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| The Curses or Blessings? of Genesis |
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I had this revealed to me a short while back and this will be a good place as any to start sharing.
The curses meted out by God after the fall.
I have read some commentaries on this portion of scripture but they are tainted with views of the fall of Lucifer which takes away from what IMO really is needed to be understood here.
I share my opinions. They are just that and I am open to comments and/or alternatives.
Serpent
Gen 3:14 And Jehovah God said to the serpent, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
The red part: He (Jesus) will bruise your head; prophesy of the redemption plan of Jesus.
The blue part:You (serpent) shall bruise His (Jesus') heel; prophesy of the crucifixion
The woman
Gen 3:16 To the woman He said, I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bear sons, and your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you.
Unlike some who propose that Eve's anatomy was changed wrt to childbirth, this is ludicrous. God don't make mistakes. The anatomy of Adam (man) and Eve (woman) is perfect for procreation (sexual intercourse) and gestation and childbirth. If one takes this view then the anatomy of Adam would have needed altering too.
In pain you shall bear sons
To me as a father, having witnessed the birth of both my children, yes there is pain in childbirth for those without epidurals will testify. The thing my wife told me when I asked if she can recall/relive the pain she said no, but it was painful. Observation of the immediate post-birth I recall was one of relief when the child was presented as normal and immediately saw the love of the mother blossom forth, oblivious to the post-birth activities of the doctor and nurses.
So the pain IMO relates not to the birth contractions and the delivery. It must have something more to do with the rearing of the offspring. Read that even nursing is apparently part of this curse but studies have shown this assists with the bonding process between mother and child.
So what is the pain then?
I would see this as the child grows and matures, the mother needing constantly to adjust her relationship to the child. As an infant it is easy, the mother is all caring and instinctively will react to the slightest threat and/or call by the child. Time goes by, threats change, cries for help changes and the mother adapts to these changes and this process is continuous.
Maybe some ladies can share their thoughts here as this is from my (male) perspective.
Your desire shall be towards your husband
The typical rendition here is the subjection/submission to the man. Husband however is used here and not man. I believe there is some importance to this.
Man, by instinct, will sow seed gratuitously yet woman are not like that. It is more than just procreation for the ladies.
Let us look at Wiki's definition of husband
The term husband refers to Middle English huseband, from Old English hsbnda, from Old Norse hsbndi (hs, house + bndi, bandi, present participle of ba, to dwell, so etymologically, a householder,
So it seems the woman is "pre-programmed" to seek out a mate who will not only seed the conception of the child but takes equal responsibility in the rearing of the offspring. This is only found in exceptional cases in the animal kingdom where the female is the one who usually rears the offspring. Even in the modern world, the mother takes on a bigger role initially while the husband works to provide.
Even in this "pre-programming" of the the woman, the purposes of God is accomplished in that the child has a natural role model of a father so in due course, the child will "seek out" to learn of the Heavenly Father. Sadly, there are circumstances where the natural father does not portray this role properly.
and he shall rule over you
This part the men like to see and the ladies not. Let us examine the word rule.
Rule H4910 משׁל mâshal maw-shal'
A primitive root; to rule: - (have, make to have) dominion, governor, X indeed, reign, (bear, cause to, have) rule (-ing, -r), have power.
Without going into the law and teachings of Paul which sets the hierarchy of the man and woman, we can see words like dominion, governor, reign, have power, and I have seen some translations with authority and being master.
We see here if we can dissect a little deeper, that ruling is not one of dictatorship but rather one of caring and dominion. In this sense we again can see more of our Heavenly Father model being set in place as opposed to pure dictatorship. Touching a bit on Paul's teachings of submission, wives are to submit and husbands are to love. Love is unconditional as is our Father's love therefore, the love of a husband is in spite of and in a sense is also submission. Just like the natural instinct of a mother, the father cares for and protects, teaches, demonstrates headship and is proud of his children in spite of what they may or may not do. One need only look at the parable of the Prodigal son to see the Father's heart and just like Abraham when told to sacrifice his only son Isaac, he already knew the Father's heart and knew that God would intervene and provide the replacement ram. No father in his right mind will do harm to his children, he may chastise them but he loves them nonetheless.
The man
Gen 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, saying, You shall not eat of it! The ground is cursed for your sake. In pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life.
Gen 3:18 It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.
Notice the ground(127) is cursed(779) for your sake. What does this mean?
Ground H127 אדמה 'ădâmâh ad-aw-maw'
From H119; soil (from its general redness): - country, earth, ground, husband [-man] (-ry), land.
Curse H779 ארר 'ârar aw-rar'
A primitive root; to execrate: - X bitterly curse.
While looking up this word, ground, I noticed the part where no man was to till the ground followed by the part where Adam is put out to till the ground. The curse of the ground follows though in a pattern with Cain, the blood shed of Abel, the earth prior to the flood. The same word for ground is the stuff Adam was made from and the cursing of the ground carries significance here. I will research and post later on this, others may care to give input here.
God defers his curse of Adam to the ground from whence he came and by implication the ground takes the fall for his disobedience, not Adam himself.
In pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life
What is this pain? It cannot be the back-breaking pain one gets when tilling the soil surely. That is temporal, and the pain goes away. Let us look at it in a similar manner to that of Eve.
A farmer, one who tills the land, needs to prepare the soil for seed. So how long did it take Adam to figure out to use oxen to assist, I am sure God must have given him a hint or two.
The land is prepared, the soil is softened to accept the seed, the rain comes and waters the seed and the seed germinates and sprouts forth. Sounds familiar doesn't it? See Parable of the Sower and sowing & reaping
The herb sprouting forth grows, pollination takes place, creating new seed, but ultimately fruit of the labor and the herb is seen. A farmer can stand back and admire the fruit of his labors and rejoice in the results.
What is interesting here is the tilling of the land was already foreordained prior to the fall. We see a continual process of preparation, sowing, growing and reaping. All the days of your life. Inasmuch as we all go through these exact processes, it is continual.
The ground meaning also husband (-man) indicates again the same traits of the natural husband towards the woman. From whence we toil we shall see the fruit of our labors be they good, be they bad.
It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field
What are the thorns and thistles?
Two things I see here prophetically the crown of thorns for Jesus and secondly the fruit of laziness, wrong preparation of the soil in our hearts results in thorns/thistles choking the truth out of us as their root will take to unprepared soil better.
and you shall eat the herb of the field
I know some vegetarians like to use this as a proof text but we are herbivores and carnivores. So what does it mean?
In line with what I have already shared, I believe the eating of the herb speaks about the sharing/rejoicing in the harvest.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
This part has always intrigued me. I do not see it in the traditional sense of manual labour. This sentence has another meaning.
Sweat H2188 זעה zê‛âh zay-aw'
From H2111 (in the sense of H3154); perspiration: - sweat.
H2111 זוּע zûa‛ zoo'-ah
A primitive root; properly to shake off, that is, (figuratively) to agitate (as with fear): - move, tremble, vex.
Bread H3899 לחם lechem lekh'-em
From H3898; food (for man or beast), especially bread, or grain (for making it): - ([shew-]) bread, X eat, food, fruit, loaf, meat, victuals. See also H1036.
H3898 לחם lâcham law-kham'
A primitive root; to feed on; figuratively to consume; by implication to battle (as destruction): - devour, eat, X ever, fight (-ing), overcome, prevail, (make) war (-ring).
H1036 בּית לעפרה bêyth le‛aphrâh bayth le-af-raw'
From H1004 and the feminine of H6083 (with preposition interposed); house to (that is, of) dust; Beth-le-Aphrah, a place in Palestine: - house of Aphrah.
Looking deeper here at the meanings of the Hebrew, we see the sweat meaning to shake off, agitate, move, tremble, vex
In the shaking off, agitation, moving, trembling, vexing [sweat] of your face you shall overcome, prevail, make war of dust [eat bread]
until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.
The famous rite of passage at a funeral, mostly where you hear this plus the RCC ashes to ashes add-on. Can this have a deeper meaning?
Ground H127 אדמה 'ădâmâh ad-aw-maw'
From H119; soil (from its general redness): - country, earth, ground, husband [-man] (-ry), land.
H119 אדם 'âdam aw-dam'
To show blood (in the face), that is, flush or turn rosy: - be (dyed, made) red (ruddy).
Dust H6083 עפר ‛âphâr aw-fawr'
From H6080; dust (as powdered or gray); hence clay, earth, mud: - ashes, dust, earth, ground, morter, powder, rubbish.
H6080 עפר ‛âphar aw-far'
A primitive root; meaning either to be gray or perhaps rather to pulverize; used only as denominative from H6083, to be dust: - cast [dust].
Let's see if we replace a few words if another meaning can be derived.
until you return to the country,(of your) husbandman('s) land [ground], for out of it you were taken. For earth(ly) [dust] you are, and to earth [dust] you shall return.
This speaks to me of restoration for we were taken from the Father's (Husbandman's) divine purpose by the sin of Adam so obviously there is a return to. The earthliness of self returns to nothing but the person is reconciled to God.
Seeing another layer to this scripture, we see the plan of restoration even within what is typically glazed over as the "curse" to death. God's plan has not changed, He was not caught off guard with what Adam and Eve did, this potion of scripture, read with new understanding merely expounds the bigger picture of His wonderful redemptive plan "A".
Adam and Eve were destined to die a natural death, the fall was just that, a fall from grace.
In all that which we need to learn in this life, these are the lessons of preparation to rule and serve as kings and priests. This life is but a breath in the bigger scheme of God's plan for our lives.
To know Him more
I hope you find this edifying.
Blessings
Disclaimer:
I am not saying this is alpha/omega interpretation, merely what I have seen through meditation on these few verses. |
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| To add a comment to "The Curses or Blessings? of Genesis" |
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| February 16, 2008 |
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Greetings bro Bernie, I enoyed reading this blog. I like reading and considering other's viewpoints which present another perspective "outside the box" of traditional teaching.
May I present another view in regard to Your desire shall be towards your husband.?
I have been intrigued with this for some time. I agree that the idea of the husband dominating or ruling over the woman according to the tradional teaching does not seem to me to agree with God's heart, nor would that appeal to the woman to the extent that her desire would be for her husband.
So, there must be another meaning. Paul said that the man was NOT deceived, but the woman was deceived (I Tim. 2:14). Could it be that the man openly chose to partake of the forbidden fruit, knowing the consequence - DEATH? I believe Adam deeply loved his helpmeet and since he knew she had eaten of the tree of K, she would surely die. I believe Adam chose to eat and die with her rather than live without his ishah/ishshah (bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh). He loved her that much. Did not Jesus do the same for His beloved ishah/bride? He took on her sin, just as Adam partook of his bride's sin. Of course the type and anti-type are not equal.
The woman realized her husband's love, and when they both discovered they were still living, Adam pronounced his helpmeet as "living," which is what Eve means (up until then, she was nameless). To see such love and willingness to die for the one you love in action, what woman would not rejoice and desire her husband to rule (care for her) in such a way?
For a futher explanation click on this link: http://www.fellership.com/CharlieLoveStory.htm
Charlie |
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