Adam & Eve

In the Beginning

/ Joan C. Thomson

The Lord is My ShieldHe was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:2, 3

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  Colossians 1:16

Religious leaders of every stripe—usually men, have through the ages made pronouncements about women—usually negative, but none ever spoke with the authority of Jesus.  As creator of “all things” and entities, Jesus’ words and pattern of life profoundly weight the scales; he, above all, knows how women are made—and his intent for them.

Since Jesus was sent to us from heaven by his Father (John 3:16) and did only what his father told him to do and say, so in Jesus, we also know Father’s ideas about women.  To be thorough—The Holy Spirit (also known as “the Spirit of Jesus” Acts 16:7; Philippians 1:19) was sent by Jesus and does what Jesus says to do—so we also know in Jesus, how the Holy Spirit regards women.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the three-in-one are demonstrated in the life of Jesus, fully God and perfect man—our example.

Jesus never rebuked a woman harshly.  Martha will undoubtedly spring to mind at this point (Luke 10:38-41) but Jesus simply exhorted her to not worry so much and (in effect) to learn to sit at his feet like her sister Mary.  Apparently Martha heeded, since she later very clearly testified, “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” John 11:27

Jesus continually broke cultural norms regarding women, teaching Mary of Bethany as a rabbinical student, speaking to a strange woman at the well in Samaria (notice that his disciples wondered why he was talking with a woman but not a Samaritan, though Samaritans were off-limits John 4:27).  He taught and healed women and girls the same as he did men and boys.  Not once did he make disparaging remarks about women or even groups of women.

Jesus defended women against put downs from men such as when the woman anointed him. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” (Mark 14:6) After his resurrection, He first appeared to women (Matthew 28:8-10) sending them as the first human proclaimers of the Good News that he was(is!) alive!* When Jesus referred to his disciples, he often meant not just “the Twelve,” but also the women who followed him. (Matthew 12:48-50)

Rather than putting women down as the Jewish leaders were in the habit of doing,** Jesus pointed to women as favorable examples (Matthew 15:21-28).  He admired and rewarded the “great faith” of the Canaanite woman who asked for deliverance for her daughter.  Jesus made an extra effort, “calling his disciples to him,” to teach them by the example of the widow who gave her “mite” as an offering (Mark 12:41-43). Jesus peopled his parables with women as well as men but unlike the men, the women were always shown in a positive light.

I’ve not found a single time in the gospels where Jesus limited women or put them down.  Instead, he restored the dignity he created them in, in the beginning.

*It’s been said that the only reason Jesus appeared to the women first was that they were there at the tomb doing “women’s work”.  Well, if putting spices on a body to preserve them was women’s work, then Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were doing “women’s work” the day they laid Jesus’ body in the tomb! (John 19:38-40)

** “Jewish men of Paul’s day were warned not to sit among women because ‘evil comes from them like a moth emerging from clothes.’  Lorry Lutz   Women as Risk Takers for God. P30

*** I’ve read a number of books about women’s roles written by traditionalists and have rarely found any mention of how Jesus related to women, other than reference to Jesus’ appointing of twelve male disciples, drawing the conclusion that all church leadership should be male only. First of all the Twelve were set apart from all the other disciples, female or male and if they are to be our only example then the vast majority of churches are out of compliance unless their leadership is all Jewish, they’re all circumcised, several are professional fishermen, they’re all uneducated, one is a cheater, another has repeatedly denied the Lord, and another is a betrayer and thief and let’s not forget the two hot-headed-me-firster “Sons of Thunder.” We don’t know why Jesus chose men for The Twelve (he chose “the Three” out of those, leaving the other nine behind on several occasions) the Bible doesn’t say, but he was likely drawing a comparison to the twelve tribes of Israel rather than a male/female dichotomy. (Paul’s teachings are used as the standard for women’s roles in these books though Paul has been sadly so misrepresented that he wouldn’t even recognize himself!)

In the Image of God

/ Joan C. Thomson

I was astounded to read a woman’s assertion that the Bible says woman was made in the image of man–that’s what she learned in seminary.  That wasn’t what I remembered! I grabbed my NIV and looked up I Corinthians 11 (v.7). No, it doesn’t say woman is the “image” of man but the “glory”.  Then I checked my Greek interlinear New Testament and found that it agreed— “doxa” (glory), not “eikon” (image).  Okay, maybe she had a different translation; so I checked the KJV, RSV, NAS, NEB and the Jerusalem Bible, even The Amplified Bible (notorious for adding its own theological template)—all said “glory” not “image.”

And yet, I’ve heard people say this from time to time completely disregarding Genesis 1:26.27, which says, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

So where did such an idea come from?  It originates, not from the Bible but from speculations and opinion of some of the “early church fathers” who were more influenced by the misogyny of their times and cultures than the Word of God.

If you are a follower of Jesus (John 8:31,32), whether man or woman, girl or boy, you represent the likeness (image) of God to the world.  As you obey Jesus’ teachings you are showing them what God looks like—no one can take that away from you. (In fact, all people were originally made in the image of God, but sin has obscured that reflection. Colossians 3:7-11)

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3: 18

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29

Emphasis added

 

Helper

/ Joan C. Thomson

God created all the heavens and the earth, plants, animals and Adam and it was all good, except for one thing, the only thing that was not good—Adam was alone, he needed a companion (Genesis 2:18). So God created an ezer kenegdo for him—a help to surround and protect him, one who was parallel and face to face with him—not under him.  The word ezer or helper is the same word used for God helping the Israelites against Pharaoh (Exodus 18:4)—Eve was no shrinking violet! (There is no such thing in the Bible as a “helpmeet”—not even in the King James but “an help meet,” or ezer kenegdo—see above.) God gave Eve joint-rulership with Adam over all the creatures of the Earth! (Genesis 1:26-28)

Naming and Dominion

/ Joan C. Thomson

God made Adam and Eve to work together side by side, but some say that since Adam named the animals and he named Eve, that by virtue of naming them, he gained the right to rule over animals and women.  But we women are not in the category of the animals; we—unlike animals, are made in the image of God! (Genesis 1:26.27) The Hebrew verb translated as “called” or sometimes as “name” means to “call out” as in calling upon the name of God but when Adam called out, “Ishaah” (or woman), it was more like exclaiming,” Wowie kazowie!” than naming.* He wasn’t ruling, he was rejoicing! (Genesis 2:23) Later, after they sinned, Adam prophesied that Eve would be the mother of all the living—same word, in this case he called out what the future would hold. (Genesis 3:20)

*From a class in Hebrew

 

First Born

/ Joan C. Thomson

Some teach that since Adam was created first (he indeed was), God intended him to rule over Eve and every man over every woman ever after—a sort of first-born right.  But think about it, the roses and wisteria were created three days before people, so by that line of reasoning we would have “flower power”!  Or bird or cow power… (Genesis, chapters 1 & 2)

Adam’s Rule

/ Joan C. Thomson

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Genesis 3:16 NIV

 Many teachers throughout the ages have tangled this scripture into a proof that God had in mind, from the start, for males to dominate females—married or unmarried, Christian or non-Christian, in church or outside the church, for all times.  These teachers insist that God had already created such a hierarchy, though the creation account states that God gave both male and female dominion over the earth together (Genesis 1:27-28) and was simply reiterating it.  They see scriptures that instruct wives to submit to their husbands (see my article on submission: as further proof of intended domination. Unfortunately, such ideas originated from pagan surroundings instead of the light of Jesus*.

The Hebrew word “mashal,” translated as “rule” in Genesis 3:16 means “to have dominion or to dominate;” when the Rabbis translated the Old Testament into Greek in the mid 200s BC (Septuagint), they used the word “kurieo” meaning to “lord over” or “control.”  The only uses of this word in the New Testament describe the Gentile rulers, who Jesus warned against–those who lord over one another (Luke 22:25) and the demon who overpowered and beat the seven sons of Sceva (Acts:19:16)—both were motivated by the devil, so in no way was God instructing Adam to “rule over” Eve!  Notice that God was addressing Eve, not Adam; he didn’t say, “Now Adam, this is what you must do;” rather, God described Adam’s future actions as a “fallen” man.  However, the Greek word “hupotasso,” translated as “submit” is entirely different and means to “voluntarily come under” as in cooperating—what all Christians are to do for each other (Ephesians 5:21).  The first is to demand; the second is to give.  Nowhere does the New Testament tell husbands—or any men, to dominate or lord over wives—or any women just because they’re women (or lord over anyone), but rather to serve them (Ephesians 5:25-33).

For some reason, Adam and Eve wanted the Knowledge of Good and Evil though they already knew Good since God is good and everything he made was good.  Taken in context, this confrontation of their sin describes, rather than a hierarchy, the ways they would experience that knowledge of evil, first hand–in the form of pain and struggle in working the land, in giving birth and in their relationship.

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”  To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you,  and you will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:16-19 NIV

God’s response to Adam and Eve’s sin is written in a type of mirrored poetry in which the results of their mutual sin are somewhat paired.  Eve’s “painful labor” in childbirth is mirrored with Adam’s “painful toil” in farming—the Hebrew uses essentially the same word for both. It’s a sad prophecy that the areas of their fruitfulness would be hindered—by hard, painful work. Though their fruitfulness—Eve’s work to “give birth” and Adam’s working of the ground to “eat food from it” would continue, it would be tough going.

Additionally, the two sets of results or punishments for their sin are mirrored. Eve will have a longing for her husband, but apparently, he’d take advantage of her making herself vulnerable to him and rule over her (v.16b) while Adam will need the benefits of the soil, but it will fight him (v18).  The Hebrew word translated as desire, “teshookaw” means a stretching out after, a longing, a desire.  Some teachers attach a sinister meaning, insisting that Eve was after Adam to take him over just as sin was going after Cain (Genesis 4:7) and in fact, the same word is used.  However, the same word is also used in Song of Solomon (7:10) to describe the longing of a man and woman for one another—the latter is the way lexicons define the word (Brown-Driver-Briggs).

Eve, in making herself vulnerable, would want her husband Adam to love her in return but Adam would think of her as trouble and rebuff her.  It seems likely that God put that longing in Eve or she would probably turn away from his domineering behavior and there wouldn’t be any multiplying—no more humans on the earth.  So she longs to be with Adam—they’d always been together before, after all she was made from a part of him, though he would push her around and the childbearing that results from their union would bring intense pain.

Adam had also had a close relationship with the “ground” right from the start, first having come from it, then working the beautiful Garden of Eden. But now that relationship had gone sour as well. Adam was vulnerable to the “ground” because of his need for food—he and Eve had only “seed-bearing plants” to eat so Adam had to grow their food, or they’d starve but the interaction with that “ground” would also be painful.

But the ground couldn’t help it, because “the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice” (Romans 8:20).  Similarly, Adam was trapped by sin in his domination of Eve.

Then Jesus came to set us free! There’s hope—hope for Eve, Adam and all of us born since!  God didn’t leave them there; he announced that Eve’s seed—not Adam’s (v.15) would crush the serpent’s head!  Jesus would be (and now has been) born of a virgin woman–not a man and overcome Satan for all time and beyond!

“…the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:19) and in Jesus, a husband “must love his wife as he loves himself” (Ephesians 5:33).

*“Plato (428 BC) an ardent follower of Socrates, passed his low view of women to his most influential disciple Aristotle (384 BC), who taught that males were to be the dominators, while females and slaves were meant to be dominated, and that all females were inferior to males.  Aristotle wrote ‘we should look upon the female state of being as though it were a deformity, though one which occurs in the ordinary course of nature.” Gundry, Women Be Free, 18.

 

 

 

 

More Easily Deceived?

/ Joan C. Thomson

Sadly though everything was wonderful in the Garden of Eden, Eve, then Adam, sinned.  Eve was deceived by the serpent, but Adam knew full well what he was doing.  Does the fact that Eve was deceived mean, as it is often taught, that women are more easily deceived than men and therefore can’t be trusted in leadership?  Of course not!  Not unless deliberate sin makes one more trustworthy!

No, Paul constantly warned all the Christians against being deceived–female and male. (1 Cor.6:9; 2 Cor. 11:3; 2 Thes. 2:3; Gal. 6:7; Col. 2:4; 2 Tim 3:13; Titus 3:3; James 1:16; 2 John 7—Jesus too, in Mt. 24:4) Besides, the Bible says that Jesus’ death and resurrection freed all of us from the punishment for original sin—not just Adam’s but Eve’s too! Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, so we’re no longer under the “curse” that when Eve would have a longing for her husband, he would take advantage of her by trying to control her. (Galatians 3: 13) That’s right!  We’re free! Jesus came to set the captives free from sin, free from personal and original sin and free from the constraints of culture—the traditions of men.