I. V. 14.And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou 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.
After judgment has been pronounced and the whole case completely gone through, follows the execution of judgment, in which, as we shall now hear, there is rendered to each party according to their work, but not one like the other. Now this passage claims our thoughtful attention in the first place, because there is not found throughout the five books of Moses so long a speech in the person of God. And in the next place, because this divine speech contains no law whatever as to what the serpent or man was required to do. The whole speech is occupied in promising that good or threatening that evil, which should come upon each party concerned.
And it is worthy our particular observation here that, after the sin of the fall, no further law whatever was imposed on Adam, though nature in its state of perfection had a divine law set before it. The reason of this was, because God saw that nature, being now fallen and corrupt, could not only derive no help or relief from any law given to it, but that, being thus corrupted and also disorganized and confused altogether, it could not bear any syllable of law whatsoever. Wherefore God did not increasedly oppress nature, already thus oppressed by sin, with any further law of any kind. But on the contrary God mercifully applied unto sin as a terrible wound, a healing plaster, that is, the promise concerning Christ, still using that caustic, the curse on sin, which the devil had caused to be inflicted. For as wholesome plasters, even while they heal, yet corrode and pain the flesh; so the healing promise is so set before Adam that the threatened curse on sin should be added, to operate with it in curing the lust of the flesh. By the lust of the flesh I mean, not only that foul motion and itching of lust, but also "all manner of concupiscence" and uncleanness of soul, as Paul terms them, Rom. 7:8; Eph. 4:19, through which we are by nature inclined to idolatry, unbelief, self-security and all other horrible sins against the first and second Table. To curb and cure all this depravity of nature, we have need of the operation of this burning caustic, the curse of God on sin.
I would that I could handle the text now before us in a manner becoming its depth and dignity, for it embraces all that is glorious in the whole Scripture, containing in it the curse of God on Satan and the destruction of the seed of the serpent by the seed of the woman. The former part of the text is wholly figurative. God speaks to the serpent, but it is manifest that the serpent alone is not here to be understood as addressed by God. For these are not the words of God as a Creator, as were those words above, when he said unto the beasts of the earth, "Be fruitful and multiply;" nor when he said to the earth itself, "Let the earth bring forth grass, and herbs, and trees, yielding seed after their kind." They are words of divine threatening and a declaration of mind and will, such words as God never speaks to an irrational creature, but to an intelligent creature only.
God does indeed address the "serpent" by name, but he is all the while especially speaking to Satan, who ruled in the serpent, and by the serpent deceived the first parents of mankind. Nevertheless as, on account of the sin of man, the lord of the whole creation, all animals and all trees perished in the flood, just as the subjects of a nation are often punished on account of the misdeeds of their prince, so it befell the serpent. That animal also was punished because of the sin of the devil, who had abused the serpent in making use of it to work so mighty an evil as the sin of the fall. God however intends, figuratively, to be represented under this punishment of the serpent, the deluging punishment of Satan.
The obscurity which lies in this figurative representation has been the reason why this text, which ought to be most clearly known and understood by all, has never to my knowledge been explained by any one with sufficient diligence and clearness. And I have often wondered what the fathers and the bishops could have been about, who, when occupied in the government of churches and in the condemnation of heretics, did not feel that they had a still more important duty to perform in devoting themselves with greater diligence to the explanation of such passages of the Scriptures as these. Such bishops and fathers possess nothing more than the name, for they may with more truth be called destroyers than watchmen or guardians of the churches. I am now speaking of those of our fathers and bishops who really excelled in holiness of life and doctrine. Even among these not one is found to have explained the text before us in any manner becoming its great dignity. Perhaps those various engagements which generally beset the rulers of churches too deeply involve them to leave them time for the purpose.
The disgrace of our more recent divines is notorious. They have even shamefully corrupted this whole passage, and out of the neuter pronounipsumthey have made the feminine,ipsa, which, with the most open wickedness, they have thus wrested, and have applied it to the Virgin Mary, "Sheshall bruise thy head," verse 15. I can pardon Lyra, who was as it appears a good man, but he conceded too much to the authority of the fathers, and hence he suffered himself to be drawn aside by Augustine, to the most weak and foolish allegorizings, which system Gregory also follows in his "Morals," maintaining that by the woman in this part of the sacred record ought to be understood the inferior power of reason, as by the man, the superior power of reason; and by her seed, the operation of good; but by the seed of the devil, his evil suggestions.
But what need, I pray you, friendly reader, is there of all such darkness of the most absurd allegories in all this clear light of the truth? But grant that we might with any propriety divide reason into two qualities or powers, the superior and the inferior. With how much greater propriety may we term that the inferior power of reason which is adapted to the government of domestic and political affairs, and not that which is concerned in swine-like pleasure and gratification? calling that the superior power of reason by which we contemplate those things which are separate from economy or polity, and which pertain unto religion, the solemn things of the Word, in which we do nothing operatively, but only contemplate and learn? Although we thus speak upon these things what have they to do after all with the sacred text before us? Do they not altogether encumber and keep out of sight its real sense, and substitute a spurious sense in its stead, a sense which is not only useless but pernicious? For what can reason do or what light can it give in the divine matter of religion?
There is also a further absurdity in this mode of interpretation, by which Eve is made to be the inferior power of reason. For it is perfectly evident that Eve was not inferior to her husband Adam in any sense whatever; that is, neither in body nor in soul. It is from this ridiculous mode of interpretation that all those profane disputations concerning free-will have arisen, and concerning the doctrine "that reason always prays for the best," etc., until all theology is lost in philosophy and sophistical absurdities.
Wherefore let us, casting away all such pernicious and absurd follies, enter upon a new road of interpretation, caring naught for having disregarded the footsteps of those who have gone before us. For we have the Holy Spirit as our guide, not setting before us in Moses a heap of absurd allegories, but teaching us through him the mightiest truths and the mightiest things which took place between God the Creator and man the sinner, and Satan the author of sin.
First of all then let us settle it as a fact that the serpent here spoken of by God was a natural and real serpent, but a serpent besieged and occupied by Satan, who spoke through and by that serpent. Let us next consider it to be a truth, that those things which God spoke to the serpent are not to be understood as having been spoken to the serpent abstractedly as a brute animal, but that the person immediately spoken to was Satan, to whom God was all the while more expressly speaking. By this manner of interpretation, I am sure that I retain the plain and simple historical and literal meaning, and a meaning in accordance with the whole passage; by which meaning, as divinely intended, the serpent remains a serpent though occupied and possessed by Satan, the woman remains a woman, and Adam remains Adam, all which is proved by what follows in the sacred narrative. For it is not an inferior power of reason and a superior power of reason, who begat Cain and Abel, as recorded in the following chapter, but Adam and Eve, that is, the first parents of mankind, who fell by sin into death and became subject to the dominion of Satan.
When therefore God says to the serpent, "Thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field, upon thy belly shalt thou go," the divine meaning is not that which Augustine gives, and which his disciples follow. They understand that by "belly" is to be allegorically understood pride. But the divine mind in the passage is, that as Satan abused the serpent in effecting the sin of the fall, so the serpent is compelled of God to bear a part of the punishment of that sin and therefore is thus cursed above all cattle, that it might be the most hateful of all the beasts of the field. At the beginning of the creation it was not so; but now through the divine curse, such a nature has been imparted to the serpent, that the creature which before the curse was the most delightful and the sweetest of all creatures, is now hated and dreaded above every other animal of the creation. Hence we find by experience that we have a natural abhorrence of serpents, and that serpents as naturally dread and flee from us. Thus the serpent is indeed made to bear this curse as part of the punishment of sin.
These words however are not spoken unto the serpent only, God is dealing all the time with Satan in the serpent. It is on Satan that this sentence is pronounced, as his final judgment. It is Satan that is here placed before God's tribunal.
For God here speaks to the serpent in far different language from that which he used toward Adam and Eve, when he called them back in love from their sin. His language then was, "Where art thou?" "Who told thee that thou wast naked?" All these particulars indicate the love of God towards the whole human race; showing forth that God will seek after man and will call him back after he has sinned, that he may reason with him and hear what he has to say. All this was a sure announcement of grace. For although these words of God, spoken to Adam and Eve, were legal and judicial words; yet they set before them a hope by no means obscure, that they should not be condemned for ever.
But with the serpent and Satan God by no means dealt so mercifully. He did not call Satan to him and say, "Why hast thou done this?" He pronounced upon him at once the sentence of judgment; and that too, in the most awful words, "Because thou hast done this." As if he had said, Thou, Satan, hadst sinned before this and hadst been condemned, when thou didst fall from heaven; and now to that sin thou hast added this one. Thou hast by the abuse of the serpent hurled man into sin also. Therefore in the first place the serpent shall bear this punishment; that whereas before it partook of that blessing which all other beasts also enjoyed; now it alone shall remain under my curse.
From all these circumstances it must follow as a manifest consequence, that the serpent before the sin of the fall was the most beautiful creature among the beasts which God had made, and most delightful to man; as are at this day kids, and lambs, and kittens to us, and also that it moved with its head erect; and moreover that it now creeps upon the ground is not a property of its original nature, but the consequence of the divine curse. Just in the same manner as they are the consequences of the curse, that the woman conceives in uncleanness, brings forth in sorrow, and nurses and trains her offspring with toils and griefs. Were there no curse the whole process of creation would be most pure and holy; the giving birth to children most easy and delightful, and the training up of children the highest pleasure. Sin therefore has not only utterly corrupted nature itself, but most basely defiled it.
And yet the human reasoners even of our day dare to affirm that the original properties of nature have remained essentially sound and whole, even in devils. But if the serpent, which Satan had abused to effect the sin of the fall, bore such a punishment on account of that sin; that whereas before it was the most beautiful of all creatures, it now on a sudden crawled on the ground upon its belly and drew after it its viperous tail before the eyes of Adam, and thus all on a sudden became an object of hatred and of dread; how can we doubt that the same was the utterly changed case with the man, who was the very one who had committed the sin and had imbibed into his very nature the poison of Satan? As therefore the Egyptians beheld not without the greatest amazement the rod thrown down by Moses suddenly changed into a serpent, just so in paradise, immediately upon God's uttering this word of the curse, the serpent was changed from a form the most beautiful into an object the most disgusting and revolting.
And to this same curse pertains that which God moreover said, "And dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." The allegorists explain this, as meaning that Satan would render men given up to the love of earthly things one with himself by deceiving them. But as I have said, God is here speaking to the serpent as such and cursing the serpent, causing it to bear its punishment of the sin of the fall. For there are other beasts which also feed upon the earth, but the serpent eats the earth as its curse; that whereas before it had a certain peculiar gift of subtlety and of beauty, and of food also, which it enjoyed in common with man, it now bore as its punishment that the nature of its food was changed.
It is the glory of sheep, of oxen and of other beasts, that they feed on herbs and even on the fruits of trees, and also that they produce various things useful for the food of man, such as butter, milk, their own flesh, etc. The serpent also possessed this glory of his feeding in common with the other beasts. But now he is cast out from this society, and as it were from this common table and common feasting on account of the sin of the fall, so that he is not permitted to feed upon even the most useless herb; nor on apples, or pears, or nuts, on which even the mice feed. These he dare not taste. He eats the crude earth only. These are not my words, but the words of Moses; and they teach us that the nature of the serpent is entirely changed and wholly different from what it originally was.
And though I have said, and it is true, that it is to the serpent that God here speaks, and yet so speaks, that his words are directed all the time more expressly against Satan, as the following part of the narrative will still more plainly show; yet I am by no means satisfied that those things spoken, which rightly apply to the nature of the serpent, should be transferred allegorically, as intended to be spoken to Satan, like Augustine transfers them and is followed by Lyra. For the serpent and Satan were intimately connected in the sin of the fall, though Satan was the principal actor and the serpent only the instrument. And therefore it is that they are made alike partakers of the punishment. The serpent however bears a corporal punishment only. But for Satan, the author and agent of the whole, a different judgment is prepared, even that judgment concerning which Christ speaks, John 16:11, when he says, "Because the prince of this world is judged." The description of this judgment will now shortly follow, as recorded by Moses in the succeeding verses.
Wherefore when many say that the devil, like the serpent, no longer walks erect and that he has lost his original form and stature, the things they say are true; but they are quite inappropriate here and have nothing to do with the right interpretation of the passage now in question. And when I said above, that the serpent before the curse of God upon it moved in an erect posture, I do not wish to be understood to mean that it moved in an upright position as man, but with its neck and head erect, as a stag or a peacock. To crawl on its belly therefore after the curse, was the divine judgment on the serpent.
That which now follows belongs expressly to Satan only. And the things here recorded of him by Moses paint forth his judgment in far more true colors than any of those foolish and out-of-place descriptions of the allegorists. They moreover set before us this strong consolation, that the devil is now so situated that he cannot attack and harm us at his liberty, as he wishes to do and would do, if the Seed of the woman stood not directly in his way.
II. V. 15a.And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.
These are the things which are spoken expressly and properly to Satan. And they contain his judgment. While in these same words of his judgment, there is set before the godly their strong consolation. The things above spoken are historical, as I have said, and apply to the serpent, which because through the abuse of Satan it aided in effecting the sin of Adam and Eve, bears as his part of the punishment his ejection from the common life, as it were, and from the society of the other animals of the creation; being made so different from them that he dares not eat the same food nor live in any way like them.
The present passage might also be allegorically interpreted. But the allegories used would be far less appropriate, and they would not stand firm in the defense of the truth. For the facts of the case are these: Satan on account of his sin was cast out of heaven and condemned; and no longer goes about in his original form as an ox or a hind does, but creeps on the ground; which may signify that he does not attack the godly by open force, but uses wiles and devices for their harm and destruction; which devices nevertheless the godly when they look into the Word see and understand; and by them they perceive how vast his deformity is, and hence dread and abhor him. And certainly his creeping on the ground, and not walking upright, may well indicate that his tyrannical power is broken and destroyed, so that he cannot do so much harm to the Church as he otherwise would do. These allegories, we repeat, may be used in the interpretation of the present text; but they do not explain the meaning of Moses, and therefore they are improper.
Wherefore, when we speak of Satan, let us ever follow the other testimonies of Scripture upon the subject; for they are proper, certain and sure; such for instance as the following: "The devil was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him;" and also, "When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own," John 8:44; and again, "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour," 1 Pet. 5:8; and also, where Christ says, "The prince of this world is judged," John 16:11.
In a word, who does not plainly see that the testimony of the present passage applies properly to Satan; and that it is to him that the Son of God is here opposed, expressly to prevent him from making any attack upon us with open violence, as if he had no certain Antagonist! The Church therefore, under this protection, is perfectly safe. And not only is Satan deprived of the power of attacking the Church with any open violence, but his power and desire of harming anything or person else are also destroyed. Were it not so, he would not suffer a single tree to grow to maturity. He would impede and crush all things that spring forth in the earth; and would prevent, not the birth of men only, but the bringing forth of beasts; and would destroy the safety of everything. This insatiable desire to harm and to destroy is fully manifest from his inability to attack by open violence, and from his doing whatever he does by the means of craft, guile and snare.
We should here moreover carefully observe that these things are not spoken by God for the devil's sake. For God does not deign to condemn Satan on his own account, by these his words; but he deems it sufficient to leave Satan to be condemned by his own conscience. All that God speaks to Satan, he speaks for the sake of Adam and Eve; that they may hear this judgment of God upon him and may comfort themselves, by thus hearing and seeing that God is the adversary to the nature of him, who had inflicted such a wound on man. For out of these very words of God to Satan, there begin to shine forth grace and mercy; yea, out of the very midst of that anger, which sin and disobedience had so righteously kindled. It is here in the very midst of the heaviest threatenings, that the mind of the Father discloses itself; of a Father, not so angry as to cast away his Son, but holding out salvation, yea, promising victory over that enemy, who had thus deceived and conquered human nature.
For though both had sinned in the fall, Satan especially, and man through Satan, yet the judgments now pronounced upon Satan and upon man are widely different. God does not join them together in one and the same punishment, as he might righteously have done. He makes the widest distinction between them. For although he is angry with man also, who obeyed the enemy of God, disregarding God himself, yet the divine indignation against Satan is by far the greater. Satan God plainly convicts and condemns in the sight of Adam and Eve, so that Adam and Eve, from this very condemnation of their enemy, might have a little time to recover their breath; and might feel how much more blessed their condition was than that of Satan. The first part of the great consolation here graciously given lies in this: that the serpent was accused and cursed and together with the serpent Satan also, for Adam and Eve's sake. Not so much for Satan's judgment and damnation, as for Adam and Eve's comfort and salvation.
Wherefore, by this judgment of Satan that sun of consolation, which had been just before hidden as it were behind the darkness of certain heavy clouds, now rises above those clouds and shines with its most heavenly light on the affrighted hearts of Adam and Eve. For they not only do not hear themselves cursed, as the serpent was, but they hear God declare, that he has put them into the ranks of a constituted army against their condemned foe; and that too with the hope of an almighty help, which the Son of God the Seed of the woman should bring unto them. By this therefore the remission of their sins and their full reception into grace were plainly revealed to Adam and Eve; who were thus perfectly freed from their sin and guilt, redeemed from death, and delivered from hell and from all those terrors under which they were utterly sinking in the sight of God.
Such is the great consolation which arises from the fact so carefully to be observed by the godly, that God did not curse Adam and Eve as he did the serpent. All that God did to Adam and Eve was to put them into an army of continual battle with this enemy, that they might not live a life of ease and indolence. This very thing therefore turned out for the good of man.
But the chief part of the great consolation here vouchsafed was, that although this enemy should ever war by subtlety and snares, yet that a Seed should be born, which should bruise the serpent's head. For hereby is set forth the final destruction of the tyranny of Satan; although that tyranny will never come to its end without a most terrible conflict; a conflict which must be fought out by man. But only reflect how unequal the conflict is; it is the "heel" only of the man that is in danger; his head is safe and invincible. On the other hand, it is not the tail nor the belly, but the "head" itself of the serpent that is to be bruised and crushed under foot by the Seed of the woman. And this victory is given also to us all; as Christ plainly declares when he says, that after the strong man armed shall have been overcome the spoils shall be divided. For the Christian is by faith at once made conqueror over sin, the law and death; so that the very gates of hell cannot prevail against him.
This first great consolation therefore our first parents and their posterity searched into and learned with all diligence, as being the original fountain and the fountain head as it were of all the promises. For they saw, that had they been left without this promise the blessing of generation would have indeed remained with men, as with all other animals of the creation, but it would have been only a begetting and a being born unto death. That great blessing bestowed of God upon human nature is here highly increased, yea, consecrated; seeing that the hope hereby added to the blessing of generation, is such that through it the head of Satan shall be utterly crushed; and that not only his tyranny shall be destroyed but that human nature itself, thus made subject to death through sin, shall attain unto eternal life. For Moses is now no longer dealing in his narrative with the natural serpent; he is now speaking of the devil, whose "head" is formed of death and sin; as Christ describes him when he says, John 8:44, that he was "a murderer from the beginning, and a liar, and the father of it." Therefore, whenever and wherever his power is destroyed; that is, when sin and death are taken away by Christ, what remains but that the children of God shall be saved!
It was in this manner therefore that Adam and Eve understood this text and comforted themselves against sin and despair by the revealed hope of this future crushing of the serpent's head, by Christ, the Seed of the woman. And through this, their hope in the promise thus given unto them, they shall also rise again at the last day unto life eternal.
V. 15b.He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Who is not filled with wonder, yea, rather with execration, at the malicious design of Satan in having attempted to transfer this divine text, so full and running over with consolation concerning the Son of God, to the Virgin Mary! For in all the Latin Bibles, the pronounipseis put in the feminine genderipsa, "Sheshall bruise." And Lyra, who was by no means unacquainted with the Hebrew language, was carried away by this error as by the violence of an overflowing and resistless stream into the same impious interpretation; so that in the face of its plain meaning, he interpreted the passage as applying to the blessed Virgin; making her the person, by whom the power of Satan should be broken through the mediation of her Son. And he applies to the Virgin also that passage in the Song, "Thou art terrible as an army with banners." And, although Lyra professes to hold this interpretation of the present passage as received from others, yet his sin is great in not refuting it. Many afterwards followed him. And all the more recent interpreters have perverted this most holy passage to serve idolatry, finding no one to stop or resist them.
All this however has arisen either from the ignorance or negligence of the rulers in the Church. Because these did not set themselves against idolatry, sound doctrine was by degrees suppressed and became extinct. And since we have now by the blessing of God restored the sound doctrine, these disgraceful beasts, given to serve the belly, plainly show that they care not for religion, but for their own benefices only. And because such idolatry promotes the interests of these men, they even show their indignation at people being taught the truth. But these blind beings do not see that the Gospel is a doctrine of the divine nature, that those who receive it lose nothing by it but their sins and eternal death; and that they gain in their stead deliverance from all idolatry and from the dominion of Satan.
Wherefore let us render thanks to God that we have this passage also restored to its full integrity. Not that thereby any honor due to Mary might be taken from her, but that all idolatry might be shut out. For as to men saying that Mary crushed all the power of Satan by giving birth to Christ; if that be the true state of the case does not that same honor belong equally to all the other women who preceded Mary in the same line of genealogy? Nay, a part of this same honor pertains to all the husbands also in Mary's line and to all her ancestors. For had she not descended from all these as her forefathers, she herself could not have had existence. For she was born by marriage according to the common order of nature. If Mary, by the act of giving birth to her Son, bruised the head of Satan, all the ancestors of Mary must of necessity be ranked in the same degree of dignity and honor.
The Scripture however teaches us very differently, when it says that Christ "died for our sins and rose again for our justification," Rom. 4:25; and when it said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!" John 1:29. Wherefore let the blessed Virgin hold her place of due honor, as the woman whom God adorned with that high privilege above all other women, that she as a virgin should bring forth the Son of God. This honor however ought by no means so to be bestowed upon her, as in any way to take from her Son, our Lord, the glory of our redemption and of our deliverance from sin and death.
Moreover, the peculiar expression of the holy Scripture in this passage is most carefully to be held and guarded by us, as affording a truly wonderful light which opens unto us the depth of the divine goodness, revealed to us in the present sacred text; where we are taught concerning that enmity which God put between the serpent and the woman; such an enmity that the Seed of the woman should crush the serpent with all his powers. This crushing, Satan perfectly understood at the time, and therefore it is that to this day he rages with so much hatred against our human nature. Adam and Eve on the contrary, raised up by the promise of this crushing, conceived the hope of their restoration in all its fulness. And being thus filled with faith they saw that their salvation would assuredly be God's peculiar care; seeing that God had expressly testified, that the male Seed of the woman should utterly defeat and crush this their enemy. For the words are divinely put together with a wonderful emphasis.
III. The divine expression here is, "I will put enmity between thy seed and her seed." As if God had said, Thou, Satan, by means of the woman didst attack and seduce the man that thou mightest by means of sin be the head and lord over them. I therefore in like manner will execute my secret purposes against thee by means of the very same instrument. I will take hold of the woman, and by her I will produce a Seed; and that Seed shall bruise thy head. Thou by means of sin didst corrupt and make subject to death the flesh of the human nature. I will produce from that same flesh such a man, who shall crush and utterly defeat both thee and all thy powers.
By these divine words therefore both the promise and the threat were expressed with the most perfect plainness. And yet they were most obscure. For they left the devil in such a state of doubt and suspense that he held under suspicion all the women which brought forth from that time, fearing lest they should give birth to this Seed; though one woman only was designed to be the mother of this blessed offspring. Therefore as the divine threatening was expressed in a general term, "her Seed," Satan was so mocked thereby that he feared this Seed from every woman who brought forth.
In the same proportion, on the other hand, the faith of all mankind was confirmed. For, from the hour in which the divine promise was made, all men expected that promised Seed, and comforted themselves against Satan. Hence it was that Eve, when she brought forth her first-born, Cain, hoped that she had now "gotten" that bruiser of the head of Satan. And though she was deceived in that hope, yet she saw that the promised Seed would assuredly at length be born at some time or other from her posterity. And thus, with respect to all mankind also, this promise was most clear and at the same time most obscure.
Isaiah threw some additional light upon this glorious promise when he said, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son," Is. 7:14. For it was then made certain that this Seed would not be born from the union of a man and a woman. But the prophet added certain other particulars, by which he still involved his prophecy in obscurity. In such obscurity therefore this most clear promise still remained until Mary had brought forth her Son. Of this birth then angels themselves were witnesses; and after the angels the shepherds and the wise men; until this birth was proclaimed abroad by the apostles, throughout the whole world.
This obscurity therefore tended to increase the concern and suspense of Satan to the highest degree. As it had been said, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman;" so Satan suspected and held as his enemy every woman alike, who gave birth to a child from the time that word was spoken until Christ was revealed. On the other hand, with respect to man, this same obscurity increased and strengthened his faith. Though each woman saw that she was not the mother who gave birth to this Seed, yet they all believed and were fully assured that this Seed would be born from some other woman.
God having thus spoken individually or personally, if I may so express it, that very manner of expression tended most effectually to mock and rack Satan, and to console the godly and to raise them to faith and hope. Thus women continued to bring forth until the Flood; and afterwards also, until the time of Mary. But the seed of none of those women could truly be said to be the Seed of the woman, but might rather be said to have been the seed of the man. But that which was born from Mary was conceived of the Holy Ghost and was the true Seed of Mary, the appointed woman. This the other promises also testify, which were made to Abraham and to David; according to which promises Christ was called "the Son of Abraham" and "the Son of David."
The meaning of the original promise here given Isaiah first revealed, when he prophesied "that a virgin should conceive and bear a son," Is. 7:14. Afterwards, a clearer explanation and confirmation of it was made by the angel in the New Testament. Wherefore I doubt not that there were many saints under the Old Testament, who did not understand this mystery, but who nevertheless fully expected that Christ would be born into this world of a woman, and that he would be the deliverer of the human race; though they knew not what would be the particular manner and circumstances of his birth. With this general knowledge they were content and by this knowledge they were saved; even though they knew not the manner in which Christ would be conceived and born. For this knowledge was reserved for the New Testament to reveal, as by the clearer and brighter light. And it was set forth in the first age of the Church with a greater obscurity, purposely on account of Satan, whom God willed to be mocked and racked in this manner that he might thereby have less rest and be more filled with fear on every side.
Wherefore after this great original promise had been thus set forth generally in the beginning and had by degrees been more circumstantially particularized, and then confined to the seed of Abraham; and further restricted by means of the patriarch Jacob to a certain tribe, the tribe of Judah; after this the devil became unconcerned about other peoples and tribes, and persecuted this one line of generation with marvelous cruelties and stratagems; until about the time of Christ it had been reduced to the extremest poverty and had become a hopeless trunk-root, from which no one could hope for either fruit or leaves. And hence it is that the Scriptures term that line of succession a "stem" or bare root as it were of Jesse, Is. 11:1, signifying thereby a decaying trunk from which nothing whatever could be expected.
This hatred and this fury of Satan are the effects produced on him, which the Lord here predicts, when he warns the serpent of the enmity which he had put between his seed and the Seed of the woman. For Satan primarily sought this Seed of the woman with hostile hatred, through all the peoples, families and lines throughout the whole world. When the promise was transferred to Abraham and restricted to his posterity, we see from history by what various means Satan attempted to hinder its fulfilment. And when this glorious promise was further transferred to the line of Judah and restricted to that tribe, we behold with what horrible calamities it was oppressed and agitated, until at length it seemed to be wholly subverted and eradicated. So that at the time of the birth of Christ poor Mary was living at a long distance from Jerusalem in the little and insignificant town of Nazareth, and Jerusalem itself was possessed and governed by wicked heathen. Wherefore most correctly and beautifully was this tribe of Judah compared to a dead and hopeless "stem" of Jesse. But as God cannot lie, this "root," so much decayed and despaired of, at length blossomed forth.
Satan however did not even then cease from his cruelty, hatred and enmity against the Seed of the woman. While he lay in the cradle Satan sought him out by the instrumentality of Herod. So that the new-born Christ was compelled to live among the Gentiles in Egypt. After this also, Satan adopted and tried all possible means to destroy him, until finding him and seizing him, he threw him into the hands of the Jews and nailed him to the cross. No! nor could his inexhaustible hatred be satisfied even then. He feared him even as he lay in the tomb, so desperate was the enmity which was "put" between him and the Son of God! Nay, even now, when Satan sees the Seed of the woman sitting at the right hand of God, and, according to the old proverb, "out of gun-shot," he vents his fury in every possible way against his Church and the poor helpless members of his body. Of all these sufferings and perils the clauses of the divine passage now before us were prophecies. From these same words nevertheless, in meditating upon which we ought to employ our whole souls, we derive a confidence in the Son of God, that he will bruise Satan utterly.
But to return to the text. This promise, as I have already said, is at the same time most clear and yet most obscure. For since God, as I have also observed, here uses the expression, "The seed of the woman" generally, he does it that he might cause all women alike to be suspected by Satan, and that he might thus rack the serpent with perpetual suspense and dread. The expression therefore is a wonderfulsynecdoche, "condensation of instruction." It bears a general reference to all individual women, and yet contains a direct reference to one individual woman only, to Mary and to her Seed, who was to become a mother without any intercourse with the male sex. For God, I repeat, thus willed all women to be suspected by Satan, while on the other hand he willed that a most sure hope should be left to the godly, which should lead them to expect this salvation from all parents until in the fullness of time the true mother should be revealed. As therefore the first clause of the passage, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman," refers to all women in general; so this second clause, "her Seed" refers, with a special individually, if I may so express myself, to that seed which should be born of Mary, of the tribe of Judah, who was espoused unto Joseph.
This text therefore contains that glorious promise which revived Adam and Eve and raised them again from death unto that life, which they had lost by their sin; though the life to which they were thus raised again was rather a life hoped for than a life possessed; as Paul also frequently speaks when he uses the language, "We die daily." For although we do not wish to call the life which we live here death, yet it is in truth nothing more or less than a continual living on to death. For as he who is infected with a pestilential and fatal disease begins to die from the moment of his infection; so from the moment this life of ours is infected by sin, it can no longer properly be called life on account of that sin and death, its sure punishment. For we begin to die even from our mother's womb.
But by baptism we are restored to the life of hope, or rather to the hope of life. For this is the true life, which we live, before God, in our renewed state. Before we come unto that life, we are in the midst of death. We are ever dying and rotting on the earth like other carcasses are; as if there were no life at all in us. But we who believe in Christ possess a hope that we shall be raised again at the last day unto the life eternal. It was in this manner also that Adam was raised again from his state of death by sin through this promise, thus spoken by the Lord. Not that he was raised to a perfect life; for he did not as yet regain that life which he had lost. But he conceived in his soul a hope of that perfect life, when he heard that the tyranny of Satan was thus to be bruised and destroyed.
Under the divine mind and promise, declared in this text therefore, is included redemption from the law, from sin and from death. And by the same text is set forth the plain and certain hope of resurrection from the dead, and of being called into another life after the present. For if the "head" of the serpent is to be destroyed, most certainly death is to be destroyed also; and if death is to be destroyed, with equal certainty that which deserveth death, namely, sin, is also to be abolished. And if sin is to be abolished, so also is the law; and not only so, but that obedience which was lost is to be restored. And as all these things are promised through this Seed of the woman, it is perfectly manifest, as a natural consequence, that human nature since the fall can neither take away sin by any powers of its own nor escape death, the just punishment of sin, nor regain the obedience to God, which it has lost by the sin of the fall. For all these things require a greater power, a mightier strength than is possessed by man.
Hence it was absolutely necessary that the Son of God should become a victim or sacrifice for us, that by the offering of himself he might accomplish all these things for us; that he might take away sin, swallow up death and restore unto us the obedience which we had lost. All these treasures therefore we do possess in Christ, but in hope. Thus Adam, and thus Eve, lived and conquered by this hope. And in the same manner all believers live and conquer, by the same hope, and will so live and conquer until the last day. Death is indeed a horrible and invincible tyrant; but the divine power thus makes that, which is in all things horrible, nothing; just as the same power of God made out of that which was nothing all things. For only behold Adam and Eve. They were filled with sins and with death. But as soon as they heard the divine promise concerning the Seed of the woman, which should bruise the serpent's "head," they were comforted by the same hope which comforts us, that death shall be destroyed, and sin shall be abolished, and that righteousness and life and peace shall be restored. In this hope did our first parents live and die, and on account of that hope they were truly holy and righteous.
In the same hope do we also live. And when we come to die, we hold fast this hope of eternal life for Christ's sake, which hope the Word always sets before us, while it commands us to trust in the merits of Christ. But in vain do we expect to attain unto that perfection in this life, that we should be altogether righteous, that we should love God perfectly and that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. We do indeed begin and make progress, but sin which is in our members ever wars against us and is ever present; so that it ever mars or altogether prevents this our obedience.
As therefore this life of ours, on account of the death within us and before us, may truly be called a death; so righteousness is altogether buried under our sins. It is in hope therefore alone that we hold fast life and righteousness, as things altogether hidden from our sight, but which will be revealed in their time. Meanwhile our life is a life in the midst of death; and yet, in the midst of this death, we hold fast the hope of life by the teaching, commanding and promising Spirit of God. This consolation is blessedly set forth in, Ps. 68:2, "He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death." For we ascribe to our God the great glory that he not only helps us in this temporal life, as the devil sometimes stands by his worshippers, as is manifest from numberless examples among the heathen; but the glory which belongs to our God, is that "to the Lord our God belong the issues from death;" that he delivers from death those who are oppressed thereby on account of their sins and translates them into eternal life, Col. 1:13. And our God does this as Moses here teaches us by crushing the "head" of the serpent.
In this part of the divine history of Moses therefore we have Adam and Eve restored, not indeed perfectly into that life which they had lost, but into the hope of that life, by which hope they have escaped, not indeed the first taste of that death, but the whole eternal substance of it. That is, although their flesh was sentenced to suffer and was compelled to suffer a temporal or momentary taste of death, yet, on account of the promised Son of God, who should crush the head of the devil, they hoped for a resurrection of the flesh and a life eternal after the temporal death of the flesh, which hope we also have.
Next follows the other part of this divine speech, in which God first threatens her temporal punishment to the woman and then to the man his temporal punishment also.
I. V. 16.Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
This is the punishment which was inflicted on the woman; but a punishment full indeed of joy and gladness, because it varied not in the least from the sentence just before pronounced on Satan. For seeing that the glorious promise still remained that the head of the serpent should be crushed, there was a sure hope of a resurrection from death. And whatever is imposed on man as the punishment of his sin is possible to be borne, because this hope remains to him firm and sure. And this is the reason the Holy Scriptures are so very careful not to say anything in the punishment of the woman, which should be contrary to or at all militate against the sentence just before pronounced against the serpent. God did indeed impose a punishment on the woman, but he still left her the hope of a resurrection and of a life eternal. The death which she had deserved by her sin God transferred on the other and less honorable part of man, namely, on the flesh; that the spirit might live, because of righteousness through faith as the apostle says, Rom. 8:10, "The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness."
The woman therefore is subject to death as to the flesh, but as to the hope set before her she is free from death. For that divine word, by which God threatens the devil with the "Bruising of his head," remains ever sure to her. The animal life therefore hath, as here declared, its cross and its death; as Paul also said, "The natural body dies, but is raised a spiritual body," 1 Cor. 15:44. So also in this natural or animal life there remains marriage, and the woman experiences those punishments on account of her sin, which the Lord here inflicts upon her; that from the time of her conception and at the time of giving birth and rearing children, she endures various pains and perils all that part of her life which she lives in a child-bearing state. All these evils and sorrows however pertain to the animal life or to the flesh itself only. But there remains to her all the while the hope here given her of a spiritual and eternal life after this present life.
This punishment of the woman therefore, if we truly and rightly consider the whole matter, is in its holy reality a glad and joyful punishment. For although the righteous burdens imposed are painful to the flesh to bear, yet by means of these very burdens and punishment, her hope of a better and eternal life is actually strengthened. For Eve on the present critical occasion hears in the first place that she was not cast off of God for her sin. And in the next place she is not by her punishment deprived of that blessing of generation and fruitfulness which was promised to her and freely given to her of God before her sin. She sees that she still retains her sex; that she is still a woman! She sees that she is not separated from her Adam, to remain and live alone, separated from her husband. She sees that the glory of maternity is still left her; she may still be a mother! And all these blessings of this present natural life are left to her, in addition to that promised hope of life eternal. This multitude of mercies, which was still reserved for her, no doubt wonderfully revived and gladdened the mind of Eve. Nay, a greater and more real glory still awaited her; she not only retained the blessing of fruitfulness and of continuing in marriage union with her husband, but she possessed also the sure promise that from her should come that Seed which should "bruise the head" of Satan.
Eve therefore, without doubt, in this her most sad experience, for sad it must have appeared to her, had yet her bosom filled with joy. And it is very likely that she consoled her Adam with words like these: "I have sinned. But only see how merciful a God we have! What large blessings, both temporal and spiritual, has he still left to us sinners. Wherefore, we women will cheerfully bear this labor and this sorrow of conceiving and bringing forth children, and of obeying you, our husbands. This is indeed fatherly anger! for we have still remaining also the promise that the 'head' of our enemy shall be 'crushed;' and promise that we shall be raised again unto another life after the death of our flesh through our Redeemer. The greatness of all these blessings and this infinite multitude of benefits far surpass whatever of curse or punishment our Father has been pleased to lay upon us." These and like conversations Adam and Eve, no doubt, often held together to alleviate their temporal sorrows.
In this same manner also, ought we to contemplate the unspeakable treasures we possess in our hope of the life to come and by such meditations ought we to lessen the troubles of the flesh. This is what we find the Apostle Paul doing, 2 Cor. 4:17, 18, "For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
Now tell me if all the temporal afflictions which may be laid on them, will not be borne resignedly and patiently by those persons who are enabled to lay hold of the hope of future glory and to believe in God, here promising the "crushing of the serpent's head," and who can moreover look upon those temporal blessings which remain to us; that our Lord hath given us this whole world to enjoy, and that he has given us wives, homes and children, and has preserved all things to us and increases them by his blessing? And will they not say, "That is not the anger of a judge nor a tyrant, but of a father!" On the other hand however, they will behold the anger of the judge falling upon the serpent. In his case there is not only no deliverance promised, but a certain "crushing of his head" foretold. And this anger of the judge Satan felt at the time, and he feels it still. And it is on this very account that he rages with such great and unceasing fury against the Church and the Son of God, until the last day shall come.
The divine threatening therefore in this passage where the Lord threatens Eve with the sure punishments of her sin, was indeed a heavy threatening. But out of the midst of those very punishments there beamed forth unspeakable mercy. And this mercy so revived and strengthened Eve that she rejoiced with a heart full of gladness, even in the midst of her sorrows. And as to ourselves we feel how necessary these punishments are to crucify and keep under the flesh. For how could we be humbled if our nature were not pressed down to the earth with burdens like these? Eve therefore experienced and every woman of her station and duty must experience these sure calamities. These sorrows must be multiplied unto all women. They must both conceive in sorrow and bring forth in sorrow.
It is moreover worthy of observation, that the Hebrew expression here used isRAB, which signifies both a continuous and distinct quantity; conveying to us the thought that these great and many and various sorrows, thus righteously inflicted on Eve, were such as she would not have had to endure, if she had not fallen by sin; and the expression also implies the sorrows and punishments inflicted particularly on conception and childbirth. This same expression signifies by its implied meaning the whole of that time, "conception," during which the child is borne in the womb, which time is afflicted with great and various weaknesses, pains and diseases. The head, the stomach, the general health and the appetites are variously and greatly affected. And after the child is matured and the birth is at hand, the greatest sorrow of all is endured; and the child is not born without great peril even of life.
When the heathen and those who have no knowledge of God or of his works see these things, they take such offence at them that they form the conclusion that, on account of these various troubles, it is not becoming a wise man to marry at all. And true it is that the female sex is far more deeply humbled and afflicted, and bears a punishment far more heavy and severe than men. For what sufferings of the body, equal to those we just described, does man endure? But by marriage the husband does take upon himself as it were a part of these punishments of original sin; for the husband cannot see his wife endure all this pain and sorrow without much distress in himself. So that many wicked men prefer living a life of profligacy to a life of marriage.
Against such wicked sentiments as these the godly will arm and console themselves; and by true wisdom will set against these evils the certain and far greater blessings which attend the married life. Hence the ancient heathen poet Pindar, in his Ode to Hiero, King of Syracuse, condemns this perverseness in ignorant men. Though God, says he, is ever wont so to dispense his benefits as to leave some evil intermingled with them, yet none but the wise and good can carry themselves aright under them. For they adorn their prosperity; and under its bright colors they hide the adversity which they endure, setting their prosperity ever foremost to be seen of men:
PIND.Pyth. Odeiii. 145-150.
PIND.Pyth. Odeiii. 145-150.
And this is what the godly ought ever to do in this their solemn case. The punishments, to which women are subject on account of the sin of the fall, are indeed great. But is there not in marriage a blessing which infinitely surpasses all the punishments of original sin with which it is afflicted? Have not those who are married in the midst of their great troubles that sure hope of immortality and eternal life which comes to them through the Seed of the woman!
Nay, the troubles and trials themselves of marriage are not without their benefit. They all tend to break down and humble our nature, which cannot be humbled without the cross.
And in the third place there is left to be enjoyed in these great bodily afflictions the peculiar glory of motherhood: that high blessing of the womb! This was a blessing which even the wise among the heathen so greatly admired and so loudly lauded. And other good gifts of marriage also remain to us and are enjoyed by us. We are borne in the womb of our mothers, we suck their breasts, we are nursed, we are nourished, and by the devoted attention and care of our mothers we are preserved in infancy and childhood. To view the great and solemn matter of marriage thus, is "to set our blessings in their fairest light." This is not to look at our evils only, but to delight ourselves in the benefits and the great blessing of God in his holy ordinance of marriage; and under those benefits and that blessing, to sink out of sight the various punishments, corruptions, pains and afflictions by which it is compassed.
But the godly alone understand these things and do them. They alone view marriage aright. They alone give honor unto women, as unto the weaker vessel; because they see them to be their companions of immortality as well as of mortality, and as being heirs together with them of the inheritance in heaven. The godly moreover behold them highly honored of the Lord by the blessing and the glory of motherhood. By them we are conceived, from them we are born, by them we are nursed in infancy.
And for myself I have often contemplated with wonder and delight the peculiar adaptation of the female body for nursing infants. How aptly, becomingly and gracefully, do even little girls carry infants in their bosom? And with what appropriate gestures do mothers dandle their infants, especially when the crying babe is to be pacified or quieted so as to be laid in the cradle? Only tell a man to do these same things and he will set about it as an elephant would attempt to dance; so awkward are his motions, if he has only to touch a babe with his finger, to say nothing about all those other offices and attentions which a mother only can perform. Whoever therefore rightly views and estimates the sacred matter of marriage will receive all these offices and services of the woman as signs and proofs of the blessing of the Lord, by which God testifies that the female sex, though thus severely punished on account of their original sin, are very dear to him and his peculiar care. Wherefore let these meditations suffice concerning the first part of the divine curse on the original sin of Eve.
The other part of the curse lies in the particulars of the marriage union. If Eve had not sinned, her childbirth would not only have been without any pain, but even her union with her husband would have been most pure and utterly free from all shame. There would have been no more shame attached to those connubial circumstances than there is in a man's taking his meal with his wife and conversing with her at the dinner-table. The bringing up of children also would have been most easy and full of pleasure. But all these blessings were lost by the sin of the fall, and in their place are endured by the woman all those too well-known evils of pain and labor in carrying the child, bringing it forth and bringing it up. Wherefore just as a graceful maiden weaves a beautiful chaplet from the flowers of the garden and bears it on her head, not only without any molestation but with the greatest pleasure and the greatest pride; so, if Eve had not sinned, she would have borne her child in her womb not only free from distress or inconvenience, but with the utmost pleasure and pride. Whereas now, in addition to all those pains of bearing the child and giving it birth, she has rendered herself subject to the power of her husband; while before she was wholly free and in no sense inferior to the man, and was an equal partaker of all the endowments bestowed by God on him.
This then is the punishment of the woman, which righteously fell upon her as the consequence of original sin, which she bears quite as unwillingly as she does those pains and troubles, righteously imposed on her flesh in child-bearing. Wherefore the rule and government of all things remain in the power of the husband whom the wife according to the command of God is bound to obey. The husband rules the house, governs the state politic, conducts wars, defends his own property, cultivates the earth, builds, plants, etc. The woman on the other hand as a nail driven into the wall sits at home. Hence it is that the Apostle Paul calls womenOIKOUROUS, "keepers at home," Titus 2:5. For this same reason the ancients represented Venus sitting on a shell; because as the shell-fish always carries its shell with it, so the woman ought always to be constantly at home attending to her domestic affairs; as one deprived of the right of governing outside of her house and in public, and as one whose duty is never to go beyond her own most private and domestic concerns in the matter of government.
Had Eve therefore stood in the truth she would not only have been free from all subjection to the rule of the man, but she herself also would have been an equal partaker of government, which now belongs to men alone. Women however are generally impatient of this burden and by nature aim at the assumption of that, which by their sin they have lost; and when they can do nothing more they at least show their unwillingness to bear the yoke by a murmur of discontent. Whereas they are not competent to undertake the management of men's affairs, of teaching, ruling, etc. Of bearing children, and of feeding, nursing and bringing up their offspring they are capable. In this manner therefore was Eve punished; and all womankind endure the same curse. But, as I have before said, this very punishment is a joyful one, if you look at the hope of eternal life which springs from her Seed, out of the midst of her child-bearing pains; and if you consider also the glory of maternity or motherhood left to her.
II. V. 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."
The husband was last in the transgression, 1 Tim. 2:14, and therefore the punishment is inflicted on him last. But the Lord threatens no punishment to the man here in generation. God makes no mention of the pains of generation in his case. Therefore the punishment of the husband lies in the fury of lust, inflamed by the poison of Satan throughout his whole body, but without the pains of the woman. His duties as husband however are laden with punishment. For, as it belongs to the man to feed, to rule, to guide and to educate his family, those duties cannot be performed by him without great trouble and distress nor without the hardest labors. The duty laid of God upon the woman is to obey her husband; but with what difficulty is this very performance of her duty obtained! I say nothing about the rule of the man over others, who are not of his immediate family and household.
Hence it was that the philosophers of old were led to wonder from what cause in nature it could possibly arise that men could govern any wild beast more easily than rule their fellowmen. This is the ground of Xenophon's complaint, when he says, "It is easier to manage any other animal than to rule man." The duties of a husband indeed are great and noble, which are to cultivate the earth and to perform any other work by which his wife and children may be supported to rule his house and family; to govern states and kingdoms; and to teach and instruct those of his own house and others also unto godliness and moral duties. All these noble duties however are always attended with their punishment of original sin. They cannot be performed without the greatest distress, of which we have examples before our eyes daily.
First of all on account of the sin of Adam himself the earth is cursed. For the expression the Latin translation renders "in thy work,"in opere tuo, is in the original HebrewBAABURECHA, "for thy sake,"propter te. The Latin interpreter was deceived by the similarity of the letters. He read the Hebrew as beingBAABUDECHA. ForABADsignifies "to cultivate the earth" or "to till the ground."
From this it appears how awful the calamity of sin is, seeing that even the earth, which is innocent in itself and committed no sin, is nevertheless compelled to bear sin's curse; and as the Apostle Paul expresses it, Rom. 8:20, 21, is "made subject to vanity," from which however it shall be delivered in the last day and for which also it waits in earnest expectation, verse 19. For Pliny calls the earth "a kind, gentle and indulgent mother and also a perpetual handmaid of service to mankind." And yet as the Apostle Paul here shows, this kind earth herself is compelled to bear her curse also. In the first place, because she does not bear those good things for man and beast which she would have borne had man not fallen; and in the next place, because she does bear many hurtful things, which but for man's sin she would not have borne, such as the destructive weeds, darnel, tares, nettles, thorns, thistles, etc., to which may be added, poison, noxious reptiles and other like hurtful things, brought into the creation by sin.
For my own part I entertain no doubt that before the sin of the fall the air was more pure and healthful, the water more wholesome and fructifying, and the light of the sun more bright and beautiful. So that the whole creation as it now is reminds us in every part of the curse inflicted on it, on account of the sin of the fall. Yet some remnants of the original blessing of God still rest upon it; in that being compelled as it were to do so by the hard labor of man, it still continues to produce things necessary for our use, although those very things are impeded and deformed by briers and thorns; that is, by useless and noxious trees, bushes and weeds, which the divine anger ceases not to sow among them.
This original curse moreover was afterwards greatly increased by the Deluge, when all the good trees were rooted up and destroyed, barren sands accumulated and both noxious herbs and beasts multiplied. In those very places where Adam before his sin used to walk among the most fruitful trees, over most fertile meadows and in the midst of roses and flowers of every kind, there nettles and briers, and other annoying plants abound; and in such quantities that the good and useful plants are well nigh choked by them. Only look at the field now just prepared by the plow for receiving the seed; no sooner is that seed sown than immediately there spring up the destructive darnel and the tares, which grow even faster than the fruits which are for the use and nourishment of life. And if the former were not plucked up by the constant care and toil of the husbandman, they would daily grow to such an extent that these very destructive weeds of the curse would choke the good seed altogether. The earth herself indeed is innocent and would of its own free nature bring forth all things which are the best and most excellent. But she is prevented from doing so by the curse inflicted on man for his sin.
As therefore woman endures the punishment of sin in her body, a punishment she is mercifully enabled to bear, with which she is afflicted in the bringing forth of children; so the husband has to endure his punishment in the government of his household; while, with all kinds of difficulty, labor and distress, he rules his house and provides for his family. And justly so; for it was on his own account that the field was cursed. Whereas before he sinned no part of the earth was either barren or corrupt, but all places in it were marvelously fertile and productive; but now, on the contrary, not only is it in many parts entirely barren, but even those parts, which are otherwise fruitful, are deformed and defiled with tares, weeds, briers and thorns. And this calamity is indeed great, and might well drive Adam himself and us all to choose strangling rather than life. But the whole mighty evil is rendered endurable by the promise of the woman's "Seed," by which the punishment of eternal death, which is infinitely greater than all this punishment of life, is wholly taken out of the way.
That which next follows, "In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life," are words quite easy to understand. For who knows not how laborious the life of an husbandman is. It is not enough that he prepare the ground for receiving the seed, which is attended with great and various labor; but even when the corn is yet in the blade, each single day almost demands of him its necessary labor and toil; not to mention those almost infinite hindrances of weather, noxious vermin, etc., all which greatly augment his pain, labor and suffering. Whereas before the sin of the fall, not only were there no such evils and hindrances in existence, but the earth, had Adam not sinned, would have brought forth all things quicker than the hope or expectation of man, as it were, "unsown and unplowed."
Moreover this calamity, which sin brought into the creation, was in many respects lighter and more tolerable in their state before the Flood than in the condition of the world which followed. In the antediluvian state of the curse no other mention is made than of thorns, and thistles, and labor, and sweat; but now we experience numberless other additional evils. How many diseases and pestilential injuries are inflicted on the standing corn, on the plants of pulse, on trees, and finally on all the productions of the earth? How many evils are wrought by destructive birds and noxious caterpillars? Add to these evils, extremes of cold and frost, thunderings, lightnings, excessive wet, winds, rivers bursting their banks, fissures of the earth, earthquakes, etc. Of none of these is any mention made in the state of things under the curse before the Deluge. My firm belief is therefore that as the sins of men increased the punishments of those sins increased also; and that all such punishments and evils were added to the original curse of the earth.
If however any one should think that Moses embraced all these latter evils, in his expression of the divine curse, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake," I certainly will not contend with him. But no one surely can deny that all these evils and punishments increased as the sins of men increased. In the same manner, as in the present day, we experience more frequent calamities befalling the fruits of the earth than in former times. For the world degenerates and grows worse and worse every day. Most plainly therefore may we here trace the evidences that all these increased calamities were inflicted on Adam as an instruction to him in the first age of the world that an increasedly severe discipline was necessary. But by degrees this discipline, down to the times of Noah, gradually became loosened and men began to live more dissolutely and wickedly, until at length the earth was filled with violence, injustice and tyranny. And then it was necessary that either heavier or more frequent punishments should be inflicted; just as severer diseases require severer remedies.
When therefore in the time of Noah the whole earth had been deluged by the Flood and every living creature except a few souls, had been utterly destroyed, the age which immediately succeeded that of Noah lived without doubt in the fear of God. But as years rolled on even these men became depraved, being corrupted by Satan. So that an example more terrible in its nature still was necessary to be made; as is shown in the awful destruction of Sodom and its neighboring cities, Gen. 19:24. Hence it is that the Scripture says that it was necessary that the Amorites should "fill up the measure of their iniquities," Gen. 15:16.
So also the whole synagogue of the Jews, when it had fallen away into heathenism and open ungodliness, was utterly destroyed. In like manner also Rome herself, as long as her ancient discipline stood sound and unrelaxed, mightily increased her power on every side; but when the storms of vice pressed hard upon her it became necessary that her punishments also should draw upon her more closely.
About the time when the Gospel began to be known among us in Germany the age became somewhat moral and tolerable. But now, when the fear of God can scarcely be found, and when vices of every description increase daily, false prophets rising among us, what else can be expected than that, when we have filled up the measure of our iniquities, either the consummation of all things will overtake us or that Germany will suffer the due punishment of her sins; so universally true is it that when sins increase, the punishments of them increase also.
According to that which I have said concerning the calamities which rest upon all the productions of the earth; so my full belief also is that even the bodies of men, in the primæval ages of the world, were far more healthful than they are now. This is proved by that longevity, so incredible to us, which was enjoyed by the men of the primitive ages of the world before the Flood. Accordingly we do not find the Lord pronounced in the present passage any threats on Adam concerning apoplexy, or leprosy, or the scrofula, or any other of the destructive diseases.
When I was a child the small-pox was unknown in Germany. It was first known among us when I was about fifteen years of age. Now however even infants in the cradle are attacked by it. When this disease first made its appearance it filled every one with dread. But now there is so little concern about it that friends often say to each other in a pleasant joke, "The smallpox take you!" So also, even unto this present age, the sweating disease has been a prevalent malady, or as medical men term it, an epidemic. For it is universally seen that as each country of the earth has its peculiar blessings, the countries are visited and afflicted with sure and corresponding calamities. But the disease to which I have referred made its first general appearance in those midland parts of Germany, which were the farthest distant from the sea. And what is abhorrent to relate, some persons have serpent-like worms in their bowels, and worms even in their brain. These last diseases were utterly unknown, I think, to the physicians of old, who nevertheless enumerate nearly four hundred different kinds of disease. Now if all these various diseases had existed in the first age of the world, how could Adam and his descendants, down to the times of Noah, have lived to such extremely old ages? Wherefore Moses, as I have said, here makes mention only of the barrenness of the earth and of the difficulty of man's procuring his bread.
Indeed if any one wishes to assume the orator and to display the copiousness and eloquence of his language, let him in opening the contents of the passages before us, enumerate all the diseases and evils of the human race, which are the consequences of sin. Were he to commence that task, he would find a sea of calamities of every kind so boundless, that filled with awe and dread, he would be inclined to beg of God this one thing, that he might not be permitted to live even one hour in the midst of so many and mighty perils!