The Beginning, Part 3
Genesis 2:18
Theologically speaking, it seems to me that the whole male female dynamic has been oversimplified and misunderstood.
Allow me to explain...
In Genesis 2:18 God created another human so Man would have a companion. It’s logical that when He gave Adam a companion one of the purposes would be for procreation. Because that was a criteria, the companion would need to be able to conceive and carry children. So, God created a helper for man...someone who would bear and carry children.
Helper in this sense does not imply that she was Adam’s servant. In Genesis 2:18 we read, “And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
The Hebrew word for alone (bad) means ‘by itself’. God seriously wanted Adam to have a mate or a help-mate. This help-made was separate, equal, and uniquely gifted. Scripture does not indicate that she is relegated to being subservient to man. She is unique. She possesses the ability and the qualities that man does not possess.
The Hebrew is literally translated, said Jehovah God, not good, to be, Adam, alone, to do or to produce or to work, help, in front of oneself or before your face or in the presence of.
God deemed it was not good for Adam to produce or work alone...help (was needed) ‘in front and before’ him. The key Hebrew word we need to look at is NEGED which means ‘in front of oneself, or before your face, or in the presence of’. I do not see any indication where the Hebrew text indicated the help-mate God is sending would be BEHIND or subservient to man. As a matter of fact, this help-mate to Adam was given special qualities.
She would be the bearer of children. She would carry the child, ‘their child’ inside her and at the appropriate time she would (for lack of a softer descriptive word) eject the child which would be a separate human being.
In addition to carrying the child, she would go through great pain and agony when the child is born. One of the oldest jokes in the books is that if men had been given the task of going through child-birth the human race would have died off a long time ago. I don’t really believe that’s true. If Adam would have been given the task of carrying and bearing children, God would have given him the strength to carry and bear. But, as it turned out, Adam was given strengths Eve didn’t have and Eve was given strengths Adam didn’t have.
The were created equal. They were separate. SHE was before his face. God put her in the presence of him and God gave her the task of carry the child in her womb, birthing the child when the time was right, and nursing the child while he/she was young. After the seed of Adam was given, man played no part in procreation.
The New King James Version (NKJV) that I frequently quote words it perfectly, “I will make a helper comparable to him.”
The point is, the mid-Twentieth Century notion that men were smarter than women or not as physically strong is debunked. I know women who can lift more weight than most men will every carry. I know women who are so scary smart many men have no idea how to reply to them.
I have to say here, my three sons are totally completely smart. They all married up. They married women who are gifted (even genius) smart help-mates. They are not intimidated by their wives but instead they trust and rely on their skills.
I’ve said before I love movies. I am a junkie. One of my favorite movies (in my top 50) is ‘Hidden Figures’. I wept when I watched it. One of my favorite scenes was when the Astronaut John Glenn called on the mathematician, Katherine Johnson’s calculations for re-entry. The computer had calculated it, but John Glenn wanted to know what SHE thought about the computer’s calculations. Since Katherine’s calculations agreed with the computer, John Glenn said he would proceed. John Glenn was one smart man. He recognized a genius when he saw one.
Scripture does not say the woman is behind. It says she is before him.
She is different.
She is helper.
He is helper.
They are the same.
That’s the way it was planned.
Today’s Spiritual Practice is:
Spend time thanking God for His perfect plan of creating us the same but different. Think about a man in your life who had an impact on you and thank God for him. Then think about a woman who had an impact on your life and thank God for her. Consider their different traits and personalities. Those people helped to mold you into the person you are today. God HAD/HAS a plan for you that they were part of. Today, embrace the plan.
In God, Deborah
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