Why Genesis 3:16 does not apply to women of today.

Men in Christian Domestic Discipline have done a good job of convincing their wives that Genesis 3:16 means that men can spank their wives.  They are also trying to convince the rest of the world that. Well… 

Have I got news for them. They are WRONG!!!

What is this Bible verse that these men are talking about? Genesis 3:16 “To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children.  Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.””

Let’s take a look at some other old testament verses as well, should we?

Leviticus 10:1 “The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death.  The people in the community are to stone him.’””

Ok who is Molech – he was a medium or spiritualist at the time How many mediums and spiritualists has God told his people to kill now a days?

Leviticus 5:14 “The Lord said to Moses “When a person commits a violation and sins unintentionally in regard to any of the Lord’s holy things, he is to bring to the Lord as a penalty a ram from the flock, on without defect and of the proper value of silver, according to the sanctuary sheckl.”

Ok… When was the last time you heard of Christian’s taking rams to their churches to give to God?  Do you even know what the proper value of silver is?

Numbers 15:22 “‘Now if you unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the Lord gave Moses – any of the Lord’s commands to you through him, from the day the Lord gave them and continuing through the generations to come – and if this is done unintentionally without the community being aware of it, then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord along with it’s prescribed grain offering and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering.”’

When was the last time your community burnt a young bull?  Do you keep a storage of grain at your house so that you can offer a prescribed grain offering?  Did you ever sacrifice a goat for your sins?

Obviously not. These were given at that time, as a method of dealing with sins.  Just like Genesis 3:16. All of these verses were old covenant verses.  Meaning all of them were old testament, and that when Jesus came, he broke the curtain separating us from God in two, and he made all of these remedies of dealing with sin, obsolete.  (Including Genesis 3:16).

And if you think that Genesis 3:16 is different than the other Bible verses it is.  Yep, where as the Bible verses dealing with sacrifice dealt with the Israel as a whole and pertained to all Israelites, Genesis 3:16 pertained to Eve and Eve only.

To Adam God said “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and dust you will return.”  Genesis 3:17b-19

Now these words were spoken directly after the words to Eve. If Eve’s sin was going to be punished forever, then Adam’s would be too.

But is it…

When was the last time the husband in your marriage went out and hunted a pig for your meal (and not for sport)?  When was the last time your husband planted a garden, and had a hard time getting it to grow?  When was the last time you went to a grocery store? 

Oops Adam didn’t get the luxury of going to the grocery store.  No Adam had to toil for the food.  Today’s men don’t! If you think that men should rule over then women, then going to the grocery store should be a sin.  Men should have to toil for their food.

Now let’s see I’m sure some of you are still saying “But my husband works for our meal.”  Ok let’s deal with that.

If Eve’s sin meant that every husband would rule over every wife, then…

God would not have told Deborah to rule over her husband.  And he did tell her that.  One can only assume that he did when he put Deborah in charge of Israel.  She was the leader of all of Israel and that included her husband.  And her husband wasn’t in the background telling her what decisions to make either.  No…  Her husband was following her lead.

Luke 7:50 “Jesus said to the woman, “your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Jesus meant ‘go in peace’, not go in fear that your husband will spank you. He meant peace, as in, do not fear of any punishment, your sins are forgiven. 

True forgiveness does not include punishment.  It includes GRACE.