Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/65

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Chapter IV.

PART II.

GOD’S PUNISHMENT AND CURSE.— PROMISE OF A REDEEMER.

[Gen. 3, 14—24.]

THEN God said to the serpent^[1]: Because thou hast done this thing^[2], thou art cursed ^[3] among all the beasts of the earth. Upon thy breast shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. I will put enmities^[4] between thee and

↑ To the serpent. Adam had laid the blame on Eve; and she had excused herself by pleading the deception of the serpent. As a matter of fact, all three were guilty, and on that account God pronounced sentence on each of them. He 'began, it is true, by the serpent who had beguiled the woman; He then proceeded to the woman who had led Adam into sin; and finished with Adam himself. The devil had received his supreme punishment when he was cast down into hell with the other fallen angels; but, because he had deceived man and cheated him out of his happiness, God cursed him anew and with him cursed the serpent which had been his instrument.
↑ This thing, i. e. because you seduced Eve by your lies and deceit.
↑ Cursed. The language of the divine sentence applies immediately to the actual serpent which was the devil’s tool. Being cursed by God, it is hated by man on account of its creeping, cunning, and poisonous ways. But in reality the words apply principally to the devil, and signify that he and his followers would be degraded below all other creatures, and would crawl in the filth of sin and base passions, these being, as it were, the very breath of their life.
↑ Put enmities. These clauses are directed only against the invisible and infernal serpent, the devil. Satan had hoped that once he had succeeded in separating man from God, man would make friends with him, serve him, and remain in his power. But, instead of this, God announced that his very punishment would lie in being overcome by the woman. The seed of the devil are all those who are born in sin and give themselves over to sin. The seed of the woman is the divine Saviour who as Man was descended from her. She, therefore, would tread on the head of Satan, would trample him under foot and overcome him, taking away from him his power over man. But the serpent, i. e. the devil, would resist, and seek to injure the woman. He would not, however, materially injure her , but would lie in wait for her heel; in other words , he would prepare sufferings for her, but would not overcome her. — Mary has overcome the devil through her Son , our divine Redeemer , who has saved first of all her from original sin [Immaculate Conception], and next the whole world from original and actual sins and from the power of Satan. But how, then, has the infernal serpent wounded her heel? The devil caused our Lord much suffering. He it was who prompted Judas to betray his Master. He it was who incited the Jewish priests and Pharisees to cry out: Crucify Him, crucify Him! The devil did this, and yet it is by our Lord’s very death on the Cross that the devil has been overcome and the world redeemed!

[1] To the serpent. Adam had laid the blame on Eve; and she had excused herself by pleading the deception of the serpent. As a matter of fact, all three were guilty, and on that account God pronounced sentence on each of them. He 'began, it is true, by the serpent who had beguiled the woman; He then proceeded to the woman who had led Adam into sin; and finished with Adam himself. The devil had received his supreme punishment when he was cast down into hell with the other fallen angels; but, because he had deceived man and cheated him out of his happiness, God cursed him anew and with him cursed the serpent which had been his instrument.

[2] This thing, i. e. because you seduced Eve by your lies and deceit.

[3] Cursed. The language of the divine sentence applies immediately to the actual serpent which was the devil’s tool. Being cursed by God, it is hated by man on account of its creeping, cunning, and poisonous ways. But in reality the words apply principally to the devil, and signify that he and his followers would be degraded below all other creatures, and would crawl in the filth of sin and base passions, these being, as it were, the very breath of their life.

[4] Put enmities. These clauses are directed only against the invisible and infernal serpent, the devil. Satan had hoped that once he had succeeded in separating man from God, man would make friends with him, serve him, and remain in his power. But, instead of this, God announced that his very punishment would lie in being overcome by the woman. The seed of the devil are all those who are born in sin and give themselves over to sin. The seed of the woman is the divine Saviour who as Man was descended from her. She, therefore, would tread on the head of Satan, would trample him under foot and overcome him, taking away from him his power over man. But the serpent, i. e. the devil, would resist, and seek to injure the woman. He would not, however, materially injure her , but would lie in wait for her heel; in other words , he would prepare sufferings for her, but would not overcome her. — Mary has overcome the devil through her Son , our divine Redeemer , who has saved first of all her from original sin [Immaculate Conception], and next the whole world from original and actual sins and from the power of Satan. But how, then, has the infernal serpent wounded her heel? The devil caused our Lord much suffering. He it was who prompted Judas to betray his Master. He it was who incited the Jewish priests and Pharisees to cry out: Crucify Him, crucify Him! The devil did this, and yet it is by our Lord’s very death on the Cross that the devil has been overcome and the world redeemed!

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