“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said: “Let there be light”. And there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness He called “night”. And there was evening and there was morning -the first day.

And God said: “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water”. So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky”. And there was evening and there was morning -the second day.

And God said: “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear”. And it was so. God called the dry ground “land” and the gathered waters He called “sea”.

And God saw that is was good.

Then God said: “Let the land produce vegetation, seed bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds”. And it was so. The Land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

And there was evening and there was morning -the third day.

And God said: “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night. And let them serve as signs to mark the seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth”. And it was so. God made two great lights -the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night, He also made the stars.

God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning -the fourth day.

And God said: “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the waters teem, according to their kinds. And every winged bird according to its kind.” And God saw that it was good.

God blessed them and said: “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning -the fifth day.

And God said: “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds; livestock, creatures that move along the ground and wild animals, each according to its kind.”

And it was so.

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.

And God saw that it was good.

Then God said: “Let us make man 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 man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God 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.”

Then God said: “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move on the ground -everything that has the breath of life in it -I give every green plant for food.”

And it was so.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning -the sixth day.”

There are some expressions I would like to look at. First of all the expression:

“In the beginning God…” From these words we can know that it was God who thought up this creation process. It was not just thought up by an angel, nor did it just come about accidentally by some forces of nature. No it was God’s idea from the very beginning. We will have noticed that this creation process was being activated by God Himself and not by an outside agent or force that He might have selected to do the work for Him

For it was “God who said……“

These are important words, for they show us who was speaking here. It was not a man who said… Neither was it an angel who said…. No, it was “God who said…”

And please note too the statement “It was so…..”

Whatever God said, happened exactly as He meant it to happen without even the smallest of mistakes. It was all done with great ease and in absolute confidence that what He spoke would come into being.

Another expression we see used throughout the text is:

“It was good“….. Each time God had created something He was pleased with what He had created and He called it “good“.

The final expression appears only once and that is:

“It was very good”… Although God was satisfied with all that He had created He was not yet very satisfied. He had still something more to create. This was going to be His final creation, His Master piece, namely: the creation of the man and the woman. And it is after their creation that God was very satisfied for He called His work “very good” and afterwards He went to rest.

We will next look at Genesis Two.

In this Chapter we have once again the Creation Account but this time we are given a detailed outline of the creation of the man and the woman.

We read in Genesis 2:7-9

“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Now the Lord God had planted a Garden in the East, in Eden, and there He put the man He had formed.

The 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….”

We pick it up again in verse 15 of Genesis Two and we’ll read it through to verse 23 of Genesis Two.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden to work it and take care of it.

And the Lord God commanded the man: “You are free to eat from any Tree in the Garden, but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die.”

The Lord God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Now 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. So 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.

So 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, then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made the woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.

The 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.”

I just want to mention some things in general in relation to these chapters before going into some of the details of these two chapters.

First of all, these two chapters are unique in Scripture in that they describe a time in history when everything and everyone was perfect, when sin had not yet entered the world and particular traditions and cultures had not as yet been developed.

Today we do not live in such a perfect world, though we are looking forward to a time in the future when sin once again will be removed from the world as described for us in Revelation 21.

You could say we are living in a time between Genesis One and Two and Revelation 21. This means that our understanding of events in Genesis One and Two can be affected by our particular mindsets, which might be influenced by traditions and cultures of the time we live in.

We must therefore be careful not to read into the text something which the text does not say.

Furthermore Scripture is a very honest book and often describes the behaviour and actions of a now sinful people in a certain place and at a certain time, not because God approved of everything that happened, but because God wanted people to know that He was a God who was very involved with His created world, as He still is today. His involvement happened in the midst of the many man-made traditions and cultures, which developed as time went on, though God is above all cultures and traditions.

In the Old Testament times we see that God was involved in this world in particular through one nation, the Jewish nation, whom He had had given His Laws and who was to be a light among other nations.

In the New Testament we see God’s involvement in this world through people out of many nations, who had come to Him through Christ and who, empowered by the Holy Spirit were to be a light among the nations.

Where then do we, as women in the 21^st Century fit in? Do we belong to the Old Testament people, the Jewish nation, which would mean that we would have to keep all the Laws, as prescribed by Moses? Thankfully, the answer is no, for we, who are believers, have come to God through Christ, which means we are to see ourselves as New Testament believers, as part of the Body of Christ, the Church.

As New Testament believers can we find ourselves written about in the New Testament? Yes and no.That is a confusing answer, you might say. And you are right. However let me explain why. You see, certain parts in the New Testament do apply to believers of all places and all times, including us today. But there are other parts in the New Testament, which, though we can learn from them as we can learn from the Old Testament, these parts really deal with particular issues which have arisen because of the culture or traditions of the people of that place and that time.

We need to understand that even people, who had become believers and had the Power of God working in them and through them, could still be influenced by their particular culture and traditions which in turn could affect the way they understood and preached the Gospel.

Many of the Letters were written because of exactly such problems. For instance the Letters to the Corinthians, the Letter to the Galatians and the Letters to Timothy, which are actually Letters about the church in Ephesus, were all Letters Paul had written to deal with issues related to each particular church at a particular time. This means that, though we can learn from these Letters, certain sections of these Letters may not necessarily apply to us, in the way that they did to the people they were written to. And we therefore may not fit in these pages of Scripture for we have not been and never will be a part of the Corinthian church, the Galatian church or the Ephesian church. Instead we are believers of the 21^st Century Church, wherever we are.

CHAPTER II - THE HELPER

Sadly throughout Church History theologians have not always understood this principle when looking at certain passages in Scripture. They moreover were influenced by their own culture and traditions as well as by previous cultures, which affected their understanding of Scripture.

This even affected the way these men understood certain parts of Genesis One and Genesis Two, the two chapters that we read a little while ago and which, as I have already said, are unique in Scripture in that they are of a time when everything and everyone was perfect, and no particular traditions or cultures had as yet been developed.

It is to these two chapters that we now turn to again. Having taken you through the whole of the Creation Account I now would like to focus on the Creation Account of the man and the woman, which we can read about in Genesis 1:26-28:

“Then God said: “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God blessed them, and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

From this passage we can know that God created both the man and the woman to rule over creation together. This was to be done in perfect harmony, as a team on an equal basis. No one was to rule over the other; they were to rule over creation together. We can be certain that this kind of ruling did take place exactly as God had designed it.

In Genesis Two we have once again the Creation Account, but this time God has given us an intimate glimpse of how the man and the woman came to be. We have not been given such special details in connection with the rest of His creation. It is only in the case of the creation of the man and the woman that God has given us specific insights into His design, thereby indicating to us what great care He has taken in His design of us.

His initial creation act was that of creating the man as we can read in Genesis 2:7

“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground,

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,

and the man became a living being.”

Then as we continue reading in Genesis Two we discover something. We discover that something was not good!! This is in contrast to the Creation Account of Genesis One, where we have read that everything was either good, or very good.

But in Genesis 2:18 we read:

“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him”.

Isn’t that an amazing statement for it shows God’s great concern for the man. Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe saw the man’s need, the man’s loneliness, perhaps even without the man fully realising it himself. And God decided to do something about it. And He knew exactly what He was going to do: He was going to provide “a helper” for him.

Now, if we are honest, we may not be too excited about this choice of God. We might actually want to say to God: “You can’t mean that God. You are supposed to create something very good. Surely You must know that “a helper” is not exactly “something very good” for she is only someone in an inferior position. Have You forgotten that You are supposed to create both the man and the woman to have rulership over creation together, working in perfect harmony, as a team on an equal basis? And that no one was to rule over the other? Or have You changed Your mind since Genesis One for it surely looks that way.”

What are we doing here? We are reading into the text something, which it does not necessarily say. Why do we do this? Because of our cultural understanding of the word “helper” The question is: is that the Biblical understanding of the word “helper”? The way to find out is by studying the original text.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the word “helper” is the Hebrew word “ezer”. It appears about eighty times in the biblical text and always referred to a significant Being or person, as God, a king, a prince, or a warrior. The word “ezer” underscores how critical, how necessary a helper is. It is someone, who is of great importance, who normally will deliver another from an immense problem and who is a loyal companion. It is not the Hebrew word for a slave, a hireling or an assistant.

We would not say of God: “God, You’re our Assistant. Instead God is our Helper”.

God The Helper

A number of Scriptures make mention of God as a Helper. Examples are:

Genesis 49:24-25

“But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed supple, because of the Hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. Because of your father’s God, Who helps you.”

I Chronicles 12:18

“Then the Spirit came upon Amassai, chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O, David. We are with you, O, son of Jesse. Success, success to you. And success to those, who help you. For your God will help you.”

Psalm 10:14

“But You, O God, do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take in hand. The victim commits himself to You. You are the Helper of the fatherless.”

Psalm 30:10

“Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me; O Lord be my help.”

Psalm 37:39-40

“The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord. He is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and He delivers them.”

Psalm 54:4

“Surely God is my Help, the Lord is the One who sustains me.”

Psalm 94:17

“Unless the Lord had given me help; I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.”

Psalm 118:7

“The Lord is with me; He is my Helper.”

Psalm 118:13

“I was pushed back and about to fall. But the Lord helped me.”

Isaiah 41:10

“So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right Hand.”

Isaiah 41:14

“Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O Little Israel. For I Myself will help you, declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”

Isaiah 44:2

“But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, Israel whom I have chosen. This is what the Lord says -He who made you, who formed you in the womb. And who will help you. Do not be afraid, O Jacob, My servant.”

Isaiah 49:8

“This is what the Lord says, "In the time of My favour I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you.”

Isaiah 50:7-9

“Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint. And I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other. Who is my accuser? Let him confront me. It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.”

From these passages we can learn that perhaps, contrary to what we understand the word “helper” to mean, Scripture indicates that the word “helper” is used for a stronger or superior party to help a weaker or inferior party. Now we may not have too many problems with such an understanding of the word helper in the case of God for He is after all the stronger or superior party compared to any one of us. But Scripture does not only mention God as a Helper.

Other Helpers

The Old Testament in various places speaks about armies coming to the help, or being the helper of other armies as in

II Chronicles 28:16

“At that time king Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria for help.”

I Kings 20:1

“Now Ben-Hadad, king of Aram mustered his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots he went up and besieged Samaria.”

Joshua 10:33

“ Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer, had come to the help of Lachish…”

In these cases the helpers are once again a stronger or superior party and the ones being helped are a weaker or inferior party.

The Woman As The Man’s Helper

Having looked at all these examples of either God as a Helper, or armies as helpers, we will now return to Genesis 2:18 where God said:

“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him”.

The original text once again uses the term “ezer”, the same term which we have seen having been used for God as well as for stronger or superior armies.

Does that mean that the woman as the man’s helper is his superior? No, for that would go against God’s design for the woman and the man. God therefore, in this case had added to the word “ezer” another word “kenegdo”. This word “kenegdo” is very important for it describes exactly what kind of helper God had given to the man. It was not God’s intention to give the man a helper who would be superior to him. Neither was it God’s intention to give the man a helper who would be inferior to him. No, this helper was going to be formed to be exactly suitable for him, matching him, fitting him, corresponding to him, a counterpart to him, opposite to him.

Throughout the centuries well-known Roman Catholic Church Fathers and Protestant Reformers, influenced by their cultures and traditions, have interpreted this verse to give the woman an inferior role.

I’ll give you an example of a Roman Catholic Church Father.

His name is Augustine. He lived from 354 A.D. to 430 A.D.

His comment on this passage is as follows:

“If it were not the case that the woman was created to be the man’s helper specifically for the production of children, then why would she have been created as a “helper”? Was it so that she might work the land with him? No…. a man would have made a better assistant. One can only take the position that the reason for her creation as a helper had to do with the companionship she could provide for the man… yet for company and conversation how much more agreeable it is for two men to dwell together than for a man and a woman…

I cannot think of any reason for a woman being made as the man’s helper if we dismiss this reason of procreation”

So, according to Augustine, the woman was not of much use to the man as a co-worker or as a companion, but was really only useful to the man as the person, who was to provide him with children.

Another example I’ll give you is that of a Protestant Reformer John Calvin.

He lived from 1509 A.D. to 1564 A.D.

He and other Reformers were men who understood that Scripture was to be read by all people and for that we can only be very grateful.

However they were still people, whose understanding of Scripture was influenced by the culture and traditions of their time as we can see from his comment on this verse, which is as follows:

“God did not create two chiefs of equal power but added to the man an inferior aid.”

Calvin, likewise, simply could not accept the fact that the woman had been created as an equal in every respect to work alongside the man, not under him.

Why do the views of these two men and of others who have had similar views matter to us today? After all they lived a long time ago. Because their views still live on and are still being taught today.

However, as we have already seen, the view that the woman was added to the man as an inferior aid, is not a Scriptural view, but is a traditional view. We can be certain that what God spoke into being in Genesis 1:26-28 when He declared that both the man and the woman were to rule over creation together, in perfect harmony, as a team on an equal basis, is confirmed in Genesis 2:18, not denied. For God does not change His mind. What He says He will do.

The Woman As The Man’s Rib

Having understood that the woman as the man’s helper was indeed going to be formed as his equal in all respects, we will now look at how God did this, which will only confirm her equality to the man.

We’ll begin by reading in Genesis 2:19:20

“Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. 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.

So the man gave name to all the livestock, the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found.”

What an amazing scene this parade of animals must have been, passing before the man’s eyes. Can you imagine it? There are these two large animals with huge ears. A perfect name for them would be “elephant”.

And then look at these two animals with long, long necks. A perfect name for them would be “giraffe”.

Oh, and let’s not forget these funny creatures who jump from one tree to the next. They definitely look like monkeys.

I do have to say, I feel somewhat sorry for the animals called “hippopotamus”. It can’t be easy to have to live with such a name. At least that’s what I think.

Anyway, I am sure the animals all left very happily for they had been given names so they knew who they were.

On the other hand, after all the animals had left, the man was once again alone. Perhaps this time, after he had watched all the animals appearing before him in pairs, something began to stir within him. A question began to arise within him. The question was: “What about me?” Yes, he had so far been very content to be on his own. There had been so much to discover since God had created him. He had not been dissatisfied in any way with his situation as it was. And he had of, course, a very close relationship with God.

But God was God and he was man.

And now seeing all these animals coming to him in pairs… There was something about seeing them in pairs, which he could not even express in words. It was just something he was beginning to sense within himself, a realisation that perhaps something was missing from his life, though he knew the animals were not the answer either.

For he was man and they were animals.

The wonderful thing was that God was very aware of this situation of as we can read in Genesis 2:21-23

“So 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 closed up the place with flesh.

Then the Lord God made the woman from of the rib He had taken out of the man and brought her to the man.

The 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.”

God, having established that no suitable helper for the man could be found among the animals, set out to create the perfect helper, the perfect companion for the man. Interestingly, He did not involve the man in this work. Perhaps He did not want the man to come up with some of his own ideas as to what an ideal companion might look like. Instead, God in His wisdom, put the man to sleep. And then, what did He do, did He take another pile of dust, like He had done with the man? No, he took a part of the man, which has been translated as “rib”. This is the Hebrew word “tselah”, which has been used in other parts of the Old Testament when it has been translated as “side” or “sides”.

Examples are:

Exodus 25:12

“Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other.”

Exodus 26:26-27

“Also make crossbars from acacia wood; five for the frames of one side of the tabernacle, five for those on the other side.”

Exodus 27:7

“The poles are to be inserted into the rings so they will be on two sides of the altar.”

In these passages the word “tselah” each time refers to an entire side and not just to a small part of a structure.

It is only in Genesis 2:22 that the word “tselah” has been translated as “rib”.

Now we know that the woman was indeed made out of the man’s rib or bone for the man exclaimed in Genesis 2:23

“This is now bone of my bones.”

However we know too that there was more to her for the man said as well:

“And flesh of my flesh”.

It is very likely that in the case of Genesis 2:22 the word “tselah” has been translated as “rib” not because it is the correct translation but because translators were influenced by a Jewish Rabbi named Joshua, who had written:

“God deliberated from what member He would create woman, and He reasoned within Himself thus:

“I must not create her from Adam’s head, for she would be a proud person, and hold her head high.

If I create her from the eye, then she will wish to pry into all things.

If from an ear, then she will wish to hear all things.

If from the mouth she will talk much.

If from the heart she will envy people.

If from the hand she will desire to make all things.

If from the feet she will be always going around.

Therefore I will create her from a member which is hid; that is, the rib, which is not even seen when man is naked”.

However, this points to a very biased view of the woman and is not in line with Scripture. Scripture clearly indicates by the term “tselah” that the woman was taken from the man’s side, which confirms her equal status with the man in every respect.

The man furthermore recognised that she was the female “man“, or human and that he was the male “man“, or human.

We see this confirmed in Genesis 5: 2 where we read:

“He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created He called them man.”

And so God had met the man’s need, the man’s loneliness and the man was very glad indeed.

We can be certain that they ruled creation together, in perfect harmony, as a team on an equal basis as designed by God.

CHAPTER III - THE FALL

We might well ask ourselves the question: What has caused the disruption to this wonderful design of God for both the man and the woman for we certainly do not see it functioning in the world we live in today.

The answer is:

An event called the Fall.

We find the account of the Fall in Genesis 3. It is a very sad story indeed.

You see, when God created the man, He placed him in a Garden as we can read in Genesis 2:15-17

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the Garden, but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die”.

Now this Tree has already been mentioned before in Genesis 2:8-9

“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the East, in Eden, and there He put the man He had formed. And the 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”.

From this passage we know that this Tree was in the middle of the Garden together with the Tree of Life. And that all the trees, including the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, were “pleasing to the eye and good for food”. However, God had designed this one Tree for Himself. They were not to eat its fruit. This was the only Tree they were forbidden to eat from. They could eat from any other Tree, including the Tree of Life.

God, who had given both the man and the woman a free will, was hereby testing their obedience to Him.

Now, please remember, that when God told the man that he was not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the woman had not yet been formed.

We can therefore only assume that the woman had not received this command from God directly, but via the man at a later stage. We simply do not know this for a fact for the text does not give us this information. However she does seem to be aware of this command as we will see in a moment.

Let’s now turn to Genesis 3 verse 1

“Now 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?”

Isn’t that interesting? Something evil had appeared on the scene, no doubt allowed by God, to test the man and the woman. We are not told how this evil being, using the serpent, came to be there. We just know he was there. Scripture at other places gives us more insights into this evil being (for instance. Isaiah 14:12-15) but we will not cover that subject in this article. Suffice to say that he was present.

And this serpent spoke to the woman. Many people have wondered why he spoke to the woman and not to the man. And they have come up with some interesting suggestions, including the suggestion that the woman was approached because she was the weaker vessel and could therefore more easily be tempted.

The answer is: “We don’t know for Scripture does not mention as to why he approached the woman first.”

By his words: “Did God really say?” the serpent was trying to put doubt into the mind of the woman. Very devious indeed. The woman, in her innocence, would not have recognised the evil hidden in these words. So far she had only encountered good both through God and through the man. She was obviously not prepared for such an evil being to cross her path. Because of her previous experiences, which had only been good, she would have expected anyone else to be of a similar nature. She did not for a moment consider this serpent to be a danger to her. There was no inclination in her to doubt his sincerity towards her in any way. So far she had always trusted those around her because they would have had only good intentions and she expected the serpent to have good intentions as well. Nothing in her expected this serpent to have evil designs towards her and the man.

Moreover the serpent would have looked beautiful for God had created every thing good, including this creature. It was only later on that the serpent was told by God that he would crawl on his belly and would eat dust all the days of his life. However this had not yet happened when the woman first encountered him.

The woman’s answer can be found in Genesis 3:2-3

“We may eat from the Trees in the Garden, but God did say, “You must not eat from the Tree that is in the middle of the Garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.”

Was the woman’s answer correct? Yes and no. She got it right that they were not to eat from the Tree in the middle of the Garden, but then she added some things to it, which God had not said. Do we know why she did this? No, and though it may be tempting for us to speculate, we must not do so for we will very likely be wrong.

The truth is that God has not given us that information in His Word and we shall leave it at that.

The serpent‘s response to the woman‘s words can be found in Genesis 3:4-5 where he says:

“You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

This statement is in blatant opposition to what God had said but these words did make the woman look at the Tree, which indeed must have looked good for food, and pleasing to the eye, as all the trees did. We can read this in Genesis 3:6

“When 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.”

Please remember that the woman, while only looking, was still in a state of innocence, of sinlessness for God had not forbidden them to look at the tree, or even to touch it; they only were not allowed to eat from it. It was after she had eaten from it that things changed. Not only for her, but also for the man, who incidentally was with her. In fact he very likely had been with her throughout the conversation she had had with the serpent and ate of the fruit as well.

Many theologians throughout Church History have taught that the woman was the main cause of the Fall by persuading her husband to eat of the fruit.

However Scripture does not say this. We can be certain that the man ate of the fruit because he too desired to eat it, in disobedience to God’s command with devastating results for both of them as we can read in Genesis 3:7

“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they were naked….”

Though physical death did not take place as yet, it did eventually happen, but what happened immediately was spiritual death, spiritual separation from God.

The man and the woman, who had never been afraid of God before, were now afraid and hid from Him when He came to see them. We can read this in Genesis 3:10

“Then 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.”

The Consequences For The Woman

Did God know what had happened? Of course He did, and yet He came to see the man and the woman. One of the reasons was the fact that He needed to confront them with the consequences of their actions. We will focus on the consequences for the woman, which are recorded in Genesis 3:16

“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing,

with pain you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband,

And he will rule over you”.

This is really a mistranslation of the original text and has caused much unnecessary suffering for women throughout the centuries for many theologians have understood this verse to mean that it was God’s will for women to suffer in child birth. As a consequence women were not allowed to have any form of medication to relieve their suffering during childbirth.

The sentence “Your desire will for your husband” has often been understood to be a sexual desire, while the words “and he will rule over you” have often been viewed as a command of God for the woman to be ruled by her husband as a further form of punishment.

I will once again use the words of the Roman Catholic Church Father Augustine as an example:

“What is the difference whether it is a wife or a mother; it is still Eve, the temptress that we must be aware of in any woman.”

However, Jesus does not make a woman responsible for a man’s temptation but makes each man personally responsible for any temptation he might feel towards a woman as we can read in Matthew 5:28

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

It is very sad that Augustine did not remember this verse when he wrote the comment we have just looked at. If he had remembered Jesus’ words I believe his comment would have been very different.

And the Protestant Reformer John Calvin had this to say:

“When a woman considering to what she has been called, submits to the condition, which God has assigned to her and does not refuse the pains, or anxiety about her offspring, or anything else that belongs to her duty, God values this obedience more highly than if in some other manner, she made a great display of heroic virtues, while she refused to obey the calling of God.”

Calvin furthermore has stated:

“God assigned two reasons why women are to be subject to men. For not only did God enact it at the beginning, but God also inflicted it as a punishment on the woman, since the destruction of the whole human race was attributed to them, this subjection as a testimony to the wrath of God is constantly placed before their eyes.”

Their views were very much in line with the views of Jewish Rabbis as found in the Babylonian Talmud, which was a commentary on the Old Testament and was written between the sixth century B.C. and the third century B.C.

The Talmud lists “Ten Curses God uttered against Eve”.

“Greatly increase” deals with the woman’s menstrual curse.

“Your pains” is having children and bringing them up.

“Your conception” shall be by the husband’s choice and at his discretion.

“In pains you will give birth to children” is more punishment for women.

“Your desire shall be for your husband”, deals with the rabbis’ private interpretation of sexuality.

“He shall rule over you”, the wife being in total subjection and subjugation, since the wife is the personal property of the husband.

She is wrapped up like a mourner.

She shall not appear in public with her head uncovered.

She is restricted to one husband while the husband may have many wives.

She is confined to the house.”

However this is not what Scripture teaches for the original text says:

“I will surely multiply your toil (This is related to the curse on the ground, and which will affect the woman too since she works alongside the man),

and I will multiply your conception.

With effort, (meaning with hard work, requiring endurance), you will bring forth children.

You will turn to your husband,

And he will rule over you.”

God declared to the woman that from then on it would be difficult to work the soil because of the curse placed on it.

At the same time He confirmed to her that she would conceive and give birth to children, though this giving birth to her children would be challenging work.

He next spoke of her tendency to turn towards her husband, because God recognised that the woman, in her now sinful state, would look to the man to have her needs met, rather than look to God to have her needs met.

This, I believe, is still a tendency women have in that we expect men, be they husbands, pastors or elders to meet our needs rather than allow God to meet our needs. Consequently we will be disappointed for God has designed us in such a way that He alone is to meet our needs for He alone is the source of life, as we can read in Deuteronomy 30:20

“And that you may love the Lord, your God, listen to His Voice and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your Life.”

And her husband because of his now sinful nature would want to rule over her.

An immediate example of this would be the re-naming of the woman by the man in Genesis 3:20

“Adam named his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living.”

This was an act of independence, an act to show his authority over the woman which God had not given him.

Previously God had given the man the task of naming the animals as contained in Genesis 2:19-20

“Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. 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. So the man gave name to all the livestock, the birds of the air and the beasts of the field”.

This had been an act to establish his rightful authority over creation as initiated by God.

But when God had brought the woman to the man He did not require of the man that he name the woman as in Genesis 2:22

“Then the Lord God made the woman from the rib, He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.”

Though the man at that time recognised that she was the woman and he was the man, as in Genesis 2:23 where the man said:

“She is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,

she shall be called woman for she was taken out of man”,

this was not an act of authoritative naming but a recognition that she was a human being like himself.

Having first of all recognized her similarity, he then went on to speak of the difference between him and the woman, for she was the female human and he was the male human.

The reason that God did not ask the man to name the woman was because God had not given the man the task of ruling over the woman. Moreover God Himself had already named her as we know from Genesis 5:2. Though we have already looked at this verse it may be helpful to read it again.

”He created them male and female. And He blessed them. And when they were created He called them “man”.

So God had called both the man and the woman “man, human” or “Adam”. You could say they were Mr and Mrs Adam, or Mr and Mrs “Man”, Mr and Mrs “Human”.

Going back to the words God had spoken to the woman in relation to the promise of her offspring, she would have remembered that God had spoken about her offspring, her seed in His words to the serpent, which we can read in Genesis 3:15

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.”

These words contained the promise of the woman’s seed, the woman’s offspring and would have given her something to live for.

Though the woman did not know it, this was in fact the very first Messianic prophecy.

Did God fulfill the promise of the Seed? Yes indeed He did. And when the Seed came, the Messiah, The Lord Jesus Christ, He restored what was lost and more….

CHAPTER IV - THE PROMISED SEED OF THE WOMAN

It might perhaps be helpful to see what exactly Christ has done for us…

One of the issues we might want to consider is the ruling of men over women, which God forewarned the woman in Genesis 3:16.

Sadly we have seen this happened throughout history and we still see it happening today.

Yet in the midst of this sad picture there came a glimmer of hope in the form of a Cross with the broken body of a man hanging on it. Who was this Man? It was the Man/God Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world.

He died so that men and women might have life as the Apostle John expressed it

in John 10:10

“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

Through Christ’s death on the Cross, the effects of the Fall were reversed. What had been lost: the relationship with God and the relationship with one another on equal terms have now been restored.

Furthermore both men and women, who are in Christ, have been given authority. Please understand that this authority is a delegated authority for it is based on Christ’s authority given by His Father as we can read in Matthew 28:18-20

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We need to understand though this authority, which has been given to both men and women, who are in Christ, does not give anyone the right to lord it over another, to rule another for Christ did not come to be served but to serve, as Jesus said in Matthew 20:25-28

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. Not so with you. Instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave -just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Therefore Christ’s followers, be they men or women, have only been given the authority to serve others.

Christ must have found this a particularly important subject since He stressed this point at the Last Supper, which we can read about in John 13:1-17

“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God, and was returning to God, so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round His waist.

After that He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round Him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to Him: “Lord, are You going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied: “You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No”, said Peter, “You shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well.”

Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean. Though not every one of you.”

For He knew who was going to betray Him and that was why He said not everyone was clean.

When He had finished washing their feet, He put on His clothes and returned to His place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” He asked them.

“You call Me “Teacher” and “Lord” and rightly so for that is what I am.

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another’s feet.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed, if you do them.”

We find Jesus having a final meal with His disciples before His Crucifixion. And what was on His mind? What was to Him the most important issue He needed to stress while there was still time? Was it to make sure these men knew how to preach a good sermon, or how to heal a sick person, or even how to deliver someone from an evil spirit? No, none of these things. The text simply says that that He, their Lord and Teacher, got up from the table, took off His outer clothing, wrapped a towel around His waist, filled a basin with water and began to wash their feet. This was the most menial task in any household and here Jesus was performing it.

Now don’t for a moment think that it was only Peter who had a problem with the fact that Jesus was doing something they all knew was for the lowliest of servants to do. No, they all were embarrassed that the Lord was performing this task for them. It is just that Peter had always been very vocal in expressing his opinions and the others might just have waited for him to say what they were thinking, which is exactly what happened.

Anyway, Jesus washed all of their feet and then sat down. It was only then, that He began to explain to them what this was all about. This had not just been an act of kindness on His part but a teaching exercise. He wanted to show them in a very practical way that even they, who had been given authority in Christ and who were to become the founding Apostles of the Church which was about to be born, had only been given this authority to serve others.

CHAPTER V - THE REDEEMED WOMAN

This message of restoration because of Christ’s death on the Cross is a major theme throughout the New Testament. It is the message the Apostle Paul preached. He taught what the Lord before Him had taught in word and action, that both men and women are equally sinful and equally in need of a Saviour and that Christ’s death on the Cross provides total redemption for both men and women.

He taught that this redemption had been made possible because at the Cross Christ had reversed the effects of the Fall by becoming a curse for both men and women as we can read in Galatians 3:13

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

As a result of Christ’s death on the Cross both men and women can now become the righteousness of God in Christ according to II Corinthians 5:21

“God made Him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This means that every believer, be they male or female, has now become a new creation as the Apostle Paul taught in II Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

Such a person is to forget the past according to Philippians 3:13

“This I do, forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead.”

Furthermore there is now no condemnation for the man or the woman who is in Christ as we can read in Romans 8:1-2

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the Law of the Spirit of Life has set me free from the Law of Sin and Death.”

Such a person is to live unto God as Paul wrote in Romans 6:11

“In the same way count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God.”

Furthermore Paul wrote in Romans 8:17 that men and women who belong to Christ are co-heirs with Christ

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs -heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”

Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28 that men and women are one in Christ Jesus.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Moreover any man or woman, who is in Christ, has been raised with Him and is seated with Him as we can read in Ephesians 2:6

“And God raised us up with Christ and has seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”

Both men and women, who are in Christ, have been blessed with every spiritual blessing as we can read in Ephesians 1:3

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

The Gifted Woman

Paul taught as well in I Corinthians Chapters 12-14 and in Romans 12:4-8 that every believer, be they male or female, was a part of the Body of Christ and was to function as part of that Body with the gift or gifts given by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of others. These gifts were given as the Holy Spirit determined without race, class or gender distinction.

Let’s look at I Corinthians 12:4-11

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but the same God works all of them in all men.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

To one is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one just as He determines.”

I would like for us to read Romans 12:4-8* as well

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one Body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy let him do it cheerfully.”

*In the original text of Romans 12:4-8 no specific gender is mentioned. Therefore a better translation would be:

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so, in Christ, we, though many, form one Body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, then do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

One example of the gifts of the Spirit working through both men and women can be seen in I Corinthians 11:4-5

“Every man, who prays or prophecies with his head covered, dishonours his head. And every woman, who prays or prophecies with her head uncovered, dishonours her head.”

This verse is part of a larger segment of Scripture beginning with I Corinthians 11:3 and ending with I Corinthians 11:16. This is quite a complicated passage of Scripture and because of it we may not realise that in this passage Paul allowed both men and women to pray and prophesy in public.

And he explained in I Corinthians 14:29-31 that the function of prophecy, which was a gift given to both men and women, included teaching “Two or three Prophets should speak and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophecy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.”

From this we can see that one of the main functions of prophecy is in fact instruction or teaching so Paul obviously expected women to instruct, to teach both men and women.

Furthermore Paul encouraged both men and women to pray in public in

I Timothy 2:8-10

“I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair, or gold, or expensive clothes, but with goods deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”

Paul in this chapter wrote about the issue of prayer as we can read in I Timothy 2:1-2

“I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone -for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness.”

He, in I Timothy 2:8-10, the verses we have just read, was still talking about prayer.

He first dealt with men in relation to prayer and he then addressed women in relation to prayer. We may not understand this because he did not specifically mention the words “in prayer” when writing about women. However the word “also” or “likewise” indicates that he was still talking about prayer for Paul desired that women when praying as part of their worship of God, displayed proper behaviour.Therefore, according to Greek grammar, the words “in prayer” did not need to be repeated in verses 9-10 because they were to be understood from the context of verse 8.

There is at least one other example in Scripture of this particular type of sentence structure in the Greek language and we’ll look at that example later on.

We can see then that Paul encouraged both men and women to pray and prophesy in public.

CHAPTER VI - THE RESPONSIBLE WOMAN

This puts a responsibility on each believer, be they male or female, for each one of us have been given one or more gifts, and are we using them? You see, we cannot use excuses, like:

“But Lord, I am too old.”

“Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist could have said that when she was told she was going to have a son at her old age. We can find her story in Luke 1:5-25, 57-66.

We’ll read Luke 1:13, 57

“But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. Your wife will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John…”

“When it was time for Elisabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.”

Or we might say “But Lord, I am too young”.

Mary could have said that, when the angel came to tell her she was going to give birth to the Saviour of the world and she was not even married at that time. We can find her story in Luke 1:26-38.

We’ll read Luke 1:38

“I am the Lord’s servant”, Mary answered, “May it be to me as you have said”. Then the angel left her.”

We might even say “But Lord the times are simply too difficult”.

Jochebed could have said that when she had her son Moses, even though she lived in dangerous times when baby boys were being killed off. We can find her story in

Exodus 2:1-10 and Numbers 26:59.

We’ll read Hebrews 11:23

“By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

God is not interested in any of or our excuses, even though some of our excuses may even sound like they have come straight out of the Word of God. Perhaps you recognise some of them:

“Woman is made for man.”

“Man is the head of the woman”.

“A woman is to submit to a man in the church and at home a wife is to submit to her husband.”

“A woman is to be silent.”