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Joined at the Rib
by Teresa Altman Scriptural Focus_ 12_ "Then the man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." 13_ And the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate". (Gen 3:12-13 NKJV) *** 14_ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (I Tim 2:14 NKJV) *** In the Garden of Eden, before the woman encountered the cunning serpent, all she or her husband knew of "the knowledge of good and evil" came from a commandment given directly to him by God. " but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Gen 2:17 NKJV) Eve had not been created at the time God gave Adam that warning and nowhere have I found any indication that God told her directly, so we are left to assume that Adam warned Eve. That being said, we can argue that this is the first recorded occurrence of information being relayed from a husband to his wife. I can see it now_ During her conversation with the serpent, Eve silently begins to doubt God's instructions. She's not quite sure Adam got it right. So she wonders, "Maybe his attention was diverted by that 16 point buck darting through the brush. I've seen how he looks when it rushes by him. And you know how men are with instructions 'in one ear and out the other'. This serpent looks pretty smart and he appears to know God as well as Adam does. All I know is I am absolutely starved and that fruit looks scrumptious. It smells like chocolate, too_ Ummmm!!" Does that sound familiar? Of course, I have used a little humor to point out that Eve doubted her husband, as well as God, when tricked by deceit. Curiosity gave way to doubt and doubt to defeat. But what often goes unnoticed is when Adam accepted the fruit from Eve, he had not been deceived. Adam knew very well the consequences of death and separation from God. Based on the simplicity of words ("and he ate."), I don't believe he hesitated one moment in deciding to follow Eve into transgression. So why would he intentionally do it? In Gen 2:18, God revealed His Will for Adam to have a "help meet" (KJV) or "helper comparable to him" (NKJV). Translated, many describe it as an aid or helper. But often overlooked is the further Hebrew translation, to protect or surround. God intends for a husband and his wife to be "help meets" for each other, that is, a protector or nurturer. From Adam's rib, God made Woman. Adam's temptation was never the fruit of the tree or the knowledge of that fruit. His lure to sin was his love and the commitment made to his wife. "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man." (Gen 2:23 NKJV) Adam knew Eve had, through deceit, been sentenced to death. But his love for her overshadowed his own life. Adam's conscious decision to "die for his bride" was the first of many manifestations of God's "perfect plan" for the atonement of man's sin_ Love's sacrificial death of a Son for His bride. *** 25_ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her 26_ that He might sanctify and cleanse her(Eph 5:25-26 NKJV) Teresa Altman, http://www.faithwriters.com/websites/my_website.php?id=28787 , an engineer for 25 years, answered God's call to write in 2007. A mother of two and grandmother of six, she lives in Northwest Tennessee. @2007 by Teresa Altman Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |