A Daily Genesis

Genesis 3:17-20

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[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 3:17a . .To Adam He said: Because you did as your wife said, and ate of the tree about which I commanded you; "You shall not eat of it"[/B]

A portion of God's gripe with Adam was that he put a creature's wishes over and above His own; thus making one of the things that God created a competitor for humanity's loyalty.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 3:17b . . Cursed be the ground because of you[/B]

Not only would Man himself be effected by a curse upon the ground, but every living thing that depends upon the ground for its survival would be effected too; from lowly nematodes and earthworms right on up to the top of the food chain. The whole animal world, and all the seed-bearing plant life too, would suffer collateral damages for Adam's mistake.

God somehow manipulated the soil's fertility so that it now no longer produces as well as it did in the beginning. The abundant swarms of life that God created in the beginning would, at that point, begin to thin out as the competition for available natural food-stuffs intensified.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 3:17c . . By toil shall you eat of it all the days of your life[/B]

Adam was no stranger to work because God already had him tending the garden. But matters worsened with a new ingredient. The word for "toil" is from [I]'itstsabown[/I] (its-tsaw-bone') and means: worrisome-ness.

Webster's defines worrisome-ness as: causing distress or worry or inclined to worry or fret; viz[B]:[/B] Man became anxious, insecure, and perhaps somewhat melancholy. 'Itstsabown is the very same word used in verse 16 to describe the physical and emotional discomfort that Eve was doomed to endure during pregnancy.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 3:18a . . thorns and thistles shall it sprout for you.[/B]

God finished the entire cosmos in six days; and no more creating took place after that[B]:[/B] so thorns and thistles already existed prior to the events of chapter 3. But in the beginning, noxious plants doubtless weren't so dominant. Today they're a nuisance because if ground is left fallow, it will soon be covered with dock, mustard, dandelion, chaparral, wild flowers, brambles, reed canary grass, and stuff like that. Those kinds of plants may be okay for wildlife, but Man needs something a little more substantial.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 3:18b . . and your food shall be the grasses of the field;[/B]

Apparently Adam was a fruitarian at in the beginning, and then his diet later expanded to include other kinds of vegetation. However, I don't think Man is supposed to graze on pasture like buffalo or deer and elk. Many of the grasses God intended for him to eat fall into the food group we call cereals; which are raised primarily for their grain; e.g. corn, wheat, and rice; et al. In their natural form-- whole grain --cereals are a rich source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, oils, and protein. After refinement grains are pretty much good for nothing but carbs.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 3:19a . . By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat,[/B]

Whereas the Adams before had a beautiful productive farm complete with orchards that required minimal maintenance, they became faced with stubborn soil that needs plowing and sowing, and weeding. Very few natural grains exist abundantly in nature. These days; if he wants them in any sizable amount, Man has to farm.

Those of us who live in 9 to 5 leisure-intensive America really don't appreciate just how laborious and time consuming the work is to grow your own food. Early Man's days were hard. They're still hard in many developing countries. Adam had to get out there with a hoe and a plow to provide for his family. Today, only about 2% in the USA work the ground.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 3:19b . . until you return to the ground-- for from it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.[/B]

Did God have to kill Adam in order for him to stop living? No; all He had to do was deny Adam access to the tree of life and let nature takes its course; in other words[B]:[/B] it was only a matter of time before Adam simply passed away of old age.

It's often assumed that Adam was created immortal; but no so. Adam was created an air-breathing creature. Smother him and he'd die. Hold his head underwater and he'd die. But as long as Adam supplemented his diet with nutrients form the tree of life, he'd not die of natural causes.

But what happened to Adam when his body returned to dust? Did he return to dust too? No; And that's because Adam wasn't entirely organic. His body came from the ground but his life came from God. According to Jonah 2:1-6, human beings survive the death of their bodies, and go to a place called [I]sheol[/I]; which, in Jonah's day, was sited at the roots of the mountains; viz[B]:[/B] the depths of the earth.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 3:20 . .The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.[/B]

Though Eve became the mother of all the living she isn't the source of life for all the living[B]:[/B] Adam is.

There's an important parallel to this in the New Testament where Christ is depicted as the source of eternal life for all the living in him; just as Adam is the source of human life for all the living in him. (Rom 5:12-21)

There is one "living" that Eve did not produce and that's her own self. She was produced from a human tissue sample amputated from Adam's body; ergo[B]:[/B] Eve got her human life from Adam; hence any and all human life produced with Eve's body is Adam's human life.

The word for "mother" is from [I]'em[/I] (ame) which can mean a mother in an immediate family, or the matriarch of a blood line, or the mother (as the rootstock) of an entire nation.

The word for "Eve" is from [I]Chavvah[/I] (khav-vaw') and means[B]:[/B] life giver.

Some people have a problem with Eve. They just can't believe she's the mother of the entire human race; which would include Christ too. But Genesis says Adam named his wife Eve because she was the life giver of all the living, not just a portion of the living.

According to the Bible, Man wasn't created in groups nor in swarms like the other nephesh. The human race was created in its entirety a singular, solo, male specimen. Every human being since, including the first woman, came from the constituents of that one lone male.

"He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth." (Acts 17:26-28)

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