26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
18Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." 19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,
"This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man."
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
6To the woman he said,
"I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you."
And thus all of our issues begin. Along with man, we were created in God's image. Our purpose was straight forward and easy. Give God glory through everyday life. The first man and woman had an audience with the Lord. They walked with Him, and basked in His glory, daily. Woman was created as a help meet for man. We are here to complete each other. That is God's plan. We are different, but we are meant to work together. I love what my pastor says at weddings, "Woman was not created from man's head to rule over him. Nor was woman taken from his feet to be trampled under him. Woman was taken from his side, under his arm, to stand next to him, to be equal to him, and protected by him." I'm not sure if this quote is his own creation or if he borrowed it from another, but I think it sums up perfectly how woman should be treated by man.
I also would quickly like to discuss that day when God brought all the animals before Adam. He knew what he was doing. God was not hoping that Adam would find a mate through this process. I believe that God was making a point. None of these are exactly what you need. He wanted Adam to anticipate a match of his own. So that when God brought Eve to Adam, he would be happy. God knows what He is doing, always, in everything, even when we aren't sure, He is!
And then, of course, the fall. Admit it, woman was deceived. I don't know if Adam was there or not. I'll leave that to the theologians to discuss. Either way, everyone received a punishment. We all know what our punishment was, increased pain in childbirth and a desire after your husband. This is where the waters get a little murky. The first half of the "curse" can be seen two ways, literally, more pain in childbirth. Yeah, OUCH! And also, there are those out there that says this was the beginning of our heart-wrenching desire to have children. The second half has a great deal more confusion around it. Either option, stings. In this part of the curse, the disagreement is over semantics. Are we desiring our husbands, or to be our husbands? Both could work, and it shows differently for every woman.
We desire, long for, a husband. As young girls, we play house and plan our weddings. Boys don't do those things. Some say thats part of it for us. We are different from guys when it comes to our reaction to dates, crushes, break-ups, and engagements. Get a group of women together, and that's what they will talk about. From middle school through old age, we are constantly interested in the social and romantic lives of others and ourselves. I feel this, whole-heartedly. My heart longs to be married. I believe that this desire is God-given, and that He will give me the desires of my heart. But, I am learning patience in this, I must wait for His timing. My heart aches to have a husband, perhaps that is my part of the curse. But I do not view it as such a horrible thing, only something the Lord has placed in my heart to look forward to someday.
The other interpretation of this part of the curse is that we will desire to be like our husbands. The crushing line, "he will rule over you", really has a sting to it. This is probably where the gender separation started. This is probably where woman became less of a help meet than originally intended. But, I don't think man's, yes man's, interpretation of woman's inferiority is correct. No where does this verse say that woman are inferior. It says that our husbands shall rule over us. And boy, have they. The modern feminist movement is an obvious example of this part of the curse. We fight to be treated equal to men. But, has it gone too far? We are different, and those differences are God-given. So why should we blur the gender lines? Girls are girls, boys are boys. We are meant to be different.
Let's look back, to where God started everything. God made us to complete each other. His plan was for us to be good at different things and therefore, help each other in those things. Sin has messed that all up. We have become prideful, and selfish. Neither gender is better than the other, just simply different and we should honor that. God made man to be good at certain things, and woman the same way. Both are equally important, special, and honorable. God is infinitely creative, and we should glorify that. As men, and women, in our own, God-given ways, we should give God glory for how he has made us.
(Lord, help me to understand my role as a woman, and how you have made that role special and important. Lead me in your path and show me the plans you have for me. I will give You glory in everything I do.)
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