18 October 2009
Eden....Our First Home
23/10/09 21:31 Filed in: Women's Studies
By: Nancy Walton Castilleja
Last month we learned that woman was created with and for spiritual strength. It is with this strength that we are to help our husbands. Remember that there is strength in two. God described the woman as “ezer kenegdo” or in English, “help meet” to the man. Remember the definitions of the original Hebrew words used. The word translated as “help” meant to assist as to surround him in a way resulting in protection. This does not mean that the woman had the physical strength to protect the man. First of all, there wasn’t anything physical that the man or the woman needed to be protected from! The “help” that the woman was to provide was in the spiritual realm. God provided a spiritual increase for humans when two or more are together. Let’s read Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” God’s presence is surrounding. He is omnipresent! This means being present everywhere at once. Don’t let anyone convince you that woman was created to be a servant to the man or for his entertainment! God had a definite and more important plan than that!
Let’s say a little more about the word “meet”. Some translate this as mate. Have you heard anyone say “helpmate”? This does not indicate the true meaning. We know that the Hebrew word used meant, someone like himself. God gave us the details of the method of creating male and female so it would be known that they were of the same body. This demonstrates the sameness in value and status. The woman had to come from the same “stuff” to be suitable and “meet”. After this creation came the marriage. Genesis 2:22 “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” God then blessed them as one and commanded them as one. He sent both of them to rule and subdue the earth side by side.
Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Notice that God put two dimensions into the marriage.
Let’s now look into what the husband’s responsibilities are. Turn to Genesis 2:8, 9, and 15 “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
First of all let’s notice that God prepared a special place for man to live. This was called Eden. Eden was man’s home. God put the man in the garden (or home) to dress it and to keep it. The Hebrew words used are, `abad translated as dress and shamar translated as keep. `Abad simply means to work. So we see that God intended for the man to work the garden. This would be doing the things that were needed to cause the garden to thrive. Even in Eden there was work. God does not like laziness.
2nd Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” For this physical work God created the male with all the right chemistry, including hormones, to produce a high muscular content in his body. The body is able to adapt and provide just what is needed. By this I mean, the more activity that is performed, the more muscle is produced. So intelligently constructed!
The woman, on the other hand, was equipped with different physical capabilities. Because of her different physical purposes and structure she needs a different chemical and hormonal set up. Remember what we learned last month about our differences? Man and woman were created equal but not identical. God did not originally intend for marriage to be a union of two unequal partners!
At this point I want to say something to those of you who are not married. You may be thinking that this is not important for you to know. That is not true. I believe that if everyone knew what their responsibilities are in a marriage and what their spouse’s responsibilities are before marriage, the marriage would have a better chance of lasting a lifetime! Think about it. If both knew what to expect and performed what they should, wouldn’t their home have more harmony?! In today’s society there is confusion about the roles of each spouse. At one end of the spectrum we have those who don’t understand the restoration that Jesus brought to both partners which results in a lop-sided union. And at the other end, there are those who acknowledge no individual differences at all! Either of these situations leads to confusion or unhappiness. That is not what God set in place.
The second responsibility of the man was to “keep” the garden or home. The Hebrew word that is translated as keep is “shamar”. The definition of this word is properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.:--be circumspect, take heed. Most of these definitions are words we commonly hear except to be circumspect. To be circumspect is to be aware of potential consequences. When the husband is taking on his created roll of protecting the home, being circumspect is adding a depth to the meaning of protection. The husband protects the home not only in a physical way, but in an attentive way. You have to be attentive to your surroundings to notice any potential problems. What I see in this is that the man is to be actively involved in the home. He should protect the home in many different ways.
The captain of a boat came to my mind as an example.
A boat captain has to:
1. be mindful of safety for his crew members. He should make sure all are in a safe environment. Now, while doing this he needs to,
2. keep up the morale on the ship. He should communicate regularly with his crew members. This would keep him informed of any problems that if left unresolved, would interfere with smooth sailing! Do you know what I mean? In addition to this he would need to,
3. be alert and watchful outside the boat looking for those potential problems. He may be watching uncontrollable situations such as the weather and then taking the necessary actions to keep all safe. Also, he may be watching out for things such as an attack by pirates! Then he would,
4. be responsible for the physical protection of all that are on the boat. As we know, God created the man with the capability of developing physical strength. Long ago the home probably needed physical protection more than it does today. However, it seems that today the home needs more protection in the form of paying thoughtful attention to potential problems. We can see today the results of an inattentive father in the home. Divorce rates are higher than ever. The number of children living without a father is climbing. There needs to be a man in the home taking the role that God created for him. Now, I know some of you may disagree with this. You might say, “I can take care of my children by myself.” Well, of course you can, but let me tell you, I have been a single mother myself and it isn’t easy. Maybe not for long, but it was long enough to know that! You would be very blessed and talented to raise successful and decent children alone. As women, we all know how much is involved in running a home, raising children, investing in a relationship with your husband, and still having the time and energy to take care of ourselves. In addition to all of this, most of us have a career! Talk about multi-tasking! Being a woman is the ultimate in multi-tasking! But, you know, God created the woman with the ability to do many things at a time. Just naming these areas of responsibilities in a generality sounds like a lot. If we were to get specific, the list would be staggering, if not impossible! God set up the first home, Eden, with two humans working as partners. We have to admit, if we have a true partner it would greatly reduce the mental and physical stress on us. We see this result in God’s original plan which consists of a man and a woman as equal partners with different responsibilities. (the antonym of partner is superior!)
Remember, when God created the man He said the man was to dress and keep the home he was placed in. When God created the woman He said she was to be a help meet for the man. The man and woman were created with different functions! Yet, when the creation was complete, the man and woman were blessed and given commands together. Even though they each had there own unique functions, when put together by God they were to proceed as one. Which means they would live in agreement and have the same goal.
God also blessed us in a way that would require the husband and wife to have a personal relationship. We see this in the first half of Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,…” This indicates the need for a personal relationship between the two. There is to be love and romance! Physical love is just as real as emotional love. Keeping both aspects in a healthy state will help carry you through the tough times.
Next, we see that God’s commands of authority to both husband and wife put them together as partners. Read the second half of Genesis 1:28 “… and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” This is where God instituted partnership within the marriage. Together, they would have a relationship and a partnership. This is the marriage. God put them together being equal in status, value and authority.
Do you remember earlier that I mentioned the word harmony? If the husband and the wife know what is expected of them, things will run a lot smoother! Now, I am not talking about who is going to do the dishes or take out the trash. I am talking about knowing your purpose. With love, prayer, communication and more love, prayer and communication you can work out that relationship!
Let’s sum this up simply. Our purpose and responsibilities make up the home. These are our differences. Our relationship and partnership are the marriage. This is where our equality exists.
Remember, after the restoration of Jesus, we are equal in the home but not identical. There is no boss and slave, no owner and property. In a truly Christian home you should see God original plan of a marriage in place. That is: the husband as the first person (biblical meaning of, head) responsible for the physical provisions (protection and food) and spiritual state of the home and the wife helping him with increasing spiritual strength and awareness, as well as nurturing and bearing children. They do this within a relationship and a partnership.
(Keep in mind that we were all created for the glory of God and to worship Him.)
I have given you a list of definitions. While looking at these, tell me your understanding of the application of each word towards the wife and then the husband. I will call them out.
1. Purpose: that which someone is intended to achieve.
2. Responsibility: the proper extent of one’s activities. A form of trustworthiness.
3. Relationship: an emotional connection between people. A state involving mutual dealings between people.
4. Partnership: a contract between people who agree to pool talent and money and share profits and losses.
5. Equality: the quality of being the same in quantity or measure or value or status; equally balanced; sameness.
6. Identical: exactly alike; incapable of being perceived as different.
Next month I will explain the restoration that Jesus provided to us as women. We will also read proof of this in the King James Bible! I’m looking forward to this one. Bring your Bibles!
By: Nancy Walton Castilleja
Last month we learned that woman was created with and for spiritual strength. It is with this strength that we are to help our husbands. Remember that there is strength in two. God described the woman as “ezer kenegdo” or in English, “help meet” to the man. Remember the definitions of the original Hebrew words used. The word translated as “help” meant to assist as to surround him in a way resulting in protection. This does not mean that the woman had the physical strength to protect the man. First of all, there wasn’t anything physical that the man or the woman needed to be protected from! The “help” that the woman was to provide was in the spiritual realm. God provided a spiritual increase for humans when two or more are together. Let’s read Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” God’s presence is surrounding. He is omnipresent! This means being present everywhere at once. Don’t let anyone convince you that woman was created to be a servant to the man or for his entertainment! God had a definite and more important plan than that!
Let’s say a little more about the word “meet”. Some translate this as mate. Have you heard anyone say “helpmate”? This does not indicate the true meaning. We know that the Hebrew word used meant, someone like himself. God gave us the details of the method of creating male and female so it would be known that they were of the same body. This demonstrates the sameness in value and status. The woman had to come from the same “stuff” to be suitable and “meet”. After this creation came the marriage. Genesis 2:22 “And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” God then blessed them as one and commanded them as one. He sent both of them to rule and subdue the earth side by side.
Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Notice that God put two dimensions into the marriage.
Let’s now look into what the husband’s responsibilities are. Turn to Genesis 2:8, 9, and 15 “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”
First of all let’s notice that God prepared a special place for man to live. This was called Eden. Eden was man’s home. God put the man in the garden (or home) to dress it and to keep it. The Hebrew words used are, `abad translated as dress and shamar translated as keep. `Abad simply means to work. So we see that God intended for the man to work the garden. This would be doing the things that were needed to cause the garden to thrive. Even in Eden there was work. God does not like laziness.
2nd Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” For this physical work God created the male with all the right chemistry, including hormones, to produce a high muscular content in his body. The body is able to adapt and provide just what is needed. By this I mean, the more activity that is performed, the more muscle is produced. So intelligently constructed!
The woman, on the other hand, was equipped with different physical capabilities. Because of her different physical purposes and structure she needs a different chemical and hormonal set up. Remember what we learned last month about our differences? Man and woman were created equal but not identical. God did not originally intend for marriage to be a union of two unequal partners!
At this point I want to say something to those of you who are not married. You may be thinking that this is not important for you to know. That is not true. I believe that if everyone knew what their responsibilities are in a marriage and what their spouse’s responsibilities are before marriage, the marriage would have a better chance of lasting a lifetime! Think about it. If both knew what to expect and performed what they should, wouldn’t their home have more harmony?! In today’s society there is confusion about the roles of each spouse. At one end of the spectrum we have those who don’t understand the restoration that Jesus brought to both partners which results in a lop-sided union. And at the other end, there are those who acknowledge no individual differences at all! Either of these situations leads to confusion or unhappiness. That is not what God set in place.
The second responsibility of the man was to “keep” the garden or home. The Hebrew word that is translated as keep is “shamar”. The definition of this word is properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.:--be circumspect, take heed. Most of these definitions are words we commonly hear except to be circumspect. To be circumspect is to be aware of potential consequences. When the husband is taking on his created roll of protecting the home, being circumspect is adding a depth to the meaning of protection. The husband protects the home not only in a physical way, but in an attentive way. You have to be attentive to your surroundings to notice any potential problems. What I see in this is that the man is to be actively involved in the home. He should protect the home in many different ways.
The captain of a boat came to my mind as an example.
A boat captain has to:
1. be mindful of safety for his crew members. He should make sure all are in a safe environment. Now, while doing this he needs to,
2. keep up the morale on the ship. He should communicate regularly with his crew members. This would keep him informed of any problems that if left unresolved, would interfere with smooth sailing! Do you know what I mean? In addition to this he would need to,
3. be alert and watchful outside the boat looking for those potential problems. He may be watching uncontrollable situations such as the weather and then taking the necessary actions to keep all safe. Also, he may be watching out for things such as an attack by pirates! Then he would,
4. be responsible for the physical protection of all that are on the boat. As we know, God created the man with the capability of developing physical strength. Long ago the home probably needed physical protection more than it does today. However, it seems that today the home needs more protection in the form of paying thoughtful attention to potential problems. We can see today the results of an inattentive father in the home. Divorce rates are higher than ever. The number of children living without a father is climbing. There needs to be a man in the home taking the role that God created for him. Now, I know some of you may disagree with this. You might say, “I can take care of my children by myself.” Well, of course you can, but let me tell you, I have been a single mother myself and it isn’t easy. Maybe not for long, but it was long enough to know that! You would be very blessed and talented to raise successful and decent children alone. As women, we all know how much is involved in running a home, raising children, investing in a relationship with your husband, and still having the time and energy to take care of ourselves. In addition to all of this, most of us have a career! Talk about multi-tasking! Being a woman is the ultimate in multi-tasking! But, you know, God created the woman with the ability to do many things at a time. Just naming these areas of responsibilities in a generality sounds like a lot. If we were to get specific, the list would be staggering, if not impossible! God set up the first home, Eden, with two humans working as partners. We have to admit, if we have a true partner it would greatly reduce the mental and physical stress on us. We see this result in God’s original plan which consists of a man and a woman as equal partners with different responsibilities. (the antonym of partner is superior!)
Remember, when God created the man He said the man was to dress and keep the home he was placed in. When God created the woman He said she was to be a help meet for the man. The man and woman were created with different functions! Yet, when the creation was complete, the man and woman were blessed and given commands together. Even though they each had there own unique functions, when put together by God they were to proceed as one. Which means they would live in agreement and have the same goal.
God also blessed us in a way that would require the husband and wife to have a personal relationship. We see this in the first half of Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,…” This indicates the need for a personal relationship between the two. There is to be love and romance! Physical love is just as real as emotional love. Keeping both aspects in a healthy state will help carry you through the tough times.
Next, we see that God’s commands of authority to both husband and wife put them together as partners. Read the second half of Genesis 1:28 “… and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” This is where God instituted partnership within the marriage. Together, they would have a relationship and a partnership. This is the marriage. God put them together being equal in status, value and authority.
Do you remember earlier that I mentioned the word harmony? If the husband and the wife know what is expected of them, things will run a lot smoother! Now, I am not talking about who is going to do the dishes or take out the trash. I am talking about knowing your purpose. With love, prayer, communication and more love, prayer and communication you can work out that relationship!
Let’s sum this up simply. Our purpose and responsibilities make up the home. These are our differences. Our relationship and partnership are the marriage. This is where our equality exists.
Remember, after the restoration of Jesus, we are equal in the home but not identical. There is no boss and slave, no owner and property. In a truly Christian home you should see God original plan of a marriage in place. That is: the husband as the first person (biblical meaning of, head) responsible for the physical provisions (protection and food) and spiritual state of the home and the wife helping him with increasing spiritual strength and awareness, as well as nurturing and bearing children. They do this within a relationship and a partnership.
(Keep in mind that we were all created for the glory of God and to worship Him.)
I have given you a list of definitions. While looking at these, tell me your understanding of the application of each word towards the wife and then the husband. I will call them out.
1. Purpose: that which someone is intended to achieve.
2. Responsibility: the proper extent of one’s activities. A form of trustworthiness.
3. Relationship: an emotional connection between people. A state involving mutual dealings between people.
4. Partnership: a contract between people who agree to pool talent and money and share profits and losses.
5. Equality: the quality of being the same in quantity or measure or value or status; equally balanced; sameness.
6. Identical: exactly alike; incapable of being perceived as different.
Next month I will explain the restoration that Jesus provided to us as women. We will also read proof of this in the King James Bible! I’m looking forward to this one. Bring your Bibles!
By: Nancy Walton Castilleja