Temptation and Fall
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have proved a blessing to them; but man’s abuse of the supremacy
thus given him has too often rendered the lot of woman very bitter and
made her life a burden.
Eve had been perfectly happy by her husband’s side in her Eden
home; but, like restless modern Eves, she was flattered with the hope
of entering a higher sphere than that which God had assigned her. In
attempting to rise above her original position, she fell far below it.
A similar result will be reached by all who are unwilling to take up
cheerfully their life duties in accordance with God’s plan. In their
efforts to reach positions for which He has not fitted them, many are
leaving vacant the place where they might be a blessing. In their desire
for a higher sphere, many have sacrificed true womanly dignity and
nobility of character, and have left undone the very work that Heaven
appointed them.
To Adam the Lord declared: “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; thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the
field; 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.”
It was not the will of God that the sinless pair should know aught
of evil. He had freely given them the good, and had withheld the
evil. But, contrary to His command, they had eaten of the forbidden
tree, and now they would continue to eat of it—they would have the
knowledge of evil—all the days of their life. From that time the race
would be afflicted by Satan’s temptations. Instead of the happy labor
heretofore appointed them, anxiety and toil were to be their lot. They
would be subject to disappointment, grief, and pain, and finally to
death.
Under the curse of sin all nature was to witness to man of the
character and results of rebellion against God. When God made man
He made him rule over the earth and all living creatures. So long as
Adam remained loyal to Heaven, all nature was in subjection to him.
But when he rebelled against the divine law, the inferior creatures were
in rebellion against his rule. Thus the Lord, in His great mercy, would
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show men the sacredness of His law, and lead them, by their own