The Lord now tells us what will change in the man’s life because he disobeyed the Lord God. He preferred to listen to his wife rather than to his heavenly Father. Firstly, the earth is cursed on account of him. Here the Lord gives a general indication that because of man’s sin a significant change and impoverishment of nature has taken place. We cannot determine today how great this change and disadvantage has been. Paul shows something of this in Romans 8:19–21, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” This curse has serious and adverse consequences for Adam and his descendants. It will be difficult to harvest enough food from the land.
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;