The Blessing in the Curse: When God Curses (Genesis 3)

When God Curses

In Genesis 3 the first curses of God are given.
God hates sin and it is in His character and nature to punish it. His principle is against evil.
But even in these first curses His love can still be seen. With the thorn comes the rose and God can be graceful in His stern justice.
First the serpent is given a curse, who does not even get the time to give an answer for what he did unlike Adam and Eve:

[Gen 3:14-15 NKJV] 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You [are] cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."


Because you have done this. Done what? Deceived humanity and brought it to destruction.

In God’s hate for what Satan did He shows His love for humanity. He actually cared about the fact that humanity had fallen. He hated it and cursed the serpent for it.
One day it would be crushed and already salvation from this serpent is promised in this curse. Satan would not have the whole ground. There would be a seed that would resist his power.

God cursed Satan and in that curse His care and salvation for humanity is shown.

Oftentimes, when God punishes, it is because of His love for the person wronged or deceived.

His anger here is not just right, it’s rather beautiful.

But what about the curses given to humanity itself. We have already touched on the curse on the woman. She would have pain in childbearing and her husband would rule over her. But this last part would also keep the order in the family.

Even more striking is the curse given to Adam:


[Gen 3:17-19 NKJV] 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed [is] the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat [of] it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you [are], And to dust you shall return."


Thorns and thistles it would bring forth for you. Cursed is the ground for your sake.

It was a curse, but it was for Adam.

He would have to work hard in sweat and often with great pain, but it would be for the better.

How then is it for his sake?
A few principles can be found in Scripture for the pain and toil. Obviously it makes us hope for heaven where there will be no more pain. We learn to not put too much love in this world.

By work we are also kept busy from sinning. 

These are some of the things we can think of.

What matters for now is that God can even curse for our own sakes. Sometimes it is for the better even though it may hurt and even if it is disappointing. We may not always understand, but God's ways are not our ways.

Even death can be rather a blessing. Humanity now knew evil. If they would live forever they would forever be in an evil sinful world. We can understand that this can get quite tiresome after a while.


[Gen 3:22-24 NKJV] 22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.


And to put a cherry on top: once God finished to pronounce the curses He starts blessing again and He provides for humanity's sin-guilt-problem.

He clothes their shame:


[Gen 3:21 NKJV] 21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.


This is the character of God and this is still the way He thinks and operates. These principles of His heart still remain true.
For this reason we should not let our circumstances influence how we view our God, but we should let our God influence how we view our circumstances.

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