The Curse of Eve

The Curse of Eve

“To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Genesis 3:16 NIV

Quite often we read the bible and do not see how the words written thousands of years ago have any relevance today. Or, we gloss over certain scriptures and stories because since we’ve heard them a thousand times in some way shape or form, we become numb to them. But I thought that it would be fitting to revisit an old story in the beginning of the bible and look at it’s relevance today.
The story is of the fall of Adam and Eve. Maybe we have all heard this one before. Adam and Eve were chillin’ in the garden with God and Eve got tempted by the serpent to eat from the one tree God told them not to. Adam ate too, and here we are today in a fallen condition. Later, in swoops Jesus to save us from this fallen condition and we are supposed to have access to this previous blissful state of existence. Sounds great.
But what I have found is that one of the challenges of religion is that it doesn’t give you the opportunity to understand what you believe and why. In many churches if you ask too many questions, you are told that you think too much and that you need to stop questioning God. Personally, I am a curious being and I wasn’t about to put my faith in something that some human being told me to, simply because they are doing things that somebody else told them to do. I want to know. And when I look at the curse of Eve, as a woman, I want to know how this applies to me today.
The most evident application of this is the first part. Painful labor. If you have ever had a child naturally, or have ever witnessed birth, you can attest to that one. I saw my Goddaughter come into this world, and let me tell you, I am still amazed that women do that everyday. How in the world can something so big come out of us like that? I cringe just thinking about it. But I wonder if it was always supposed to be like that? I don’t know anyone who has had a painless birth experience without the assistance of drugs. If you know, please have her contact me so that I can take notes for when my time comes.
But it is the second part that I have always had questions about. What does it mean for the woman to have her desire to be for her husband and for him to rule over her? After much study, prayer and observation, I have an idea. And I think the manifestations of what this means are painfully evident in today’s society. And it can start with a simple question. How much of a woman’s time is spent doing things in order to please or get the attention of a man? And once she gets the attention from that man, how does he treat her? I have heard countless stories of women whose sole purpose in life seems to be to get a man in some way shape or form. Their entire existence is all about some dude. They don’t think about anything else. Don’t have any other goal. Don’t desire anything but a man. And those women that I have seem behave this way are also some of the ones whose hearts get broken badly. The ones who repeat the same pattern in their relationships over and over and over again. And it may get worse if they have kids. Because their desire may still be for a man who doesn’t want anything to do with her and he can use that against her. She is living under the curse. Even if she does go to church.
So my follow up question would be, then what was her desire before? If the curse said that her desire was now for her husband and he would lord it over her, then who or what was her desire for before the fall? And how do we, as women, learn to live there and not under the curse? The only thing I came up with was God. They already had everything else in the garden of Eden. All of their needs were supplied. They lacked nothing. They even had full access to one another. They were both naked an not ashamed. They had intimacy with God and intimacy with each other. Adam didn’t lord anything over her because she was his especially created partner. There was no hierarchy. Until the fall. Before that, all of her desires were met. So the only thing to focus on was God.
Moving into the implications of that for us today, I bring you to Jesus. The one who came to earth in order that the ultimate punishment which resulted from this fall would be fulfilled, and that through Him, we could find our way back to the place where we trust that God is meeting all or our needs and even knows and is working out our desires. So the only thing to focus on is Him. As we do this, our desires begin to change. Those things that we used to desire, don’t seem to appeal to us the same way. The things that we sought that would be harmful to us, but we wanted to do it anyway, lose their luster. Including how we engage men. Desperation is easy for a man to sniff out and use for his own agenda. It’s a consequence of the fall. But if you do have a desire for a man in your life, then trust God to lead you to him. That doesn’t mean simply sitting in the house waiting for some man to walk up to you door. But God has plenty for you to do. And as you seek out His purpose for your life and follow His path, you would be amazed at who and what else you may find along that path. Setting your entire being on getting a man will only lead to the consequences that were written in this book thousands of years ago: “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Yet setting your affection on God has a better chance of bringing to you a man who won’t seek to rule you, but who understands true intimate partnership. And it can also help you to avoid unnecessary heartache. Learn how to live in the blessing, not the curse.