Human Struggle for Power in Genesis and Exodus

Both Genesis and Exodus address the issue of human power and how God limits it. Both provide physical evidence of human power, yet also show God's purpose in limiting it. Humans in Genesis and Exodus were constantly in a power struggle with God, as is shown by their disobedience, rebellion, and greed.
In Genesis, man and woman disobey God. They believe that they should control their own fates, and thus fail to heed God's commands. Because they ate the fruit for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, "the eyes of both of them were opened" (NIV 3:7). This is the initial reason God must limit human power. As punishment for both mankind's disobedience and greed, He increases Eve's "pains in childbearing" (NIV 3:16) and makes Adam's work into "painful toil" (NIV 3:17). In this situation, God must limit human power because of the possibility of more wrongdoing.…