After the sin of Adam and Eve, they are exiled from God’s presence. Now it will be hard for them to be fruitful and to subdue the earth. The woman will experience pain and anxiety in childbearing and instead of helping her husband, she will seek to rule over him. The man will struggle to provide food, working hard his whole life only to die and return to dust. In both these conditions, man and woman will constantly be threatened by death. Transgressing God’s law did not bring the man and woman the independence that they hoped for, it resulted in chaos, pain, and difficulty.
14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.