Deconstruction involves clearing away the haze and the tangle. This is necessary when brush has overtaken something you know was meant to be good but somehow became something other than what it was intended to be. And now you’re ready clear it up or see it get cleared up, while you cheer.
Here’s what people have been telling you is the meaning of Genesis 3:16. But they were wrong! What follows below is what deserves to be deconstructed!
1. Supposedly, God gave her really bad pain in childbirth in The Curse of Eve, Part 1.
They say that in Line 1 of the verse God promised just one thing:
“You will have pain-in-childbirth.”
They then say that in Line 2 God stated the result of that act in this way:
“With pain you will bring forth children.”
2. Supposedly, God placed the rebellious man over her in The Curse of Eve, Part 2.
They say that in Line 3 the verse goes something like this:
“Your bad desire is against your husband.”
They say in Line 4 God says how to overcome her rebellion by saying this:
“He will rule over you.”
So their theology is basically this:
- The woman deserved her terrible curses. God cursed her once or twice.
- She tempted the man to sin.
- She also got out of line and left her subordinate place.
- She needed to be put in her place.
All this is radically incorrect. It needs to be deconstructed. It needs to be removed and replaced with the correct view and application of what God said and did because God did not curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.
Here’s what happened in 3:16. This is what we find when we clear away the brush piled over Genesis 3:16. It is based on seven years of research by Dr. Joy Fleming.
These are God’s 11 Hebrew words to the woman in four Lines in Genesis 3:16
- Line 1: I will multiply your toil and your conception.
- Line 2: With effort you will bring forth children.
- Line 3: Your affection is for your husband,
- Line 4: but he will rule over you.
First, God Acts:
Line 1 is not a curse on the woman. God acts in two ways. “Toil.” God will curse the ground because of the man (as recorded in verse 17) and then both he and she will experience sorrowful toil as they work the ground with their hands. “Conception.” God confirms she will still have pregnancy and her offspring will crush the head of her enemy (as recorded in verse 15). This is part two of the protevangelium that began in verse 15 when God gave the first glimmer of the Gospel.
Then, God Explains:
Line 2 is the first time God addresses the subject of childbirth. Childbearing is not brought up in Line 1. God explains to her that outside of Eden she will expend “effort” in childbearing. She will have more than one child; she will have “children.”
Line 3 is where God looks into her heart after the attack by the tempter. God finds she still affectionately “desires” her husband and God praises her for this.
Line 4 is where God warns the woman that her husband’s heart has changed. The man desires to usurp God’s proper place ruling over her and him. He rebelliously will “rule” over her himself.
This is the Tru316. It is the message of Genesis 3:16 that is true to the 11 Hebrew words.
The theology is basically this:
- The woman received no curse at all. Not one curse. Certainly not two.
- God gave her a promise confirming her as combatant of Satan. Her offspring would crush Satan’s head.
- She is the progenitor of the Savior of the human race.
- She didn’t tempt the man to sin. Satan did.
- She didn’t get out of line. She and the man were created as equal partners.
- She didn’t need to be put in her place. Her place was as ruler over the earth, the same as was the man.
- Did she experience enmity with Satan? God warned she would face it as well from the man, but she was nowhere described as returning that enmity.
by Bruce C. E. Fleming and Joy Fleming January 15, 2022.
Tru316 Project (Tru316.com)