After the fall, the order of nature was changed. According to Scripture, the serpent was cursed and lost some its original abili- ties, even undergoing dramatic anatomical changes in that it would henceforth move on its belly. The statement that it would eat dust is a reference to death since all creatures would return to the dust from whence they came. Also the fact that some snakes still have rudimentary legs could be an indication of a genetic change which deactivated the genes responsible for the development of the original locomotory structures.
The relationship between man and woman was also changed through the entrance of sin and in order to deal with the changed circumstances there was a shift in role distribution which has be- come the object of much debate and in some cases much misery. The ground was cursed and would henceforth not yield its strength and it would take toil to glean its treasures. Adam would henceforth earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, which means that the provision of the necessities of life was to become his burden in the transformed world. Eve, on the other hand would find the raising of children with right characters a task that would require concerted effort and a task that would require patience and many tears. Eve did not receive the lesser role in this new situation, for the raising of descendants with right characters is the noblest of all tasks.
Not only did the role distribution change, but physical aspects of human and animal existence also changed. In a world that would not yield its strength, plants would produce thorns and thistles and the diet and lifestyles of all the created creatures would be affected. To the diet of man, the plants of the field were added in order to augment his diet, and the animals must have also undergone dramatic changes in diet, as their food supply must also have been affected. After Cain killed Abel, there was a further decline, which was to mar the once perfect planet. Cain was cursed and the ground was to yield even less of its strength (Genesis 4:12). Both animals and man must have been affected by this change of circumstances and wickedness increased until God destroyed the world by bringing about the flood.
Prior to the flood, the animal world had already changed to such an extent that animals were already classified into clean and unclean categories since Noah was instructed to take seven pairs of clean animals and one pair of unclean animals on board the ark. The flood brought about a further radical change, and the diets of man and beast must have been further affected, since God added flesh to the already changed human diet. After the flood, there was a rapid decline in the life expectancy of man (and by implication in the animals as well). Life expectancy of man was approximately halved after the flood. After the time of Peleg (when the earth was divided), life expectancy was halved once more, and by the time of Moses the average life span was down to 120 years. By the time of David, it had declined to 80 years, and today it is still lower.