“This one is bone from my bone,
and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’
because she was taken from ‘man.’”
This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame. -Genesis 2:18-25
DIG IN:
In verses 19-20, we see that God gave MAN leadership to name creation. In verse 22, God created a suitable helper for man - WOMAN! We were created to be helpers! And these verses show us that MARRIAGE was God's idea! He created one woman for one man!
"Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him." -Matthew Henry
The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
“Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you."
And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.” -Genesis 3:1-19
DIG IN:
Obviously this is when sin entered the world.
Let's look at the sin: In the first 8 verses, Satan undermines God's plan that was established. Then in the next verses, God confronts Adam and Eve. What does Adam do - he blames it on Eve. And Eve blames it on the serpent.
Let's look at the curse: The curse brought distortion of the male and female roles. We see that leadership becomes harder for the man and they will misuse authority. And women will experience great pain in childbirth (curse Eve) and we will desire to control and not submit.
Women - God created us to be a helper to our husbands. Yes, even though I work away from home each day, God still requires me to serve my husband. But the cool thing I've found is that we are created to be helpers and helpers don't do everything. They help! It's a work together kind of thing. But sometimes we have to serve selflessly to get our husbands involved. We can't blame it on them. WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING before blaming it on them. I've been trying hard the past few months to serve my husband unconditionally. I'm trying not to expect him to help with the house work when I have a busy week. I'm trying to please him with making meals the evenings I'm home. I've been trying to keep my house cleaner then usual. I'm trying my best to support his dreams (even if they keep him away from home ALOT). I'm trying to ask him to be involved in decisions in my life. AND GUESS WHAT?! We are becoming a team. Helping each other. How are we becoming at team??? I didn't expect him to change. I changed... and either he changed because of it or my outlook and attitude has changed so much that I now see him as AMAZING!
