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Patriarchs and Prophets
Paradise, and an eternal life of joy, could now, after his fall, endeavor
to make his companion, and even the Creator Himself, responsible for
the transgression. So terrible is the power of sin.
When the woman was asked, “What is this that thou hast done?”
she answered, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” “Why didst
Thou create the serpent? Why didst Thou suffer him to enter Eden?”—
these were the questions implied in her excuse for her sin. Thus, like
Adam, she charged God with the responsibility of their fall. The spirit
of self-justification originated in the father of lies; it was indulged by
our first parents as soon as they yielded to the influence of Satan, and
has been exhibited by all the sons and daughters of Adam. Instead of
humbly confessing their sins, they try to shield themselves by casting
the blame upon others, upon circumstances, or upon God—making
even His blessings an occasion of murmuring against Him.
The Lord then passed sentence upon 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.” Since it had been employed as Satan’s medium, the
serpent was to share the visitation of divine judgment. From the most
beautiful and admired of the creatures of the field, it was to become the
most groveling and detested of them all, feared and hated by both man
and beast. The words next addressed to the serpent applied directly to
Satan himself, pointing forward to his ultimate defeat and destruction:
“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.”
Eve was told of the sorrow and pain that must henceforth be her
portion. And the Lord said, “Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and
he shall rule over thee.” In the creation God had made her the equal
of Adam. Had they remained obedient to God—in harmony with
His great law of love—they would ever have been in harmony with
each other; but sin had brought discord, and now their union could
be maintained and harmony preserved only by submission on the part
of the one or the other. Eve had been the first in transgression; and
she had fallen into temptation by separating from her companion,
contrary to the divine direction. It was by her solicitation that Adam
sinned, and she was now placed in subjection to her husband. Had
the principles joined in the law of God been cherished by the fallen
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race, this sentence, though growing out of the results of sin, would