Genesis Framework Part 33

Genesis Framework

GF 33 Genesis 3.17-19
April 24, 2016
Part 33

Genesis 3:17-19

17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."

Last week we introduced the idea that the general curse upon mankind as temporal in character, having contemplated the mankind to come which Adam represented, and in him had broken the original works-covenant.

So, today we will finish looking at the terms of the common curse and its frustrations of man’s efforts and next, to begin our transition to the exilic life of mankind “outside” the garden-sanctuary of Eden, east of Eden.

Please keep in mind that the idea that while the common curse on mankind is temporal in character, it is nevertheless a curse on which restraint is exercised by the operation of another providential temporal principle, called “common grace.”

Under the “common curse” upon mankind, in a practical sense, things are pretty bad and toilsome; but, without the operation of the restraining power at work of God’s “common grace,” things would certainly be much worse than they are!

Let’s take a closer look at Gen. 3.17…

Exposition Gen. 3:17

tent stake

And unto Adam He said

NKJ Exodus 32:1

Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know
what has become of him."

NKJ Exodus 32:2
And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."

NKJ Exodus 32:3-4
"So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

1. Aaron gave heed to the request of the people; he heard + did evil at their request of their voices.

2. Aaron ate of the offering, in a festive worship of a false god, in the presence of the LORD.

NKJ Exodus 32:5-6

So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar [presupposing future offerings of worship] before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD." Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the
People sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Aaron declared an Unholy-day –vs- a Holiday.

NKJ Exodus 32:7-8

And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' "

Part of the worship was to wrongly attribute good things done by the false god, and then to demonstrate faith in the false god by looking to it for future provision and deliverance.

So, as you can see, the actions taken by Adam And Eve were not simply confined to the eating of forbidden fruit. Skeptics who try to deny the truth, like to portray the actions of Adam and Eve as no more than a harmless act of taking a nourishing snack for themselves in the garden, and the actions taken by God as over-reactive.To the contrary, theirs was a highly offensive act of treason of cosmic proportion, by rendering worship to, paying homage to, and celebrating a meal to the false god( Satan), right there in the sanctuary( the holy of holies) of the true God( Yahweh-Elohim).

NKJ Genesis 3:6
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.

They ate( consumed) the fruit in sacramental faith, taking action in an attitude of worship, believing that something would proceed from their sacramental act of worship, on the basis of the words of promise and assurances given them by their newly acquired god, Satan.

Sacrament- an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual divine grace.

Genesis 3:17-19

of which I commanded you( gave absolute charge over)

verb, Piel- intensive active;

as in…

…to lay absolute charge (upon you),

…to give absolute charge (to you),

…to give full command (over it to you)

Best expression-

I had given an absolute charge over the tree to you.

It might not make immediate sense, but God had not given Adam a commandment, He gave him a command.

(Q) What’s the difference?

(A) Let’s do this backwards.

By God having given Adam a command, so that the responsibility for keeping it was more direct, and the consequences for failure to keep it more severe, than if he had been given a commandment.

An illustration might help…

to lay a charge a commandment

to stay a lodge

to walk a messenger

to bake a cake

to toar a tumult

to be contrary an overthrow

to crush a plague

to level a foundation

to lift a burden

to plow a ravine, as plowing water

to loan a credit card

to guide a rest

to rule a government

to turn a joy, as in dance around in circles

to repeat an appointment, a time repeated

to lift a highway above a local area

Back to our text…

saying (God restating His words to Adam)

'You shall not eat off of it':

The implications are profound.

You are in charge of the tree, you shall not eat of it.

You are to restrain anyone else from eating of it.

You are to uphold and protect the idea of not to eat of it.

(I am) cursing the ground on account of you

in your toil you shall eat of it

all the days of your life

Genesis 3:18-19
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."

all the days of your life == until you return to the ground

…a temporal curse

The ground is cursed, and the curse on man is at least to be “from the ground.”

In contrast to man’s proper dominion over it, the ground would show itself hostile to man in the carrying out of this curse.

*The common or general curse is correlative with common grace;

and the eternal curse is correlative with redemptive grace.

correlative- closely related to one another, having a mutually dependent relationship

Later we will find curses that have their correlation in the eternal sphere of redemptive judgment, similar to the curse on the serpent-Satan, both in form and meaning.

Eg, Cain, Judas

These kinds of curses are addressed to those persons doomed, and concern the ultimate issue of exclusion from the beatitude of the kingdom of God. They are an extension of the enmity instituted between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent in that curse.

So, why didn’t God curse both Satan and man to eternal doom?

I don’t know!

But the fact is, He gave a promise in Genesis3.15 which was to be fulfilled.

So, in order to make room for the kind of human history that was presupposed in the prophecy of the woman’s seed and the great warfare with the devil and his seed, final judgment would have to be postponed.

God gave confirmation of His divine purpose of salvation when He promised a temporal, common curse rather than an immediate eternal judgment against the generality of mankind.

On that day in the garden, God certainly pronounced judgment that manifested His displeasure, but it was not an apocalyptic appearance of the magnitude we can expect when He finally comes in His fiery wrath.

The earth was not consumed that day in the garden, and man was not cast into the outer darkness.

True, man fell into a terrible state of sin and temporal death; but he was not totally abandoned to the full power of sin and the devil.

His (man’s) salvation at that point was to be measured by the positive benefits realized by restraints God placed upon the effects of sin and the curse. The restraints are a blessing which is temporal, not eternal in scope.They are common blessings that all men experience that are not deserved, but are to be enjoyed by the grace of the Creator by virtue of their part in the continuing order of the world, by the restraints of God’s common grace, even though all have forfeited blessings by their rebellion against Him. All creation owes thanks to God.

Even the curse on the woman presupposed a continuation of the marriage institution as a divine appointment for human society; while there would be difficulties, there would still be children. Correspondingly, the curse on the ground presupposed man’s dominion over the earth; even if toil, thorns, and pests would discourage, the soil would still sent forth a provision of daily bread. Thanks to God’s common grace, chaos would be averted, and human life would find societal structuring through the continuation of the family, and the institution of government.

We see the correlative relationship between the temporal curse and common grace by reason that while under the common curse there are natural and social evils, destructive earthquakes, and wars; but the restraining hand of God’s common grace tempers the common curse
until redemptive history runs its full course and the appointed hour of the final parousi’a (to be along side) comes.

Many will be surprised on the Day of Judgment when they discover that it was just as the Word of God says; only the righteousness of Christ is able to save you.All men are sinners and no one can save himself. God is just, so He must punish sin; but He is also merciful, moreover gracious, and offers His Son as the perfect sacrifice in order to purchase a place for you in heaven, which He offers to you as the free gift of eternal life. As we continue to examine man’s earliest duties with regard to the covenant of works, although they can be categorically divided into two distinct types of classes; one in relationship with God, and the other in relationship with fellow man, all covenant stipulations are expressions of the will of the Lord. The law of the covenant is the law of man’s imzage-sonship.

Jesus is God Incarnate

In order to pay the debt of our sins, He came from Heaven, having been sent by the Father, where He lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father even unto the shameful death upon the cross in order to pay the debt of your sins.This gift must be received by faith, believing that Jesus’ perfect life and Cross Work was His complete and necessary Atonement for your sins, in your behalf.Faith is a gift that comes by the Power of God the Holy Spirit working in a person’s innermost being. The Holy Spirit has the authority and power to quicken your dead spirit, to make it come to life. If you have not done so before this moment, ask Jesus to forgive you your sins, tell Him you’ve stop trying to be your own savior, and ask Him to come into your life right now, and to give you eternal life. Then, in faith believing, thank Him for the gift that He is giving you, the one He paid for in full in your place, in Jesus’ name, AMEN