Genesis 2:18-24
18 Then 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. 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. 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. 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.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Up to this point, everything God had created was deemed “good.” Genesis 1:1-31 tells the story of God creating the heavens and the earth and everything on it and declaring that his work of creation was good.
Chapter 2 gives us a closer look into the intentions and acts of God in the creation of man and woman. In verse 18, we find God for the first and only time in the creation narrative describing a situation as not good. It would be good to note that God did not say Adam was not good, but the circumstance Adam was in was deemed as not good. God puts Adam to sleep and takes from him to create a helper for him, and Adam called God’s creation “woman”. Adam has the realization that Eve was uniquely designed for him in every way: physical appearance, intellect, emotions, and reproduction. Now Adam was able to do things of which he was incapable without Eve, and vs. 24 and 25 give us the construct and timeline for marriage.
In the image of God
Genesis 1:27 “27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Mankind was elevated above all creation in stature, intellect, and relation to the creator. Man’s purpose was different, man’s interactions with God were different, and his abilities were different, such as having dominion over the earth and the naming of animals. Mankind’s mandate was for the relationship between man and woman to be fruitful and to exercise dominion.
Our culture has eliminated the uniqueness of mankind. The acceptance of evolution as scientific fact has reduced man to a random series of cell divisions, causing the value of life to plummet. When that value is missing, cultures become increasingly violent.
God warned Noah about this after the flood. Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
Male and Female
Genesis 2:18 “18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.””
Many misunderstand God’s statement about Adam’s condition as God missing an aspect of creation or making a mistake by not creating Eve at the same time. It is possible for God to have a perfect plan to create Eve when he did but, in the moment, describe Adam’s state as not good for the sake of all humanity. God had always planned to create Eve but considered it necessary to point out why. If they were created at the same time, we would not understand the interdependence of Adam and Eve to accomplish God’s will and purpose. Adam could not accomplish God’s purpose apart from Eve and vice versa.
Order of creation does not equal order of importance. The term “helper” has taken on an extremely negative connotation to mean that women are simply there to help the man do whatever he desires.
“Helper” indicates that Eve is there to help Adam accomplish what he cannot do on his own. This gives purpose to the distinct differences between men and women. Man cannot accomplish God’s will without women and vice versa. “Helper” could just as easily be seen as an elevated status, as God himself is described as Israel’s helper. Exodus 18:4, Deut 33:7
This is a foundational aspect of marriage. The two different become one in the physical act, but also in the accomplishment of God’s will. It now becomes the primary purpose of the two together. Now with a helper, Adam is able.
Modern culture, since the sexual revolution in the late 1960’s, has attempted to deem men and women as equal and non-dependent. We are now mutually exclusive in all aspects of life: work, parenting, and relationships. The result of that revolution is a culture that does not value the unique differences of men and women but attempts to characterize both sexes as the same. Men can now act like women and vice versa. Being a man became toxic, and simply being a woman became weak. When this is taken to extreme, the structure for the family disintegrates and identity issues prevail because the culture has lost its original definitions.
The creation story highlighted the necessary differences as God’s original design and best model for fulfillment and accomplishing his will.
Exclusive Family Unit
Genesis 2:24 “24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
God makes this statement before Adam and Eve have any offspring. This is a picture of two that are created equal in the image of God with distinct differences and roles joining together and establishing an exclusive, permanent relationship.
Two men or two women cannot accomplish God’s purpose, no matter how much society determines to attempt it. It was also not God’s original design to move in and out of relationships.
It is clear that God’s original design was for male leadership. Again, this does not equate a higher value but a necessary definition of roles - man, woman, animals. During the temptation it was reversed, and God’s will was disobeyed. When these roles are abdicated or reversed, it is not without consequences. When we fail to provide an example of male leadership, we raise a generation of males who do not lead.