Skip to main content

Did God Curse Adam, Eve, or Something Else?


 I closed my previous email with Yahweh cursing the snake and then turning his attention to Eve. Before I continue with the story, I want to pause and point out some things you must keep in mind as the story continues.

 

The commandment Yahweh gave Adam stated that “in the day you eat of the forbidden fruit dying you will die.” The Hebrew phrase translated “dying you will die” does not mean “you will fall over dead,” it means “the process of dying will begin.” Adam ate the forbidden fruit, and that process began.

 

The first act of justice in the Bible happened when Yahweh asked Adam if he had eaten the forbidden fruit. He questioned Adam and listened to his answer. He questioned Eve and listened to her answer. He cursed the snake. Now Yahweh is going to reveal the consequences of their actions, beginning with Eve.

 

1. I will greatly multiply your hardship, pain and suffering in general. Her life is going to change dramatically from what it has been. Yahweh doesn’t reveal specifically what those changes will be, but He describes three things she has not experienced yet.

 

2. I will greatly multiply your pregnancies. Because Adam ate the forbidden fruit, not Eve, the process of dying has begun. New lives are required to replace the lives of Adam and Eve when they die, if mankind is to survive.

 

3. In hardship, pain and suffering you shall bring forth children. This is related to her functions as a mother and Adam’s functions as a father. It is not connected to childbirth, but to process of raising children. Keep this mind as you read the stories of their children – Cain, Abel and Seth.  

 

4. Your desire shall be to your man. Eve’s desire for the forbidden fruit exceeded her desire for Adam. Yahweh’s words are correcting that situation.

 

5. He shall rule with you. At the beginning of this story, we were told that Adam and Eve will be tested to see whether they will “act together.” Instead they acted as individuals and did things that harmed their own lives. Yahweh’s words are correcting that situation.

 

Be sure to note that Eve was not cursed. Numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 are directly related to God’s blessing of the humans in the first story. The man and woman are equal to and adequate for each other in every way, but they have specific functions related to their genders that are related to reproducing and raising children.

 

Now Yahweh turns His attention to Adam. The first thing Yahweh does is state the offense Adam committed – “You listened to the voice of your woman and ate fruit of the tree I commanded you, “you shall not eat.” Next Adam learns the consequences of his actions.

 

1. Cursed is the ground because of you. Be sure to note that the ground is cursed, not Adam.

 

2. By hardship, pain and suffering you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Adam’s life changed just like Eve’s.

 

3. The ground will grow thorns and thistles for you. In response to the curse, Adam will have to deal thorns and thistles among the plants he requires for food.

 

4. You shall eat the plants of the field and by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread. Adam and Eve’s new diet will include food that had previously been the food of animals.

 

5. You shall return to the ground from which you were taken, because you are dirt and to dirt you shall return. Adam now knows that his destiny is to return to the ground from which he was taken and that is somewhere outside of and west of the Garden.

 

Adam and Eve stood before Yahweh and heard His words together. At that point in time, they had no way of knowing what those words meant or how dramatically their lives would change. I will continue the story in my next email.

 

Please Help By Making a Year-End Donation

 

Every year we ask our readers to help fund our work in the new year. We do not include advertisements in our emails or require subscriptions for people to receive these educational emails. We are funded by donations from individuals who value these emails. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

Click Here to Donate Online or mail your donation to:

 

Biblical Heritage Center

PO Box 714

Cleburne, TX 76033-0714

 

Shalom and Thank You!

Jim Myers

 

● Donate ● Subscribe ● “Like” Us on Facebook


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It’s a Yod -- NOT a Jot and Tittle!

Not only did Yeshua read and speak Hebrew, so did his followers and disciples! Two very well known, but not accurately understood words in the Gospel of Matthew prove it – jot and tittle . For some reason jot and tittle stick in the minds of Christian Bible readers. But when you ask them what jot or tittle mean, you get a lot of conflicting and some really weird answers. Today, you are going to get the facts about what Yeshua originally said and how they ended up in English translations of the Bible as jot and tittle . Let’s begin by reading Matthew 5:18 from the King James translation: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. If you have not read the article “ From Yeshua to Jesus ” in Yeshua’s Kingdom Handbook please take a moment to read it online by clicking here before you continue. In it you will see how we began with the name “ Jesus ” and traced it through Lati
Post a Comment
Read more

Do Not Say RAQA! - Yeshua on Anger (Part 2)

In the last blog, we covered the first part of Yeshua’s lesson on Anger -- An Angry Person Should be Tried in Court like a Murderer – keep in mind that “anger” is the focus of Yeshua’s lesson. “Whoever says to a brother, ‘ RAKA ,’ shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin.” [i] Yeshua reveals that the seriousness of the offense has become greater by elevating the crime to the next highest court – the Sanhedrin . It is the highest court in the nation and would be the equivalent of our Supreme Court. What makes this offense more serious than murder, to keep things in the context established by Yeshua? It is because of what the angry person said out of anger – “ RAKA !” RAKA is the English transliteration of the Greek word found in the ancient manuscripts of Matthew. Interestingly, the Greek word is also a transliteration of a Hebrew word into Greek. Keep in mind that when a translator working on a translation of a Greek manuscript transliterates a Greek word, he only finds the
Post a Comment
Read more

The Prayer Yeshua Prayed Twice Every Day

One of Jesus’s earliest memories was no doubt watching and listening to his family when they gathered to pray the Shema at sunrise before the day’s work began and after the working work day was over at sunset . He also heard and participated in praying the Shema at their synagogue. He was surrounded by neighbors who also prayed the same prayer in their homes every day. The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah . It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning “ to judge oneself .” This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. [1] Most of Jewish prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me," an
Post a Comment
Read more