Then The LORD said to me, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. In pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband’s love, respect, and confidence, but he will impose his will on you” (Gen. 3:16). The enemy had killed our physical perfection, stolen our coregency, and destroyed our relationship of equality and support. We’d had each other’s love, respect, and confidence. The curse resulted in domination and willful independence. The cost of our sin continues today. Even among those who are Christ’s own, it is the curse, not the original design, which is too often taught and practiced.
Then God addressed Adam, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground for your sake. In sorrow you will eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it will bring forth for you. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground; for from dust you were, and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:17–19).
You’ve no doubt heard it said, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” Well, we needed to be employed. So our “tending and keeping” of paradise became “toiling and travail” in the ground in order to produce our food. Cursed was the ground–—for our sakes (emphasis mine).
The LORD God made garments of skins and clothed us. For those coverings, blood had to be shed. You realize, we’d not seen death before this. The animals were living creatures. They were ours to care for and enjoy. To see these animals die to clothe us was heart-breaking. To know their deaths were a consequence of our disobedience grieved us.
Then The LORD God agreed, “Behold, the humans have become like one of Us in knowing good and evil. We must prevent them from taking also of the tree of life and living forever.” For that reason, to protect us from eternal life in fallen bodies and a fallen world, The LORD God sent us out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which we were taken. The Creator placed Cherubim, and a flaming sword that turned every way, at the garden gate, to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen. 3:21–24).
This is how paradise ended. We had disobeyed. We had to bear the consequences of our choice. We had to be protected, so we had to leave the garden. We needed work to occupy our time, energy, and attention, so the earth was cursed. The Book tells you, the whole creation groans and travails in pain together with us, until redemption (Rom. 8:22–23). I am so sorry for what I did. But you can’t undo what you have done. Only when Jesus died could I be made “just as if I’d never sinned.” That gift, justification, is for anyone who chooses The Creator’s will and way.
Adam and I mated, and I became pregnant. I gave birth to a son, whom we named Cain, which means “acquired.” I said, “With the help of The LORD, I have acquired a man child.” Again, The LORD blessed us with a son; we called him Abel. Abel was a shepherd, and Cain was a gardener (Gen. 4:1–2).
We had daughters, but their births and names are not recorded. A possible result of the curse? Perhaps.
At the time appointed for sacrifice, Cain brought an offering to The LORD of the fruit from his garden. Abel’s offering was of the first of his flock. The LORD received Abel and this required blood offering. But God could not accept Cain and the offering Cain chose to bring, rather than the offering required by The Creator.
Things haven’t changed, have they? People still want to have God on their own terms. But you only have a relationship with The Almighty on His terms.
Because God did not accept Cain’s offering, Cain was very angry and pouted. So The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If you do right, will you not be received? And if you don’t, sin waits at the door to control you, but you must master it.” I fear Cain paid little attention to The Word of The LORD.
But it’s still the same. Sin waits at each human’s door, looking for a way to take control of him or her. Sin must be mastered, but that only happens with The Spirit’s help and the individual’s vigilance.
Not long after this, Cain invited Abel to take a walk with him in the field. Cain complained against The LORD and against The LORD’s judgment of the fruit offering. Abel defended The Almighty as The One Whose requirements are just and Who alone is worthy to judge. Cain became angrier and angrier, finally drawing a knife and slitting Abel’s throat.
Not unlike sacrificing an animal—that. To whom was Cain’s sacrifice made? Self-will? The enemy?
Can you imagine how I felt? My oldest son murdered my second son. And by whom had sin entered into paradise? Whenever I saw one of my children, or grandchildren, exercise their will against The LORD God, or against one another, I grieved. I’d opened the way of self-will, and the consequences of self-will, upon all who followed after me.
The LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” The Almighty was presenting Cain with opportunity to confess and repent his sin (Gen. 4:9ff).
But Cain responded, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
“What have you done?” asked The LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. Now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you farm the ground, it will no longer yield for you her strength.”
Cain was cursed from the earth; it would no longer be the resting place or strength it had been for him. Remember, production is in the DNA of all creation. Not to produce is part of the curse. The ground was cursed. The Almighty continued, “You will be a fugitive and vagrant in the earth.”
Cain replied, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. See, You have driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hid. I will be a fugitive and a vagrant in the earth, and everyone who finds me will try to kill me.”
No remorse, you notice. Just bemoaning the consequence for his own choices. You’ve no doubt seen that in your day. No accepting responsibility. No making restitution or seeking forgiveness. Just wailing against the consequences of self-will.
In mercy, despite Cain’s lack of repentance, The LORD said, “Vengeance will be taken seven times on anyone who slays Cain.” And The LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should think to kill him (Gen. 4:15ff).
Cain went out from the presence of The LORD and lived in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. Not eastward in Eden, but east of Eden. Further away from paradise and relationships with The Creator and us.
And so, I lost my second son to death at the hand of my eldest, and I lost my eldest to the consequences of his own choices. No matter what your children do that disappoints you, you may not grasp how my losses grieved me. Every evil that followed, I knew to be part of the consequences for my disobedience. I had chosen disobedience. Through my children, I continued to experience the consequence of that choice the rest of my life.
Cain fathered a son whom he named Enoch (Gen 4:17). He, Cain, built a city. Why? Who told him to build a city? His own “creativity” perhaps? He called the city after his son, Enoch.
Cain had three great-great-great grandsons. Jabal was a cattleman who lived in tents. Jubal was a musician and instrument maker. Tubal-Cain worked with brass and iron. It was such fun when I could watch my children develop interests, skills, and talents. I enjoyed that immensely. Creation creating good things is part of the original purpose for humankind. God created us to create.
But these boys’ father, Lamech, murdered a man, Jewish sages say an ancestor and a descendant. Sorry, I’m just reporting. I can’t tell you how that worked. Lamech knew the murder to be to his own hurt, but the deed was done. As his great-great-grandfather, Cain, Lamech was a murderer. The consequences of sin are often seen generations later. Why don’t folks think about that before they choose sin (Gen. 4:3–24)?
Lamech had two wives. So the first polygamy is recorded. Interesting, Lamech was the first polygamist and the second murderer.
One hundred thirty years went