in a harmonious partnership with God-defined roles and mutual respect, but the fall introduced a battle between the genders. And the battle is one no one wins, but women especially, throughout human history, have felt its weight.

And even in our Western world where feminism has combatted inequality between the genders, the results are suspect. The carnage of abortion is directly tied to the more recent iterations of feminism. The sexual revolution has likely merely given many men what they always wanted -- commitment-free sex under the guise of the virtue of liberating women.

But legitimate and true Christianity, the gospel, destroys the marginalization of women traditional cultures ascribe to. It was radical for Christians to introduce and practice a way of life where women had equal status before God. And Christians played an important role in first-wave feminism, helping win the right to vote and inherit land.

The very underpinnings of any movement which honors all human life go back to Jesus. You see, the idea that men and women are equal isn't a feminist idea, but a Christian one. We know men and women are equal. Though God created us differently, we have both been designed by Him. Our value before Him is the same. And now, in Christ, we are one.

Genesis 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.”

Leadership Forfeited

God rebuked Adam because he'd listened to the voice of (his) wife, sinning by eating of the tree, which God told Him to avoid (17). God held Adam responsible for his own decisions; it didn't matter that Eve had handed him the fruit. Adam was responsible for himself. He knew better.

Dominion Lost

Resultantly, the ground was cursed (17). Adam was always intended to work and garden, but the curse introduced pain in order to eat, all the days of his life (17). Thorns and thistles, apparently not part of the original design, began to develop (18). Man would sweat to eat bread, and his sweat would last all life long until he returned to the ground (19).

In the perfection of Eden, the creation would work in harmony with man. Dominion would be easy for humanity to live out, but after the curse, the very soil rebelled against man. He cannot even get the soil to easily or quickly subjugate itself to him. He has to sweat to get a crop.

Even today, despite all our scientific advancements, we cannot control nature. Droughts and pestilence plague us. We work hard for the little control we do have but are mostly at the mercy of the natural world.

And almost everyone who has walked the earth has discovered the pain of this part of the curse. We labor and toil to stay afloat, to make ends meet. It is seemingly never enough.

Death Inevitable

And, on top of all this, death became an inevitable reality. God said: you are dust, and to dust you shall return (19). This is the worst part of the curse, but also, in a sense, its greatest blessing because it releases this world's grip on us. In Christ, we then escape to the new paradise Jesus has for His people.

Declaration: How Life Must Now Be

All these curses are statements concerning how life now is. They aren't commands to obey.

For instance, it is not wrong for a woman to avoid pain in childbearing, for a couple to figure out ways to mutually love and respect one another, or for workers to industriously plan ways to make their work less burdensome.

The point is not that we must obey the curse, but that we will continually buck against it. It's just there, plaguing us to the very end.

We know this to be true. No matter how much society advances, our world cannot seem to rid itself of male dominion, harsh labor conditions, pain in birth, famine, and death. Though we work hard to mitigate them and their effects, they are always there.

But it is through Jesus the curse is abolished. He became cursed for us. He sweats great drops of blood. He wore a crown of thorns. He suffered the agony of the cross to birth a people for Himself. He made a way for God and man, and man and woman, to live as one. And in His forever Kingdom, the curse will be forgotten, and all our tears will be wiped away.