Women for the Nations
She Shall Be Called Woman
Part One Session Five
Myth Six: After the Fall God cursed Adam and Eve
Please read Genesis 3:14-20 below:
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
16 To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Let’s address the belief that God cursed Adam and Eve by asking the obvious question: Where does the scripture say He did this? Can you see anywhere where God cursed either Adam or Eve? Let’s see who and what He actually did curse:
First God curses the serpent (v.14): "Because you have done this, you are cursed “...(Heb. arar) Notice the first creature God ever cursed was Satan. Then God cursed the ground--the earth: (V. 17).....”cursed is the ground for your sake.......” The Hebrew word for cursed used in both these verses is "arar."
Nowhere in the Bible is it recorded that God cursed mankind or one half of mankind. In this passage God cursed only two things - Satan and the earth. Eve was not cursed by God, nor was Adam. Human beings were not cursed by God. Yet for centuries church leaders have taught that because God cursed Eve all women for all time are under the same curse! As we shall see in a moment, woman is not CURSED by God but rather she is BLESSED by Him.
After cursing the serpent God goes on to prophesy in verse 15:
I will put enmity (Hebrew eybeh), hostility, hatred towards) between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed.
Even as God prepares to explain the consequesnses of their sin to both Adam and Eve, He is prophesying to the serpent their redemption. He ordained that womankind would be instrumental in His redemptive plan for the human race by being allowed to bring forth a Seed Who would crush or bruise the serpent’s head. The Seed He is talking about is Jesus. So even as He is getting ready to acknowledge the consequenses of Eve's sin, God releases a blessing to her.
Now please turn in your Bibles to Luke 1:46-49 and read carefully the words of Mary, mother of Jesus, on learning that she would bring forth the Messiah: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name." (Stop right there and take a moment to praise God!!) Mary spoke for ALL women that day. The blessing released by God on Eve in the Garden was released in the natural 4000 years later through a young Jewish virgin in ancient Israel. That's why a specific enmity continues between Satan and womankind; because right back in the Garden God linked woman with the Messiah through prophetic decree.(1)
Who then is God referring to when He says to the serpent: "your seed?" Who or what is Satan's seed? Please read John 8:38-44 and note that Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders of His time. Take special note of verse 44: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” Jesus points out that Satan has been using lies to move mankind away from God since right back in the garden when Satan first deceived Eve with a lie.
Now, what is it that has sought to put fleshly control on women and sought to hinder women from expressing themselves as daughters of the Most High God within the ranks of the Christian church? It is the spirit of religion. The same spirit that was deceiving the hearts of the Pharisees and Sadducees, blinding them from recognizing Jesus as Messiah, and moving their hearts to away from relationship with God.
QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION POINTS
1) Have you ever been under the false impression that God placed a curse on either Adam, Eve or both of them? If so, where did that impression come from?
2) Does it make any difference to you personally to know that God blessed Eve after the Fall and did not curse her? Please tell us about that.
3) To what degree, if any, has the religious spirit adversely affected you in your past Christian walk? Please share briefly.
Take a look at the Vignettes on Elizabeth and Mary They are great reading and will give you a deeper perspective.