Coveting someone or something that does not belong to you gives birth to sin. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6). The woman “saw” with her “eyes,” which built up an inward “desire,” prompting her to “take” the fruit (meaning she touched it and did not die; the serpent must be telling the truth) and finally doing what God forbad – she “ate.”
At this point, sin still has not affected mankind but for one final and fatal step. Adam, who was with her, who was to “tend” and “keep” the garden and protect the woman from harm, failed! He consummated that failure when “he ate” also. Uh oh! “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Genesis 3:7). Temptation turned into sin and the pending curses on creation were born.
After the blame game takes place in Genesis 3:12-13 (man blames woman, woman blames serpent) of who said and did what, God lays down the hammer on creation – starting first with the serpent. “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:14).
The Hebrew root word for serpent translates to be a snake, which is now cursed to its belly. In addition, note how all cattle and every beast is also cursed with the snake. What is the curse? Death. “All the days of your life” means time is now ticking on the number of days left to live. The first recorded death was an animal sacrifice (innocent blood shed for atonement of sin) recorded in Genesis 3:21 where God made tunics of skin (in place of fig leaves in Genesis 3:7) to cover Adam and his wife.
All life will “surely die” (physical death) because of sin and return to the dust of the earth. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 states, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.” Unfortunately Adam and the woman disobeyed God, and in doing so, a physical death would become their curse also. But God had a backup plan for such disobedience.
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NOTE: The preceding excerpt was taken from the book, “God on Climate Change: Worshipping creation instead of the Creator” by Jim Wear (the author of this blog)… available in paperback at Amazon.
