Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #21 of Genesis, chapter 3 and we are continuing to look at Genesis 3:16:

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

In our last study we were looking at the spiritual dimension of this statement that God made to the woman. God is using this opportunity to lay out His Gospel program concerning the elect bride of Christ in regard to the woman. Spiritually, the woman represents everyone God will save and He says, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow,” and the word “greatly” is the same word as the word translated as “multiply,” so it actually says, “I will multiplying multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.”

We saw in Psalm 139:13 how God described the forming of David in the womb and how that is a picture of His formation of the elect “when in substance there was none of them.” They did not yet exist and, yet, they were conceived in the work of Christ and His atoning work in paying for their sins.

We also saw in Galatians, chapter 4 that there are those that are born of the flesh and those that are born of the promise and of the spirit. We know that Christ said to Nicodemus that he must be born again, so God does liken His salvation program to a birth. Individually, each one of us must be born again and receive the Spirit of God as God blesses His Word to our hearts and creates a new heart and a new spirit within us – that is the first resurrection. This is what it means to be born again and to be a new creature in Christ.

And, yet, each one of us is part of the body. I would encourage everyone to read 1Corinthians, chapter 12 and see how God speaks of everyone that becomes saved as being part of the one body of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the body has many members. We are individual parts, but one body. Just as our physical body has various members, but we are still one body. Likewise, we are all members of the body of Christ. As God sent out His Gospel over the course of history, His Gospel program was completed in 2011 in the 13,023rd year of earth’s history. When God saved someone at the beginning, like Abel, or when He saved the last one to be saved, it was as if the members of the body were coming together. The body was conceived from the foundation of the world, but began to form over time until it was completed.

You know, when a child is in the womb, God uses that time to form the baby and “knit it together” until it is fully formed. This is how a birth would be ideally, but, of course, some children may be born prematurely or not properly formed, but the general idea is that the baby is knitted together and formed and fashioned in the womb. Once that is complete, then the baby is born into the world. This is the picture God is using. He conceived the body of Christ from the foundation of the world and it was as though they did come into existence because all their sins were paid for and, therefore, God was obligated to save each one. However, the world had to be created and history had to unfold as God sent forth His Gospel to seek and to save His elect until the very last one was saved. Then it was as if the child was altogether formed and ready for birth.

Let us go to John, chapter 16 where the Lord speaks of Gospel events, but He is relating them to a woman in sorrow because she is in travail. It says in John 16:20:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

Here, we read of the Lord Jesus as He speaks to the disciples as they stand in the stead of all God’s people and He is telling them that they will weep and lament and be sorrowful. We can tie that in with what is said in Psalm 126:5-6:

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

In these two verses the Lord speaks of sowing in tears and weeping, bearing precious seed, so the Bible does relate the time of the sending forth of the Gospel and the time of the formation of the body of Christ as a time of “sorrow.” It is through the Gospel that people can hear and become saved and while that is under way, it is a sorrowful time and Jesus is addressing this when He says, “And ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”

Then it goes on to say in John 16:21-22:

A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

At the time Christ spoke this parable, He had already been born into the world. He was already born of the woman, spiritually, as is pictured in Revelation, chapter 12. So this woman that is in travail and sorrow has not yet given birth to the child cannot be referring to the first coming of Christ. Jesus relates the idea of man being born into the world with His people rejoicing because they see Him again, so we can tie that in to the end of the world. We can relate what Christ is saying about the “woman” that travails for a period of time because she has yet to deliver the child to His second coming and the final end of all things in this world.

This is the idea with the language in our verse in Genesis, chapter 3 concerning the woman’s sorrow: “I will multiplying multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” It is interesting that throughout the entire New Testament era, Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” and there was always tribulation for God’s people during the whole New Testament church age and then came the Great Tribulation. It was the end of the church age and the beginning of Great Tribulation. God had saved the firstfruits over the 1,955 years of the church age, but He saved the best until last; during the last about 17 years of the Great Tribulation He saved a great multitude out of great tribulation. Keeping in mind this idea of bringing forth children in sorrow, let us look at Matthew 24:19:

And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

Now that is very curious that the Lord makes reference to being with child, as well as giving suck, considering the language we are seeing in the Bible concerning childbirth and its connection to God’s salvation program.

Then it goes on to say in Matthew 24:20-22:

But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

And God did save the great multitude during the Great Tribulation. If you look in a certain way at the salvation plan of God in regard to both the firstfruits and to the final fruits during the completion of His salvation program, you can look at it like it was a woman that was pregnant. There was the 1,955 years of the church age when the firstfruits were saved through the ministry of the New Testament churches and congregations of the world. It was a good number, but it was not a tremendous number of people; we do not know exactly how many and there may have been several million. But then came the end of the church age and the 23-year Great Tribulation period. During the first part of the 2,300 evening mornings virtually no one became saved, but then God saved the great multitude during the second part of the Great Tribulation. From everything we can know, it was tens of millions of people that were saved all over the earth and many more were saved in this short season of about 17 years than had been saved in the previous almost 2,000 years. Then God completed His salvation program and the Great Tribulation came to a close.

If you look at it like a woman’s pregnancy over the course of nine months, she begins to “show” and there is tribulation; there is morning sickness and vomiting and an ill feeling during the early months of the development of the child. Then she comes to the latter stage of the pregnancy and her tribulation intensifies because she is about to give birth to the child. In a way, we could say that God is describing the stages of childbirth. There is tribulation followed by great tribulation. Then we read of the great multitude that came out of great tribulation – all those that were to become saved have been saved. The elect body of Christ conceived through the Lord Jesus Christ from the foundation of the world was “knitted together” and fashioned over time. During the Old Testament, very few became saved. Then the children really began to take shape over the New Testament era and during the end of the Great Tribulation God completed them and the child was ready for birth. They have all come together and are completely formed. It was through great tribulation and much sorrow that the child came forth because as the Gospel went out there were many adversaries and assaults against the Word of God. Satan resisted on every possible point. Therefore, the woman conceived in sorrow and brought forth children in sorrow and we can see how this relates to God’s salvation program.

Going back to Genesis, chapter 3 it says in the last part of Genesis 3:16:

… and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

This just follows right along and fits with our spiritual picture, as we see that the woman has a desire to the bride groom, who is Christ, and He will rule over her. This fits perfectly. We have to mention that there is an earthly level of meaning – there is the moral law. It is a law for the wife in the marriage relationship. God has established an order of authority and God is at the top and then there is the “woman.” There is a chain of command that God has established and you can read about that in 1Corinthians, chapter 11. In an earthly house, the woman is to submit to her husband and the husband is to rule over the woman.

But let us take a closer look at these words. The word “desire” is a word that is only found three times in the Old Testament. It is found in regard to Cain in Genesis 4 and it is a difficult verse to understand, but the only other place it is found is in Song of Solomon 7:10:

I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.

The Song of Solomon is a love story between a man and his bride. The man is a picture of Christ and the woman is a picture of the elect. It is the woman (elect) speaking and she says, “And his desire is toward me.” This is the reverse to what we read in our verse in Genesis 3:16 where God is speaking to the woman and He said, “And thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” This makes perfect sense because God has established the marriage relationship for there to be desire from the woman toward her husband and in this verse in Song of Solomon God lets us know that the husband (Christ) also has desire toward the woman (elect). This desire is a good thing that is be shown in both regards. There is to be love and desire for one another in marriage.

I think we will understand what this desire points to if we go to 2Corinthians, chapter 11. We have gone to this chapter before in our study of Genesis, chapter 3, but let us go there again. It says in 2Corinthians 11:2-4:

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Here, the Apostle Paul is being moved by God’s Spirit to say, “For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” The word “chaste” is the same word we find in regard to the aged women teaching the younger women in Titus 2:5:

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

It is also used concerning a woman married to a husband that does not obey the Word. God says in 1Peter 3:2:

While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

The aged women are to teach the younger women to be chaste and this is something that can be applied to women. The word “chaste” is also translated as the word “pure.” It really means to be “holy” and one is holy and pure and their conduct or conversation when they follow the Word of God and they are obedient to the Bible. Spiritually, this is what is in view. The Apostle Paul is not speaking to an earthly bride that is espoused to a husband, but he is addressing the spiritual bride of Christ or each one that God has saved: “For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” These would be “true men” and someone “without guile.” They would be obedient from the heart and “chaste” or “pure” in behavior concerning the Word of God. They are faithful in following God’s Word, the Bible, and they are not beguiled like Eve to follow someone that comes with another gospel.

So, when it says to be “chaste,” you have a desire to your husband. Your desire is exclusively to your husband and his desire is exclusively to his wife, just as Jesus is faithful in all things toward His elect. And the wife is to be faithful to her husband and her desire is toward Him and not to “another Jesus” or “another spirit” or “another gospel.” Her desire is only toward Christ. This is the point of the word “desire.”

We could find a multitude of verses in which God found fault with Israel or with Judah and, in turn, fault with the churches because they loathed their husband and committed fornication and adultery. Their desire was toward every high place and every idol they set up under every tree. Their desire was not toward their husband. They did not have chaste conversation or a desire toward God alone, but they had a desire toward any other gospel or spirit that came along. That was the fault of Israel and Judah and the fault of the New Testament churches and God ended His relationship with these entities. He divorced Israel of old and He brought judgment upon the New Testament churches and congregations, but as far as His elect people (the true bride of Christ) their desire was toward their husband and He rules over them.

We will look at the last part of this verse in our next Bible study.