Genesis 4:8 comments: Cain kills his brother

    8 ¶  And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

Jews killed Christians. Christians killed Jews. Catholics killed Anabaptists and Protestants. Protestants killed Catholics. Catholics killed Muslims. Muslims killed Catholics and Protestants. Hindus killed Buddhists. Muslims killed Hindus. Buddhists killed Hindus. It just goes on and on throughout history. False religion not only kills true followers of God, trying to worship God’s way, and not only them but even other false religions as they try to justify themselves before God without following God.

John 16:2  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Mark 15:9  But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 10  For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.

The Roman Catholic Church viewed itself as Christ’s kingdom on earth, ruling the earth in His name and in His place, following manmade tradition, political violence, and religious carnage. The British Empire believed it was put in place by God with the King or Queen as head of the Anglican Church, God’s representative on earth, spreading Christianity around the globe with cannon and shot. Evangelicals in America dictated foreign policy in the disastrous turn of FDR and his predecessors from Japan to China after World War One and even today push the government to support Israel and gloat about that support, even though the American government works at odds with what is in Israel’s best interests and tells that country what to do. False religion murders, bombs, shoots, stabs, incinerates, and whether they are Christians, Muslims, Hindus, or what, they then walk into their self-made temples, mosques, or churches with heads held high proud of their service for God.

And so Cain killed Abel.

Genesis 4:6-7 comments: Are you Cain or are you Abel?

6 ¶  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Here is one of those particularly interesting verses, chapter 7. Cain has no excuse to be angry at either God or his brother. The sin belongs to him. If he were only to repent of what he is holding onto, to change his mind, to reverse his thoughts he would be given victory over his sin. Much is made of repenting in American Christian fundamentalism. It has been made a condition for salvation and eternal life, repentance of your sins that is. However, as explained previously, although you will be sorry for being a sinner against God and, truly, if you are a mature Christian, sorry for the sin of Adam’s children, mankind, in general and all that it has caused, you must repent of what you are holding onto that you think justifies you that is not of God as Paul said in Hebrews.

You must repent of your dead works, which is what Cain was performing to justify himself.

Hebrews 6:1 ¶  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

It is amazing how a faith tradition like fundamentalism that will take one passage in the book of Hebrews to justify slavish devotion to church attendance neglecting all else in life in Hebrews 10:24, 25 will choose to ignore the doctrine of Christ which Baptists in the 1600’s held onto so dearly. Also, notice how John the Baptist, in the context of what is said in the following while he is having the people be baptized and confess their sins, is referring to what the Jews believe justifies them and makes them righteous, as American Christians so often do with being American and an Evangelical Christian.

Matthew 3:7 ¶  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Here again, God is asking a rhetorical question as part of an argument and is not asking a question to which he does not know the answer, a method of speaking you will find yourself doing from time to time, especially with children.

We must ask ourselves this question. Are we worshipping and serving God in the way He has prescribed or are we simply serving ourselves and performing rituals that confirm us, justify us, and make us feel some personal or group definition of spiritual?

Christians have the Bible definition of religion, the outward expression of our inner faith.

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Christians have the Bible definition of the proof or fruit of the Spirit of God dwelling inside of us.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Are our lives and our worship pleasing to God or simply pleasing to ourselves, our own fears, our own bigotry, or our own paranoia and self-justification? Are we Cain or are we Abel?

Genesis 4:3-5 comments: the right sacrifice

3 ¶  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

The process of time is used several times in the Bible to indicate the passage of time. For instance, 2Chronicles 21:19 begins with, And it came to pass, that in process of time, after the end of two years.

Cain gave a plant offering, a vegetable or fruit offering, to God, as the Hindus do today in the Prasada, a vegetable offering to a god. It is important to them that their god accepts only a strict vegetable offering, so that nothing experiences pain or suffering. Prasada means mercy in Sanskrit, the grace of the god they invoke.

Abel offered up the firstling of his flock. Something living was sacrificed and died. Blood was shed. The issue here is this;

Hebrews 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Leviticus 17:11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

There is no remissions of sins, no forgiveness for sins, without the shedding of blood. Animal sacrifices, as clearly animals are important to God, were substitutions for His own flesh which He sacrificed on the Cross at Calvary and His own blood which He shed for our sins.

Acts 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Ephesians 5:2  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Hebrews 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Hebrews 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

Revelation 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

And here, very clearly, regarding the law given to Moses;

Hebrews 10:1 ¶  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2  For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3  But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5  Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

Animal sacrifices were a remembrance and an acknowledgement of the sinful state of mankind. But, God Himself put our sins away from us so that we would neither be held accountable for them nor would we have to bring them to remembrance at established times. This possibility was hinted at in the Old Testament;

Psalm 103:12  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Read Revelation 1:5 above again. God did not regard Cain’s offering but He did regard Abel’s. This made Cain angry, but did not lead him to repent and do what God demanded. This reminds me of the religionist today who will not so much as even acknowledge his own sinful state but insists that reciting such things as The Lord’s Prayer, taking communion, or rushing to the church building whenever the doors are open should be good enough to justify himself or herself before God. I’ll do it my way, they think in their hearts, and you ought to accept me because of my effort. We Christians, because of Christ, do not offer animal sacrifices, but are to offer sacrifices pleasing to God in regard to His sacrifice of Himself, Christ.

Psalm 141:2  Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Hosea 14:2  Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

Hebrews 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Genesis 4:1-2 comments: Abel and Cain

1 ¶  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2  And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

One question that comes up in verse 1 is about the use of and. Is and used in such a way as to indicate an event that follows the events mentioned before it in time or is it used to insert other, relevant information into the text that we are supposed to regard as giving context that was not important to the narrative that preceded it?

So, the question is, did Adam and Eve have sexual relations and children before they sinned against God? There are some Christian faith traditions that view sex as the thing that brought them down. Typically, these traditions have a very cold, Victorian era view of sex even between a husband and wife, more as a necessary duty than as a joy, a bonding between two people committed for life. It is to be a desire expressed discretely by the husband and a burden to be accepted by the wife. These faith traditions and cultural views would necessarily view the physical union of husband and wife talked about in 2:24 as more of a curse than the blessing which it was intended to be. I believe that clearly Adam and Eve had many children and the curse expressed in 3:16 was not a statement about which Eve would have been ignorant from lack of experience.

In any event, whether you believe there was no sexual union before the Fall or if you believe that and shows an insertion of information that was not relevant previously but revealed events already under way when Adam and Eve fell from grace here is the birth of Cain and Abel. Some commentators have said that as there is no conception mentioned between Cain and Abel, as in the repeating of Adam knew Eve his wife, that they were twins.

Notice, though, the Bible does make careful mention of twins.

Genesis 25:24  And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

Genesis 38:27  And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

Do you not think that if Cain and Abel were twins that the Holy Spirit could have said it was so? Just considering the question the text raises.

Abel was a shepherd but Cain tilled the ground. Neither statement is declaring that one is more righteous an occupation than the other. Farmers are not cursed because Cain was a tiller of the ground. The curse on the ground comes from the curse on Adam. But what comes next will begin to divide humanity into two groups with regard to religious expression and has a profound effect on the history of the world.

Genesis 3:22-24 comments: exiled from paradise

22 ¶  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23  Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

So, something Satan said was true. This knowledge that came from disobeying God in the one thing that was forbidden to them gave man the understanding to oppose God and hinder that fellowship they had with Him. The essence of human knowledge is and has always been an attempt to overthrow God’s will. It was God’s desire that man till the ground but man created cities, which we will discuss later, and a great many employments and diversions not given by God. Scientific knowledge that results in medical and social advances is designed to either overthrow God’s organization of life or to “improve” upon it. That is not to say that it would be Godly now to abandon modern medicine and move to the wilderness any more than realizing that your divorce and remarriage were a sin so you should make the situation worse by abandoning your current spouse and children. It is just to say that this is part of our nature now, not to look to God as the source of our health and life but to look to our knowledge. I suspect, though, that when we think that we have prolonged our life by exercise (which I enjoy immensely) or healthy eating we may be fooling ourselves and that we do not or cannot thwart God’s will. The fact is that once a person reaches 50 he has the same odds of living longer as a man or woman in 1960 as life expectancy then was brought down by infant and child death which is what we have done well in abating on the one hand but with abortion have rendered almost meaningless. If abortion were factored in, which we would never do, there probably isn’t much difference between life expectancy in 1900 and now.

 A human being, tainted by sin, deteriorating with each generation, who lived forever in that state would, after a time, be quite a hideous creature indeed. The choice was to obey God and live forever or disobey God and die. Even a physical body as those persons living on earth in eternity will have will need of the regenerative powers of the tree of life that God made for the renewing of their flesh but partaking of that tree will only be permitted when sin is not present. There is some argument as to who will need to partake of the tree of life. Some dispensationalists say that only those people living on the earth will while others say that all of those who are given a “resurrection body” will, at least referring to those persons who are saved, not in the lake of fire.

Revelation 22:1 ¶  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

In any event, the body we receive will be different than the one we walk about in now that is tainted by sin against God, as Paul emphasized.

1Corinthians 15:35 ¶  But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36  Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: 37  And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38  But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 39  All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 40  There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: 44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

The blessing of living in the Garden of Eden which God had made was now denied to man. He was cast out to try to extract a living from a cursed ground. Mankind was unable to reenter or, perhaps, even see the Garden of Eden. The word paradise is interesting to consider in this regard. We find it here;

Luke 23:43  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

2Corinthians 12:4  How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Revelation 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

The word paradise comes from a Persian word for a park, a hunting preserve, a pleasure garden, in a manner of speaking. Eden, with its tree of life, is in Heaven itself now. There is no way for man to return to Eden or to a state of innocence before God without the redeeming work of Christ on the Cross and in the Resurrection.

The cherubims that prevented Adam and Eve or their descendants from returning to Eden are spiritual creatures, usually invisible to us, which are probably prototypes for types of beasts. In other words, life on earth is patterned after them. Read Ezekiel, chapters 1 and 10, and then Revelation 4 for descriptions. Clearly, there are animals in the spiritual world. For example, Elisha’s prayer in 2Kings 6:17 showed that, unseen to a person in his natural state, there were horses and chariots surrounding the city.

The flaming sword may represent the word of God, which is the key to eternal life in that all of the things we must believe for salvation are found in it and it is through it that God speaks to the Christian.

Ephesians 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Some commentators bring up references to a representative of God standing with a drawn sword in his hand. However, since we cannot return to partake of something we cannot see and since that tree of life is now in Heaven itself that seems unlikely that the flaming sword is there now to keep us physically out. We have access to the tree of life by way of our acceptation of the promises found in God’s word, likened to a sword.

Genesis 3:21 comments: salvation

    21 ¶  Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Death is introduced by God into the world, as a response to man and woman’s sin, to cover man and woman’s nakedness as there is no covering for our sin apart from God’s direct action. This directly relates to one of, what Paul said in Hebrews, the doctrines of Christ. There is nothing we can do that justifies us or removes the taint of sin and rebellion against God. All of our dead works are ineffectual in covering our naked sin. The essence of Bible salvation is to repent or change your mind and turn from what you believe justifies you as a good person, perhaps regarding yourself as worthy of heaven, and turn toward God, looking to Him only as the author and reason for your salvation.

Hebrews 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

When John the Baptist made his declaration and complaint;

Matthew 3:7 ¶  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

…he blasted the self-justification of the righteous Jew who regarded his heritage as a Jew as justification before God.

Just as God Himself will shut the door on Noah’s salvation, preserving mankind…

Genesis 7:16  And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

…with the Ark representing a type of our salvation as baptism does today, a picture of God’s salvation.

1Peter 3:21  The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

So, we must understand that it is only by God’s will and by His direct action that we are saved. You hear, read, or perceive that it is God alone who justifies and how He accomplished it and you believe and He saves you from Hell, the consequence of rebellion against Him.

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

At that moment also He gives you faith to believe the truth about Him and to live in Him.

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 ¶  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Acts 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

This is the only covering for our sin. Jesus Christ made peace between rebellious mankind and the God who created them male and female.

Romans 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Understand that you, upon your ability to discern between good and evil against God, are accountable for your sins against Him and being a sinner. From that point on there is no covering for your sin that is not provided by God Himself. Apart from His direct action through the sacrifice of His physical body, the Lord Jesus Christ, as a propitiation for our sins, as a sacrifice to appease His wrath for our rebellion, and our acceptance of that sacrifice there is nothing we can do to justify ourselves.

Genesis 22:8  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

God justifies us. God delivers us. God saves us. Bible salvation is given and never earned and is predicated upon belief and not works, as we understand works.

John 6:28 ¶  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

All of your ritual and ceremony, your outward following of tradition and practice, if you are looking for that to justify you before God, are nothing but dead works, and is not the covering for your naked sin that God has provided.

Genesis 3:20 comments: one mother

20 ¶  And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Acts 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

All human beings are descended from Eve. Modern science, even in its limited perspective of evidence and opinion that overthrows one set of theories after another in their attempts to explain history without admitting to God, understands that there is one human woman who is the mother of all people alive today.

All human beings are related, cousins, in a manner of speaking. So the New Guinea hill person and the gaucho-cattle ranch worker in Argentina and Uruguay, the Bantu in Africa, and the proudest American are all distant cousins.

Adam had not lost the right and ability to name and define the world around him. He gave names to all creatures and here he gave a name to his wife.

Genesis 3:17-19 comments: Adam's curse

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.

Here is one that fundamentalists love and their sentiment would almost be humorous if it didn’t have such tragic effects. Verse 17 is used to say that any man who takes advice from his wife is disobeying God and deserves any negative consequence. Adam is judged for disobeying God in taking the very bad advice from his wife to do it. Certainly, any woman or man who follows their spouse in disobedience to God is foolish. But, Godly advice from your wife is something you should always seriously consider as her co-heir in the grace of life.

This verse is no more a command to not do whatever your wife tells you to do any more than the following verse is a command to obey her in all things.

Genesis 21:12  And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

As Eve faced a judgment upon childbirth, that which perhaps had been easy and pain-free now being a time of pain and travail, so Adam’s employment as a worker of the ground and caretaker of God’s creation was going to be accompanied now by sweat, toil, and much effort. Also, here is the judgment of death, over which Satan has authority.

Hebrews 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Adam and Eve will share in these judgments as man and woman share in the pains and agonies of life on earth.

Hebrews 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Genesis 3:16 comments: Eve's curse

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 is something to make us consider. Is this stating that there was no childbirth before this point and that Adam and Eve had no offspring to this point? Or, is this saying that what had been relatively easy and pain-free was now going to be what the Bible will call travail?

Genesis 38:27  And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

Literally, this says that from this point on there will be grief and suffering in childbirth. Here is sorrow defined as grief.

Genesis 44:29  And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

Countless women have died giving birth and many, many infants have not lived to see the light of day. This experience does change women, typically. Although it does not often work out that way the suffering of childbirth should be a reminder of the helplessness of humanity and the need for God’s mercy at all times and in every event. While not every childbirth is a struggle or even presents a painful or sorrowful experience it is typically so and only the benefits of modern medicine make it otherwise at times and to various degrees.

God’s judgment on Eve is that she will suffer pain and grief in childbirth. This is one of the events of life, like death, that should remind us of our need for a Saviour. God’s judgment on the world is due, it is ready, and we have no way of knowing when it will come. It can come very fast or be a long-drawn out ordeal. It is not in our power or knowledge to foretell the hour.

The second part of the judgment on Eve is her subordinate position to Adam. This implies an equality between Adam and Eve, before this, that will be unknown again until the Christian church is instituted and, sadly, will not be realized or culturally accepted in actual relations between men and women until the last hundred years.

Galatians 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

1Peter 3:7  Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

However, within the husband wife relationship, if it is to be Godly, the woman must acknowledge the authority of her husband. But, first, for the sake of moral order and decency it must be understood that in the confines of all of us being in submission to each other a wife is to be in submission to her own husband and not every man, as culture often dictates the inferiority of women to all men in other countries today and in America of yesteryear.

Ephesians 5:21 ¶  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. 22  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. 25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

As there have been countless sermons on why and how a woman should be submissive to her husband I see no point in ‘beating a dead horse’, so to speak, and belaboring the point. I would suggest, ladies, that if you cannot find it within yourself to honor that relationship as ordained by God between a husband and wife that you not get married. If a man doesn’t rule your home, as one old-time preacher said, he will wreck it. It’s a very dicey proposition to try to get around God’s judgments, resulting in confusion, disorder, and frustration, often the cause of a failed Christian marriage. And you, man, remember that, in one respect, your feeling of being ‘large and in charge’ is a result of a curse, not because you are ‘all that and a bag o’ chips.’

The rule seems to be that, in the church, men and women are to be equal but in the Christian marriage the wife is to voluntarily submit herself to her husband, while everyone in the church voluntarily submits to each other, as equals, but all in submission to Christ as Lord and Master.

I can remember a time when an employer would ask you if you had a problem working for a woman manager. I also remember an employer saying he would not hire a woman because there were men looking for work who had families to support, as if a woman could not have a family to support. For those men in the church who insist that, “no woman is going to give me orders,” I might remind you;

Romans 16:1 ¶  I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2  That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

Genesis 3:14-15 comments: the seed of the woman

14 ¶  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This magnificent serpent, this dragon, this worm whose image is revealed in the passage in Ezekiel previously mentioned, is condemned to this existence. As Matthew Henry wrote, “The devil’s instruments must share in the devil’s punishments.” Human beings, as well, who choose to be instruments of Satan’s deception and scheming and who trust in his lie that by our disobedience we have become gods ourselves, suffer what is set for his destiny.

Revelation 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Revelation 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever…14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Their suffering shall be eternal.

Isaiah 66:24  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

In verse 15 is a great prophecy that Satan has struggled against throughout generations. Between Satan and the woman will be great enmity. Among other things Satan is the enemy of women. He is the villain in movie and story where the woman represents, in a greater narrative than what is portrayed or understood, the Mary as the mother of Christ and the Christians as the church, the bride of Christ. The woman is always in danger but saved by God and Christ, in the form of the hero. Truthfully, in the last fifty years this story has become muddled with the villain having a good reason for being bad, or being misunderstood, or just reacting to rejection, and the hero being either a simpering milquetoast or almost a villain himself. The woman is often simply empty of moral power and not much better than either of the other two, if not worse. But, the story has been the same through history until now.

The woman triumphs through Christ. Mary is that example, a second Eve, so to speak, but with an obedient heart and not disobedient.

Jeremiah 31:22  How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

Luke 1:30  And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

The seed of the woman and the seed of Satan are opposed and the seed of the woman shall triumph and destroy Satan and his seed.

Romans 16:20  And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Revelation 12:1 ¶  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Revelation 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Satan bruising the heel of the seed of woman is a reference to the fact that he wounded Christ on the Cross but the wound was not final as the Resurrection came later while Christ’s crushing Satan’s head is a mortal blow.

Genesis 3:11-13 comments: passing the blame

11 ¶  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Adam and Eve, before this, knew no significance to being naked. There was nothing shocking or shameful about their natural state. The first couple not only knew no shame but walking around naked was not remarkable at all. The realization that there was some importance about their state of undress did not come about until they had disobeyed God. Sin might make a person more knowledgeable, even though it won’t make them wiser until they suffer its dreadful consequences.

Then God requires an honest answer from Adam, which He does not get. There is no falling on the knees pleading for forgiveness here. There is only passing the blame to Eve and then even to God Himself. Here is a prime example of not taking responsibility for your actions, a choice mankind will suffer from for thousands of years afterward.

The woman also plays the pass the blame game and there is a clear warning here for us. I cannot blame Satan for my sin. I know what is wrong so my being tricked into something is not an excuse. As an example, many people are scammed by a desire to get rich without expending any effort or thought. Their own wickedness brings them down as the person or persons who deceived them merely reveal their sinful state.

Clearly, Adam and Eve had free will. The capacity to sin was always there because they had free will but the willingness to sin was only revealed when Satan exposed a human desire for certain things, mainly the three things mentioned earlier; the lust of flesh and eyes, and pride. We desire to see certain things, to experience certain things, and to boast of certain things, all of which destroy us in the end.

Were Adam and Eve created sinners or sinless? Clearly, Satan didn’t impart sin to them as he only revealed the capacity in them. We are sinners when we are able to be held accountable for our sin. It is not when we know that mom or dad doesn’t like something and we do it anyway that we are sinners. It is when we know in our heart that God has commanded us to honor our Father and our Mother and we choose to disobey regardless, whether tempted by another or not, that we cross that line.

Christian fundamentalist leaders like to add layer upon layer on what sin is in order to control their congregations; to serve them and to follow their convictions. But, they often take us away from God’s clearer messages. The fact that we, like Adam and Eve because of free will, are born with the capacity to sin does not condemn us. The fact that, at some point, all of us willingly choose to disobey God does.

Before a person hears of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to satisfy God’s wrath against sin and trusts in His resurrection for salvation here are the conditions God lays out as spoken by Peter referring to a Roman who had not yet heard of redemption through Christ.

Acts 10:34 ¶  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

These will hear Christ. God will somehow provide them with some level of truth by which their belief will be tested. If they reject what Jesus said about Himself, and the following verse defines what it means to believe on by way of parallel phrasing, while the verse after it reveals what Jesus said about Himself;

John 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me….9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

….or if they believe what Christ said and in His resurrection;

Acts 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Romans 10:8  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

…their salvation is predicated upon belief in Christ, what He said and what He did. Damnation is predicated upon rejecting Christ, thereby disobeying God. God loved you at the cross and He loves you now if you will believe Him and be given faith. He is furious if you reject the offer of amnesty He presented to you out of that love. This has nothing to do with what branch of Christianity you are in, your denomination, any creed, or your church attendance, your giving, or how pious and spiritual you pretend to be.

The moment you, knowing there is a God and that He has claims on you, choose to reject the free gift of salvation you have chosen disobedience and are condemned until or unless you are given the opportunity again to believe.

The moment you receive Christ you are forever beyond condemnation. Praying a 1-2-3 prayer in an emotionally charged church meeting is not proof of your salvation. Proof of the Holy Ghost’s indwelling is clearly stated.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

And your religion is not simply how many people you have gotten to repeat the prayer because they feel terribly guilty for letting their mother down, or their family, or depressed because their lives are trashed by sin, a feeling which can leave at the next good time or happy feeling. This has been the dogma of fundamentalism since Dwight L. Moody and Billy Sunday.  But your religion, the expression of your faith is;

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

And you are called to a specific attitude and hope;

Titus 2:11 ¶  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Do not commit the fundamentalist and Eve’s error by adding to God’s commands or Satan’s and the religious liberal’s error by denying it is true;

Deuteronomy 4:2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Genesis 3:9-10 comments: omniscience

9 ¶  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

God is omniscient, all-knowing, so He when He asks a question He already knows the answer to it. The question causes the one questioned to state something that is true and, often, obvious.

Isaiah 46:9  Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Psalm 139: 1 ¶  « To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. » O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.4  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

Later, God will ask Cain questions which would seem obvious to someone possessing omniscience, questions of which the answers He already knows. In this way a question becomes a statement. For instance, you walk into the room and there is a child standing next to a broken candy jar with candy strewn all over the floor. You ask, “what have you done?” Or, perhaps you wish to alert someone to the fact that they are late when they arrive and you ask, “do you know what time it is?” So, there are ways to ask a question to make a point as God seems to do.

Isa 44: 8  Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.…19  And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

Adam’s response is also the response of the Christian who strays from God and is ashamed of his sin. He is afraid and has hid himself. A teenager, who was doing some very wrong things, once told me, “I wish God would leave me alone.” You will not escape from God no matter how hard you try to hide and you will be confronted with your shame at some point.

Did Adam expect to die at the moment he encountered his God who had told him he would die in the day he ate of the tree? Fear of dying and death becomes the bane of mankind. Christ, rising from the dead, after living in a human body, conquered death for us.

Hebrews 2:14 ¶  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.           

Genesis 3:6-8 comments: hiding from God

6 ¶  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Eve is presented with three things that we are presented with every day and fares no better with them than we do. These three things are the foundation of the world in which we live. They are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and pride of life.

1John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Jesus goes further to include all of the things which mankind holds as important and valuable, things which elevate man in his status before other men.

Luke 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

This is a key to what it means to be a Christian in thought. One of the first doctrines of Christ which Paul listed in Hebrews is;

Hebrews 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

Reading again what Jesus said in Luke 16:15 and comparing it to Hebrews 6:1 we see that to become Christ’s one must repent or turn one’s mind away from the dead works which you hold onto as justification. To justify yourself before God you need to trust in Christ, not in the things which you’ve been taught make you a good and valuable person, worthy of respect. John the Baptist warned the Pharisees (conservatives) and the Sadducees (liberals) who felt they were good in the sight of God by their religious observances and their heritage as Jews. Notice the context of this passage is not sin necessarily but what justifies you before God. We must repent, or change our minds and hearts or have them changed, from what we believe is our justification and look to Christ;

Matthew 3:7 ¶  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9  And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

These things presented to Eve are things we absorb in our minds from our first understanding and a great deal of unlearning must take place when the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts or we will spend a great deal of time spinning our wheels as Christians, making a mockery of our discipleship.

Eve gave the fruit to her husband, Adam, who was with her, and he also disobeyed God. At that moment they realized their disgrace, as conscience was revealed and the bitter vision of knowing that they were undone, without honor, overcame them. As we are wont to do, if indeed we have a conscience at all, they tried to hide their shame and human frailty that had been exposed. Gone were the happy, careless times of joy in God’s garden, the first couple enjoying each other and creation without care or doubt. We mistake this time in our lives for attaining adulthood, becoming a man or a woman, when, all too often, it simply reflects a loss of who we were or could have been. When we follow the world, which is Satan’s bailiwick (2Corinthians 4:4), with our desire to place self-gratification and self-glorification above God and make it a sort of rite of passage into full admission to the world we must take on that shame and self-doubt, that uncertainty and, if you would, low self-esteem, we take steps downward. Often, with each action after that we feel less and less that sense of ‘all is possible’ for us and our choices become more and more limited and less and less satisfying. Shame becomes a constant nagging companion and if we become so hardened that we cannot feel it we just become numb and can only feel a sense of disgust at who we are.

Some will try to hide in an entertainment as an escape, some in a hobby or an employment or some other activity, even hiding from God in church, while others drink or take drugs to numb the pain of their existence. Some will become defiant and proud of their sin, claiming it as a badge of distinction and self-justification, thumbing their nose at God, so to speak. But, that point comes for almost all people who are actually able to acknowledge it, that point when they feel that they have lost something. It is a vague and uncertain pain or it may be a great sense of grief. But it is a sense of loss nonetheless. The only real cure is to trust Christ, to know that He loves you, to acknowledge both your love for Him and His for you, and to depend on His righteousness and not your own for peace with God and peace in your own soul.

They heard God, the pre-incarnate Christ, the visible image of the invisible God, the express image of His person as pointed out in the study on chapter 1, verse 3, with whom they had known such sweet fellowship, walking in the garden, calling out to them as He often did apparently. But, this time they hid from His presence. When we sin we often forgo our prayer, talking to God, and reading the Bible, God talking to us, and hide from Him, because, if we are indeed believers, we feel great shame and that we have let Him down. The more we continue to do wrong the more we try to cut off His counsel and fellowship with Him until we are the most miserable of persons.