Living as God’s woman in God’s world: Part Two
Old Testament Clarity
In the first article, we explored why there is so much confusion amongst women as they contemplate questions like: Who am I?, Why am I here?, What is my purpose?
We saw that God, as our Creator, has the right to define and determine who we are. So we must turn to the Scriptures, God’s word to find answers. We are to put ourselves under the authority of the Scriptures, so that when our culture clashes with what the Bible says we will allow the Bible to have priority. That’s difficult considering our ideologically driven feminist culture, but we must let the Bible critique our culture, not the other way around.
We begin where God starts... at Genesis. What we notice in these first chapters of the Bible is a God who is powerful, magnificent, but also personal.
In Chapter 1 we get a bird’s eye view of creation. We see it all in its vast array. The earth is formless and empty and the mighty creator shapes it and fills it. He is powerful because He only has to speak a word, and creation springs into being. He is not a chaotic God - He loves order and design. God is sovereign and exists separately from His creation- He rules as King and Lord over it.
26Then 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.”
27So God created mankind in His own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
You will notice that a climax has been reached here in these verses (1:26-28) with the creation of humanity. God makes mankind in His image - not that we look like God, but rather that we are meant to be like Him, reflecting His character. Mankind is to rule the creation as His representatives: wisely, kindly, taking care of it.
Also note mankind is made in two types or sexes, male and female, but we are not told how they differ from each other. It is saying that there is a unity here - one species (humanity) coming in two types, male and female. Somehow they are going to relate to each other, because the God who created them can be seen in relationship within the Godhead, “Let Us make man in Our image”[1] Here there is one God and three persons, and one species and two sexes. How will they be different? How will they relate? We are not told until the next chapter.
What is clear is how equivalent they are: both are made in God’s image, both are blessed equally, both are to be fruitful and both are to rule. One word at this point sums up the relationship between male and female - equal!
And in v31 God looks at all that he has made and declares that it is ‘very good’! The picture is one of perfection, goodness and abundance.
In Chapter 2, the author of Genesis focusses on the middle of the sixth day - when humanity is created. We get to see it in more detail and from a different perspective.
4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed. 9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
…….
15The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
18The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
19Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.
23The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
24That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Before I make any observations about this passage it would be more productive and beneficial if you could think about the passage for yourself. I want you to see that the Scriptures are really quite clear here. So, look for the answers to these questions:
1) How is man created and what responsibilities is he given?
2) What prohibition is given to him?
3) Why is the woman created?
4) What word (or words) would you use to describe the fundamental relationship between the male and female from Chapter 2?
Some observations from the passage
The man was created from dust and God breathes life into him (v7). He is created first - the firstborn of created humans. And that he is created from the dust. He is connected to the ground, he has special responsibility to work the ground and he returns to it when he dies.
God puts him in the Garden with responsibility to work the garden, and to take care of it (v8, 15), and later to name the animals (v19-20).
He is also given the responsibility of the only prohibition in the Garden - not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (v17).
The woman is created, according to the text (v18), because the man is alone. This is the first sign that something is not right in the Garden of Eden. Up till now, everything has been good, good, very good. Now something is not good!
Notice the text does not say that the man is lonely. How could he be lonely when he walked and talked with the God of the Universe? God relates to him in a personal way. But God’s verdict on the man’s situation is that something is missing.
After parading all the animals before the man (now given the name, Adam), the writer says there is still no answer to the ‘alone’ problem (v20)
God wants to provide a ‘suitable helper’ for Adam - and thus the woman is created from his physical body (v21-22).
She is like him but not the same. God could have made another creature from the dust (just like him) but He doesn’t. He creates in a different way: by taking part of Adam. God did not provide someone identical (another man), nor something completely alien to him (an animal)…. but someone who came out of him, who complements him, who is suitable just for him. The word ‘suitable’ means matches up to him, not a copy.
The word ‘helper’ may have unhelpful connotations for some people (that is, of someone who is a lesser being who just ‘helps out’ the more important person). But God is called our helper 15 times of the 18 times the word ‘helper’ is found in the OT (e.g. Psalm 115:3-9, Psalm 121:1-2), because we can’t exist without him. A helper assists another when they can’t do it all on their own. If God is a helper, then it cannot be an inferior responsibility.
Appropriate words to describe the relationship between the man and the woman in these verses could well be: different; distinct; contrasting.
Bringing it together
So as we bring the two chapters together with the broad sweep of chapter 1, and the more minute detail of chapter 2, we get a picture of what I am going to call ‘equal but different’ of the relationship between men and women. There is equality of creation, blessing, the command to rule, and bearing God’s image. There is difference in: the order the two are made (man first, woman second); the way they are made (man from the dust, woman from the man); the reason made (woman made to be companion/helper for man); and the responsibilities given (man to work and take care of the Garden and to see that the prohibition is maintained, woman to be his companion and helper).
Equality (chapter 1) and difference (chapter 2) combine together to give us the concept here of complementarity: two equal persons or groups of people working together for a common purpose, where one is under the leadership or authority of another. This will be important as we come to Genesis 3.
In Chapter 3, we see God’s beautiful design for his creation get trashed!
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
4“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
……..
16To 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.”
17To 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.
18It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19By 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.”
Again, you will benefit by looking at the passage for yourself.
1) Why do you think the serpent goes to the woman and not to the man?
2) In v 6 when the woman takes the fruit to eat, where is the man? Can you see any problems here?
3) Who does God talk to in v9? Why do you think this is so?
4) How does God’s punishment of sin differ for the man and the woman?
5) Who is charged with the responsibility for the first sin in Romans 5:12? Why?
Some observations from the passage
Adam has been given the prohibition about the tree and the responsibility to see it carried out. The serpent bypasses Adam - the one directly responsible - and goes to Eve who should have followed Adam’s leading. The serpent no doubt wants to overturn God’s good order in the relationship.
In v6, as Eve and the serpent converse, and then the fruit is picked and eaten, Adam is standing right next to his wife. Yet he is silent. His responsibility was to speak up and lead Eve to honour and obey God’s directions. But he ‘wimps’ out, follows Eve and eats the fruit - that is a problem!
In v9, as the couple realise their sin and shame, God comes and speaks to Adam, not Eve. Why? Because God holds him responsible, not Eve. He was given the responsibility of seeing the prohibition maintained. Adam is punished “because (he) listened to (his) wife” (v17).
God’s punishment for Adam and Eve differ according to their different responsibilities. Adam will have difficulty in his work in the Garden; Eve will have difficulty in child-bearing. Both will suffer disruption in their relationships: the woman will want to control her husband (v16 the meaning of ‘desire’ is to control or master) but in the end he will rule over her - often in an unloving, domineering way. Remember, this is a curse for disobedience, NOT God’s loving design for relationships.
In Romans 5:12, Adam is held responsible for the entrance of sin into the world. Why not Eve? Both sinned, but they sinned differently. Adam is the one in the frame because he was created first, then given the prohibition, and then charged with the responsibility of leading Eve in the right direction. He failed in that responsibility of headship.
Bringing it together
Genesis 3 has reinforced the idea of equal but different. Differences continue to be seen in our world today. Women often want to take control; men back away and are often silent (the manner of rebellion). Men still find work hard; long hours and periods of unemployment impact them greatly. Women still have trouble and pain in childbirth and still suffer in their relationships with men - domestic abuse, violence, marital tension, adultery and divorce (the consequences of rebellion).
The struggle for control and power between the sexes today is a direct consequence of Genesis 3.
This is the world under the curse; we live in a Genesis 3 world. This is not God’s design for men and women. Remember Genesis 2 is the ‘very good’ state of affairs; God’s ideal where women and men live well together. The man lovingly ‘heads’ the relationship, she gladly comes alongside and ‘helps’. There is no tension, no arguing and no abuse. But it has been corrupted by sin, and this produces the problems in relationships and this is ‘not good’.
Summing up
We have looked fairly intensely at the first 3 chapters of the Bible to give us a sense of how God determines our identity as women. Genesis 1-2 sketches for us a humanity in two equal genders with different origins and responsibilities, but who relate to each other with love, trust and respect. There is no embarrassment, no shame, no abuse, no arguing, no domineering - it was very good. This was God’s good design for his world.
But Genesis 3 has left us with a bleak picture, because of the effects of sin. The problem, according to feminism, is men! The solution therefore is for women to break free, stand independently, and determine their own identity and future.
But God’s answer to the problem of sin is the cross. Jesus’ death reverses the consequences of sin and breaks the power of sin. He sends his Son to pay the price for sin that is demanded by a holy God, to take our judgement for us. He redeems a people for himself by buying them back with the blood of His son and gives them His Spirit. Then He declares He wants His redeemed people to live according to the design He originally made for humanity back in Genesis 1 and 2. We still live in a fallen, sin-riddled Genesis 3 world. We still live with the effects of sin and disease and death and poor male-female relationships, but Jesus’ death and the gift of His Spirit has made it possible for us to live His way again.
The next article will look closely at how the various New Testament passages detail how we can live Genesis 1-2 relationships in a Genesis 3, but redeemed, world!
[1]In the NT we know this as the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
Lesley Ramsayhas been in local church ministry with her husband, Jim, for 47 years. After university she trained as a teacher and then raised four children. Over the past 30 years she has worked as a Bible teacher and evangelist across Australia and overseas. She has written and edited several books and training packages that are sold and used internationally. She now works at Moore College in Sydney, in pastoral care to the students. To relax, she enjoys a good coffee and a good book and hanging out with her grandchildren.