Genesis 3:8-13

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

Genesis 3:16-21

¹⁶ To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.

¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

God warned Adam and Eve of the consequence of eating forbidden fruit. Little did they realize its extent ….

1. The Unexpected

They believed the lie of the serpent. What was promised was delivered but not how they had imagined; it was totally the opposite! They had to live with the consequences of their choice. And that choice now limits them. Instead of enjoying life, they must endure the full magnitude of their penalty.

2. Change in Self-Concept

Being aware of their disobedience also led them to be suddenly conscious of their nakedness. In their innocence, this was not a problem. Now their eyes were opened, and a feeling of shame crept upon them. They felt they needed to cover themselves immediately. So, they hurriedly picked fig leaves, sewed them together to clothe themselves. This was their best solution to their problem.

But it was such a feeble attempt. Man would always be inadequate in dealing with problems brought about by sin and disobedience. And trying to solve something in a panic could never yield good results! Covering up for sin often leads to another sin being committed.

3. Grace at Work in Full

But God would always seek out humans. God wanted to meet up with them as usual. But when they heard Him calling them, they hid! Fig-leaf dressing couldn’t make them stand in the presence of God! It was not only a loss of decency but a total loss of face!

There were also changes in verbal communication. Before the eating of the forbidden fruit, man had intimate fellowship with God. They probably chatted on all sorts of topics with lots of humor  and affirmation peppering their conversations. But now, they were conscious of sin and their communication became distant and veiled. Only now, the humans understood the extent and impact of sin. Now, they experienced one loss after another.

But God’s grace was at work in full force even as God sought them, talked with them and made suitable dressing to cloth them properly.

4. Radical Changes

From a life of leisure, the first couple moved to a life of heavy labor.

Eve

¹⁶ To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

Severe pain in childbearing

Severe pain is experienced by mothers in delivering their babies. Small wonder then that they call the delivery of a baby - “labor”.

Subservience to the husband

Eve was the first person to disobey. She ate the forbidden fruit without consulting Adam. As a result, God imposed on her, subjugation to the husband. The husband is head of the wife and family; this organizational structure is clearly instructed repeatedly in the New Testament.

Loss of self-determination

Eve had abused her freedom. Now her freedom was limited and subjected to the wishes of Adam. Her will had to be controlled and managed by the husband. She is an asset to the family, but she wouldn’t be in leadership.

Adam

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.

¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Hard labor to survive

From a horticulturist, Adam became a full-time agriculturist. He would have to work hard in every aspect of food production - soil preparation, planting, tending, reaping, storing and cooking. Adam would be required to expend all his energies before he could finally eat. Hard labor is the new paradigm of life for him.

Lifetime of Difficulty

There is no retirement in hard labor. The nature of work and its routine would be experienced up to his death. There is practically no rest for the body. In order to survive, man must toil; he would reap what he sowed.

In Eden, Adam worked a little. He tended the trees and the plants; he had more time to relax. Physical labor was not part of his daily routine. He could eat at any time he wished and could choose from the vast range of fruits.

From Tending to Toiling

Once out of Eden, Adam would have to work hard to grow the food before he could pick and eat. What a great contrast!

Family Finally

²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

The family had been part of God’s plan for man. Adam finally gave his wife a name. Her name – “Eve” - suggested the continuity of the human race.

5. Great Contrast

The life of Adam and Eve before and after eating the forbidden fruit showed a great contrast of life and lifestyle.

From easy living, they moved to a hard and difficult life. From simply picking a fruit that was already there and eating it, they had now to spend time and exert effort to grow their own food. They hadn’t worried about the welfare of their bodies; now they had to make their own clothes. They were under the care of God; now they had to protect and fend for themselves. They had to contend with the laws of nature and the cycle of time. What would they think about when it became too much for them to carry the cares of the day and the challenges of tomorrow? I’m sure Adam and Eve would reminisce often about their lives in the Garden of Eden and wished to go back.

6. Towards a New Life  

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

God prepared Adam and Eve for the new life and routine they had to follow. They had failed to obey the first command. Their God-given gift of the will was still operational, but their freedom was very limited. There were things they could not change whether they liked them or not.

When Adam and Eve took the serpent's word and disregarded God’s, they had placed their lives under the authority of the serpent. They would experience what the serpent had said. But note, the words of the serpent did not contain any promise of care and commitment. All he said was what they could become. Whether they liked it or how their life would turn out was inconsequential.

Before Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden, God helped them. He clothed them to hide their nakedness and to give them warmth. God’s heart went out to them and went with them even as they left. The fact that some animals were sacrificed to make clothing for them is a hint that God wasn’t finished with them yet. A new milieu dawned for humans.

7. Long Detour

Rev Dr Betia concludes this episode, “The life God planned and intended for man is still operational. But the route would take longer and be more costly. Eternal life can still be achieved. And just like how the fruit of the Tree of Life was availed then, it needs to be desired and obtained by faith, in obedience to God’s Word.

God still has the same expectation for humans, whether in Eden or today – to live under the authority of God and in obedience to His Word. Man will have to Simply Listen ….”