Genesis 3:17-19

2006.Jul.06 22:53

Curse C

Read Genesis 3:17-19 | Full Chapter

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you will eat the plants of the field;
By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
(Genesis 3:17-19)

What constitutes the alienation of labor?

Firstly, the fact that labor is external to the worker – i.e., does not belong to his essential being; that he, therefore, does not confirm himself in his work, but denies himself, feels miserable and not happy, does not develop free mental and physical energy, but mortifies his flesh and ruins his mind. Hence, the worker feels himself only when he is not working; when he is working, he does not feel himself. He is at home when he is not working, and not at home when he is working. His labor is, therefore, not voluntary but forced, it is forced labor. It is, therefore, not the satisfaction of a need but a mere means to satisfy needs outside itself. Its alien character is clearly demonstrated by the fact that as soon as no physical or other compulsion exists, it is shunned like the plague. External labor, labor in which man alienates himself, is a labor of self-sacrifice, of mortification. Finally, the external character of labor for the worker is demonstrated by the fact that it belongs not to him but to another, and that in it he belongs not to himself but to another. Just as in religion the spontaneous activity of the human imagination, the human brain, and the human heart, detaches itself from the individual and reappears as the alien activity of a god or of a devil, so the activity of the worker is not his own spontaneous activity. It belongs to another, it is a loss of his self.

(Marx, Karl, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, “Wages of Labor”, http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/wages.htm [Actually, I don’t remember how to correctly site an internet source and am too lazy to find out]).

To me, this quote from Marx is what the curse on Adam is about. Adam ate of the fruit, and now, instead of being able to gather of the fruit God placed in the garden, Adam and Eve are cast out. They must labor to meet their basic needs, a process which leads quite inevitably to the industrial age (okay, maybe that was a jump). If I can visit my gender roles discussion one more time, here the “husband” gender role created by Jehovah as punishment is that of laborer who must provide for self and family through breaking and unfulfilling labor, against an environment which will always make that labor more difficult. As Eve sacrifices her freedom to her husband, Adam sacrifices his freedom to his toil. Don’t even try to tell me this does not yet hold true.

I don’t intend to add much discussion, because I think the quote from Marx too well represents the feelings I have when I read this passage. But I want to dwell a moment on that issue of freedom. I know freedom is a loaded term right now, and I doubt the validity of some of its contemporary uses. In any event, one verse in the Bible has long amazed me by what I consider its inexplicable simplicity: "It was for freedom that Christ set us free" (Galations 5:1a) (For what it’s worth, Galatians chapter 4 introduces some fascinating ideas about Jerusalem being our mother). Freedom, for itself, is a huge theme through God’s Word: freedom of the Israelites for slavery in Egypt, freedom in Christ, and here, in Genesis 3, the cessation of freedom, because the one Law was broken.

There is a wonderful hope for me, as I look at Eve and Adam’s sin and the curses upon them, the curses still operating in our day, our culture. "If you continue in My word,” says Jesus, “then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:31-32, NASB) . "Therefore,” Paul expounds, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death" (Romans 8:1-2, NASB) . That’s right, Christ offers freedom from these curses. In Christ, we have great hope, "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Romans 8:19-22, NASB)

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;

(Isaiah 16:1, NASB)