Story 9: God Judges the Snake and the Woman

[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 curse.  Curse rhymes with “purse”.  Now you say it.  Curse.  Curse.  To curse someone is to say bad things that you want to happen to him.  If someone says to you, “You will die when you are 30”, he has cursed you. 

The second word is strike.  Strike rhymes with “like”.  Repeat after me.  Strike.  Strike.  To strike means to hit or attack.  The past tense of “strike” is struck. The guard struck the prisoner’s head with a stick.  Ouch!  North Korea threatened to strike the United States.  North Korea said they might attack the United States. 

The third word is offspring.  Can you say “offspring”?  Offspring.  Offspring means descendants.  If you have 4 children, and each of your 4 children has 4 children, then you will have 20 descendants.  4 plus 16 equals 20.  All of them are your descendants or “offspring”.  The word “offspring” is the same in singular and plural.  We do not say “offsprings”.  One descendant is one offspring.  Fifty descendants are fifty offspring. 

In our last story, the man and woman told God why they ate the fruit.  The man blamed the woman for giving him the fruit.  The woman blamed the snake for deceiving her.  Today’s story is called, “God Judges the Snake and the Woman”.

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. 

The Lord God said to the snake, “Because you did this, a curse will be put on you.
Will God kill the snake ? No, God will put a curse on the snake.
What will be put on the snake?  A curse will be put on the snake.
Will a curse be put on the tree?  No, a curse will be put on the snake.
Why will a curse be put on the snake?  A curse will be put on the snake because the snake deceived the woman. 

You will be cursed more than any tame animal or wild animal.
What will be cursed?  The snake will be cursed. 
Will the snake be cursed less than the wild animals?  No, the snake will be cursed more than the wild animals. 

You will crawl on your belly.
Do snakes have legs?  No, snakes do not have legs.
How do snakes move?  Snakes crawl on their bellies.

You will eat dust all your life.
Who will eat dust?  The snake will eat dust.
Will the snake eat fruit?  No, the snake will not eat fruit.  The snake will eat dust. 
How long will the snake eat dust?  The snake will eat dust all his life. 

I will make you and the woman hate each other.
What will the woman hate?  The woman will hate the snake.
Who will the snake hate?  The snake will hate the woman.
Who made the snake and woman hate each other?  God made them hate each other.

Your offspring and her offspring will be enemies.
Whose offspring will be enemies?  The woman’s offspring and the snake’s offspring will be enemies.
Will the woman’s offspring and the snake’s offspring be friends?  No, they will be enemies.  They will not be friends. 

He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Who will strike the snake?  The woman’s offspring will strike the snake.
Whose head will he strike?  He will strike the snake’s head.
How many offspring will strike the snake?  Only one of her descendants will strike the snake.  Normally we do not know if “offspring” is singular or plural.  But here it says “he”.  “He” is singular.  So we know that one male descendant of the woman will strike the snake. 
Where will he strike the snake?  He will strike the snake’s head.
Who will the snake strike?  The snake will strike the woman’s offspring.
Where will the snake strike the woman’s offspring?  The snake will strike his heel.

The Lord God said to the woman, “I will increase your pain when you give birth.
Who will give birth?  The woman will give birth.
Who will feel pain?  The woman will feel pain.
When will the woman feel pain?  The woman will feel pain when she gives birth.
Who will increase the woman’s pain?  God will increase the woman’s pain.

You will be in great pain when you have children.
Will the man have children?  No, the woman will have children.
What will the woman feel when she has children?  She will feel great pain.

You will want to control your husband.
Who will the woman want to control?  She will want to control her husband. 
Will the woman want to trust her husband?  No, she will want to control him.

But he will rule over you.”
Who will rule over the woman?  Her husband will rule over her.
Will the woman rule over her husband?  No, her husband will rule over her.
Will the husband love his wife?  No, the husband will rule over his wife.  

Let’s listen to the whole story together.

The Lord God said to the snake,
“Because you did this,
    a curse will be put on you.
    You will be cursed more than any tame animal or wild animal.
You will crawl on your belly.
    You will eat dust
    all your life.
I will make you and the woman hate each other.
    Your offspring and her offspring will be enemies.
He will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

The Lord God said to the woman,
“I will increase your pain when you give birth.
    You will be in great pain when you have children.
You will want to control your husband.
But he will rule over you.”

God spoke the curses using the future tense.  Let’s change the curses to the past tense.  This is how it would sound if God spoke to the snake and the woman after He had cursed them.

The Lord God said to the snake,
“Because you did this,
    a curse was put on you.
    You were cursed more than any tame animal or wild animal.
You crawled on your belly.
    You ate dust
    all your life.
I made you and the woman hate each other.
    Your offspring and her offspring were enemies.
He struck your head,
    and you struck his heel.”

The Lord God said to the woman,
“I increased your pain when you gave birth.
    You were in great pain when you had children.
You wanted to control your husband.
But he ruled over you.”

In our next story, we will learn how God judges the man.  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.”