THE CURSE OF SIN UPON THE EARTH.
By William Covert
LAST week we learned about the purpose of God concerning the earth in creation. It was shown that it was to be a habitation for man, and that there was perfect adaptation and agreement between all the works of God. The earth and all its products were perfectly suited to the wants of man. Man's nature was in perfect accord with all his environments. The physical conditions of the earth, and that of the creatures God placed upon it, were such that, if all had remained in operation according to the laws of their Creator, they would have moved eternally without any friction. Therefore, all the physical conditions essential to eternal life were provided in the beginning. But the wicked cunning of Satan succeeded in bringing into man a dissatisfied mind. This mind turned man out of the course in which creation started him moving, and soon he had missed his way, and was found prostrate across the purposes of creation. This relation of things brought about friction; and friction and incompatibility would of itself bring disaster and death. This would have been the result even if there had been no judicial penalty inflicted for sin. But there is an affliction which follows swiftly upon the trail of sin, which is too marked to be regarded as simply a consequence. In this affliction is seen the direct visitation of judgments. These judgments have been made necessary that obstructions may be removed out of the way of God's purposes. Accordingly, when man sinned, it became necessary to deal with him for his own good in a manner that some have regarded as unkind. Quickly came the sentence of a curse upon the earth when its ruler had violated the law of God. In pronouncing this the Lord said:— "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. 3:17-19. Following this sentence came another, which expelled the transgressors from Paradise. This was done that they might not live forever in sin. Gen. 3:22, 23. These steps placed man on the outside of Eden, with Paradise lost. A sinner upon a sin-cursed earth, toiling hard among thorns and thistles for the necessities of life. Yet it was better for man, since he had yielded to sin, that he should labor thus, than for him to remain in luxury and indolence. It is therefore evident that the Lord had not abandoned the earth, neither his purpose concerning it, when he pronounced this curse upon it. In fact, the exact contrary is seen when reading the penalty itself. The earth was cursed for man's sake. The pricking of the thorns and the sterility of the soil were to be to man a constant reminder of his sins, and a continual appeal to him to seek again that which had been lost. Besides this, the labor of itself was designed to keep man honestly employed, and thus serve to keep him from running deeper into sin. Therefore, the deeper man went into sin, the heavier came the curse upon the earth. This was illustrated when Cain had murdered6his brother. Immediately following this wickedness the Lord pronounced a second curse upon the earth. This is found in the following sentence, pronounced against Cain: "When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength." Gen. 4:12. As time rolled on and men increased in numbers, they grew worse and worse, with but a few exceptions:— "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." "The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." Gen. 6: 5, 11-13. From the Scripture it is seen that the sins of the people are represented as defiling the earth; and as the people are, so the earth is. This condition of things prepared the way for the flood. Through this agency the primeval arrangement of the earth was broken up, and it came forth from the flood with a threefold curse resting upon it. Paradise, with its tree of life and angel guard, had been transplanted to a peaceful and brighter clime, in "the third heaven," where God dwells. See Rev. 2:7; 22:1, 2, 14; 2 Cor. 12:2-4. But little of Edenic beauty or fertility remained after the flood. All the works of man that had been placed upon the earth were inundated and buried forever out of sight in the breaking up of the earth in the deluge. So complete was this destruction that when the apostle wrote about the visitations which God sent upon the antediluvians, he said, "The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." We now have the earth in its changed form. It is all awry with sin and sadness. A very large proportion of it is now covered with water, leaving but a small part for the habitation of man. Besides this, there is much which now stands out of the water that is covered with rugged hills and mountains. In other parts are waste deserts and burning sands, while still other parts are covered with perpetual snow and ice, and winter reigns in unbroken dominion. This is the physical condition of the earth now, while its moral condition is much like that which prevailed just before the flood—a seething mass of pollution. What shall be its future?