Denadii Cho-
No, those words God spoke in Genesis to Adam were not taken out of context. Other Scriptures declare- "by one man sin entered this world and death by sin." And as mentioned, because man became sinful, God then also had to taint the world as well. God clearly shows how good and evil cannot be lived together at the same time because of thier inerrant contradictions- (we cannot eat of the table of God and of Satan together, nor drink of the Cup of Christ and the cup of demons together either).
God declares Satan is the author of confusion. Thus, he will twist God's Word to make it sound acceptable, so that he will try to intermix God's Teachings with worldly beliefs. In that way, we can supposedly attain the best of both worlds.
The only problem is, is that we can't live and accept worldly beliefs and thinking, because they so oppose what God teaches. And God teaches us, His Word is to be taken- "precept upon precept, line upon line, repeating that for clairification to understand, we should take God's Word as literally spoken.
We need to realize, it helps alot more to realize, we have to be careful about interpretations of original Hebrew. Why? Because, the Jews used an old ancient original Hebrew language that existed before the Egyptian captivity.
During that captivitiy, that language was basically lost. During or shortly after the Exodus, the Jews rebuilt that Hebrew Language. But, its not identical to the old original Hebrew Language. For instance-
At the falling of the "wall of Jerico", theres been centuries of arguments over how many people the wall fell on- 1, 10, 100, or 1,000. Thats because the old Hebrew word for that number means like 10, or 100. Where the newer word means like- 1,000.
This arguement is stupid. Why? The story is not based solely on the number of people the wall fell on. It is based on the fact that according to God's Children following God's commands, what God declares will happen, does or did happen.
At this time in man's existance, what we have for the earliest known documentations of either Old Test. Scriptures as well as New Test Documents considered as part of the "Canon of Scripture."
Secondly- Because most of the Documentations had been found centuries before now, remember, A- There have been centuries of translating. Because of the outfit who is chosen to do the translating, they will apply thier words and meanings as such for that reason.
B- Remember as well, the "Church Leadership over the centuries have changed thier views concerning some Scriptures that are considered outlandish. (Even tho Early Church Leaders of the first 3 centuries of the Church age teach different.)
Pretty clear I'd say. Secondly- God had to curse the earth for man's sake. How could a sin tainted man exist in a still perfected world? If weeds didn't grow, if particular animals were not converted to meat eaters, this would be a pretty smelly world with all the dead carcasses laying around decaying not getting eaten.
If question that, look back in Gen. 1 for the description God gave of the food sources for all living animals, birds, etc- vegetation. In this first "perfected" life, there was no death, so no need for carnivors. Until death came into the world, now some element was needed to balance out all the dead carcasses that would end up lying around decaying and smelling.
Man himself was already cursed by eating of the forbidden fruit. Notice God had the "Tree of Life" in the Garden- (Fruit that would hold the spiritual enhancement of the phys. body).
The "Tree of the konowledg of Good and Evil" would take that enhancement away. Why? Gen. 3:22- ": And now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever; 23- "Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden."
If God had left man in the Garden to have eaten of the "Tree of Life" again, man would've lived forever in that fallen state.
World diseased as it is now-
Yes, when God declares that weeds and thistles would grow, this also mean't diseases would eventaully appear after the tainting continued to grow. And you can read I think its in Deut and Levit. about God's "Prescriptions" for caring for diseased people.
God speaks of burning clothes in some cases, keeping people seperated in outer parts of a settlement for quaranteen, having diseased people wash, and thier clothes too, in a river- (running water), to carry disease away from the settlement, covering containers that had food in them to seal them from disease, plus alot more.
It only stands to reason, the more technologically advanced man gets, the more polutants and other by products we produce, that can cause more problems for our environment as well as phys. bodies increase.
btw- The actual definition of "Curse" is- "a spoken phrase or incantation, repeated or used along with special ingredients applied, mixed, cooked or burnt, in a ritual to bring about evil results or consequences. Mostly related to witchcraft, ancient sorcery, demonology,
Here is the Biblical extension to "Curse"- the opposite of a Blessing. A Blessing is a good positive event that happens to someone. A Curse is a negative, hurtful, tormenting event that happens to someone.
You'll find, the secular definition refers to a "curse" relating to a "wish", because little of the secular world believes in spiritual or supernatural powers that can produce Blessing or cursing. Rather, It is normally related to being lucky or unlucky.
As such, its easy to come up with misconcieved beliefs, when we rely first of all too much on secular teachings, but also from more modern sources.
I've amazingly found even, that secular sources from back in Christ's time, were so much more convicted to share evidence witnessed, read, heard first hand, etc, compared to the distortions we easily find in modern translations, definitions, etc today.
And there are Christian Biblical Documentations that easily back up those ancient secular documents, as well as vise versa.
This is why I believe it was God who took me thru all those years of study and research of God's Word, to help me, as well as others, to know I greatest intent is to speak the old original Truths God taught since Early Church Days.
God Bless!!