Genesis 3:14-16

The Lord God said to the serpent,

‘Because you have done this,

   cursed are you among all animals

   and among all wild creatures;

upon your belly you shall go,

   and dust you shall eat

   all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

   and between your offspring and hers;

he will strike your head,

   and you will strike his heel.’

To the woman he said,

‘I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;

   in pain you shall bring forth children,

yet your desire shall be for your husband,

   and he shall rule over you.’

Comment:

This is traditionally understood to describe God’s punishment of Adam and Eve for the ‘sin’ of disobedience. But how could a God of infinite Love exact such a punishment? The very idea is built on an assumption of duality—God is the good guy, the serpent is the bad guy, and Adam and Eve made the wrong choice.

But there is no duality in God—and therefore no duality in the Garden. Eve and Adam have chosen to explore the illusion of duality; they have eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Heretofore then, they have only known Good—the loving Presence of God. By choosing to know good and evil, they (and they, of course, are we) are becoming a part of the creative energy of God, continuing the very process of divine creation of which they themselves are integral parts. God here is lovingly describing the unavoidable consequences of their choice. Duality won’t be easy. It will seem limiting and painful and fearful. 

How can we know God is not the angry, punishing deity so often assumed in this story? Well, setting aside divine consistency and creative purpose, we find the God of infinite Love in the story itself, in verse 21 (RSV): “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.” 

Blessings!

Rev. Ed