Day 5 – Consequences and Compassion
Judgment Gives Way to Grace
However you can engage today, we’re here. Read, listen or both.
The written portion gives an overview, with verses broken down into smaller bites, and journaling/prayer prompts for reflection. In the podcast, Steve Traylor reflects on today’s passage with Scripture reading, a deeper pastoral teaching, and prayer (about 15 minutes). Perfect for morning coffee, commutes, or when your eyes need a rest.
Genesis 3:14–24
Step into Day 5 with a heart ready to see both truth and tenderness.
Yesterday we saw humanity hide in shame and God pursue them with a question: “Where are you?”
Today we encounter the weight of consequences—yet woven through every judgment is the thread of God’s compassion.
Sin has real cost. Brokenness brings real pain.
But even in the midst of consequence, God does not abandon His people.
He provides. He protects. He promises redemption.
As you read today, notice how God’s holiness and mercy are not opposites—they work together for your restoration.
1. Curse and Covering
Genesis 3:14–21
¹⁴ The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. ¹⁵ I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
¹⁶ To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. You will bear children in pain. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with hard labor all the days of your life. ¹⁸ It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. ¹⁹ You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.”
²⁰ The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. ²¹ The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
Consequences are real.
The serpent is cursed. Pain enters childbirth. Work becomes toilsome. Death is declared.
God does not minimize sin or pretend it has no cost.
His holiness demands justice. His Word cannot be broken.
But notice: even in pronouncing judgment, God is already at work redeeming.
Verse 15 contains the first gospel promise—the “seed of the woman” will crush the serpent’s head.
This is crucial: God does not leave Satan unchecked.
The serpent is cursed. His defeat is certain.
One day, a descendant of Eve will crush his head—a fatal blow.
The serpent will strike the Redeemer’s heel (the cross), but it will not be fatal forever. Christ will rise.
Evil is real. But it is not ultimate. It is not eternal. It is already under judgment.
One day, a descendant of Eve will defeat sin and death forever.
Even in the fall, God is planning rescue. And Satan’s doom is already pronounced.
And notice verse 21: God makes garments of skin to cover Adam and Eve.
Their fig leaves were not enough. Self-made covering never is.
So God Himself provides what they cannot—covering that requires sacrifice, an animal’s death foreshadowing Christ’s.
God does not leave them naked in their shame. He clothes them.
God’s mercy does not remove the consequences; it accompanies them.
Journaling/Prayer: Where are you experiencing the consequences of sin—your own or others’?
Acknowledge the reality of those consequences honestly before God.
If you’re tempted to minimize or deny them, tell Him that.
Say: “This is real. This hurts. I don’t like it.”
But then ask: “Where are You providing for me even in this? Where is Your compassion present alongside the consequence?”
If you cannot yet see His provision, tell Him that too.
He is patient with your struggle to see clearly.
2. Garden and Grief
Genesis 3:22–24
²² The LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” ²³ Therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
God sends Adam and Eve out of the garden.
God sends them out as an act of judgment—yet even His judgment contains mercy and protection.
In their fallen state, eating from the tree of life would mean living forever in brokenness—immortal but unredeemed.
God’s expulsion is an act of mercy.
He will not allow them to remain in a state of permanent fracture.
He closes the door to the garden, yes.
But He does so because He has a better plan—a way back that doesn’t bypass redemption, but accomplishes it.
The cherubim and flaming sword guard the way to the tree of life.
For now, the way is closed.
But one day, the way will be opened again—not by human effort, but by Christ’s sacrifice.
In Revelation 22, the tree of life reappears in the new creation, and God’s people have access to it once more.
What is lost in Genesis 3 is restored in Revelation 22.
The story does not end with exile. It ends with return.
Journaling/Prayer: What “gardens” have you lost—seasons of life, relationships, health, joy—that you grieve?
Name them gently before God.
If grief feels too heavy to carry, tell Him that.
Say: “I don’t understand why You allowed this door to close. I miss what was.”
He hears your grief. He does not condemn it.
But also ask: “Are You closing this door to protect me? Is there something better You’re preparing that I cannot yet see?”
You may not feel it today—bring that honestly to Him.
And trust that God’s closures are not always punishments—sometimes they are mercies.
Summary
Consequences are real, but they are not the end of the story.
God pronounces judgment, yes—but He also provides covering, promises redemption, and protects humanity from immortal brokenness.
Every act of consequence is surrounded by acts of compassion.
The garden is closed, but the way back is already planned.
Sin costs, but grace covers.
Death is declared, but resurrection is promised.
Your brokenness does not mean abandonment. It can be a doorway to deeper dependence on God.
He does not leave you in the wreckage. He walks with you through it, providing what you cannot, protecting you from what would harm you further, and promising restoration you cannot yet see.
Action / Attitude for Today
Walk through your day holding two truths together: consequences are real, and God’s compassion is present.
Do not minimize the cost of sin—yours or others’.
But do not despair in the consequences either.
God is at work even here.
Choose today to look for His provision in the midst of what feels broken.
Ask: “Where is God covering me when I cannot cover myself? Where is He protecting me from worse harm? Where is He promising something better than what I’ve lost?”
And if you cannot see His compassion yet, choose to trust it anyway.
Say: “God, I don’t see Your care in this. But I’m choosing to believe You are still good, still present, still working—even when I cannot feel it or see evidence of it.”
That choice to trust in the dark—that is faith.
Not because you feel it. Not because you understand it fully. But because God has shown Himself faithful even in the fall.
He provided garments when they were naked.
He promised a Redeemer when they were condemned.
He will provide for you too.
One day at a time. One act of trust at a time.
The Bible for the Broken is published by Aurion Press LLC. © Aurion Press LLC. All rights reserved.