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"The Creation of Woman" Genesis 2_18-25

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3. We can only find intimate relationship with God’s created partner-counterpart (Genesis 2:21-25)

"So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man." (Genesis 2:21-22)

a. The first thing we notice is that God “formed” man and the animals “out of the ground,” but he “made” the woman " from the rib he had taken out of the man.”

We are meant to understand the significance of this. The Hebrew word for “rib” is not just the bone, but “the whole side,” including the flesh and muscle as well—we are meant to see God taking a handful of bone and flesh out of Adam’s side for use in his building of Eve. Woman is made from the side of man—to be his partner-counterpart.

The classic quote on this is from Bible commentator and pastor Matthew Henry (1662-1714) who wrote, “The woman was formed out of man—not out of his head to rule over him, not out of his feet to be trampled upon by him; but out of his side to be his equal, from beneath his arm to be protected, and from near his heart to be loved.” 

b. God then brings the woman to man. When I read this, I envision the first wedding ceremony— we are in the paradise of the temple-garden of Eden, and we see the Father attending the bride as they walk down the aisle together. The Father is going to give Eve’s hand over to Adam in marriage. Here comes the bride, and she is beautiful. We look over at Adam, and his eyes are about to fall out of his head! He says, “Whoa! Man! Whoa, Man! Whoa man! Wo man! Woman! Yeah! Woman!” 

Actually, his response is a beautiful love poem, which literally looks like this:

The man said,

"This Time!

Bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh.

She shall be called 'Woman,'

Because she was taken out of 'Man.'" (Genesis 2:23)

(1) This time—this is the ONE! All the others (all those animals) fell way short, but AT LAST! Now she is the one I’ve been looking for!

(2) Bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh—this was certainly true in a physical sense (Eve was built out of Adam’s bone and flesh), but it is also true in deeper senses. Looking down at verse 24, we read God’s comment on this: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” 

“Becoming one flesh” is often seen primarily as denoting the sexual union that follows marriage, or as the children conceived in marriage. While these are part of what this means, it is more: it is also the spiritual, emotional, and physical components involved when a man and a woman join together to become a new family. In Hebrew usage, flesh and bone were equivalent to what we might say today when we say “blood relations.” In other words, whereas before, the man was related primarily in the blood-relation family of his father and mother, in marriage the primary family relationship switches to the spouse. They are now “Blood Relations,” or in Hebrew terminology, “Bone and Flesh.” 

What this is telling us is that when we marry, our spouse becomes our priority. Our “blood relations” move from Mom and Dad to Husband and Wife. Our marital relations take precedence over our parental relations. This does not mean you no longer keep the Fifth Commandment “Honor your father and mother;” it just means that our priorities change.

The words in verse 24 are rendered different ways in different modern English translations.:

“leave and cleave” KJV (King James Version)

“leave and be united” NIV (New International Version)

“leave and stick together” NBV (New Bob Version) (That's me... :-) 

That is what the Hebrew word literally means! When we are married, we are meant to stick together. The phrase suggests both passion and permanence. I can’t get that old Lionel Ritchie song “Stuck on You” out of my head. When you are married, you cling to each other with a passion. And when you are united like this, when you “Leave and Cleave,” you are saying, “we will stick together, through thick and thin, for better or worse, till death should us part.”

3) She shall be called “Woman,” Because she was taken out of “Man.”—When God names Adam, he names him in relation to the ground from which he made him (“adam” is Hebrew for “man,” “adamah” is Hebrew for “ground.”). But when Adam calls her “woman” (“ish-shah” in Hebrew), it is in relation to what he calls himself—“man” (“ish” in Hebrew). 

While it is true that man was created first and that woman is created from man, and that man had the authority to name the woman, it should not be used to demean women as insignificant. All the rhetoric and fighting between the sexes destroys the very thing this passage is trying to promote! The point of Genesis 2 is that the significance of both the man and the woman is found in relationship—their relationship with God and their relationship with each other. The man realizes this very thing in the way he names himself in relation to the woman! We are created as relational people! And all the fighting amongst ourselves, especially between the sexes, is the exact opposite of God’s divine intention for our existence.

Marriage is the joining of two into one. The bond of marriage is divinely ordained, and we humans cannot presume to destroy that which God has brought together. Jesus said in Mark chapter 10, “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Mark 19:6-9)

The tragedy of divorce is not our “right” if we are unhappy in our marriages, it is an allowance due to our own selfishness and inability to live up to the ideal that God has for us in our relationships. His divine desire is that there would be no divorce! Anybody who has been through a divorce, or who are children of a divorce, knows the pain that accompanies it. Once again, we see that we no longer live in paradise. It was not God’s intention for relationships to disintegrate, that is not the divine blueprint. God wants us to stick together! And when we tear apart the marital glue, it hurts! Have you ever accidentally spilled superglue between your fingers? In order to separate those two fingers, your going to rip some flesh! OUH! In the same way, God has divinely superglued people together when they marry. And it hurts to teat that apart! If you are considering a divorce, please call me! Maybe we can restore your relationship to the way God wants it! Our God, as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, is the God of “reconciliation.” 

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

c. At this ideal stage, there is a childlike innocence about their nakedness. “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” (verse 25)

There is an openness and trust. After the events coming up in  Genesis chapter 3, this will change.

Why were they both naked?

      Because they felt no shame. 

What causes shame?

      Sin.

Why did the first woman and man feel no shame?

      Because sin has not yet entered the picture.

We are created to be open and trusting in our intimate relationships—“naked” in our relationships, bearing all to God and to each other. 

But, if we are honest, we must admit that we hide our true selves from everybody. In our marriages today, we experience an increased openness, a feeling of true companionship and trust and the willingness to be naked—both physically and emotionally. But even in that unique and wonderful relationship, we struggle to be completely open with our spouse. There is always something covered up. This is not the way we were meant to be.

Next week we will discover what caused us to be so shameful and why we hide from deep relationships. And we will discover God’s cure for this dreadful disease!

Question for Application and Discussion

1. What evidence in your life have you seen that leads you to believe that we have been created as relational creatures? Have you ever felt the sadness of being lonely? Have you ever felt the joy of being in a special friendship?

2. When we meditate on the wonder of the Trinity, we realize that God has always existed in an eternal state of perfect relationship. How does that help you to understand why you are so relational and why you yearn for a deep relationship with God and with other human beings?

3. Share your feelings as you read Adam’s love poem in Genesis 2:23. What strikes you as romantic? What strikes you as intimate? What does this poem have to say about the way marriage is supposed to be?

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