Genesis 2:21-24

These verses are so interesting! We see God perform surgery on Adam.  He put Adam to sleep and then removed one of his ribs.  He closed it up with flesh and then God made a woman from the rib.  Our God is amazing! This just makes my mind go in fifteen directions.  Why did God do it this way?  He could have picked up some dirt and made her the same way He made Adam.  He could have spoken her into being as He did the animals.  Why did He choose to take a part of Adam to make Eve?  I do not believe that God does anything without a reason.  We really won’t know, because He doesn’t tell us, until we see Him face to face so let’s have some fun with it.  Here are some of the ideas I came up with:

• He wanted them to have the same DNA.
• He wanted Adam to remember Eve was a part of himself.
• She was really special and He took that extra step to create her.
• There might have been some pain in the surgery for Adam to let him know at times she would be a pain!

 Actually, when I read on it is pretty apparent what God intended in creating woman differently than He did man.  Adam’s response is very telling, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.” In those times to come when Eve would not be what he expected (although before sin entered the world there probably weren’t times like that but later after sin entered the world they would have had many times like that) he would remember she was actually part of him.  They had a bond of beginning that was of oneness.  Verse 24 says it best, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”  I believe it is that bond of oneness that God was creating when He did it this way.

 Somehow in this section of Scripture as it coincided with my 45^th anniversary I feel I have really gotten off track.  My focus left growing in knowing God to it being all about me, my marriage, etc.  I know the Scriptures are for me and my life but for this study I wanted it to be about God.  I wanted it to be about learning more about Him. I want to take the time to see what this section tells me about God.  What I see is that God in His awesome love wanted Adam and Eve to have what He in His trinity had, a one relationship.  He is relational in His three in oneness.  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, yet they are the one true God. When He created man in His image He created him to have oneness in his relationships as God Himself is one.  What an awesome God we have! He created man for relationship with Him and wanted man to have a one relationship with his wife also. Could His intention in this oneness of Adam and Eve have been for it to be a reflection of His trinity? You might say no, there were only two of them but a marriage relationship should have one other person squarely in the middle and that is God Himself.  If a marriage has God, husband and wife it would be a triune relationship. 

 Thank you God!  Thank you for allowing me the awesome privilege of spending time with You in Your Word.  Thank you that in my humanness I may get really off track but knowing You as I do I am confident that You will bring me back and show me what is true and right.  I so love you!  I so, so love you!

More on God creating me to be a helper

I want to continue to think about God having created me to be my husband’s helper.  The part that has been bouncing around in my head is the Webster’s reference to the fact that helper often refers to a relatively unskilled worker who assists a skilled worker usually by manual labor.  I know that the Bible makes it very clear that God created men and women unique and very different.  It also makes it clear we have very different gifts and roles.  Equal, but different and unique.  When I look at the creation of woman here in Genesis and the purpose of God creating her I need to really pay attention.  Through my adult womanhood society has made major changes to our culture and climate regarding women.  When I married in 1965 my mother and most of my friend’s mothers were stay at home moms or had part-time jobs of some sort.  Then came women’s liberation and the lie began, “you can have it all.”  That was and still is just a lie of saten (I know…I refuse to even give him credit with spelling his name right.)  This lie plays into our selfish human nature that wants it all.  A woman can do a lot of things but she can’t be and do everything and do it well.  We are fantastic and can and do make a huge impact in our families, homes and world we live in.  We will never be able to do it all.

Dear Lord, today I am asking you to help me have joy in being Larry’s helper.  Let me take joy in the manual labor of my home and our relationship.  Let me view Him as having skills that I don’t have.  Let me see my role in our marriage as being one of helper.  As I study more in this awesome book of Genesis, may I never pass over something you want me to know and think about.  Thank you dear Lord, thank you!  I so love you!