Battle For The Truth (Part 20)
Notes
Transcript
16 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. 17 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; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 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.
Introduction
It bears repeating that when it comes to the judgement of God, not only is no one above the law, but no one receives injustice from God. Amen somebody. Our last session ended where the serpent as a creature was cursed and Satan who used the serpent to deceive Eve was also cursed.
Part of the curse upon Satan was God’s promise to send a man through Eve [the Seed of the woman], who would strike a deadly blow to Satan’s head and in so doing would suffer a wound to His heel by Satan. Satan has tried from the very beginning to destroy the seed of the woman. He has been waging war against the Seed of God, the Savior of the world, ever since God promised to save the world.
Nevertheless, God is faithful and His word infallible. As He spoke through His prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Amen somebody.
First, we must understand that God’s judgment is always just and equitable, perfectly fair. Second, God’s judgment is always full of wisdom, purpose, and mercy. Third, Adam and Eve stand as the representatives of humanity. This is clearly seen in every judgment pronounced upon them.
The judgments pronounced upon Adam and Eve are passed on down through their offspring. To this day, the judgments identified in this text are still being borne by humanity. Thus, as Adam and Eve are the father and mother of humanity, so we bear their judgment.
V. 16 – “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.”
Here we find another, “God said” statement. “Unto the woman he said …” If you recall from previous messages, there is unparalleled significance and authority associated with what “God said.” Whatever God speaks comes to pass exactly the way He wants. Nobody or group of bodies, and nothing or group of things can in any manner thwart or cause to fail what God has declared to be or come to pass. Amen somebody.
The first judgment is upon the person who sinned first, the woman. Three judgments were pronounced upon the woman:
She was to experience many forms of pain.
She was to have a yearning desire for a husband.
She was to live in subjection to her husband.
The woman was to experience many forms of pain. Oftentimes this verse is interpreted to refer only to the pain of childbearing. However, as the great scholar H.C. Leupold points this out: “The conjunction [the word ‘and’] before ‘conception’ is to be taken in the sense of ‘and in particular.’” The judgment is this:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and in particular [the sorrow of your] conception”
Note the word sorrow (itstsebhon - its-tsaw-bone’) - means trouble, sorrow, and pain. There are three sorrows mentioned:
There is the sorrow caused by woman’s very nature. God created woman with a more tender, delicate, and sensitive nature than man. Consequently, when she fell into sin, she was bound to feel and suffer greater sorrow. But note: God says He is going to intensify this sorrow, and when we look at the life of woman, this is exactly what we see. Because of her nature, the woman usually feels things more deeply than man. She usually experiences sorrow more than man, and she usually feels for others more than man. She seems to understand the feelings, needs, trouble, sorrow, and pain of others more deeply. But as commendable as this trait is, it often causes trouble, sorrow, and pain for her, both physically and mentally. Because she feels more deeply, she often suffers more.
There is the unique pain of childbirth which the woman must bear. The travail of childbirth is painful, so painful it is often used in Scripture to picture severe suffering and grief (John 16:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Revelation. 12:2; Micah 4:10).
The woman’s sorrow and pain are also deeper than the man’s in rearing children. In sorrow the woman brings forth children (v. 16). The phrase bring forth means more than just conception and birth. It means bringing up and rearing children. The woman feels and suffers greatly for her children when they suffer or go astray.[1]
[1] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (1996). Genesis (Chapters 1–11) (Vol. I, p. 177). Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
Consequently, the judgment upon woman was the suffering of many forms of pain. However, God’s judgment is not as some people declare and as some societies may practice—the general subjection of woman to man. Notice that the text says, “He [the husband] shall rule over thee [the wife]” (v. 16).
This judgment applies to every man individually, not to all men over all women. It means every wife is subject to her own husband, not subject to all men. Amen somebody. The judgment is not that all men are to rule over all women; the judgment is that each husband will hereafter rule over his wife and her alone.
This is exactly what the New Testament says:
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.” (Ephesians 5:22–23)
When God judged woman to be under the rule of man, God was not condemning her to be of less ability or worth or of less competence or value. God’s judgment dealt with function and order within the family. Because of sin, the family was no longer to be perfect where every member would live perfect lives free from problems. The family was now to know selfishness, difficulties, trouble, rebellion—all sorts of disorder and sin.
The family needed someone to be the head, someone to be responsible for rule and order within the family. The head was to be the man, not the woman. The woman was to be ruled over by her husband, and she was to submit to his authority. This was part of her judgment.
Side note:
The judgment is a just and fair judgment. The woman had acted independently of God and of man. She had taken matters—the rule of her own life—into her own hands. She craved control—independence, authority, rule—over her own life. In addition, she enticed the man to walk away from God; to walk out from under the rule of God, to act independently of God, and to rebel against God.
The judgment is, therefore, just and fair: the woman is now to be under the authority and rule of her husband. This does not mean man is to be domineering and demanding. It simply means that by reaching out for the forbidden fruit, Eve had acted alone, taken control, and put matters into her own hands.
She had sought an independence that was never intended to be between man and woman. Thus, the judgment is that she is to be under the very authority that she had attempted to take unto herself. She was to thereafter live under the authority of her husband.
Again, Paul writes in Ephesians 5:22–24, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. (23) For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. (24) Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” Amen somebody.
V.17-19, “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; (18) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; (19) 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.”
Again, we find another “God said” statement. God begins by stating the reason for what He is about to pronounce: “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:” Now comes Adam’s judgment.
The text says, “…cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;” or “Cursed be the ground because of you,” or “on account of you.” God cursed the earth because of Adam’s sin. Why would the earth have to suffer a curse when it was Adam who sinned? That is a good question. Simply stated, the earth was Adam’s home. Adam and the earth were interrelated.
Adam was now imperfect, a fallen creature. God could not let imperfect Adam continue on in a perfect world. Imperfection is not compatible with, not able to live with, perfection. Imperfection and sin do not belong with perfection and righteousness.
Therefore, God had to curse the earth as part of the judgment upon Adam. Adam was not only made from the earth but was also given dominion over it. The earth and Adam were as closely related as they could be. Therefore, whatever fall Adam suffered, the earth had to suffer the same fall as well.
Romans 8:19–22, is basically a commentary on what happened to the earth. Paul writes, “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (20) For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (21) Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (22) For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” This is an important passage for understanding what happened. Note what Romans says: all creation—the whole universe, not just the earth—was corrupted by sin.
Adam failed in at least three areas:
Adam did not try to lead Eve back to God. Just think what a failing this is! He did not even try to lead his wife to repentance, did not even bring up the subject of her returning to God. He did not even suggest that she confess and beg God for forgiveness and restoration.
Adam listened to Eve’s enticements and persuasions. He did not stop her from presenting the forbidden fruit to him. He stood there and listened to her persuasive arguments, to her enticements and seduction. And, this is exactly what God says: “…because you have listened to the voice of your wife, you are to be judged" (v.17) Adam failed tragically by listening to his wife instead of God.
Adam himself chose to eat the forbidden fruit. He blamed his wife, but Eve did not force him to eat the forbidden fruit. Adam willfully chose—made a deliberate decision—to sin. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was not deceived; his eyes were wide open when he sinned (1 Timothy 2:14 – “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”).
Adam was guilty, willfully, and deliberately guilty, of rejecting God, rebelling against God, disobeying God, and turning away from God. As a result, he was condemned to live in a cursed world, a world of imperfection and corruption, he was condemned to struggle for survival, condemned to struggle against nature for one the most basic necessities of life—food. And finally, he was condemned to die (v.19).
Side note:
All the judgments that fell upon man also fell upon the woman. Therefore, the ground was cursed for her as well. Note that the creation suffers and struggles for deliverance from corruption. The word creation refers to everything under man: animal, plant, and mineral.
All creation is pictured as living and waiting expectantly for the day when the sons of God will be glorified. The words earnest expectation in Romans 8:19, means to watch with the neck outstretched and the head erect. It is a persistent, unswerving expectation, an expectation that does not give up but keeps looking until the event happens.
The idea in this particular judgment is not just thorns and thistles, not just man struggling against thorns and thistles in order to eat. The idea is that nature is no longer under control; nature is no longer going to produce plenty for man, not naturally, not orderly, not regularly.
In addition to food, man must struggle against nature for all his necessities—shelter, clothing, and food. The point is, nature is no longer under control, no longer perfect. Nature is, therefore, to produce both good and bad things—both under control and uncontrollable.
Man’s struggle against nature must go on and on, to last all of his life, until he returns to the ground. Everything man has and owns—even food—is uncertain since the fall of Adam. Some happening—some quick, some uncontrolled event in nature—can snatch away everything a man has. Man is condemned to struggle for survival all the days of his life.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it, man and woman have just received God’s partial judgment for their sin. I say partial because there is coming a residual judgment upon them both, which we will cover next time.
But if you ever wondered why this world came to be the way it is and how man’s existence went from utopia to corruption, here is your answer. We are confronted with the biblical declaration of how and why life became the way it is today. The “how” speaks to God’s curse upon the earth and nature, and His judgment upon mankind. The “why” is because of man’s sin of disobedience against God’s command.
My brothers and sisters, in this ongoing Battle For The Truth, what we have just covered in today’s message is either true or not. Now If you agree that God’s word is true, you can simply say, “Amen.” However, if you disagree, then you are on the proverbial hook to present documented evidence to the contrary.
The question is, are God’s judgments against women still in effect? Well, the last time I checked women were still suffering pain and sorrow in childbearing and childrearing. Furthermore, there continues to be friction in the marriage relationship (women desiring to dominate their husbands yet vowing to be under his authority.
Oftentimes an authority he does not want to accept.). Also, men through hard labor (sweat of their brows) and acts of nature (weeds, floods, storms, droughts, and earthquakes are still required to provide food, protection, and shelter for their families. And last but certainly not least, men and women are still dying. Amen somebody.
Nevertheless, we thank God for His mercy. He could have cut mankind off forever; nevertheless, through the Promised Seed of the woman, God has provided a means of salvation for fallen humanity.
The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:8-10, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
Thus, the bad news is that Adam plunged us all into sin and death, but the good news is that God’s grace and mercy is extended to all humanity who believe the truth of His word and receive Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Again, Paul writes in Romans 5:18-21, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (19) For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (20) Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: (21) That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
So, until next time, may the Lord richly bless my beloved. AMEN.