Genesis Sermon 9: Origin Of The Curse

A. INTRODUCTION

This passage contains what is commonly called "the curse" that applies to six areas: (1) Animals, (2) The serpent, (3) Satan, (4) Woman, (5) The earth, (6) Man.

"And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" Genesis 3:14-19.

B. THE INDICATION

1. Self revelation. "The eyes of them both were opened, and they knew they were naked" (3:7). Knowledge is not always good.

2. Self-covering. "They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons" (3:7). We need "The robe of righteousness" (Isa. 61:10).

3. No longer enjoy God. "they heard the voice of the Lord . . . they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord" (3:8).

4. Made Excuses. "I was afraid because I was naked" (3:10).

5. Felt shame. "I was naked and I hid myself" (3:10). Nudity flourishes when the conscience is harden and loses it’s sensitivity to sin.

6. No repentance. Adam did not (1) confess disobedience, (2) ask for forgiveness, (3) repent. We do not know if his punishment would have been lessened if he confessed and repented.

7. Avoid accountability. (1) Adam blamed his wife, (2) Adam blamed God. "Thou gavest me," (3) She blamed the serpent, (4) She denied responsibility, "The serpent beguiled me."

C. THE CURSES

1. Animal Kingdom. "Thou (serpent) art cursed above all cattle; and above every beast" (3:14). Animals included, not for their involvement, but a result on all creation.

2. The serpent. "Upon thy belly . . . dust shalt thou eat" (3:14). Dust is both literal and a graphic telling its judgment.

3. Satan. "It (the seed of the woman) will bruise thy head" (3:15). The word bruise literal means crushing. The promised seed would victoriously destory Satan and his works. "For in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Cor. 15:22).

4. Woman. "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conceptions, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children" (3:16).

a. Physical pain at child birth.

b. Mental and spiritual pain when children go bad.

c. Submission, "Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee" (3:16).

(1) Because she acted independently from her husband, she was given a desire to serve him.

(2) Too often men have sabugated women with little regard for her feelings, needs and protection.

5. The ground. "Cursed in the ground for thy sake" (3:17). a. Thorns. Began to yield noxious weeds. God did not make weeds, "He allowed mutations, or random changes in the molecules structure of the genetic system" Henry Morris. Thorns develped, choked tender fruit producing plants.

b. Dangerous animals. Generated carnivorous appetites, i.e., (preditation) in some animals.

c. Germs. Bacteria and microorganism designed originally for soil maintence and pruificition processes, under went mutational changes that became harmful and/or lethal.

d. "For thy sake" (3:17). How could cursing ground help men?

(1) Forced to realize seriousness of sin.

(2) Forced to take responsiblity to preserve self.

(3) Inhibit further rebellion against God.

(4) With no death people would proliferate.

(5) Animal and plant life checked by predation, parasitism, and lethal extinction.

(6) God’s personal protection is withdrawn for a time while indirect constraint would balance nature.

(7) Second law of Thermodynamics. "All systems, if left to themselves, tend to become degraded and disordened.

6. Man.

a. Sorrow, i.e., continal disappointment and futility.

b. Pain and suffeirng. Signified by "thorns" which symbolized obstaucles to provide a living.

c. Sweat and tears. The intense struggle against hostile envioroment.

d. Physical death. "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return" (3:19). Final termination of body in this life.