Eve's Purpose

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Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,895
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#21
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Debra is a prime example of a woman taking the lead over a man.
Had Deborah and Barack been married, the terms of their association would
have been very different.

Gen 3:16 . . Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over
you.

FYI: Deborah didn't lead Barack into war, rather; she accompanied him.

BTW: I've heard preachers insinuate that Barack was timid; but had he
been, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have gone into combat under any
circumstances, with or without a prophet in the ranks; especially in those
days when desperate men fought to the death hand to hand like gladiators
rather than at a distance with bullets and canons.



Jezebel is another
Ahab's wife didn't rule him; she advised him; which, according to Gen 2:18, is
okay for wives to do.
_
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,610
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#22
.


Had Deborah and Barack been married, the terms of their association would
have been very different.


Gen 3:16 . . Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over
you.



_
Once again, this is an unsupportable interpretation of Genesis 3:16. It is a statement of consequence, not a command.
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,895
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#24
.
The story of king Ahab and his wife Jezebel begins at 1Kings 16:28

The story of commander Barak and the prophetess Deborah begins at Judges 4:1

FYI: Barak is listed by name as a person of faith at Heb 11:32. Deborah is neither listed by name as a person of faith nor listed by name in connection with Barak.
_
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,968
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#25
Ahab's wife didn't rule him; she advised him

So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.
(1 Kings 21:8)

advice, eh

i would advise against thinking of Ahab and Jezebel as an exemplary Biblical marriage
 

tourist

Senior Member
Mar 13, 2014
42,663
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Tennessee
#26
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Gen 2:18 . .The Lord God said: It's not good for Adam to be solitary; I will make a fitting helper for him.


Note that aid isn't spelled with an "e" as in aide; so that Eve wasn't meant to be the man's Girl Friday, rather; someone to strengthen him. In other words: woman's true role is a supporting role rather than a starring role.

I suspect that Adam didn't really have it all that easy in his world, and that Eve's companionship made his life a lot more tolerable and worth the living. The companion that God made for Adam was both his counterpart, and his crutch. In other words: wives are really at their best when they strengthen their men to go out that door and face the big, bad, mean world.
Before sin was committed Adam had it as easy as it ever going to get for a man. God did not create Eve to be a crutch of Adam to lean on, and this is true for any marriage. I agree with the last sentence though and also the part about a woman playing a supporting role.
 
Mar 28, 2016
15,954
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#28
really?
without fault, garden of Eden, walking with God?
"
not all that easy" ?
his life not "
tolerable" and not "worth the living" ??

it's easy to look at broken mankind today under the curse and under sin and think 'o i need my wife because i can't keep track of where i've left my shoes' -- and then to project that onto Adam. but i think the immediate question of why Adam needed anything or anyone - having the presence of God and living in His garden in the "very good" creation unblemished by transgression and curse. Adam, at this time completely without sin, the only human being ever to not be deceived by Satan, needed a "crutch" ? hmm.. i'm not convinced.

what does God mean, not good for the man to be alone? alone? is God not with him?
there's something a lot more profound here, i suspect.
God who has no form always does whatsoever his soul desires. He has no fear of being alone . The Father and Son, two attributes of God, can relate with one another. Man before the fall as that seen relates with the world seen and God not seen . Mankind, one creation was divided so both could relate with the other in perfect harmony and submission . Mankind fell and lost the invisible relationship it had before choosing to do the pleasure of the will of another.

Men and woman are still considered one creation . Man having a greater position than the woman but not greater person or authroty .

Like the Son of God and the father, both work together in perfect harmony and submission to one another, to bring the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding
 
Mar 28, 2016
15,954
1,528
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#29
Sure there will be those. However, I'm much more interested in those men and women who want to have a civil discussion about the subject matter. I would have to put the others on ignore; they really don't bring anything meaningful to the discussion anyway.

My other consideration is time. I have a bit of extra time today and maybe tomorrow. During the week my schedule is generally full, so it would possibly be a few days before I could participate in the discussion again. That's why I typically don't start a lot of threads.

I told my wife once..... Who are you to tell ME what my role izzzzz???” Lol.

She did not laugh and said: its only funny when two people are laughing. And then quietly she said :"that's once".

There was this journalist who was to do a story on the staying power of a marriage and was sent to a house where the man and woman just finishedcelebrating their 75th anniversary. He asked the gentleman... how did you stay with one woman all those years, What's the key?

He went on to say it all started on the honeymoon my wife and I decided to take the lower Grand Canyon trip. A three-day adventure on donkeys with the goal of staying in a cabin for a week and then returning. On the first day my wives donkey who must have been near sighted stepped into a hole in the ground causing her to nearly fall off. She said to the donkey quietly. That's once. The next day the same thing happened and My wife quietly said this time: that’s' twice. On the last day with the Cabin in sight the donkey repeated. This time my wife got off the donkey, went into the saddle bag and took out a revolver and shot the donkey.
I said to her; what the heck are you doing you can't go around shooting animals... do you need a psychiatrist?

She turned and said to me: that's once
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,968
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#30
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
(Genesis 1:31)
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
(Genesis 2:18-20)

how is there something described as '
not good' in Genesis 2, when at the 6th day God had looked at all He had made, and behold! it was 'very good' ? what does He mean, 'alone' ? what does He mean, 'suitable' ?

why did omniscient God bring every beast and bird before Adam at this time? was omniscient, omnipotent creator God unaware that no suitable helper would be found among these? what is He doing?

what day was it when He created Woman?
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,610
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#31
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
(Genesis 1:31)
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
(Genesis 2:18-20)

how is there something described as 'not good' in Genesis 2, when at the 6th day God had looked at all He had made, and behold! it was 'very good' ? what does He mean, 'alone' ? what does He mean, 'suitable' ?

why did omniscient God bring every beast and bird before Adam at this time? was omniscient, omnipotent creator God unaware that no suitable helper would be found among these? what is He doing?

what day was it when He created Woman?
This (bolded) is an interesting question. If you read Genesis 1 as a summary, and Genesis 2 as a detailed explanation, the conflict is resolved. I believe it was always God's intention to fashion Eve; He just chose to delay the act until Adam recognized the need.
 

Webers.Home

Well-known member
May 28, 2018
5,895
1,084
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Oregon
#32
.
So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.

There's a pretty good parallel to that in Joseph's story. (Gen 41:40-42)

He not only became Pharaoh's advisor, but was also loaned Pharaoh's ring; which in those days effected a unique signature when pressed into wax or clay. However, though the ring gave Joseph the power to conduct royal business, it did not give Joseph the power to conduct royal business in his own name.

Same with Jezebel. She used her husband's ring to conduct royal business in his name rather than her own. In other words: her status was not equal to king Ahab's; she wasn't a co-ruler of the northern kingdom any more than Joseph was a co-ruler of Egypt.
_
 

OneFaith

Senior Member
Sep 5, 2016
2,270
369
83
#33
.
Gen 2:18 . .The Lord God said: It's not good for Adam to be solitary; I will make a fitting helper for him.


"fitting helper" is from two Hebrew words.

"Fitting" is from neged (neh'-ghed) which means: a front, i.e. part opposite; specifically a counterpart, or mate.

The word for "helper" is from 'ezer (ay'-zer) which means: aid.

Note that aid isn't spelled with an "e" as in aide; so that Eve wasn't meant to be the man's Girl Friday, rather; someone to strengthen him. In other words: woman's true role is a supporting role rather than a starring role.

I suspect that Adam didn't really have it all that easy in his world, and that Eve's companionship made his life a lot more tolerable and worth the living. The companion that God made for Adam was both his counterpart, and his crutch. In other words: wives are really at their best when they strengthen their men to go out that door and face the big, bad, mean world.

Woman's potential for companionship is the primary reason that God made her— not for her sex appeal nor for her reproductive value; no, for a man's companionship; which is commonly expressed by cordiality, friendliness, friendship, goodwill, kindness, civility, concord, harmony, rapport, charity, generosity, compassion, empathy, sympathy, chumminess, intimacy, affection, devotion, loyalty, fondness, and love.

From all that, I think we can safely conclude that a woman who tears her man down instead of building him up is a broken woman; i.e. maladjusted and out of sync with her maker.

NOTE: According to Dr. Laura Schlessinger, one of the ten stupid things that men do to mess up their lives is to try and fix a broken woman.
_
Help mate is correct. But we are all called to build each other up- whether male or female, young or old. Yes even a child can build others up instead of tear them down. How shameful for a wife to tear down her husband! She must not be very feminine, because a real woman desires to make her husband happy, not miserable. God put that desire in her, just as He put the desire in a man (masculine man) to provide for and protect his family- it is called the male ego.
 
Sep 4, 2012
14,424
692
113
#38
Ahab's wife didn't rule him; she advised him; which, according to Gen 2:18, is
okay for wives to do.
Jezebel ruled over Ahab such that she was used to symbolize the flesh ruling over the church in Revelation 2:20. She did what seductresses do - seduce men to do what they want.
 
Mar 23, 2016
7,021
1,674
113
#39
I told my wife once..... Who are you to tell ME what my role izzzzz???” Lol.

She did not laugh and said: its only funny when two people are laughing. And then quietly she said :"that's once".

There was this journalist who was to do a story on the staying power of a marriage and was sent to a house where the man and woman just finishedcelebrating their 75th anniversary. He asked the gentleman... how did you stay with one woman all those years, What's the key?

He went on to say it all started on the honeymoon my wife and I decided to take the lower Grand Canyon trip. A three-day adventure on donkeys with the goal of staying in a cabin for a week and then returning. On the first day my wives donkey who must have been near sighted stepped into a hole in the ground causing her to nearly fall off. She said to the donkey quietly. That's once. The next day the same thing happened and My wife quietly said this time: that’s' twice. On the last day with the Cabin in sight the donkey repeated. This time my wife got off the donkey, went into the saddle bag and took out a revolver and shot the donkey.
I said to her; what the heck are you doing you can't go around shooting animals... do you need a psychiatrist?

She turned and said to me: that's once
My husband used to say "My wife only made one mistake and that was when she did what I told her to do"

ha-ha
:cool:
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,968
13,624
113
#40
.



There's a pretty good parallel to that in Joseph's story. (Gen 41:40-42)

He not only became Pharaoh's advisor, but was also loaned Pharaoh's ring; which in those days effected a unique signature when pressed into wax or clay. However, though the ring gave Joseph the power to conduct royal business, it did not give Joseph the power to conduct royal business in his own name.

Same with Jezebel. She used her husband's ring to conduct royal business in his name rather than her own. In other words: her status was not equal to king Ahab's; she wasn't a co-ruler of the northern kingdom any more than Joseph was a co-ruler of Egypt.
_

it's nice of you to interact with us and reply and stuff.

but i think the real pressing issue is you believing Adam's life with God in paradise on earth "wasn't worth living" . . . ?

we should be careful not to end up blaspheming by leaving scripture behind in order to follow an agenda of writing applicational sermons.
there's something extraordinarily profound going on the text that is getting ignored.