PODCAST
Equals
April 11th, 2016
Genesis 2:15-25
Adam had a deep connection with the Creator and creation from the beginning. The Triune God proposed to “make mankind in our image” (1:26, emphasis added), so relationship was integral even before Adam existed.
God formed him “from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (2:7). Adam shared a connection with animals since they too were formed out of the ground (v. 19). Adam exercised his authority over the animals when he named each one.
However, something was awry. Out of all the connections Adam had, no suitable relationship existed. So God’s creative impulse made woman from Adam’s side. All other beings had emerged from the soil; Eve came from Adam’s side. “Finally!” Adam said as God brought Eve to him, like a father escorting a bride down the aisle.
The Hebrew words used in Genesis 2:18 describe the woman as a power or strength like the man, facing him as an equal. A husband and wife follow God’s intention when they connect as equals so profoundly that they become one.*
Author: Keith Schwanz
* See Genesis 1—11 by Joseph Coleson in the New Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2012), 102-103.
