Punishment

Genesis 3:14-19

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

The first, and most severe punishment went to the Serpent. After all, it was the serpent who had set all of this in motion.

God took away it's wings and legs. He made the serpent into a snake.

Today, most human beings shiver at the thought of coming across a snake. And, when they do, the first place they aim for to kill it is the head.

And, the serpent always tries to strike the nearest heat spot of the enemy. In the human being, it is the nearest point of their body to the snake: the heel.

Then, to punish Eve, God made her have to procreate in pain. He gave all of her descendents the same punishment. He also set her DNA and brain chemicals so that her natural instinct would be to find a husband she could give to and sacrifice for. He created a hierarchy by which He expected all mankind to follow: a child looks to his mother for provision, a mother looks to her husband for provision, a husband looks to God for his provision.

And, finally, to Adam, he gave the final punishment for all mankind:

Now they had to work for their food. It was something they had to earn. And, when his days on earth were finished, his body would decay and return to the ground from whence it was created, that had fed him for so long.

What could they do? Nothing. They all had no choice but to accept their punishment, as hard as it may seem.

The other option was instant death for all eternity.

God was merciful and just. He told Adam not to eat of the tree of knowledge. Adam did it, anyway. Adam deserved to die, because God told Adam that that would be his punishment.

Adam did not take full responsibility for his actions. God wanted to give him the opportunity for eventual redemption, so rather than kill him instantly, He gave mankind time.

God loves His creation, no matter what! But, He will not continue to tolerate disobedience forever!