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Since Adam had disobeyed the Lord by eating of the forbidden fruit, God cursed the ground (Gen 2:16–17; Gen 3:6, 17–19). He made it dry and unfruitful by withholding his blessing.[1]
Thus, the toil behind the preparation of every meal reminded Adam and Eve of their guilt.[2]
Creation fell into disarray, becoming nature without masters, existing in rebellion and despair.[3]
In a great reversal, the ground from which Adam had been created would resist his efforts and eventually swallow him into itself. [4]
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After the Lord completed his pronouncements of judgment, Adam named his wife as both a sign of his new rule over her and a re-inauguration of their covenant of marriage (Gen 3:20).[5]
In calling her “Eve”—which means “the mother of all the living”—Adam spoke in faith that God’s promise of progeny would come to pass (Gen 3:15). [6]
Despite the Lord’s pronouncement of death, Adam named his wife in terms of life. [7]
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Finally, God clothed the couple with leather tunics (Gen 3:21). This signified that he was not disinheriting them but would graciously reinstate his covenant with humanity.[8]
Clothing also provided protection from the thorns and thistles which awaited Adam and Eve as they cultivated the ground which the Lord had cursed.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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Go to Access to the Tree of Life (Gen 3:22)
[Related posts include Forbidden Fruit (Gen 2:16–17); Succumbing to Temptation (Gen 3:6); Thorns and Thistles (Gen 3:17–18); A Return to the Ground (Gen 3:19); A Renewed Covenant (Gen 3:20); The First Good News (Gen 3:15); Co-Heirs with Christ (Rom 8:16–18); Creation’s Eager Expectation (Rom 8:19); Subjected to Futility (Rom 8:20); Set Free from the Slavery of Corruption (Rom 8:21–22); Clothed by God (Gen 3:21); and Clothed with Christ (Gal 3:26–27)]
[Click here to go to Women and Marriage Throughout Redemptive History; or to Chapter 10: The Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22–24)]
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[1] Walton, Genesis, 229.
[2] Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 82.
[3] Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1–3, 134.
[4] Waltke and Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, 95.
[5]Kline, Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview, 72.
[6] Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, 205–7.
[7] Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, 216.
[8] Kline, Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview, 150.
Redemptive History and Theology 