Adam’s Punishment and Our Family
Continuing on from the last post, we see Adam and Eve now hidden away with their fig leaves. When we can keep in mind how they were punished for their sins with both temporal (in life) and eternal (in death) punishments, as well as physical (toil to eat) and spiritual (separation from walking with God) punishments, we can understand why they hid from God. Not much different than a three-year-old child who has done something they should not have done…going to hide to try to not be seen by the parent. Even as adults, we still try to hide when we have sinned. In our minds, it is much better to hide away or try to cover it up in some way. Being forthcoming and honest is not an easy way to address our sins, but that is the direction we should be headed.
Back to the story….in handing out punishments, God first dealt with the serpent, then Eve, and finally, Adam was the focus of God’s attention. In this short reflection, we will talk about Adam’s punishments associated with his familial relationships, while the next post will focus on his punishments related to his work.
Adam’s punishment begins with God telling Eve that Adam would rule over her and she would desire him (cf. Genesis 3:16). When you consider this punishment, it is quite ironic. Due to Adam’s passivity, Eve was punished by having a desire for Adam to be active. It also seems to show that our (i.e., men) natural state may be passivity, but it is the supernatural that gives us the ability to be leaders. Nonetheless, the incident with the fruit was a miserable failure to lead, so God punished Eve by giving her a heart that desired for her husband to lead. Adam’s punishment for this was the expectation of his wife that he would lead. Many husbands have faced this reality in which their wife wanted them to be the leader and they did not want to do so.
Verse 17 of Genesis 3 states that God related that it was “because” of Adam listening to Eve and eating the fruit that he will be punished. The use of “because” seems like things would have turned out differently if Adam would have not listened. We do not know what would have happened if Adam would have said “no” to Eve’s offer. We do know what would have happened had he prevented the issue altogether.
In reflecting on this topic, it seems that the issue was not Adam’s work ethic (nothing is mentioned about that). It was not Adam’s ability to do physical things, he was tending the Garden. It was not about Adam’s personality, looks, or any other physical attribute. The issue was spiritual leadership. Adam was punished because he allowed his wife to sin. Of course, Eve had free will, but Adam did not take the spiritual leadership role to encourage her to avoid sin.
This begs to question to us today. What are we doing to take the initiative to lead our families spiritually? In observing the world, we see men being on the sidelines. We see many men not taking the lead to get their families to Mass (or church). We see many men not shaping their children’s spiritual growth. Of course, we will all struggle, as we all have some of Adam in us. This is why we must prepare for battle against our nature of passivity in the spiritual…for our families, for the Church, for the world!
Yes to Action: Due to Adam’s passivity as it is related to sin led to familial punishment. Identify one area of your spiritual life that you are being passive. Maybe you need to take the initiative to lead your family in prayer. This could be even just blessing your food if you do not already do so. Maybe you need to take the initiative to get your family up, dressed, and out the door for Mass. This could mean ironing the clothes the night before so you can leave the house without fussing. Whatever your identified area, just ask God to help you to have the supernatural strength to overcome this passivity. You will be glad you did….remember, this is what your wife desires!