| |
|
| |
(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."
New
King James Version Change your email Bible version
English-speaking peoples have a saying that "the way to a man's heart is
through his stomach." God, of course, understood this, and thus His curse on
Adam centers on eating. In fact, eating is a major theme of the first three
chapters of Genesis (see 1:29-30; 2:9, 15-17; 3:1-6, 11-13).
Eating, however, stands for more than simply nourishing the body; it is one
small part of mankind's daily struggle to survive his hostile environment,
planet earth. The Garden
of Eden was a place where man's work "to tend and keep" what God had made
was pleasurable, fulfilling, and probably not overly strenuous. The earth worked
with the man to produce his needs for food, clothing, shelter, and whatever
other need he might have.
Once God pronounced his curse, though, the ground—from which comes all
material wealth and produce—turned uncooperative. Instead of man and nature
united in productive labor, the situation became man versus nature, a
competition for dominance. Now, man would have to use all his physical and
mental powers to subdue the earth.
The earth would yield its fruit only after a man forced it through hard labor
in plowing, planting, watering, cultivating, and reaping. Animals from insects
to deer to wolves, fearful of man, would become pests and destroy his crops,
herds, possessions and even his life on occasion. Materials for building homes,
crafting tools, making clothing, and manufacturing items would be gathered only
by raping the land of minerals, metals, wood, and stone.
The earth would protest through natural processes like earthquakes,
volcanoes, landslides, wildfires, erosion, and infertility. Denuded of trees,
the land would become a desert. The weather would turn foul, sending too much or
too little rain. Windstorms like hurricanes and tornadoes would devastate vast
stretches of territory. The sun would beat down mercilessly or withhold its heat
for long stretches.
Such was the situation Adam and Eve faced after God drove them from the
Garden of Eden. For six thousand years all their descendants have struggled to
survive the harsh conditions of life separated from God and in competition with
nature. Surely it has affected their eating, but it has also had an impact on
every other endeavor of mankind—from breaking horses for riding to blasting
satellites into orbit. Men accomplish nothing except by the toil of hard work
and overcoming the obstacles the environment places in their way.
— Richard T. Ritenbaugh
To learn more, see:
The First Prophecy (Part Three)
Related Topics:
Adam and Eve
Curse
Curse on Adam
Curse on Ground
Curse on Mankind
Dress and Keep
Subdue the Earth
Tend and Keep
Work
Please cancel my subscription to The Berean |
|
|
|
|
Posts