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Genesis 3.11-19

April 24th 2022

For whomever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved

Adam and Eve's Response

So, we left off with Adam and Eve in shame and fear, making suits of fig leaves and hiding from God in the trees and God asking them where they were and Adam said in verse ten:

10 I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

So, let’s read to verse 13

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

So, let’s cover these verses and then we’ll move on.

Examination of Genesis 3:11-13

Genesis 3:11 And he (God) said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Apparently, the Hebrew language depicts this as coming from what is called, “an interrogative sense,” meaning it was not a question God needed information on but was asked to get Adam to confess the circumstances before His Maker. We note that God asks Adam a question, though – this will come into play in a minute.

In verse twelve Adam gives a response but it is indirect and appears to focus on placing the blame rather than answering the question. Again, the first question was “Who told you that you were naked?” But the follow up question was, “Have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?” Adam appears to have answered both queries through his response saying:

"The woman whom You gave with me she gave me of the tree; so I ate."

This response is markedly different than how he initially responded to the Woman and her presence, isn’t it? I mean, Adam was all happy with the woman when God gave her to Him but now he seems to put the blame on her – and God who gave her as he says, “the woman that YOU gave me, SHE gave me of the tree so I ate of it.” In other words, “she was supposed to be a help meet to me, aiding and siding with me in all that I am supposed to be and do, but no, the woman THOU gavest me, SHE failed in this – so thanks a lot – and of course I ate of it.”

We might suppose that couched within this response Adam was also suggesting His innocence, that

• He didn’t pluck the fruit from the tree
• He didn’t offer her the fruit but the opposite, and that
• The woman who was imposed upon him by God failed to be his helpmeet.

Interestingly and in the face of this, God does not stop here to correct or respond to Adam but instead takes the time to directly call out the woman (verse 13)

13 And the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent enticed me, and I ate."

In His question to Adam God does not imply guilt but simply asks him if he had eaten of the forbidden fruit. Here He appears to take Adam's word as truth and asks here, interrogatively, “What is this that thou has done?” And of course her reply, not nearly as powerful as Adam who had two people to blame so she only says, "The serpent enticed me, and I ate."

“The nachash “beguiled” me, and I did eat.” It deluded me, seduced me, beguiled me “and I did eat.” In other words, she seems to be saying that her simplicity and ignorance of things were no match for this created demon and she was overcome by his superior wisdom and subtlety. I think that she told the truth. Some say that she is saying, “I am not at fault here – the fault is all on him or it.” But her statements to me seem less buck passing but pretty much, “I was tricked and I ate when I shouldn’t have.” While their eyes were open to things such as their shame and nakedness, their minds were also shut to realizing that they were playing the blame game (to some extent) and that they were pointing fingers at another rather

The Problem of Blaming Others

Remember, it was the desires of Eve that caused her to eat. Yes, she was tricked but she was a willing participant – to some degree or another. When Jesus walked the earth, the practice of blaming others was prevalent among the religious leaders in that day. We remember reading in places like Mark things like:

Scriptural Examples

Mark 2:16-20: "And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This was followed up by:

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day."

Anytime religious practices are established in the external, the ever human need to judge and assess others will come forth, right? “It’s Sunday, why are they in their pool? “This is church, why are you wearing jeans? “You’re a Christian, why are you in a bar?” Most of us are pretty good at seeing the evil in others while turning a blind eye to what’s in our own hearts. Finger pointing helps takes the focus off ourselves and places it on someone else.

Jesus' Teachings

We remember Peter who was being called out by Jesus after His resurrection and in John 21:21 we read:

Peter seeing John says to Jesus, “Lord, and what shall this man do?” meaning, “what will His lot be?” And Jesus said to him, “If I will that he lives until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.”

Jesus taught in Matthew 7:3-5:
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.”

Paul points out in Romans 2:1: Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

Paul wrote in Galatians 6:1-6:
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.

He added in 2 Corinthians 5:10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

And then in Romans 14:12: So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Hosea 4:4 plainly says: Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse…

Finally, Paul wrote these masterful words in Romans 14 saying:

Paul's Insights

Romans 14:1: Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
2: For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
3: Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
4: Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
5: One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6: He that regardeth the day,…

Individual Responsibility Before God

He that regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.

7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

Ironically, one of Jesus's master parables is all about people accepting how God deals with all of us individually and if some appear to get a better deal from Him, who are we to judge. Remember it? Laborers who are invited to work in the morning for a penny, at nine, and noon, and then in the last hour – all for a penny? And when it came time to pay them out, those paid a penny for all day were infuriated that the others only worked an hour and got paid the same?

And the Lord’s reply was, “didn’t you agree to my offer for a penny for the day? What does the way I am dealing with others have to do with you?"

The Nature of Equality and Divine Justice

We live in a much different world today, don’t we? Everyone wanting everything to be equal. Children of God humbly receive their lot from His hand and trust in whatever happens, believing that He is in charge. Not easy to do, right? But here in the garden, we have the Spirit of the world posit itself right in our laps with the buck-passing, which is closely related to the idea.

So we witness the opposite here in Adam and Eve, with both of them pointing to another as a means to justify themselves before an all-knowing God. Again, we do not read of God cursing Eve here; instead, He goes right down the line – and again, we discover God responding to the Serpent differently than He responds to Adam and then Eve.

God's Judgment in Eden

With Adam, God asks a question to allow him to explain himself. With Eve, he makes what appears to be an assumption by asking, “What have you done,” and now with the serpent, He straight up speaks to his guilt – and the punishment associated with it, saying at verse 14-19:

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 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; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

So, let’s go to the board and first break down the things God says to first the serpent, then the woman, and last of all Adam. Because God’s words are powerful and “sharper than any two-edged sword,” and because the length of a person’s chiding is often indicative of the severity of their crime, I decided that counting the Hebrew words that Moses gives to describe what God says to each of the three carries some weight.

The results are sort of revealing – at least to me. Note that the promise that they would surely die is not even addressed here – it is like a foregone conclusion and God does not even remind them of it! We will talk about this deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God. next week. But He does curse each of the participants further in addition to the fact that…

Curse and Consequences

They were now going to die – and all of these curses are relative to their physical existences too! Except for when God speaks to Satan – His are Spiritually based.

Curses Administered

So, to the board:

• Serpent
• Woman
• Adam

25 Hebrew words

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, “Because thou hast done this . . .” 12 Hebrew words

16 Unto the woman he said,

(no “because of this or because of that” here – WHY?

She was the least guilty – not the most. She was tricked legitimately. Adam knew. He was formed first and commanded by God directly.

36 Hebrew words (three times Eve!)

17 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: First point of curse

Punishments Explained

ANIMAL

• thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;
• I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception;
• cursed is the ground for thy sake

Second point of first curse ANIMAL

• upon thy belly shalt thou go,
• (continued) in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
• (continued) in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Third point of curse ANIMAL

• and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

(Added) and thy desire shall be to thy husband,

• 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;

Fourth point of curse SATAN

• And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;
• and he shall rule over thee.

Fifth point of curse SATAN

• it shall crush thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread Sixth point of curse, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

So, let’s go back to verse fourteen and work through each verse a little more specifically.

14 And the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed be you more than all the cattle and more than all the beasts of the field; you shall walk on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

We might wonder why God does not ask the serpent what it had done? Perhaps this has something to do with it being a heavenly creature in the body of an earthly animal. Can’t really say. But he straight up speaks to the serpent as automatically guilty, right? Because you have done this, cursed be you more than all the cattle and more than all the beasts of the field;

I don’t think that God cursed the cattle and beasts of the field as this could suggest, but only while the nachash was once the most cunning of all the animals created, it was now cursed in its existence more than any of them.

I suggest that bottom line, in contrast to its cunning and intelligence, it would endure the great humiliation – especially in contrast to humans.

Perhaps this serpent originally walked upright, was articulate in speech, and at the fruits of the garden. Now it would walk on all fours and only be able to screech and jump and scratch itself. And where perhaps it once grazed and dined on more elegant parts of nature now it was going to grub out worms from the dirt.

Some suggest that this is a picture of the humiliation Satan suffers, depicted in a snake slithering along its belly or an ape doing what it does and not so much that the animals themselves are greatly cursed – but I wonder – in fact, don’t think this has any bearing on Satan at all at this point. In any case, God tells the nachash,

“you shall walk on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.” The tempter is not asked why he deceived the woman, so it seems he has nobody else to blame but himself so God begins with him and pronounces sentence on him first.

And here we must consider a twofold sentence, one on the agent he employed (animal) and the other on Satan.

This was a straight throw down on the agent Satan employed and God saw his punishment as justified. But God continues and adds, now speaking to Satan directly.

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;

The Curse and Enmity

It shall crush thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

And here we get an interesting aside given. Some commentators believe that in the face of this part of the curse we know the intentions of the serpent – to have had relations with her and make her his own.

So, with regard to both the animal and Satan, God says:

15 And I will put hatred between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

In other words, there would exist hatred between both the orangutan and Satan and women, which is a natural barrier that God put between them to protect the woman from any sort of ability to attract or dominate her. Most women are naturally fearful and repulsed by dark cunning figures that embody Satan and subtlety. And I doubt very much that many women are readily attracted to simians eating grubs, whooping and scratching, and walking on all fours.

But the curse doesn’t stop there – it more specifically applies to Satan and the woman – and just to the women and her seed. Notice what is written again,

15 And I (God) will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; IT shall crush (a much better word than bruise) thy head (Satan), and thou shalt bruise his (the seed's) heel.

The Promise of the Messiah

Notice that God speaks here of the woman’s seed (singular), not the seed of Adam and Eve and their children, but her seed alone – the seed of the woman OR LISTEN – the seed that would come from the woman alone which would crush Satan’s head.

What single seed would come from a woman that would not include the fertilization of a Man – only Jesus. And for this reason, this is considered the first prophetic utterance of the promised Messiah in the Tanakh.

Thinking of Jesus now, listen to the verse again:

15 And I (God) will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; IT shall crush (a much better word than bruise) thy head (Satan), and thou shalt bruise his heel.

And moving out to Jesus, we know that this is exactly what he would do to Satan and what Satan would do to him. Therefore, the address is referencing Adam and Eve, but to Eve alone – her seed; and it was in consequence of this purpose of God that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin; this, and this alone, is what is implied in the promise of the seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent.

Punishment and Sorrow

Jesus Christ died to put away sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. by the sacrifice of himself, and in doing so would crush or destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Paul wrote to the church at Rome and said:

(Romans 16:20) And the God of peace shall crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

The word “shortly” there, in Greek, is tachos and means, “very quickly,” and it was written to them in that day.

Okay verse 16:

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Since she was the second in the transgression, she is second to receive her condemnation, and to hear her punishment. As stated, her punishment is much shorter in terms of length and is not prefaced by “because you,” but her punishment is hefty. I tend to think that between the other two players, Satan and Adam, she was LEAST culpable – which is not the position most people take. But bottom line, she was deceived. Satan was not. And I don’t think Adam was either. So, God says to Eve right out the gate:

16 To the woman He said, "I shall surely increase your sorrow and your pregnancy (meaning the discomforts of pregnancy – and then he adds) in pain you shall bear children.

The Unique Burden of Childbirth

It’s pretty interesting study but of all female creations, female human beings appear to rank the highest in terms of pain in delivery. Part of that comes by way of ratios of the size of the mother to the baby and to the head size of the baby all things considered. Additionally, labor times for human beings are typically a lot.

The Consequences of the Fall

Longer than for other animals with women sometimes being in labor for days while other animals delivering within a few hours. There are some exceptions to this rule but generally speaking, this is the case. The second part of her curse might be even more miserable than the physical pain and that is the heart pain a woman feels in life as God says to Eve:

"And to your husband will be your desire, and he will rule over you."

At their creation both male and female were formed with equal rights, and the woman had probably as much right to rule as the man. But God put her in subjection to the will of her husband which is right at the heart of a loss of liberty. The Ancient Jewish Targums describe her as having a “yearning soul” toward the Man she loves. And in that day, the man she loves was the man she gave herself to in marriage (which again is sexual intercourse). This yearning toward her husband is brutal for some women as she cannot help her desire. I’ve heard many women say things like, “I hate that I love him so much,” right.

So it’s a powerful drive placed upon women and for this reason we teach our daughters to guard their hearts. Want to see a disaster? Observe a teenage girl who falls in love with a jerk and marries him in the biblical sense. It can mean a life of emotional turmoil for some. In this, we also encounter the conflict that the Fall introduces to marriage and male-female relationships with some males being domineering and abusive to their wives and some females being unable to stand up to him due to this desire.

Restoration Through Christ

In Christ all of these things can be made right, which is why I refuse to counsel married couples anymore unless they are sold-out believers because in and through Him the proper pre-fall order is restored and that is the goal for the couple. Nevertheless, as a direct result of this curse the world has fallen into all sorts of trouble relative to male/female relationships – and, again, GENERALLY speaking – I place the onus of this on the male participants – like God will place on Adam.

If this was a sermon on marriage we could go on and really get to the root of the issue but it's not. So, all we will say is the heart of most women is designed to have a yearning soul toward the man she loves. And in this world that can really be a curse for her – and sometimes for Him. Thus far in these curses from God we see a pattern – and justifiably so – he took an animal that walked upright, could apparently speak, was more intelligent than all the beasts of the field, and pushed it to the dirt as a grub-eating babbler; he took a woman who somehow aided her husband in eating the forbidden fruit and made her both subservient to him and who would suffer in the result of her desires to please him when bearing the fruit of their union.

Adam's Responsibility

Now we come to Adam, who to me was most culpable in the Fall, and God says to him as he said to Satan:

17 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; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

So again, with the man being the last in the transgression he is brought up last to receive his sentence. “Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife" in other words, you were not deceived, Adam, and I gave you the direct commandment not to eat of the forbidden fruit by me, but you instead hearkened to the voice of your wife, and her invitation to eat of it, instead of obeying me. And I suggest this reveals another general problem we have in the world – not at all misogynistic but a fact. Just as women were cursed with a yearning desire for their husbands God mentions an irrefutable fact of male/female relations – men are really really swayed by women. It's like beyond proverbial. And over the course of history we watch what are otherwise really intelligent men get flat out puppeteered by the wiles of women.

The fact of the matter is, folks,

The Curse of the Ground

God told Adam not to eat of it, Eve gave him the fruit and he listened to her rather than God. This is the root of the God/man/woman issue in so many stories in scripture and life. So God says to Adam:

“cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” The woman would be in sorrow bearing children and being devoted to him; he would be in sorrow because the GROUND was cursed – but listen, God adds – “For thy sake.” From henceforth the fertility of the Garden will be greatly impaired; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it, meaning it will not automatically provide for you and you will be in a state of continual worry over the harvest of it. Heat, cold, rot, pests, invaders, armies, fire, pestilence, and mildew will constantly plague you and your efforts to produce food and money and you will sweat to overcome them. But God does say that this curse was for his sake, doesn’t he?

The Consequences of The Curse

We could spend another hour on the value of hard work on males and another two on the destructive nature of entropy, laziness, and comfort on the same. But we get the point. Then specifically, God adds:

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; This is especially applicable to this earth, the mention of thorns and thistles. I consulted some agrarian sources and apparently the fertility of some of the most common thistles and thorns is almost incomprehensible. Put it this way, if a typical thistle plant was allowed to grow unattended, the first crop starting with 80 heads and only 300 seeds would produce 24,000 thistles within a season. If those were left alone the next crop would be 576 million thistles! And if this was allowed to grow this would produce over thirteen billion, and then within one more years time, that would grow to over 331 QUADRILLION thistles. In other words, we are at a constant war with just thistles. I also think it is significant that the curse of Adam was also felt by the solution offered by Christ when they crowned Him with the same!

Entropy, erosion, weathering, decay, thistles, briars, thorns, weeds, blite, mildew, mold, pests and pestilence – will the earth naturally produce, Adam, for your good. But then God adds a curious line, saying “and you shall eat the herbs of the field.” This is odd because didn’t God tell him in chapter 1 verse 19 “Behold I have given you every seed-bearing herb, etc?” So, how is this now part of the curse?

It appears to be said in the context of the curse, meaning, before the herb will grow freely, but now, in the face of thorns and thistles you will eat the herbs of the field that you harvest out FROM among these enemies. And God adds:

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

The Nature of Humanity

Now I want to return to a few words that God added to the curse on Adam and those were when he said, “cursed is the ground for thy sake.” Let me explain: God is love, and everything He does is out of love. I do not believe that there can be an exception to this anywhere in the world and so amidst all the horrors we have to suggest that the driving force that allows them is… His love.

For who? The world. Us. Adam had an opportunity to revere and worship God freely prior to the Fall. He was told to care for the garden (in whatever creative fashion they wanted) and to eat of the herbs and from the fruit of any tree but one. These trees and ground apparently brought forth fruit (as Eve could have from her womb) without toil and painful labor.

But the goodness He expressed to them in these was not enough for them – they wanted more. This is the nature of human beings and devils – we want more. And we often want more our way, not God’s. And so God, gave them more – but this time, since a pain-free existence did not drive them to choose to honor Him, God would curse the ground for their sake, and her childbearing.

The Role of Suffering and Labor

How? Because in toil and pain, they would then look to God for relief, for resolution and solutions to issues, and in suffering humble themselves toward His benevolent care. This was love as His goodness didn’t work with human beings. So, it’s like He said, so now let’s go with suffering. And so God says to Adam:

19 With the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for you were taken therefrom, for dust you are, and to dust you will return.

And like He did with Satan, and like He did with Eve, God lowers Adam down to where he needed to be – to the dust, reminding Him from where He originated every time he labors in warfare against the weeds and elements that seek to destroy his ability to thrive.

Humility and Reliance Upon God

And THIS is the model for our lives, is it not? To engage in warfare against those things that enter to put an end to our lives?

It is said that those who work the soil are typically far more reliant upon God because they have zero control over the elements that could rise up and end a harvest. But this curse (the curse of a battle for survival) was, in fact, for Adam’s sake as it would lend to his humility, and his reliance upon God.

Labor and Rest

We will see the concept of labor extend out to and through the Nation of Israel, who under the Law, were obligated to work and labor. But we will also see how in Christ, who suffered all things, brings us out from under such labors, and returns all who look to Him in faith to a place of rest – spiritual rest here, eternal rest there.

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