Going back to the beginning!

and In the Beginning..........

I started reading Genesis again this morning because it has been a long while since I've been there. We all need to remember our heritage and Genesis is the beginning of that heritage for every one of us. It's the beginning of all mankind, of all creation. It's the beginning of not only our story, but of God's story, as it includes us!

I specifically set out to read Genesis this morning, through the contextual lense of marriage, and really try to see what Genesis speaks to me about my marriage specifically. I mean, I know that it says a man and woman are to leave their parents and cleave to their wives and all of that "quotable" stuff about marriage, but I have never really let God speak to me about what he was saying about marriage specifically.

The phrase that really jumped out at me this morning was Genesis 2:18, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him" NKJV. I also like the NLT as it says ".... I will make a helper just right for him."

There are two things that really stand out to me today. The first is that no matter which version you use, helper is there joined with comparable or just right depending on the version. The second is that God created woman after giving man the command not to eat from the tree of knowledge. Let's break these down.

Helper, to me, is really two definitions in this situation. It's someone that makes things easier because they have different talents, or strengths than we do, but a helper is also someone that improves our situation. So God, in his wisdom and glory, creates for us (men, because I am a man, hopefully that clarity was not required), someone that will improve our situation and will make things easier for us because we can share our journey with them, our loads, our burdens. But that he created them comparable to us (men). Comparable means "of equal quality". It doesn't mean exactly alike, however.

This is something that I often forget with Rebecca...that she is designed comparably to me...and to be my helper. I feel like because I'm designed with this innate sense of protection built into me, that it means protect her from the things I feel she may be ill-equipped to handle. That's just me playing God though, and not trusting that His creation will be able to do what He designed her to do...to help! I do this too often.

There is a small scene in the original Rocky movie where Paulie is questioning Rocky's intentions with his sister, Adrian, and asks what the attraction is. Rocky replies by saying that she fills gaps. When Paulie asks Rocky what he means by 'gaps', Rocky basically summarizes this part of Genesis in one short little sentence, "I dunno, she's got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps.". Isn't that what marriage is truly about? Sharing life's burdens and joys and filling each other's gaps? I tend not to see it that way because of my innate desire to protect my wife, but by doing so, I am trying to become her God, not her husband, and God doesn't like it when I try to take His place.

Now to the part about God telling Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge. He does this specifically, and I think, intentionally, in the two verses right before He creates woman. I think God is setting us men up for our first true test of leadership in the household. When the serpent speaks to Eve, she knows about the tree and what God had said about it so it's clear that Adam had told her what God had said. Of course, we know that she is deceived by the serpent and eats of the tree and then passes it to her husband. However, a little gets lost in this passage if you don't really pay attention to the end of verse 6 that reads, '...Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too."

So you see, Adam was with her this whole time while she was speaking to the serpent. I believe this is man's first test of Godly leadership in the home, and we fail miserably. Not only does Adam not say anything to Eve to challenge her way of thinking, but he does nothing to combat what the serpent has said. This was man's first loss in spiritual warfare. I also think it's representative of man's greatest weakness...women! Our first mistake was not taking up the leadership that God put in place and getting us out of the situation of listening to the enemy, but our second mistake was even worse, not standing up for what we believed and allowing the woman to control our actions. I am not blaming the woman, because she was deceived, I am blaming the man because he let her approach the serpent in a complacent manner in the first place.


I believe that when Adam heard directly from God not to eat from the tree of knowledge that it had a deep impact on our soul and in our spirits. It had to have. I also believe that Adam failed to pass that knowledge on to Eve in a manner reflective of how God gave it to us. I don't believe that Adam really impressioned Eve with that news the same way that God impressioned Adam with that news. Therefore, she may have not truly understood the ramifications of her decision. We should never engage the enemy in a complacent, conversational manner. There is only one way to approach the enemy and that is with the blood of Jesus and the authority of God over Satan. I understand that the blood of Jesus is not something that Adam and Eve could deal with, but they dwelt in the garden with God.

I see that from the start of mankind, women have held a place of prominence, like an idol, in the lives of men, and that our relationship has been so distorted and perverted by the enemy, that we have forgotten that we are to be the spiritual leaders in our household. We are to be the warriors of protection against the enemy. So our innate sense of protection that is built in should not be used to protect our wives from something they were designed by Him to do. Our protection is to come in the form of spiritual warfare and guidance.

So men, take up your charge from God, and lead by example, not just words. Lead with your prayers, specifically those done in private. Lead by serving, not being served. Lead by being warriors for Christ, both for ourselves, and for those that Christ has trusted to our leadership, our families.