The form<\/span>. Satan and demons are able to take many forms (2 Cor. 11:14) and inhabit physical bodies. Satan was speaking from within the serpent at a time when he (Satan) was a fallen creature but the earthly animals were not. Eve does not seem to be surprised by the talking animal, so perhaps before the fall animals had a closer relationship to Adam and Eve than they did after the fall or as they do to us today. Adam named all these creatures personally (Gen. 2:20) which may suggest a closer relationship. Also, it was not until Gen. 9:2 that the fear of man was placed in every animal creature.<\/p>\n The deception<\/span>. The process of the deception of Eve by Satan is well-known (doubt, distortion, denial, disobedience). 1 John 2:16 describes this as the common way of temptation. It could be said that Eve\u2019s desires were all good but directed in the wrong way, being a violation of God\u2019s plain prohibition. More importantly, we should remember that humanity\u2019s fall into sin came from Adam\u2019s partaking of the tree and not from Eve\u2019s. She was \u201cdeceived\u201d (2 Cor. 11:3) and was in \u201ctransgression\u201d (1 Tim. 2:14), but we sinned in Adam (Rom. 5:12) and by Adam we all die (1 Cor. 15:22). Eve also came from Adam and sinned as part of the whole human race.<\/p>\n The curse<\/span>. Gen. 3:14 is directed both to the serpent and to Satan. The serpent was relegated to the realm of creeping things as a reminder of what happened. The poor animal was no more culpable of the fall than all the other animals that were affected (Rom. 8:20). To Satan, on the other hand, his \u201cseed\u201d will always be at enmity with the woman\u2019s seed. Since Satan could not have physical seed, this would refer to spiritual seed or progeny (John 8:44). He will be the spiritual father of lost humanity and she will be the progenitor of Messiah and His spiritual children.<\/p>\n For purposes of marriage and family it is important to see what changed and what remained the same as Adam and Eve (and the serpent) were brought before God.<\/p>\n Her seed<\/span>. The woman does not have physical seed either, though 3:15 mentions her \u201cseed.\u201d Her progeny (or spiritual seed) will come through the one seed, Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:19). This is the protoevangelium<\/i>, or the first gospel mention. Her seed then will consist of children that she and Adam produce who will be spiritually born again. This will be through the godly line of Seth and eventually all who believe in Jesus Christ as the promised seed (Gal. 3:29). Uniquely, Jesus would be \u201cborn of a woman\u201d (Gal. 4:4) without the physical seed of a man, and by virgin birth would be both the physical child of Mary and the promised Seed, or progeny, of Eve.<\/p>\n Her conception<\/span>. Eve\u2019s punishment for her sin is specifically applied to her pain in child-bearing. We know there were no children born to her at this time but we know later she bore Cain and Abel, Seth, and other \u201csons and daughters\u201d (Gen. 5:4). The common question of where Cain got his wife is answered in Eve\u2019s later daughters, there being no prohibition at that time on marrying one\u2019s sister. In fact it was a necessity. It should be noted also that child-birth is not a miracle, the only exception being Jesus\u2019 virgin birth. Childbirth is the most natural thing in the world and happens constantly among animals and humans. If it were a promised miracle from God it would not have a curse connected to it.<\/p>\n Her desire<\/span>. There is a two-fold warning for both Adam and Eve by God. \u201cYour desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you\u201d (Gen. 3:16). This \u201cdesire\u201d is not the desire of physical attraction but the desire to rule over her husband in a way contrary to the creation order of chapter two. The word \u201cdesire\u201d is from the Hebrew word teshugah<\/i>. It is used and defined in 4:7 where God is confronting Cain for his sin of murder. \u201cSin lies at the door. And its desire (teshugah<\/i>) is for you, but you should rule over it.\u201d Sin desired to rule over Cain but he must resist that desire. For Eve, her desire would be to rule over her husband but she must resist that desire. Adam\u2019s part in that sin will be dealt with in the following point.<\/p>\n Whereas Eve\u2019s difficult responsibility would be in painful childbirth, Adam\u2019s difficult responsibility would be in tilling the ground. Adam was created a gardener from the beginning. \u201cThen the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it\u201d (Gen. 2:15).<\/p>\n His failure<\/span>. Adam\u2019s failure in the fall happened because he did not take the lead in his family and protect Eve. As we have seen, it was from Adam\u2019s sin in eating of the forbidden tree that sin was brought to the human race. Had he protected his wife rather than following her lead, neither of them might (we don\u2019t know for sure) have sinned at that time or in the same way.<\/p>\n His curse<\/span>. One result of Adam\u2019s failure would be in his response to Eve\u2019s wrong desire. Not only would she desire to rule over her husband, but, as the text says, \u201che shall rule over you\u201d (Gen. 3:16). \u201cRule\u201d is from the word mashal <\/i>which means to rule harshly. Whereas before, the husband and wife served God in a loving and God-ordained way, now she would desire to rule over her husband and he would respond by harshly ruling over her. Headship and submission were not part of the curse as feminism and now egalitarianism want to insist. These were plainly given to Adam and Eve as a blessing when God created them male and female.\u00a0 However, the distortion of submission and headship certainly did begin after the fall.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Lord was warning Eve that one of the bitter consequences of her sin would be a perpetual struggle with her husband. She would attempt to usurp his authority. And he would respond by trying to impose a despotic, authoritarian rule over her that would suppress her in a way God never intended. We see those very consequences at work in the failure of millions of families to this present day.\u201d (John MacArthur, What the Bible Says about Parenting<\/i>, p. 186)<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s curse also involved the ground which he was created to till. \u201cCursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life\u201d (Gen. 3:17). It will be by the sweat of his brow that the ground again will produce food. Farming itself is perhaps the most biblically honored profession of man\u2019s dominion. We see life revolving around farming in the Psalms and Proverbs, the parables and illustrations, and the general life of most people in the Bible. Now the ground is hindered from easy productivity and, due to the curse, no profession will be successful without hard work. Only in the coming millennial kingdom will the earth produce again as it did before the fall (see Psa. 67:6-7; Zech. 8:12).<\/p>\nThe Woman<\/b><\/h5>\n
The Man<\/b><\/h5>\n
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