The Curse upon Man, Part One
A Devotional Series from Genesis
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
4/3 Reading Portions: Leviticus 6; Psalm 5-6; Proverbs 21; Colossians 4
Genesis 3:17-18
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; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.”
ENDEAVOR
Adam’s sin is rendered here by YHVH God before He pronounces the consequences of that sin. While Adam was certainly disobedient to God by eating from the forbidden tree, the core and heart of Adam’s sin was listening to and heeding the counsel of another over the command of God. This is exactly what Peter and John referred to when they were arrested and set before the Sanhedrin:
But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19-20
Because Adam was formed from the dust of the ground, the result of his sin affected the entire earth. But more than that, the very foundation upon which he stood was cursed (cursed is the ground because of you). Again, this informs us of God’s grace through the gospel of Christ. Because Adam, and every descendant proceeding from Adam, stand upon a cursed foundation, unless the grace of God from heaven above sets an individual upon the blessed Rock of Christ, the pain of life’s curse would be mankind’s only nourishment (in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life… and you shall eat the plants of the field). In other words, such persons could have no communion with YHVH God. Moreover, apart from the grace of God in Jesus Christ, all an individual will succeed in producing by his or her efforts are unfruitful weeds and painful stickers (thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you). In other words, apart from the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Messiah, the best efforts of an individual will bring God no glory, and thus, will never bless the individual in their efforts or endeavors.
Yet within this pronounced curse is the only hope for mankind—the blessed truth of substitutionary atonement. When Jesus, the sinless, spotless, perfect Lamb of God hung upon that tree in Jerusalem, He was forced to wear a plaited crown of thorns upon His head made by those who suffered the curse pronounced in today’s verses (Matt 27:49; Mark 15:17; John 19:2, 5). Hallelujah! What a Savior!