Genesis #4

Word studies are my favorite hands down. I traced back to all the Hebrew roots this week. The primitive root of “Man” in Gen 2:33 anash, meaning ‘to be frail, feeble, melancholy, desperate, incurable, sick and woeful.’ I thought this amazing taking into account that this was before the fall.

This one was awesome too: male, zakar, in Gen 1:27 is meant ‘the remembering one; to be mindful of; to bring, call, come, keep, put to remembrance’. It was good to remember who I was created to be this week. It is healing.

The last couple of months I had been awakened to my soul’s longing for Eden and realized I am striving to be the Eve before the fall in vain. Sin has marred me. But thanks be to God that in Christ He sees me for the unashamed, spotless Eve!

Observing man and woman made me pull out the books Wild at Heart and Captivating by John Eldredge. It grieves me to see that so many women today are uncertain of what it means to be feminine. Our culture’s portrait of femininity seems to be either an unbreakable, feministic sergeant or a I-need-attention, emotional and insecure woman who sleeps around. It says vulnerability results in sorrow. The Church is sometimes part of the problem. A godly woman can appear to be always busy, tired, guilty, and an imposter.

Whatever it means to bear God’s image, man and woman do it in femininity and masculinity. The Eldredges helped me think back on what I as a little girl and other girls play and what we dream of: being a princess with twirling skirts, a damsel in distress waiting for the knight in shining armor to rescue us; playing house and being a mommy. Little boys have their things too. And just think about the movies women love…and men. Do all these not express what God put in the core of our beings?

“We think you’ll find that every woman in her heart longs for three things: to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, to be romanced, and to unveil beauty” ….and “Every man wants to fight a battle, longs for adventure and for a Beauty to rescue,” Captivating.  The sad thing is that sin marred us and most of these desires at some point in life have gone unmet, or been assaulted, or simply so long neglected that most women (and men) live two lives. But the heart is still there.

Some questions that I asked myself were: What does Eve speak to us? What about Adam? What is the woman telling about God? The man?  I wanted to share a few things that I thought of in relation to the woman reflecting God’s image which were exciting to me.

The first is that God is relational to His core. John 17:3 says that eternal life is knowing God. Jere. 24:17; 29:13 and Matt 23:37 give a few examples. He longs to be loved by us. It is no foreign idea that women are relational beings.

Secondly, God is also adventurous. He does not call us to a safe life, but one that places us in utter dependence on Him. He doesn’t want to be an option in our lives nor a tagalong. Neither does the woman. She, as God, wants to be needed desperately. In Captivating, John points out that the word ezer for helper is used 20 other places in the OT. Every instance the person being described is God himself, when we need him to come through for us desperately. For example, Ps 121:1-2 and 33:20. Most of the context are life and death and He is our only hope.

Lastly, God has a beauty to unveil. I am afraid I have grown dull to this, but it is absolutely essential to Him. God proves so through nature, images in Revelation, and in Eve. John Eldredge points out that historical artists understand that Eve(woman) is captured best at rest, while Adam(man) is best captured in motion.

I thought the following was well said in Captivating:

“Eve was given to the world as the incarnation of a beautiful, captivating God- a life offering, life-saving lover, a relational specialist, full of tender mercy and hope. Yes, she brought a strength to the world, but not a striving, sharp-edged strength. She was inviting, alluring, captivating.”

Oh, how this study of Genesis makes me long desperately for eternity!

Oh Oh! One other thing I thought interesting that I never saw before is that God made man, put him in the place he wanted him to cultivate and bear fruit, gave him a work to do, and blessing and command before He made Eve and brought her to him.