Beginnings: Part 2

Continuing this look at Genesis 1, from a Hebrew perspective, we may note that the Word of God, spoken in faith, is powerful and effective to create light in the darkness and order out of confusion and emptiness. In the beginning, everything in God’s creation worked perfectly and everything made perfect sense.  He had spoken all into existence in faith, hope, and love.

After six days of actively creating, God instituted the Sabbath – a time to cease from labour, and to simply rest and be refreshed.

“By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”  (Genesis 2:2–3).

This holy day of rest is so important that God included it in the Aseret HaDevarim (Ten Words, or Ten Commandments), chiselling these words onto the stone tablets:

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of YHWH your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”  (Exodus 20:8–11).

Father God also dealt with the problem of loneliness.

“And YHWH Elohim said: ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet (suitable) for him.’”  (Genesis 2:18).

When Adonai placed man in Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden), He declared that it is not good for a man to be alone. He saw man’s need for a helper, counterpart, and companion and, therefore, put Adam into a deep sleep, and took from him a rib to create a suitable partner for him.

“And YHWH Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the place with flesh instead thereof.  And the rib, which YHWH Elohim had taken from the man, He made into a woman, and brought her unto the man.”  (Genesis 2:21–22).

In Hebrew, a man is called ish and a woman, isha, the feminine form of ish.  God uses this term when He woos Israel and promises a time when Israel will regard Him with fond affection, rather than stand at arm's length from Him, viewing Him as a stern authority figure.

“‘It will come about in that day,’ declares YHWH, ‘That you will call Me Ishi (my Man) and will no longer call Me Ba'ali (my Master).’”  (Hosea 2:16).

God wants Israel to serve Him out of love – love like that of a woman for her husband.  Likewise, His love for Israel is that of a devoted, tender husband. I wonder if Paul was thinking of these words when he was writing to the Ephesian believers:

“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Saviour. As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present the church to Himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.” (5:21-28). 

God is deeply concerned with our intimate relationships – with Him and with one another.  He wants our relationships to be borne of love and devotion, not ruled through domination, control, manipulation, and coercion. 

Once again, the Hebrew eye sees more than the Gentile one! Although the word describing Eve has often been translated as ‘helper’ or ‘helpmate’ the word used for the role of a wife in Genesis 2:18 is ezer kenegdo, which literally means a helper against him.

One medieval Torah commentator, Rashi, comments on this text, saying: "If he [Adam] is worthy, [she will be] a help [ezer].  If he is not worthy [she will be] against him [kenegdo] for strife."

The word ezer means a protector, a guard, an aid, and a help.  So we can understand from this text that helping a husband doesn't means always agreeing.  Woman was not created to be a 'yes person'.  There are times when she must stand in opposition to her husband if he is planning something that is ungodly or unwise. We can look at the non-Jewish example of Haman’s wife in the book of Esther. She tried to warn her husband that his attempts to destroy Mordechai would never succeed because he (Mordechai) was of Jewish origin. The anti-Semite Haman did not listen to his ezer kenegdo - and, eventually, must have regretted his decision!

As well, being a wife does not mean that the woman is less important or inferior to her husband. After all, the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is also called The Helper.  And while being the helper in Scripture connotes superiority, the addition of kenegdo to the word ezer reveals that the position of wife is a position of equality. My wife and I are equal in importance. It is function and responsibility that we are different!