Genesis 3: 14-24

Genesis   Chapter 3 14-24

Then the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life.

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³ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel."

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To the woman he said: "I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall be your master."

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To the man he said: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, "Cursed be the ground because of you! In toil shall you eat its yield all the days of your life.

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Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you, as you eat of the plants of the field.

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By the sweat of your face shall you get bread to eat, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken; For you are dirt, and to dirt you shall return."

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⁴ The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living.

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For the man and his wife the LORD God made leather garments, with which he clothed them.

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Then the LORD God said: "See! The man has become like one of us, knowing what is good and what is bad! Therefore, he must not be allowed to put out his hand to take fruit from the tree of life also, and thus eat of it and live forever."

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The LORD God therefore banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he had been taken.

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⁵ When he expelled the man, he settled him east of the garden of Eden; and he stationed the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword, to guard the way to the tree of life. Reflection:   Sin has consequences.  We brought on the hard life ourselves.  I  love that even with those week admissions of guilt God still promised humanity that it the serpent would not win in the end.  He allows us to be a part of the defeat of death by allowing the serpent's downfall to come from the sons and daughters of eve.  At this point only God knew Mary but her willingness to love God above self in all situations must have given Him joy. I wonder about the Garden of Eden.  What glorious foods and colors must have been present there.  Too often we take what we have for granted.  That must not continue.  Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for all the gifts you send my way.  Thank you for our day today, the health we have, the home we live in, the food we eat.  All could be gone in a heartbeat but help us to be thankful even if we were to loose it all.  I think of the people of Hattti right now.  Those individuals that lost their homes, communities, family and friends.  Please help me to pray for them more today and offer them what ever I might have to give them some peace of mind.