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The Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Gen 2:1-3 {p} Seventh day of Creation
Gen 2:4-3:15 {s} Disobedience to YHVH’s command is sin
Gen 3:16 {s} Consequences for the woman (painful toil)
Gen 3:17-21 {p} Consequences for the man (painful toil)
Gen 3:22-24 {s} Exile from YHVH’s presence is a consequence of sin

In Gen 3 we begin seeing the second Hebrew paragraph division which God has embedded within the text of the Bible, the weak paragraph division. We mark it with {s} because its name in Hebrew begins with the ‘s’ sound. The weak division generally means, continuing in the same topic, but a new facet of it. We will come back to the weak division.

Another biblical teaching tool is History that Prophesies. The history recorded in the Bible is true history, events that actually happened, but those events prophesy of things to come. This characteristic is unique among the written histories of the world.

And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made. Gen 2:1-3

While the heaven and the earth were new, and still perfect, unmarred by any evil or sin, God set apart the seventh day – the Hebrew meaning of hallowed – as a day of resting from work.

But then sin did enter the perfect Creation in the very next chapter:

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate; and she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Gen 3:6

God meted out the consequences of their sin, first to Eve:

To the woman He said, ‘I will greatly multiply your toil in your labor; in toil you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.’ Gen 3:17

And then to Adam:

And to Adam He said, ‘Because you have paid heed to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it;” cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.’ Gen 3:18

The two consequences share the same characteristic: each will be painful toil for them; in fact, the word translated toil is the same word in Hebrew in both verses.

The traditional understanding of Gen 3:16, the woman’s painful toil, is that she will experience pain in childbirth. But the Hebrew makes it clear that her role of bringing forth children does not stop with just bearing them, but also raising them. The husband’s painful toil is similar in that it continues daily; with the added responsibility of knowing that his success at toiling means the difference between his wife and children being able to eat or go hungry.

Painful toil, daily labor, is the consequence of sin. But God in His grace extended mercy to man and woman before they ever sinned: He set aside the seventh day as a day of rest from labor from the foundation of the world. Every seventh day, men and women can lay down the consequence of their sin, their painful toil, burden, and responsibility, and enjoy a respite as a gift of grace.

So Sabbath rest is the first teacher of the gospel of grace. The history happened, but it also prophesied of the gospel of grace to come. The earned result of sin leads to death, but the undeserved free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, not by work, lest any man should boast (Eph 2:8-9). Respite, salvation is given to us freely as a gift, because God is a gracious and merciful God from the foundation of the world.

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Gab @ ChristineMiller
Torah Network @ ChristineMiller