Story 10: God Judges the Man

[Song] “Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life.  Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life.”

Hello, I’m Mrs. B!  Welcome to Lifeline English, the podcast that helps you know God and know English.

You can read the written script for today’s lesson online at lifelineenglish.com.

Today I want to teach you three words.

The first word is weed.  Weed rhymes with “need”.  Repeat the word “weed”.  Weed.  A weed is a plant that we don’t want. Carrots and beans will grow if you plant carrot and bean seeds. You don't have to plant weed seeds! Weeds grow on their own.  If your garden has weeds, you need to pull them out of the ground.  Then the good plants will have room to grow. 

The second word is thorn.  Say the word “thorn”.  It rhymes with “horn”.  Thorn.  A thorn is a sharp point on a plant.  If you touch a thorn, it hurts.  Roses have thorns.  Many weeds have thorns.  When Jesus was killed, they put a crown of thorns on His head. 

The third word is sweat.  Sweat rhymes with “wet”.  Can you say “sweat”?  Sweat.  Sweat is the water that appears on top of your skin when you are hot or nervous.  Sweat helps to control the temperature of our bodies.  When you sweat, your shirt gets wet! 

In our last story, God judged the snake and the woman for their sins.  But God did not forget the man.  Today’s story is called, “God Judges the Man.”

When I ask a question, I will leave a space.  You can answer my question.  Then I will say the answer.  You can compare your answer with my answer. 

Then God said to the man, “You listened to your wife. 
Did the man listen to the snake?  No, the man didn’t listen to the snake. 
To whom did the man listen?  The man listened to his wife.  

You ate from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from. 
Did the man eat a vegetable?  No, the man ate fruit from the tree.
What did God command the man not to eat?  God commanded the man not to eat from that tree.
Did the man eat from that tree?  Yes, he ate fruit from that tree. 

So I am putting a curse on the ground because of what you did. 
Who is putting a curse?  God is putting a curse.
Where is God putting a curse?  God is putting a curse on the ground.
Why is God putting a curse on the ground?  God is putting a curse on the ground because the man sinned. 
Did God put a curse on the tree?  No, God put a curse on the ground. 

By painful work all your life, you will eat food from the ground. 
What will the man eat?  The man will eat food.
Where will the food come from?  The food will come from the ground.
How will the man get food from the ground?  The man will get food from the ground by painful work.
How long will the man work?  The man will work all his life.
Will it be easy for the man to get food?  No, the man will get food by painful work. 
Did Adam work before he sinned?  Yes, Adam worked.  But before Adam sinned, his work was not painful.  Work is not a curse.

The ground will produce thorns and weeds for you. 
What will the ground produce?  The ground will produce thorns and weeds.
Were there thorns and weeds before the man sinned?  No, there were no thorns and weeds.

And you will eat the plants of the field.
Who will eat plants?  The man will eat plants.
Will the man eat the snake?  No, the man will eat plants. 

You will sweat and work hard for your bread.
What will the man eat?  He will eat bread.
How will the man get bread?  He will sweat and work hard to get bread.  

Then you will return to the ground.
Will the man go to the sky?  No, the man will not go to the sky.
Where will the man go?  He will go to the ground. 

This is because you were taken from the ground.
Who was taken from the ground?  The man was taken from the ground.  Do you remember how God made the man?  God made the man from the dust of the ground. 
Why will the man return to the ground?  The man will return to the ground because he was taken from the ground. 

You are dust.   And you will return to the dust.
Who is dust?  The man is dust. 
Where will the man return?  The man will return to the dust. 
Is the man rock?  No, the man is dust. 
When will our bodies return to the dust?  Our bodies will  return to the dust when we die.
Did anyone die before Adam sinned?  No, no one died. 
Why do we die?  We die because Adam sinned.  God placed humans under a curse after Adam sinned. 

Let’s listen to the whole story together.

Then God said to the man,
“You listened to your wife.  You ate from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from.  So I am putting a curse on the ground because of what you did.  By painful work all your life, you will eat food from the ground.  The ground will produce thorns and weeds for you.  And you will eat the plants of the field.
You will sweat and work hard
    for your bread.
Then you will return to the ground.
    This is because you were taken from the ground.
You are dust.
    And you will return to the dust.

God’s words are in the second person.  Let’s change them to first person.  This is how God’s words would sound if Adam told us God's words.

“I listened to my wife.  I ate from the tree that God commanded me not to eat from.  So God is putting a curse on the ground because of what I did.  By painful work all my life, I will eat food from the ground.  The ground will produce thorns and weeds for me.  And I will eat the plants of the field.  I will sweat and work hard for my bread. Later I will return to the ground. This is because I was taken from the ground.  I am dust.  And I will return to the dust.”

Because God is good, He cannot ignore our sin.  God cannot pretend that we have done nothing wrong.  God must punish our sin.  God punished the woman with pain in childbirth and problems in marriage.  God punished the man with painful work and death.  But God also promised that one day, a male descendant of the woman would strike the snake’s head. 

Do you have questions?  You can write me.  Go to our website, lifelineenglish.com.  Our web site also has more information about each lesson that is not included in this podcast.

Until next time, may Jesus help you know Him and know English.  Good bye!

[Song] “Jesus only savior, sanctify forever, beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.  Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.”