Roadmap for the soul - Judaism, the bible and the tabernacle

As we've just seen, one of the first results of mankind's new 'freedom' is that 'unity' has been lost... both with God, and with one another. This loss of unity can be seen in Adam and Eve's sudden compulsion to make "coverings of leaves".

Now look at some of the other consequences ---

First, we see that in Genesis 3:14, the "serpent" is "cursed" 9 for having deceived mankind.

Next, we find that just as God Himself is having to experience pain and suffering in His attempts to give 'life' to His 'children', "woman" is now appointed to experience similar "sorrow" and "pain." 10

And then we come to the consequence of the 'cursed ground' ---

Genesis 3:17 "... because you have...eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ' You shall not eat of it,' Cursed is the ground for your sake..." (God speaking)

Many people are quick to assume that God is an angry, judgmental God who is ready and eager to punish us when we do something wrong. On the surface, the above passage might even serve to reinforce that type of view. But look at those three little words..."...for your sake." Those three words are very important and their point is simple...

If God hadn't cursed the ground, neither Adam and Eve, nor the rest of us, would have much motivation to return to Him. We would just adapt to the pain that we inflict on each other as a result of our new 'freedom' and would then muddle along with our self-centered lives. We would really have little reason to regret our rebellion and would simply assume that this is how things are meant to be..

But God loves us too much to allow that kind of self-deception and wants us to have a daily reminder that things here on earth are far from the way He intends them to be. So he uses the 'cursed ground' to get our attention... He hopes that the "toil" and "sweat" that result from this curse, will make us think about how things could be.

By cursing the ground, God has basically said, "Ok...you think that you can have happy, fulfilling lives without Me... go for it." God said this, knowing that the sweat and heartache of trying to survive might help us to see that our lives are far from ideal, and that we do in fact, need Him.

In other words, the 'cursed ground' is actually intended to be a 'motivator'.
This makes it more of a blessing than a punishment.

It is actually quite a loving response, and is intended to make us think carefully about our circumstances, This 'curse' is just one of many steps that God is going to implement in the hope of motivating us to return to relationship with Him. Pretty amazing, don't you think?

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