Genesis 2:18 (NKJV) — 18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
There is a deeper meaning for helper other than Eve. God, in knowing everything that would transpire after telling Adam of the consequences of eating from the forbidden tree (v.17) begins preparation for his redemption. Adam (mankind) was going to fall through disobedience, resulting in eternal separation from his creator. This was a separation in which man would not have the ability to bridge. He would need Help. Immediately (v.18) God begins the means through which a helper would come and end that estrangement.
Before the fall, Adam was not alone, for the LORD God was with Him. Many have thought that the Lord viewed Adam as being alone because he was without a suitable mate or wife. However, Eve would become the doorway through which this Helper would come. The woman would play a vital part in ending the separation that was coming. She was to be a helper, not only to Adam but to mankind itself. The woman would become the instrument that God would use to bring about what was hidden in His heart to redeem. And yet, through deception she would be an integral part in bringing about the fall. Satan used Eve to help cause man’s fall, and gloriously God would lift her to the glorious position of bringing in man’s Helper/Savior.
The verse below clearly delineates the incredible role of the woman (brackets mine).
…for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s [mankind] sake. 1 Corinthians 11:9 (NASB95).
“…It is not good that the man should be alone…” This is the first time in the creation account where God says that something is not good – He sees man’s impending separation from Himself – FOREVER!
- To be alone is not a momentary state but a permanent one,…[1]
Alone (bad Heb): 4.LN 1.17–1.25 unit: בַּד שְׁאוֹל (bǎḏ šeʾôl) Underworld, formally, bars of Sheol, i.e., the place where the dead reside as a figurative extension of the bars of a gate to Sheol (Job 17:16+); 5. LN 3.47–3.59 unit:[2]
Note: The above is a definition of the same Hebrew word translated “alone” (Genesis 2:18) in the ESV. It possibly renders a better understanding of what God meant about man being “alone”, due to Adam’s ensuing fall into sin, separating him from God. It also reveals the Lord’s tremendous love for us and the depths to which He would go to be reunited with us (Immanuel).
The Helper
Matthew 16:16–18 (ESV) — 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Emphasis mine).
Note: Some ancient texts render “gates of hell” as “bars of Sheol,” (e.g., the Syriac Diatessaron).
Bars of hell or gates of hell; the point to consider here is, the writers’ intended point in the use of the Hebrew, bad (alone), in relating to man being alone. Was it a reference to hell, the abode of the dead, of those eternally separated from God?; I contend that God was looking beyond that of a wife, companion for Adam, although that was a partial role for Eve. The purpose for the woman was deeper. And since both Adam and Eve fell, both were estranged from God, therefore when God said: “it is not good that man should be alone,” it can be considered that God was saying, it is not good that humankind should be alone, for the word Adam can also be translated as humankind or mankind.
In some cases the Bible encourages that it is advantageous for a servant of God not to marry:
1 Corinthians 7:32–35 (ESV) — 32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33 But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.
The previous verses of scripture are not a prohibition of marriage but rather an indication of where our main point of devotion/intimacy should be – towards God. The primary focal point for, husband, wife, unmarried is the Lord. Even in marriage, without God man is alone!
IN THE PLAN OF GOD, THE WOMAN’S ROLE WOULD BE FAR GREATER THAN THAT OF A COMPANION.
Genesis 2:19–20 (ESV) — 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. 20 The 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.
In naming the animals, Adam saw that they were not a fit helper for him, although they would become a temporary help through sacrifices of atonement. Man’s true helper would have to come in the manner of likeness. The Helper would have to be in the likeness of Adam (Genesis 5:3), yet without sin, and this is where the woman’s hidden role comes into view – “the Seed of the Woman” (Genesis 3:15).
Note: The woman’s true role was not understood until the time of the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Genesis 2:21 (ESV) — 21 So 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.
This “deep sleep”, which appears anesthetic in nature is also indicative of the deep sleep of sin and death that would come upon the human race through Adam’s rebellion. Man would have no part in helping redeem himself – for him, it was impossible – for he was dead in trespasses and sins. His attempt to do so, at best, would only culminate in a false belief system. In this state of utter helplessness, God provides for man his true Helper, and He brings Him out from man, through the woman. Compare the place from where God takes the rib from Adam (most likely his side) to the place where Jesus was pierced after He had died. There is a similarity here: they were asleep, and something came from the sides of both. From the side of Jesus came, water and blood: symbolic of His two births, natural and spiritual.
Water, being the first birth, and blood, the second, for the cross (blood) was the only way for the “Son of Man” to go to the SIDE of the Father (John 16:5, 7) where we are now seated in Him. Jesus is the “firstborn” among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).
Note: “Son of Man”(above) is used to specify Jesus’ humanity. He is the union of God and man.
1 John 5:6 (ESV) — 6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
God will not start over anew by creating a new race of humans as in the beginning. Obviously, He has the power to do so, but He takes from the old (us) and makes a new family through faith in Christ Jesus. He wants us, those who came into this life through the first Adam! Jesus is the last Adam, He foreknew US; How great is His love towards US!!!
1 Corinthians 2:9–11 (ESV) — 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
The above verse is a testimony of mankind’s “deep sleep” like state concerning God’s plan of salvation through bringing forth his Helper. Before the revelation of salvation which came through the gospel, the concept of a crucified Helper was inconceivable in the mind of man.
Genesis 2:21 (b)-23…and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then 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.” [3]
Note what Adam said about the woman: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” This is possibly a statement indicative of mankind’s restoration to Eden. When Jesus ascended into the Heavenly Holy of Holies, He entered, with His own blood, but it was not in His body, for, “…flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven… (1 Corinthians 15:50).”
“This at last:” Could this have been a Spirit-inspired utterance of Adam’s, in that he was speaking ahead, beyond Eve to the risen Christ who would come forth through the woman, as Jesus is the “last Adam?”
Genesis 3:20 (ESV) — 20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Note: Eve (Heb. haw-wah) sounds like the Hebrew for life-giver and resembles the word for living[4]
- The mistake should not be made in seeing Eve as the “life-giver,” however, the true life-giver would come through her.
Genesis 4:1 (ESV) — 1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”
- Eve, not knowing the true outcome of Cain who would become a destroyer of life, was looking back to the promise of God (Genesis 3:15) that the Helper (“seed of the woman”) would come through birth and bruise the serpent’s head. In her heart, she knew that the one promised would be by the “help” of the Lord.
An excerpt from the writings of Church Father, Irenaeus:
As also the Scripture tells us that God said to the serpent, “And I will place enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”9 And the Lord summed up in Himself this enmity, when He was made man from a woman, and trod upon his [the serpent’s] head,[5]
The Place of Birth: All are Gathered Together
Luke 2:10–12 (ESV) — 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
Manger (אֵבוּס, evus; φάτνη, phatnē). A feeding trough or feeding bin for animals, especially livestock. The word is found in Isa 1:3; Luke 2:7, 12, 16; 13:15.[6]
Definition
The biblical word used for “manger” can also mean “stable.” It is best, therefore, to define the word in a given text according to its context. A stable is a barn-like structure where animals like livestock would be kept. Inside the stable, there would be a manger or feeding trough from which the animals could eat.[7]
- This is most likely why God chose for Christ to be born in such a place. Here, all are gathered together: the man(kind), the animals (the temporary helpers), the woman (the doorway for the helper), and Jesus (the Helper).
From Death in a Lush Paradise to Life from the Place of the Dead
Luke 23:55-24:11
55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. 56 Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
The Resurrection
24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. [8] (Emphasis mine)
Remember, it was Eve who turned to Adam and gave him the forbidden fruit and he ate. And it was the woman who came with the fruit from the “Tree of Life,” the gospel of the risen Christ, and this time the man, at first (in unbelief) would not eat.
Psalm 121:1–2 (ESV) — 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
[1] William David Reyburn and Euan McG. Fry, A Handbook on Genesis, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1998), 71.
[2] James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 2:21–23.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016).
[5] Irenaeus of Lyons, “Irenæus against Heresies,” in The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 524.
[6] Charles Joshua Parrott, “Manger,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
[7] Charles Joshua Parrott, “Manger,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 23:55–24:11.
The Harvest Sword Ministries 