Genesis 3: the Fall
Part 6: Curses & consequences
Previous essays on Genesis 3:
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.
After Eve points her culpable cuticles at the serpent (“The devil made me do it!”), God immediately confronts the serpent. No grace here, no call for repentance, but straight to the curse: “…cursed are you above … all beasts of the field.”
Not a good day to be a snake.
The serpent / Satan issue raises its head again here: why curse the reptile when it was a wolf in snake’s clothing? Interesting that the Hebrew word for “serpent”, (nachash) can carry the root meaning of “diviner/sorcerer” or “brilliant one” (“angel of light”, anyone?). Since the serpent was unquestionably Satan, God is aligning the serpent with evil, deceit, death, judgment and sin. God sent “fiery serpents” to kill the Israelites in their rebellion against His deliverance from Egypt and Moses’ leadership (Num 21), and directs Moses to hold up the bronze serpent on a pole, to be looked upon for deliverance from death — a powerful type of salvation through the cross.
“… and dust you shall eat…” Tough menu, that - no appetizers or sides, drinks are extra. But since snakes don’t survive on dirt, this points to something deeper.
“For thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return.”
Satan is being cursed to “eat dust” - the very substance of man apart from God. If you are apart from God’s life-giving Spirit, you are on the devil’s diet plan. You have no reprieve from his fangs, all disguised as the “blessings” of addiction, lust, self-promotion, materialism, pride, rage, arrogance, delusion. Those tiny punctures on the outside bring death on the inside, that black hole in your spirit which is the soul without God.
You are not the chef, you are on the menu. “I’ll have one of each, thank you.”
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.”
Here is the initial prophecy of hope, of victory over Satan through the cross. The fruit of the woman’s disobedience is Satan’s triumph, and death.The Fruit of the Virgin’s obedience is Satan’s destruction, and Life.
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.”
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;
“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; yet you shall eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
It is tempting to see these verses as curses, God punishing Adam and Eve for their disobedience. But these are not curses — they are consequences. Here are the results of their disobedience, of the rupture of their relationship with God, of their sin and rebellion.
The repercussions of their insubordination and the vastness of its effects is now revealed:
Pain and suffering: “in pain you shall bring forth children;” “in pain you shall eat of [the fruit of the ground].” Pain, suffering, agony, disease, and death — the Fall has brought these horrors into the world for both them and all posterity;
The corruption of creation: “cursed is the ground because of you.” The world and its beauty and bounty which God created on their behalf has become their enemy, now subject to the evil and destruction by man, now to be forced into submission to bring forth that which once it freely bestowed on them. “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope, that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Rom 8:20-21)
Wreckage to relationships: “Your desire will be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” The perfect harmony between husband and wife is now destroyed, and devolves into a power play. The pride, self-centeredness, selfishness, anger, deceit, and fear born of fallen human nature bear the fruit of division, misunderstanding, hatred and separation. Such repercussions of our newly-engendered self-idolatry extend far beyond marriage to all human relationships.
Death: “until you return to the ground…” The warning intrinsic to the original proscription, “in the day you eat of it you shall die”, appears at first to be unfulfilled: Adam and Eve are very much alive after their forbidden fruit cocktail. But they, and we, have died indeed. Died to their intimate relationship with God. Died to an eternity in God’s presence. Died to a will aligned with and in submission to a loving and infinitely gracious and benevolent Father. Died to the joy, peace, and purpose He instills in our spirits in communion with Him. Died to selfless love and service to others. And ultimately, fated to physical suffering and death, potentially to an eternity of separation from Him, with all the horrors that entails.
The serpent forgot to mention those things, apparently. Seems to be a common feature of his nature and his sales pitch.
And still we listen, and are deceived.
Bad news, to be sure. “To dust you will return…” The sentence — and the hope.
Coming to a substack near you… here.