Read Part One HERE
In this post I will share my teaching that today we do not see men and women function in equal partnership.
The sad truth is that today many men and women do not function according to this wonderful design by God for the man and the woman. The reason for our malfunctioning is an event called the Fall, which we can read about in Genesis 3 where we learn of the disobedience of both the man and the woman.
The consequences for the woman's disobedience are recorded in Genesis 3:16.
In this verse God forewarned the woman that the man, because of his now sinful nature, would want to rule over her as we know from the sentence "And he will rule over you."
An immediate example is the re-naming by the man of the woman in Genesis 3:20
Adam named his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living."
The Hebrew text uses a naming formula which included both the Hebrew verb"qarah", which means "to call," and the Hebrew noun "shem," which means "name." This indicates that the re-naming by the man of the woman was an authoritative naming to establish his authority over her and was an act of independence for it was not a task the Lord had given to the man.
Examples of rightful authoritative naming can be found in Genesis 2:19-20 and Genesis 5:2
Previously, God had given the man the task of naming the animals in Genesis 2:19-20
Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave name to all the livestock, the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.
This had been an act to establish his rightful authority over creation as initiated by God. But when God brought the woman to the man He did not require of the man that the man name the woman authoritatively as we can see in Genesis 2:22
Then the Lord God made the woman from the rib (side) He had taken out of the man and He brought her to the man.
Though the man at that time recognised that she was the woman and he was the man as in Genesis 3:23 where the man said
She is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman for she was taken out of man,
this was not an act of authoritative naming but a recognition that she was a human being like himself. The Hebrew text makes this clear for this time the naming formula "qarah," "to call" and "shem," "name" has not been used since the term "shem" has not been included in the text.
Having first of all recognised her similarity, he then went on to speak of the difference between him and the woman for she was the female human and he was the male human.
The reason God did not ask the man to name the woman authoritatively is because God had not given the man the responsibility to rule over the woman. Moreover, God had already named the woman authoritatively as we know form Genesis 5:2
He created them male and female. And He blessed them. And when they were created He called them"Adam," "Man," "Human."
The Hebrew text once again uses the naming formula "qarah," "to call" and "shem," "name" to indicate this naming is an authoritative naming.
So God named both the man and the woman "Adam," "Man," or "Human."
We could say they were Mr and Mrs "Adam," Mrs and Mrs "Man," or Mr and Mrs "Human."
Thankfully through Christ's death at the Cross the effects of the Fall have been reversed. What had been lost - the relationship with God and the relationship with one another on equal terms have now been restored. Furthermore, men and women who are in Christ have been given authority. Please understand that this authority is a delegated authority for it is based on Christ's authority given by His Father as we can read in Matthew 28:18-20.
See my website www.ministryto-silencedwomen.com/Abridged/The-Fall/The-Promised-Seed- Of-The-Woman
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