God Formed the First Woman
In our last topic, we saw that we want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain that sinful choices will always lead to negative consequences. In contrast, godly choices lead to blessing from the Lord. Today, we will see how God formed the first woman and what God taught Adam and Eve about marriage.
In Genesis 2:18-20, we read, “And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” Here, we see the first time that God said something was not good. God said it was not good that man should be alone.
However, before God made a helper comparable to Adam, we see that God first brought all of the animals and birds to him so he could name them. In this way, Adam was able to see that none of the animals or birds were like him. We also see that God gave Adam great knowledge, because he was able to give a name to every animal and bird as God brought them to him. This is a reminder that Adam had great knowledge from the very moment he was created. This also showed that God had given Adam great creativity, since he was able to decide on these names as quickly as the Lord brought the animals and birds to him.
These verses tell us that God formed the animals and birds out of the ground. Then, He brought them to Adam. In Genesis 1:24, we read, “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind’; and it was so.” Here, we see that God formed the living creatures from the earth just by speaking the words. Then, over the next few minutes or hours, God brought the cattle, the birds, and every beast of the field to Adam. We see that he was able to give all of them names. These were all brought forth and named before Eve was created later in the day. However, during this process, Adam was able to see that none of the creatures that God brought to him to name were like him. As a result, Adam realized that there was not a helper comparable to him.
Once Adam realized that none of the other creatures were like him, God was ready to meet that need. Genesis 2:21-23 says, “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’” Here, we see that God performed the first surgery because of the way He chose to create Eve. For that surgery, we see that God caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam. It was while Adam was asleep that God performed this surgery.
During the surgery, God took out one of the ribs of Adam and some of the flesh near that rib. Then, God closed up the flesh. God had formed man from the dust of the ground and taken special care in the creation of man. Here, we see that God took that same special care in the creation of the woman. We read that the Lord God took the rib and made it into a woman. The word translated “made” is used three hundred and seventy-six times in the Old Testament and is nearly always translated “to build or to build up”. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” The very first thing that God built was not a building. Instead, it was the wife of Adam from his rib so there would be a person who was comparable to him.
We see that God took a rib of Adam to make the woman. A rib is close to the heart. God wanted the woman to have a very special place in the heart of man. Ephesians 5:25-28 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.” Here, we see that the relationship of a husband is to picture the relationship of Christ to the church. For this reason, a husband is to love his wife and give himself for her. He is to help her grow spiritually by sharing the Word of God with her. He is to present his wife holy and without blemish. He is to love his wife in the same way he loves his own body.
When Adam awoke from the surgery God had performed on him, He saw that God had made a helper comparable to him. He was no longer alone; instead, he had someone like himself with whom he would be able to share his life. Together, they would be able to reproduce others like themselves. Later, when Noah came out of the ark, God said, in Genesis 9:1, “So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.’” Here, we see that the plan of God for mankind included filling the earth with people.
After God had made the woman, He brought her to the man. We see that Adam understood what God had just done by what he said. He realized that she came from one of his bones and that she had some of his flesh. God had made her so she was a part of the man. 1 Corinthians 11:8 says, “For man is not from woman, but woman from man.” This is a key thing for every couple to understand. God made the wife from the husband, and he is to respond to her by loving her as he loves himself. Adam also showed that he understood this relationship when he said that she should be called “woman”. He knew he was to treat her with the same love that he treated his own body. Here, we see that a godly marriage will bring honor to God because the husband desires to treat the wife with that same love he has for his own body.
As we come to Genesis 2:24-25, we see that God gave a foundational principle for marriage. Genesis 2:24-25 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Adam and Eve had no father and mother to leave. Therefore, they could not apply this principle by leaving their parents. However, they could cleave to one another and become one flesh. In addition, they did have a principle that they could apply by allowing their children to change their relationship with them as parents when their children married.
The word translated “leave” means to depart, to abandon, or to loose. Boaz used this word when he said to Ruth, in Ruth 2:11, “‘It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.’” In this case, Ruth had left her parents and gone with her mother-in-law so she could worship the true and living God, instead of the idols of her family. Married children are to have a concern for their parents. If their parents need care in their old age, that responsibility is not stopped. However, when a couple marries, they are to move the decision-making and their first commitment from their parents to their partner. This is true even if there are three or more generations living in the same household.
The word translated “be joined” is also used in the book of Ruth. Ruth 1:14-17 says, “Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, ‘Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.’” In verse 14, the word is translated “clung” and the following verses explain what that means. These verses show that it means to go, to live with, to become a part of another family or people, to follow God together, and even to be buried in the same place. It means to be joined together so nothing except death will separate. This is the plan that God has for marriage.
The phrase “shall become one” is the number one and was used in verse 21 to speak of one of the ribs of Adam. The word translated “flesh” means the body itself. Adam used this word twice in verse 23, when he said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…” Adam recognized that Eve came from his flesh and pointed forward to the fact that they were to become one in body. Since they had not yet sinned, they were naked but were not ashamed. They were able to enjoy the creation together with thoughts and attitudes that were pure because there was no sin. We will see in the following topics that sin immediately brought shame. That is one of the consequences of sin. However, we see that until they sinned, they were able to enjoy life together with no shame. We want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to understand and explain the principle that God established for marriage. As they learn to apply this principle and share it with others, they will experience the joy that God planned for all marriages that apply this Biblical principle, rather than following the pattern of the world. May the Lord richly bless you as you help your children learn to understand, apply and teach this principle.
