“So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you …”
To the woman he said, “… with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
To Adam he said, “…“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you… By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food…for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:14-19
We would have no respect and no tolerance for an earthly judge who winked at law breakers and sent criminals out of his courtroom with a just-don’t-do-it-again lecture. As a society, we expect law breakers to face consequences.
God is the perfect judge. He is holy and righteous. A righteous judge must respect the law. God’s one rule was made clear. When it was violated, His nature required Him to dole out punishment. Genesis 3:14-19 records consequences to Adam, Eve, the serpent, and even the ground. Enmity, hard work, pain in childbirth, and thorns and thistles are all consequences of the fall of man.
Specifically to Eve, He also said, “Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.” I believe this means that Eve will want to be in charge, but Adam will be in the headship position. She has lost some of the joy and blessing that was present in her before-the-fall marriage.
I Timothy 2:14 reveals, “And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.”
Eve was deceived. She thought she knew best. She took a leadership position she was not to take. Why was she engaging in conversation with the serpent anyway?
And where was Adam? The scripture clearly says he was not deceived. But he was there. Why did he not intervene to protect his wife? Why did he follow along? Was it pride…laziness…both?
Whatever the motivation, both sinned. And there were consequences to both.
We serve a God who is just. He cannot and will not excuse or dismiss sin. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is still holy. He still requires atonement for sin. You and I also face consequences today for our sinful choices.
The woman of God knows God is just and takes sin seriously.
If you are married, I want to encourage you to pray for your husband. As wives, we are to follow our husband’s leadership. As women of God, it’s a joy to follow a man who is following God. That’s how God intended it to be. Pray for your husband to be a man of God.
Lord, lead Kevin to follow you above all else. He is in the position of needing to both follow you and lead our family. Equip and enable him to do both. Bless him abundantly in his role as husband and father. Thank you for this man of God.
Much needed for the hour in which we live. I believe that women who step aside and allow their husbands an opportunity to lead, are blessed by the Lord. If the husband does not do the leadership, then God will step in and choose the wife to do it for their family, however, men are to be the leaders in the church, I believe. Women are to be used in the families and in women and children’s/teen ministries because many are gifted in that, like you. That’s not to say that we are lesser, but that we are different. We ought to be the biggest encourager of our husbands and also the best critics! He counts on that to help him walk the walk or so my husband says!
Well said, Loretta! Thanks for the wise comment.