#StandingWithOurSisters #GodBlessesTheBarren

One thing I’ve learned over the last 5 or 6 years is that people tend to be more open and honest if they don’t think you have an agenda in talking to them.  When I owned my business and I would show up at a house to deliver a new refrigerator or washing machine, the residents would often stand around and talk while I installed the appliance. 

I remember one conversation I had with an Amish man who lived a little south of my home.  I was delivering some building materials to his house.  As the two of us 30-something year old men stood in his driveway, I could tell he had a burden he was carrying.  Finally he told me that neither he nor his wife felt welcomed in the Amish community they lived in.  The community they lived in was family, it was their church, it was their friends, but they didn’t feel like they were accepted for one main reason.  They had been married for 10 or 15 years and they didn’t have children.  With teary eyes he told me they had spent thousands and thousands of dollars to have numerous tests done to find out “the problem.”  But at the time of our conversation, they had no answers.  In their culture, children and family is held in high esteem.  So to be barren is considered a reason to be pitied, or looked down upon. 

While many in our Western culture may not associate the size of one’s family or fertility as being so important today, we can see in the Bible that infertility and being barren were serious problems.  Today science shows us that infertility issues can arise from either a man or a woman or both.  However, when we read the Bible it appears that infertility issues were always assigned to the woman.  So, in a culture where the size of one’s family may be important to their survival, and their position in society, having few or no children would be a problem. 

And yet, time and time again God showed that what the world viewed as broken He would use for His honor and glory.  Repeatedly it was the barren women that God used, opening their wombs, to mother some of the heroes so-to-speak in the Bible. 

Genesis 12:1-4

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your  relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;   2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your  name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”  4 So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him…

We know next to nothing about Abram, or his wife Sarai, before God called them.  We have no indication that Abraham was a follower of YHWH or not.  All we know is what the text tells us here. 

Abram, whose name meant “exalted father”, was promised that if he left his homeland, which undoubtedly meant his culture, religious upbringing, and family, God would bless him in 3 ways.  First, God would make his descendants into a great nation.  Secondly, God would bless him by making his name great.  Finally, God said He would bless those who blessed Abram and through him all the nations would be blessed. 

God called Abram, and his beautiful (12:11) wife Sarai, and they obeyed and went. 

After some time has passed, we arrive at Genesis 15.  Abram is beginning to question God, regarding the promises God had made to him when he was called to follow God. 

Genesis 15:1-7

…the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”

2 Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” 4 Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”

Please allow me to take a minute to explain something here.  Our tendency is to read stories like this one through our cultural lens.  Here in the West we view personal liberty, and personal independence as being highly sought after virtues.  But things were not this way in biblical times—either in the Old Testament or New Testament times.  They lived under a completely different set of cultural virtues.  That system is often called the honor and shame system.  You were not your own, independent person.  You were part of a larger group.  Therefore what you wanted, while maybe important to you, was not as important as the larger picture.  And, in such a system—which still is active in many parts of our world today—if one’s honor is challenged, it may become their duty to defend their honor. 

So God said he would make a “great nation” of Abram, yet Abram and his wife Sarai are getting older and still they have no children.  Abram questions God, possibly asking if his honor will remain intact if God doesn’t fulfil the promise.  God takes Abram outside and shows him the stars.  Just as one cannot count the stars, God says, no one will be able to count Abram’s descendants.  And when Abram believed God, yet again, we are told God “reckoned” Abram’s faith as “righteousness.” 

I’m going to pass over the part of the story that involves Hagar and Ishmael, not because they aren’t important but because it isn’t within the scope of today’s purpose.  I might come back to the story of Hagar and Ishmael at a later date. 

Skipping ahead to Genesis 17, we see that 24 years after Abram was called to follow God, God comes to him again—reminding him of the promises He had made Abram. 

Genesis 17:1-7

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,

“I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. 2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.”     3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,  4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.  5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. 7 I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. 8 I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

Whereas Abram’s name had meant “exalted father” God changes it to Abraham meaning “Father of a multitude”, encouraging him to look forward to what God had in store for his descendants (Ross, A. P. (1985). Genesis. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 58). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

I don’t think we can overstate the stigma of being childless. 
One commentary had this to say about the subject.  “A closed womb was a deep personal tragedy in OT times. God’s command to men after the flood was to be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth (Gn 9:1) and later Jeremiah offered the same advice (Jer 29:6). A barren wife in a polygamous marriage was subject to ridicule (Gn 16:4) or extreme jealously (30:1). The social pressure to bear children for her husband was so great…”  (Van Reken, D. E. (1988). Barrenness. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 265). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.)

So, as we continue, we may have a little better understanding of how big the promise God had given Abraham , and as we will see now, Sarah.  

Genesis 17:15-21

15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” 19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

Not only Abram was to be blessed, but Sarah as well.  He would be the “father of a multitude of nations”, and she would receive a new name as well.  As one commentary put it, “As the ancestress of nations and kings, she should be called שׂרָה (princess), not שָׂרַי (heroine).”  (Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Lewis, T., & Gosman, A. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Genesis (p. 424). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

In such a patriarchal culture, that God would single out a woman to bless was a big deal.  As we see in the case of Hagar, not only could women be owned, but even when married they and their offspring could be dismissed and written off without much thought. 

As I shared previously, as a result of sin entering the world the treatment of women went from being one of co-partner to one of oppression.  As the Commentary on the Holy Scriptures puts it:
“…..In consequence of sin thus arises that subjection of the wife to the husband, bordering on slavery, that was customary in the old world, as it still is in the East, and which through the religion of revelation becomes gradually more tolerable, until, at last, in the increasing worth of the woman, it becomes entirely evened” (Delitzsch).”  (Lange, et al pp. 237–238.)

In the case of Sarah, we see God taking a step in increasing the value of women by showing Sarah's value, even as a woman who struggles with infertility.  She is not just the property of her husband.  She is not to be dismissed or discarded because she can’t provide her husband sons, in a culture where sons appeared to be notches of honor on a man’s belt.  The promise God made was not just to Abraham, but it was made to Sarah too, as we see in Genesis 18.

Genesis 18:1, 9-15

Now the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.

Abraham and Sarah hurried to prepare food for their guests, and when they sat to eat.

9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” 10 He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. 12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ 14 Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Faith, when all things are apparently within our control, seems easy.  However, when nothing is even reasonable, and you are asked to have faith, what will you do?

Sarah found herself in such a situation.  She likely knows the promise God had given Abraham when He called them out of Ur. She was about 90 years old. And yet God promised her a baby.

Genesis 21:1-8

Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. 2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

8 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

God took a woman, who by the measuring stick of her culture and time was probably looked down upon, and through her offspring He chose to bless the world. 

Sarah is just one example of barren women that God used to bring honor and glory to Himself. 

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible has this to say about being barren in the Bible times:

“It could be removed after earnest prayers (25:21; 1 Sm 1:16, 20) or by God’s prophet (2 Kgs 4:16) or messenger (Gn 18:14)….God promised Israel no infertility if they obeyed his laws (Dt 7:14).   (Van Reken, D. E.)

While I’ve spent so much time on just one example of God blessing a woman, and all people, through what the world may have considered a broken vessel, Sarah is far from being the only example the Bible gives us. 

Sarah’s grandson Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachel was unable to bear children.

Genesis 30:1-2

Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” 2 Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

But God heard Rachel’s prayer.

Genesis 30:22-24

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. 23 So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24 She named him Joseph, saying, “May the Lord give me another son.”

In I Samuel 1:1-2, 9-20 we read about Hannah.

Now there was a certain man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives: the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Each year, Elkhanah took his family to sacrifice and worship God. Elkhanah favored Hannah, which led to Penninah provoking her about her barrenness. One year, Hannah went in to pray and ask God for children.

9 ... Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10 She, greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 She made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.”

12 Now it came about, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth. 13 As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. 14 Then Eli said to her, “How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.” 15 But Hannah replied, “No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great concern and provocation.” 17 Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him.” 18 She said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

19 Then they arose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned again to their house in Ramah. And Elkanah had relations with Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. 20 It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the Lord.”

God heard the cry of Hannah’s heart and opened her womb, and gave her a son whom God would use in mighty ways.

The final example we will look at here is found in Luke’s gospel.  

Luke 1:5-25

5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.

One year the lot fell to him, to be the priest who burned the incense to the Lord.

11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

21 The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute. 23 When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.

24 After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying, 25 “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.”

Elizabeth, although a righteous woman (1:6), felt the disgrace that came from childlessness (1:24).  And when God opened her womb, and gave her a son—John the Baptist—she thanked God for removing her “disgrace among men.” 

So, why spend so much time talking about women who struggled with infertility? 

First, we as humans can be cruel and unkind in regards to issues that we as humans may have no control over.  We may, by our words and actions or lack of words and actions, look down on someone for not living up to the standards we believe mark a godly life.  Sarah and Rachel and Hannah and Elizabeth had value, not because they could bear their husbands children, but because they were made in the image of God.  When they, or women today, are looked down on because they can’t live up to human expectations, we belie the fact that we believe they have intrinsic value, and not just value for what they do. 

Second, time and time again God chose those that didn’t live up to the world’s expectations of what constitutes greatness, through which to make His glory shine.  God gave Sarah a son and through that family line God would ultimately send His Son into the world.  God gave Rachel a son, and Joseph would be used by God to feed and protect God’s chosen people.  God gave Hannah a son, and Samuel would lead the Israelites and point them towards God.  God gave Elizabeth a son, and John the Baptist was used by God to prepare the way for Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Maybe you don’t feel like you “fit”, because you aren’t like everyone else in your social circles.  We see throughout the Bible that we aren’t to derive our value from what we are able to do, or what we are like.  Our value comes from being made in the image of God.  He loved us enough to send His Son into the world, to make a way for a restored relationship between Him and us. 

#StandingWithOurSisters #TheFall #TheCurse

This past week I read a story about a woman who used a handgun to shoot a man who was attempting to steal her car.  The car had the woman’s children in it when the carjacking took place.   When I was reading the story, my mind went to the Sermon on the Mount.  Honestly, even as someone who believes we are called to live non-resistant lives, I don’t know how I would act in such a situation.  The more I thought about it, the more my mind kept going back to the Sermon on the Mount.  

The Sermon on the Mount is a pivotal teaching of Jesus’.  For many people, many churches and even some denominations, the Sermon on the Mount is held as an ethic of the kingdom.  However, for the first 20-25 years of my life, would you believe that I was taught in numerous churches, high school, and a couple colleges that the Sermon on the Mount is something that we as followers of Jesus don’t really have to worry about now?  It is true.  For most of my spiritual upbringing, I was told that the Sermon on the Mount will be the law of the land, so to speak, during the millennial reign of Jesus spoken of in Revelation.  But for now, it pretty much can be set aside. 

In my mid-to late 20’s, when I spent a fair amount of time in serious study of the Gospels, I started to question what I had been taught about the Sermon.  I wasn’t comfortable with what I had been taught, but I wasn’t sure exactly what the ramifications would be if what I had believed all along was wrong. 

Throughout our lives, as we continue to study the scriptures and look to the leading of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us, we hopefully will grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Bible.  At times we may get things wrong.  But when we fall down, we can give up, or we can learn from our mistakes, get back up and prayerfully ask God to show us what He is trying to teach us from His word. 

Sometimes as you spend time meditating and studying a passage you start to see things that you’ve never seen before.  This is why, once again, I will say that I strongly encourage you all to study the scriptures for yourself and compare what I say with what the Bible itself says.  There are a lot of opinions out there, some are likely accurate, and others aren’t. 


For example, in studying for today’s sermon I read probably 30 commentaries and very few of them agreed on much.  Some were dogmatic that it must mean such and such, and others were adamant that it must mean something completely different than the first group mentioned. 

Some of the commentaries were not even consistent in their understanding between Genesis chapters 1-2 and chapter 3. 

With all of this being said, I want to attempt to move forward in looking at Genesis 3, and the account of Adam and Eve’s choosing sin over obedience to God.

Genesis 3:1-19

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman,  And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

16 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth,  In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

I want to spend most of our time today in looking at verses 15-17 today.    But before we can look at these verses we need to spend a little time with the first part of the chapter. 

Adam was told in Genesis 2 that he was not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. 

Genesis 2:15-17

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.

Throughout history people have asked the question why God would give people the free will that would allow them to sin. 

C.S. Lewis had this to say about man and free will in his book Mere Christianity.   (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996), pp. 52-53)

“God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can't. If a thing is free to be good it's also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they've got to be free.

Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. (...) If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will -that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings- then we may take it it is worth paying.”

So, God, knowing that Adam and Eve would sin, still felt, as Lewis saw it, worth the price to give us freewill. 

And as we move into Genesis 3, we see it didn’t take long for Adam and Eve to sin. 

Genesis 3:1-8

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

The seed of doubt that the serpent gave Eve in the garden is the same seed of doubt that all of us succumb to today.  When tempted to do something we have been told by God not to, will we trust God that He knows what is best for us, or will see buy into the same line the serpent gave Eve:  “has God really said…”  At those moments, we must choose if what God said is true or not.  We have the choice to choose, but we are not free from the consequences of our choices.   

Genesis 3:8-13

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Adam and Eve sinned.  And, much like us today, when confronted about their sin, they tried to pass the buck.  Any parent of at least two children is familiar with this scenario.  You ask child one why they did something naughty towards child two and they respond that it wasn’t their fault, child two started it.  In their mind, they aren’t to blame for their action, because …it’s their fault that I did what I did.  As parents we sometimes may not see the whole picture.  God, sees all and knows not only what we do but the heart attitude behind our actions.  So, when God handed out His judgment on the Serpent, Eve and Adam, He knew the whole story.

Genesis 3:14

14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life;

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

The harshest judgment came against the serpent.  Not only are they to be “cursed..more than…every beast of the field”, for their action, but verse 15 the ultimate defeat of this enemy is prophesied.  One day The offspring of the woman, namely Jesus Christ, would hand the serpent its final defeat. 

Then Eve received her judgment.

Genesis 3:16
16 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth,  In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”

This is one of the primary verses I want to look at today.  I think it may be the most debated verse in this chapter.  In studying, I consulted commentaries to see what thinkers over the centuries have to say about the judgment given Eve.  Let’s just say, doing so added far more confusion than clarity.  I’m going to give a number of snippets into what the commentaries have to say about this, just to be fair to all viewpoints. 

First off, God said “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth,  In pain you will bring forth children”. 

One commentary says that “Physically she would experience multiplied pain (‘itstsebhon) especially as it is associated with childbirth. She who sought sweet delights in eating the fruit found not delights but pain, not joy, but sorrow.”  (Smith, J. E. (1993). The Pentateuch (2nd ed., pp. 70–71). Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co.). 

But other commentaries go further by pointing out that the idea put forth in this pronouncement involves more than just pain in child birth.  “. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception.”   … And for us men, we should keep in mind, as this same commentary points out, that “The pains of childbirth are in Scripture emblematic of the severest anguish both of body and mind(cf. Ps. 48:6; Micah 4:9, 10; 1 Thess. 5:3; John 16:21; Rev. 12:2)”  (Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). Genesis (pp. 66–67). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.)

Another commentary went further and said “Some take this to refer to the introduction of a monthly… menstrual cycle” as it is now.   (Richards, L. O. (1991). The Bible reader’s companion (electronic ed., p. 27). Wheaton: Victor Books.)

This portion of the judgment, while varying some in interpretation, all the sources I read acknowledge that there will be pain now surrounding pregnancy and birth, where they likely wouldn’t have been pain before.  With this assessment I agree. 

The second half of the pronouncement to Eve carries much more controversy. 

Genesis 3:16b

“…Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”

There are several different opinions on what this portion of the passage means.  And most are pretty insistent that their interpretation is correct, even when it is at odds with a number of other well-known biblical scholars. 

There is one camp that says the woman’s desire is sexual in nature. 

One commentary put it this way.  “(Eve’s) sin… tainted her relationship with her husband. “Desire… and its meaning in our passage is highly disputed. It has been explained widely as sexual desire on the basis of Song 7:10 [““I am my beloved’s, And his desire is for me.”] and the reference to childbirth in 3:15. If so, the adversative rendering of the following clause, “yet he will rule” (as NASB, NRSV), would mean that despite her painful experience in childbirth she will still have (sexual) desires for her husband. In other words, the promissory blessing of procreation will persist despite any possible reluctance on her part due to the attendant pain of delivery. Others view the woman’s desire as broader, including an emotional or economic reliance on her husband. In other words, she acted independently of her husband in eating the fruit, and the consequent penalty is that she will become dependent on him.

I’ll be honest.  Up to this point, K.A. Mathews has summarized two of the more common interpretations fairly well, in my opinion.  However, he didn’t stop there. 

Her new desire is to be submissive to the man, and, quite naturally, he will oblige by ruling over her. (Mathews, K. A. (1996). Genesis 1-11:26 (Vol. 1A, pp. 249–252). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)

“Her new desire is to be submissive to the man”?  If her new desire, after sin marred God’s perfect creation, is to have a desire to be in submission to the man, and if this is God’s intention, then how is this a judgment by God on Eve?  I don’t think it is. 

If this is part of the judgment on Eve, there must be a better explanation. 

Let’s consider another commentary, “A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures”: 
“And thy desire shall be to thy husband. This sentence obtains its full significance in its embracing that which follows, and in its contrast to it. It is, emphatically, that her desire should be to the man as though she were magically bound to him. … It is further emphatic that the man shall rule over her in a strong way; and finally that she, in her bound and destined adherence to man, shall find in him a strong and severe master.”  (Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Lewis, T., & Gosman, A. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Genesis (pp. 237–238). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)

As I noted previously, in God’s perfect Creation, when God created the “suitable helper” for Adam, he created a co-partner for him. 

“The expression indicates that the forthcoming helper was to be of similar nature to the man himself, corresponding by way of supplement to the incompleteness of his lonely being, and in every way adapted to be his co-partner and companion.  (Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). Genesis (p. 50). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.)

Going back to the “Commentary on the Holy Scriptures” we read that as a result of the Fall:

“…..In consequence of sin thus arises that subjection of the wife to the husband, bordering on slavery, that was customary in the old world, as it still is in the East, and which through the religion of revelation becomes gradually more tolerable, until, at last, in the increasing worth of the woman, it becomes entirely evened” (Delitzsch).” (Lange, et al.)

I want to expound upon this thought that things were to get worse before they get better.  Ultimately, I believe the worth of women and men should be viewed as equal, as stated above.  But before I get into that I want to read just a little more from this commentary about how things would get much worse for woman after the fall, before they would get better.  So, as we keep in mind man and woman were both created in the image of God, we don’t have to look far to see that after sin entered the picture, they were treated as anything but equals. 

 “Among the Hebrews a wife was bought by the husband (? ch. 34:12; Exod. 22:16; Hos. 3:3, 2). and was his possession (female slave, ? ch. 20:3; Deut. 22:22). He is called her lord (ch. 18:21; Exod. 21:3), and he can divorce her without much ceremony (Deut. 24:1). This subordinate and depressed condition of the wife the author regards as the punishment of sin.” Knobel.—  (Lange, et al.)

As I said, things got much worse before they started to get better.  And, as we enter the New Testament, we see things will get much better. 

I’ve shared some of what others have to say about the punishment pronounced on Eve, but I want to share my thoughts now, before quickly trying to finish up for today. 

After reading and studying both this passage, as well as others, I do believe the better explanation of the pronouncement of Eve’s “desire” in verse 16 is in regards to wishing to either “emancipate” herself from man, or to seek to elevate herself as a position of authority, whereas originally created they would have been co-partners.  This makes more sense logically, since if her “desire” were merely a sexual desire for her husband, as some believe, it would indicate that sexual desire of a woman for her husband would not have been part of God’s original plan, but rather would be a part of His judgment for her sinning. 

Seeing the proclamation of judgment the way I do, I see both physical and psychological aspects of the punishment. 

The physical punishment, pain in bringing children into the world and in child birth, would be a physical punishment that more or less is universal.  While the pain is real, some women are able to use medications and so forth to alleviate some of the pain in child birth.  I do not believe this is wrong.  It does not deny that pain in child birth is a result of sin entering the world, but it seeks to alleviate the pain when possible. 

As far as the psychological punishment, Eve’s “desire” and him ruling over her, I think these can be in a different category altogether.  These are aspects that may be reversed when a husband and a wife are living in subjection to Jesus.  By implication, Eve’s desire to either brush off the partnership that God intended for those made in His image, or to seek to lord over her husband, were falling short of God’s perfect plan.  And, in turn, the pronouncement that the man would “rule over” her, would also fall outside of the perfect plan that God had planned. 

So, when we realize we are living outside of what God’s perfect will is for us, what are we to do?  On our own, and in our own strength we cannot overcome our sin nature.  But thanks be to God, through the completed work of Jesus Christ we no longer have to be slaves to our sin nature.  That which sin corrupted, can be made right again. 

2 Corinthians 5:14-17 tells us that if we are in Christ, we should not continue to live according to the way our sin nature had us living, but we should remember that in Christ we now have the power to throw off the sin that corrupted us. 

14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

As we will see in the near future, a new pattern is laid out for us to live today.  This pattern is one of mutual submission, where both husbands and wives carry uphold one another in a relationship that is edifying and glorifying to God.  (Ephesians 5:22ff)

Finishing up this passage, we see that God hands out His judgment to Adam. 

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;  Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

When God confronted Adam in the Garden, asking him if he had sinned, Adam tried to pass the blame to Eve for his actions.  So, when God handed out His judgment on Adam He said the judgment was because Adam had “listened to the voice of (his) wife and (had) eaten from the tree” which God had commanded them not to eat. 

Above I noted that of the three judgments handed out the serpents was the harshest.  Not only was the serpent itself cursed, God proclaimed that one day they would be completely destroyed through the promised “seed” of the woman, namely Jesus.  When it comes to both Eve and Adam, while their judgments were difficult to take, they and their offspring have hope that what was corrupted by their willful sinning, can be made right before God because of the work that He has accomplished on the cross through Jesus. 

While the physical effects of sin may linger, the consequences of our sin before God can be removed. 

Maybe for you what I’ve said is nothing new for you.  If that is the case I’d encourage you to read and study the scriptures to make sure what I’m saying is true.  Sometimes when we hear the same thing over and over again we may be inclined to not pay as close attention to make sure what is being taught lines up with the teachings of the Bible. 

On the flip side, maybe what I’ve said seems off or wrong to you.  Maybe it goes against what you’ve been taught and believe.  Once again, I encourage you to read the Bible and study it to see if what I’ve said is true or not. 

I welcome any questions you may have on this topic.  I don’t claim to know all the answers, and I know that I can and still do get things wrong at times.  I’m trying to learn, and in the process I hope to be of encouragement to you as you seek to learn as well. 

#StandingWithOurSisters #Creation

I don’t think I will get any resistance if I were to state that things aren’t as they should be in our world.  Things have been and are being affected by the presence of sin and evil in our world.  Even things that were perfect in their original state now are not, because the effects of sin have touched every aspect of the created world. 

How are we to respond to such a thought? 

I see a few possibilities. 

Denial:  We can pretend that the world around us isn’t broken.  We can pretend that the evil and brokenness either don’t exist or aren’t evil or brokenness. 

Resignation:  Another options is we can just throw up our hands and resign ourselves to fate.  Such a response may cause us to say “The world is broken.  Oh well.  Nothing I can do about it.” 

Redemptive Restoration:  Another option, and in my opinion the best option, is to admit the world is broken, but to look for ways in which we as followers of Jesus can seek to point things and people back towards the way God’s original creative plan intended. 

As a follower of Jesus, I believe this is something He did time and time again throughout His earthly ministry.  Time permitting, I hope to share a number of thoughts about how one aspect of creation was created, how it was affected when sin entered the world, how sin marred what God had said was very good, how entropy played out throughout human history, how Jesus sought to restore order, and how we as His followers should view things today.   

So, over the weeks or months that follow, I want to take the time to explore what the Bible says about…women.  I know this can seem like walking through a mine field, in light of the many opinions that are out there today, I know the whole topic can become divisive.  This is not my plan at all.  I want us to look at what the Bible does, and in some cases does not say, about women, and see how we can truly live out God’s plan for both men and women.   

So, let’s go back to the very beginning.  Please turn with me to Genesis 1.

Genesis 1:1-2a

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep…

God, created all that has been created from nothing.  The rest of Genesis 1 goes on to give us more detail. 

Verse 3 God said “let there be light”; and there was light.”

Verse 6-8a says “Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8 God called the expanse heaven.”

Verse 9 says God created dry land.

Verse 11 says that plants and trees were created.
Verses 14-18 says that God created the sun to give us light during the day, and the moon to govern the night.

Verses 20-21 God created fish and birds.  As the passage goes on it says God said these creatures were to “be fruitful and multiply” to fill the waters and sky with their kind (vs 22)

Verse 24 God created land animals.
After each aspect of His creation, God said what He had made was good.  Then, starting in verse 26 we see the remainder of God’s creation week spoken of.

Genesis 1:26-31

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 2 goes a little more into detail about the creation of Adam and Eve.

Genesis 2:7 says that Adam was formed by God. 
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Unlike animals, God took time to craft Adam.  Then God placed him in a garden God had created.
Genesis 2:8-9

The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God placed man in the garden, giving him a beautiful environment, good work to do, food to eat, and so forth.  As the New American Commentary puts it, this was “a setting men may sometimes consider idyllic”.  But, as the commentary and scripture text say, God had more to be done “to achieve the ideal for the man.”  (Mathews, K. A. (1996). Genesis 1-11:26 (Vol. 1A, p. 213). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)

Continuing on, Genesis 2:18-20

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.

Maybe this is the point in which Adam realized that while his home, and work were satisfactory there was something missing:  A companion for himself.  Now granted, God could have simply said “Adam, I am all the companion you need”.  But He didn’t.  God said “It is not good for the man to be alone”, and set out to remedy the problem. 

I probably could preach a whole series of sermons on one little phrase in verse 18, but I won’t—just half a sermon.  I do want to talk about the phrase “helper suitable”, which God used to describe the woman He created for man. 

The phrase comes from two Hebrew words (“ezer” meaning “helper” and “kenegdo” meaning literally “like that is in front of you”).  I want to be clear that I don’t think this is meant to be taken as many people over the years have taken it.  How the concept of “suitable helper”, or “helpmate” is often spoken of in Christian circles is that man was given a job by God to do, and God decided it wasn’t good for man to be alone, so He gave the man a woman to help him.  In many of these scenarios the woman is viewed to be as lesser than man, an afterthought, who is simply there to make life better for man.  This is wrong, this is a lie, and this is destructive.  I will get into why this can be so destructive at a future date.

The term here, help or helper, is used to describe God’s coming to the aid of the Children of Israel when they were being attacked by their enemies, as well as God helping others (See Psalm 20, 33, 70, 115, 121, and 124).  In Exodus 18, Moses used the term to describe how God rescued him from Pharaoh. 

Another aspect often overlooked in this passage is the fact that the narrative here is written differently than in regards to any other part of creation.  When it comes to the creation of animals and then man, God is spoken of in the third person.  “Then God said”…and such was created.  “Then the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground…”  However, when it comes to the creating of the woman, God said “I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 

The New American Commentary has this to say about this passage:

There is no sense derived from the word linguistically or from the context of the garden narrative that the woman is a lesser person because her role differs (see more at 2:23). In the case of the biblical model, the “helper” is an indispensable “partner” (REB) required to achieve the divine commission. “Helper,” as we have seen from its Old Testament usage, means the woman will play an integral part, in this case, in human survival and success. What the man lacks, the woman accomplishes. As Paul said concisely, the man was not made for the woman “but the woman for the man” (cf. 1 Cor 11:9). The woman makes it possible for the man to achieve the blessing that he otherwise could not do “alone.” And, obviously, the woman cannot achieve it apart from the man.  (Mathews, K. A. (1996). Genesis 1-11:26 (Vol. 1A, pp. 214–216). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)

The Bible Knowledge Commentary has this to say:

God decided to make a helper suitable for the man (v. 18). “Helper” is not a demeaning term; it is often used in Scripture to describe God Almighty

And…

They both had the same nature. But what man lacked (his aloneness was not good) she supplied, and what she lacked he supplied.  (Ross, A. P. (1985). Genesis. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 31). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)

And one more commentary I want to look at is the Pulpit Commentary.  Please keep in mind all of these commentaries are theologically conservative.

The expression indicates that the forthcoming helper was to be of similar nature to the man himself, corresponding by way of supplement to the incompleteness of his lonely being, and in every way adapted to be his co-partner and companion. All that Adam’s nature demanded for its completion, physically, intellectually, socially, was to be included in this altera ego who was soon to stand by his side. Thus in man’s need, and woman’s power to satisfy that need, is laid the foundation for the Divine institution of marriage, which was afterwards prescribed not for the first pair alone, but for all their posterity.  (Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). Genesis (p. 50). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.)

So, in God’s creative design, both man and woman were made in His image, both were meant to stand alongside each other and complement each other, what one lacked the other was to supply and visa-versa.  She was created to be his “co-partner and companion. As the last commentary said. 

Genesis 2:21-22
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

23 The man 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.”

Quite often when I heard verse 23 read, it seems like many believe this is to be said in a robotic, information only, expression by Adam. 

“This is now bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man.”

However, I’ve always thought of it in a much more poetic way.  Can you imagine what it would have been like for Adam to see the different animals all go by and for him to see that each had a partner there for them?  Then, to realize you are the only one without a companion like yourself?  When Adam wakes up and sees what God has made especially for him, I doubt he spoke like a Shakespearian actor, being all dramatic on stage.  I think he was speaking in awe and wonder when he says ““This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”

Not that Adam had an audience to broadcast it to, but it might sound in today’s vernacular, “Do you see her?  Wow.  God made her for me, and from me.  She is like me.  She is AWESOME.”  Men, you had all seen your wife before your wedding day, but try and remember what it was like to see your wife on your wedding day as she walked towards you during your wedding ceremony.  I remember that moment.  It was a moment of awe, a moment of amazement, a moment of gratitude for the amazing gift that God had given me. (picture of us entering our reception)

Genesis 2:24-25
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

It should be obvious that as the first two humans God created, the command for the man to “leave his father and mother” was given by Moses as he wrote down the creation account in Genesis.  For Adam and Eve, they were alone and yet together.  They were both naked, they were to be joined together in one flesh, and they were not to be ashamed.  This is how God intended things to be.  

Yet, as we will see, God’s  perfect plan for humanity drastically changes when sin enters the world.