The first time the word “suffer” appears in the Bible, God is standing up for Cain, first murderer in history.
It doesn’t describe Adam and Eve’s pain, and it doesn’t refer to Abel’s murder.
Rather, God is reassuring Cain that his enemies will suffer if they take vengeance on him. It’s a word of caring in an impossibly difficult situation.
In verses 20-24, God provides Adam and Eve with clothing made of skin.
God himself killed animals to cover up their nakedness.
We also learn that people originally were intended to live forever. God drove both Adam and Eve from the garden so they couldn’t eat from the Tree of Life.
It seems merciful that we can’t live forever. Who’d want to experience that much pain?
In verses 17-19, Adam receives his punishment, a lifetime of toil.
Ouch.
In verses 15-16, God curses the woman with a constant fight with the serpent, painful childbirth, and a desire for her spouse.
None of these things sounds like an ideal for Eve or any of the women who’ve come after her.
In verses 13-14, the serpent is punished for its role in Adam and Eve’s disobedience.
I wonder what the serpent looked like before being cursed to crawl on its belly. My sense is that most contemporary imagery misses the mark, and that the serpent was a beautiful animal in the Garden.
And I find the interaction between the serpent and Satan to be a curious one.
In verses 7-13, we learn that Adam and Eve are busted, unable to avoid the consequences of their disobedience.
In verses 1-6, Eve and the serpent have an extended conversation about the fruit on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
At the end of verse 6, we learn that Adam was standing there the whole time.
When you hear a friend or family member about to do the wrong thing, speak up!
In Genesis 50:15-21, Joseph reassures his brothers that he holds no grudge against them.
Am I able to say the same thing about people who attack me?
Jacob / Israel gets word that his son Joseph is still alive (vv. 16-28).
