Devotions

Genesis 3.  God judges rightly.  For each sin involved in the fall, there are appropriate consequences.

1. Satan is not mentioned here – but it is obvious from later scriptures (Rev. 12:9; 20:2) that he tempted the serpent to deceive Eve.  His battle with the woman’s offspring would occur in God’s timing, and will crush his head (15).
2. The serpent would be cursed above all creatures.  It would be transformed from its initial beauty to become a bottom crawler (14).
3. The woman would experience a change physically and emotionally that would be passed on to all women after her (16).
4. The man would also be changed.  He would suffer just trying to survive this life, and he and all who come from him (including Eve) will eventually die, returning to the ground (‘adamah) from which he had been formed. All mankind lost the garden of Eden. God will not grant the tree of life to the accursed.

LORD, your judgments are righteous.  Thank you that even in the fall there are hints of your grace, and the undoing of sin’s consequences.