Genesis 3:16

              The last few weeks we have skimmed over a picture of God’s ideal for marriage.  Adam and Eve had excellent attitudes and they had a positive outlook.  Adam was created to do the will of God and Eve was created to help him do the will of God.  Which they did. 

              Then came one of the most important and negative events in history.  It eclipses the holocaust.  It is greater than the crisis in Kenya.  It goes far beyond the terror of 911.  It is of greater significance than the tsunami.  It is worse than the troubles of Britney Spears.

              This event is known as the fall of man.  It is the time that sin came into the world.  Paul tells us  “By one man sin came into the world and death by sin, for all have sinned.”  This one act on the part of Adam and Eve sent shockwaves throughout the universe.  In this act is the explanation for most of the evil in the world today.

              I want to take a moment to illustrate how great the fall was.  Since the fall we have had murder, rape, torture, theft, and genocide.  I have had emails offering to give the church 2.5 million dollars from a widow in Africa whose husband died and who is near death herself.  All I have to do is send her the church bank account number and they will deposit the money in it for us.  Right! 

              If we did not have the fall we would have no need for government or laws.  We would not need a police force or an army.  If it were not for the fall, we would not need doctors and nurses or hospitals.  If it were not for the fall, we would not need locks on our doors, alarms in our cars or bodyguards for the rich and famous. 

              Sin came into the human race and reeked havoc wherever it went. 

Sin hit the family especially hard.  The first child, Cain, killed the second child, Abel, and then he was driven away from his home.  Adam and Eve’s whole family was blown apart by sin.

How many of us know families that are suffering because there is sin in the home?  How many shelters do we have for abused women?  How many programs to help suffering children?  How many men are devastated because of the actions of their wives or children?  How many parents are crying because of what their children have done?

This all traces back to the fall of man.  Human psychology tells us we are all good.  If we are all good, how can good people do bad things?  I find it troubling for someone to say everyone is good and then try to explain Hitler, Sadaam Hussein, Asama Ben Laden, and themselves.  You hear in court a mother says to the judge when her son is found guilty of aggravated assault and has seriously hurt other people, “My son is a good boy.”   Love him, but don’t lie about him.

I cringe when I hear people say, “There are good people in the church.”  When we compare ourselves to one another, I can agree with that statement, but when we look at God’s measure, everyone here falls far short of the glory of God.  Why?  Because we are victims of the fall.

Sin hit the family hard.  I want to explore the effects of sin on the family from a Biblical point of view.

Remember, God created Adam to do his work.  Adam was created to be a worker.  Especially Adam was created to be a gardener.  The work was too much for Adam to do alone, so God created Eve.  She was created to help Adam do the will of God.  We find no sign of conflict, disagreement, problems and difficulties.  This was a perfect marriage.  Adam and Eve worked together.

After the fall some significant changes came as a result of sin.

              First, the ground became cursed because of Adam’s sin.  The result was that work would lose its joy for Adam.

“To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.””  Genesis 3:17-19, NIV.

Notice the negative words in this passage.  Cursed, painful, sweat.  Work would lose some of its luster.

We find men who love their jobs.  But within jobs we love there is a great deal of frustration.  Why?  Because of the curse.  Listen to people complain about working conditions, the slow flow of bureaucracy, the stress or boredom of their work.  All of this is the result of the curse.  It is a result of the fall. 

A second change that came was the curse to women.

Genesis 3:16 gives us this information. “16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”” Genesis 3:16, NIV.

              There are two possible interpretations of this passage that you are apt to hear on Christian radio or read in Christian books.  And they center around the word “desire” in the phrase “your desire will be for your husband.”

              The word “desire” is only used in two other passages in the Bible:  Song of Solomon 7:10 and Genesis 4:3-7

              In Genesis 4:3-7, we find the word “desire” used as the desire to overcome or overpower.

“3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.””

              Notice that sin desires to have Cain, it desires to overcome Cain.

              If this is the correct interpretation, then this describes the curse.

              A woman will have pain in childbearing.  And in the home she will want to control the home, but her husband will rule over her.

              Song of Solomon 7:10 gives the second use of the word “desire” and a second meaning to this passage.

“I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.”

This speaks of sexual desire in this passage.  It is physical attraction of the lover to the woman in this passage.

If this is the correct interpretation, then the curse can be explained in this way.

A woman will have pain bearing children.  But in spite of the pain, she will desire intimacy with her husband.  But the intimacy will be less than it was before the fall because he will rule over her.

I thought of how that has worked out in history.  Esther was a Persian Queen.  She could not go to talk to her husband without his permission.  Modern day feminists are against the patriarchal family.  But they do not provide any substitute that works.

The core issue for the family after the fall was the question, “Who is in control?”  That was not an issue before the fall.  God ruled.  He gave man a job to do, he gave woman a job to do, and both did their job.  The woman was to help the man do the job God called the man to do.  They worked together.

After the fall, the man ruled and women tried to find a way to fight his rule.

“1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. 2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your weapons--your quiver and bow--and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” 5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” 11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” 14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. [18-29 - Jacob goes in and effectively tricks his father] [30-40  Esau comes and finds out he is tricked out of his inheritance and blessing ] 41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” 1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.” Genesis 27:1-28:5, NIV.

This is a classic illustration of the manipulation and contests that go on between men and women in homes around the world.

Why does this happen?  Why can’t everyone just get along?  Because of the curse and the real power of sin inside us that causes this to happen.