Genesis 3:9 - Genesis 3:24

God's Fivefold Judgment and His Fourfold Grace

Now, for the first time, God demonstrates His holiness and His grace.

His Holiness is demonstrated in his fivefold judgment upon sin:

1. Upon the man –
“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” -Genesis 3:17

2. Upon the woman –
“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.” –Genesis 3:16

3. Upon all nature –
“Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field” –Genesis 3:18

4. Upon the serpent –
“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” –Genesis 3:14

5. Upon the devil –
“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.” –Genesis 3:15


God show’s his Grace is four ways:

1. In calling out to Adam.
Just as it will be for the rest of time, God calls Adam while Adam runs from God. Adam is too ashamed to be in the presence of God, but God, in His grace, takes the first step in reconciliation.

2. In promising them a savior.
God tells them and Satan about the savior to come when he says, “it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

3. In clothing them.
God presumably kills an innocent animal to make clothes for Adam and Eve. Thus demonstrating for the first time the biblical principal of an innocent life being shed for the covering of our sins.

4. In removing them from the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:22 tells us that the reason that God expelled Adam from the Garden of Eden was to prevent him from eating of the tree of life and gaining eternal life. This was an act of Mercy, done for the good of mankind. Adam was now tainted with rebellion against God. To live forever in sin would be devastating for mankind as a whole.
God puts Cherubim and a flaming sword in place to guard the garden and more specifically, the Tree of Life. At this point, the Tree of Life disappears from the pages of the Bible until Revelations.