Hungering and Thirsting After
Righteousness
The Fall of Man/Eve
Women of the Bible
To understand the role of women in the
Christian walk we have to start at the beginning and learn the plan
that God put into existence when he created man and woman.
Come along with me and follow the
sequence in the first three chapters of Genesis.
Genesis 1 gives a day by day sequence
of creation. In Genesis 2 and 3 the details of Genesis 1 are
explained in more detail.
I'm
using the American Standard Version reference in this text, although
I use the New American Standard Version and the New King James in my
studies. This version was available online for me to copy and paste.
Genesis
1:26-31
26
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27
And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created
he him; male and female created he them.
28
And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over
every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed,
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is
the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food:
30
and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens,
and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is
life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so.
31
And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very
good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
It
is amazing to me as I read this story the care that God takes in
making his creations and especially the man and the woman. God forms
each animal and Adam out of the dust of the earth. The potter and the
clay.
Adam
did not find a helper comparable to him. He needed a companion just
like him, not a servant or an aide; but another like himself.
When
God brings woman to him Adam's wording is poetic and of exaltation.
Here is a mirror of himself , someone like him but yet different.
Chapter
1 is the first detail of the creation story. As we continue reading
we are given details from the events in the first chapter in chapter
2 of Genesis.
Genesis
2:15-25
15
And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to
dress it and to keep it.
16
And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat:
17
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die.
18
And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I
will make him a help meet for him.
19
And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field,
and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see
what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living
creature, that was the name thereof.
20
And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the
heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not
found a help meet for him.
21
And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he
slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead
thereof:
22
and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man.
23
And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of
Man.
24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not
ashamed.
Chapter
3 begins with another character entering the scene. This
character takes the opportunity to corrupt the creation which God
has just created and said was good. The serpent approaches Eve rather
than Adam. Through Eve the attempt to destroy God's good and perfect
creation is his goal.
Genesis
3:1-7
1
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which
Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?
2
And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of
the garden we may eat:
3
but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die.
4
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5
for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.
6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that
it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to
make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and
she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
7
And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves
aprons.
(2
Corinthians 11:3 ) But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve
by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and
pure devotion to Christ
(1
Peter 3:7) Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an
understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel,
since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your
prayers may not be hindered.
As
the above verses point out the serpent appeals to Eve's desire of the
eyes and the pride of life to lie and convince Eve to disobey God.
(1
John 2:16) For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh
and the desires of the eyes and pride of life--is not from the Father
but is from the world.
Satan
is still at work today with the desires of the flesh, desires of the
eyes, and the pride of life. Any commercial or ad in the media or a
salesman selling their product appeal to our vanity.
Eve
eats of the fruit and gives it to Adam. When they eat of it their
eyes are opened and they realize that they are naked and hide from
God. They try to conceal themselves or deny that God is going to
find out.
(Proverbs
28:13) Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he
who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
John
8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father thereof.
Genesis
3:8-24
8
And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the
cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.
9
And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art
thou?
10
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid,
because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of
the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave
me of the tree, and I did eat.
13
And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done?
And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14
And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done
this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the
field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the
days of thy life:
15
and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise
his heel.
16
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy
conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire
shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of
thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee,
saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake;
in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18
thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou
shalt eat the herb of the field;
19
in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto
the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return.
20
And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother
of all living.
21
And Jehovah God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins, and
clothed them.
22
And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to
know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take
also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever -
23
therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to
till the ground from whence he was taken.
24
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of
Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way,
to keep the way of the tree of life.
When
God asks them about their disobedience Eve blames the serpent and
Adam blames God for giving him the woman. She made me do it. The plan
is begun to send the son of God as a savior to redeem man from sin.
Verses 14 and 15. Adam and Eve are given animal skins and possibly
animal sacrifices have been instituted for sin offering at this time
as a type of the one true sacrifice that will come “in the fulness
of time”. Adam and Eve no longer are able to live in the garden.
They are banished.
The
following verses tell why man is the head of the household and the
leader of the family.
Verse
15 of 1 Timothy 2 also tells us that God saved (preserved) Eve
through childbearing in order to fulfill the verse “be fruitful
and multiply”.
1
Timothy 2:5-15
5
For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself
man, Christ Jesus,
6
who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its
own times;
7
whereunto I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I speak the
truth, I lie not), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8
I desire therefore that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy
hands, without wrath and disputing.
9
In like manner, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with
shamefastness and sobriety; not with braided hair, and gold or pearls
or costly raiment;
10
but (which becometh women professing godliness) through good works.
11
Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection.
12
But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to have dominion over a man,
but to be in quietness.
13
For Adam was first formed, then Eve;
14
and Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath
fallen into transgression:
15
but she shall be saved (preserved) through her child-bearing, if
they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.
To
continue the thought of what women are expected today to be in our
Christian walk and be obedient to the will of God the text below is
one example.
Ephesians
5:22-31
22
Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23
For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head
of the church, being himself the saviour of the body.
24
But as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to
their husbands in everything.
25
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and
gave himself up for it;
26
that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of
water with the word,
27
that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not
having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy
and without blemish.
28
Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own
bodies. He that loveth his own wife loveth himself:
29
for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth
it, even as Christ also the church;
30
because we are members of his body.
31
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall
cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.
I
have not even begun to give you the full meaning of these verses in
Genesis chapters 1, 2, and 3 but as it does for me and I hope for you
, the understanding that our God is an awesome God and his
intelligence and wisdom far exceeds what I can ever imagine.
In
today's society the man and woman relationship is being torn apart
(“what God has joined together, let not man put asunder”). Which
also tears apart the family. And God's perfect plan continues to be
corrupted by the lying influences of Satan as he is still making
every effort to destroy what God has created and was good at one
time.
I
hope to hear from you about this post. Please take time to add your
comments.
Shirley
No comments:
Post a Comment