5. Punishment or Consequence

 

So, if God was just warning them of danger,
why did God punish Adam and Eve when they were already hurting?

 

What was it that God said and did?

 

Adam and Eve were not cursed but God declares to them both some of the consequences of their actions and then sees to their comfort

It should be noted that the Hebrew word translated “curse” (aw-rar’) simply means “despised”, it does not imply a supernatural act.

 

·       The (sinless) serpent, because it had shown itself to be earthy, would now live a life grovelling on the earth. It would be cursed (despised) in the eyes of all and would now behave as the despised creature that it was.

·       Eve would now have children and would experience (previously unknown) labour in childbirth. Her desire would be to her husband (in order that she have children)

·       The earth would be cursed (despised) in Adam’s eyes – he would labour to work the land and see his efforts returning only thorns and thistles.

·       They were put out of the garden to prevent them from continuing to eat of the tree of life and living forever.

·       God provided a covering to alleviate their sense of nakedness.
This was a loving, compassionate act – not an angry, vengeful act.

 

The passage in Genesis 3:16-19 is an account by God of the need that Adam & Eve would feel for self-justification as a consequence of their altered awareness and how this need affected their behaviour.

 

It should be noted that not all men work in the field and not all women have children. Yet it is the joy of a woman to bear children (despite the labour) and it is the joy of a man to provide for his family and to watch it grow (despite the burden).

 

Nobody forced Eve to have children or Adam to till the field and while Cain followed in the example of his father in working the land, Abel (like our Lord) tended the sheep.

 

Fruit trees still grow in abundance today outside of the garden, we have fresh air and sunshine and the knowledge of God’s love - our world is not the dark 'cursed place' that some interpret this to mean.

 

By way of contrast to the self-imposed hardship that mankind endures, God commands a day of rest – which has been resisted by men throughout history. God has provided a place of rest – but Israel did not enter it at first because of unbelief. Jesus invites us to take his yoke upon him – because his burden is light.

 

All through the scriptures God is holding out a time and place of rest – but men refuse to enter it.

 

As I see it, as previously suggested, if the tree of life really did hold back the mental and physical development of Adam and Eve, they could have remained as juveniles, without the ability to bear children or to discern right and wrong. On eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would have matured beyond puberty, gaining both the ability to have children and the ability to discern between right and wrong. The burden of guilt that fell on them and all mankind (for all have sinned) meant that they were no longer fit to live forever. Carrying the burden of guilt forever would be an endless torment. God in his mercy moved to save them from this by putting them out of the reach of the tree of life.