There is much opposition to “Male Headship” in the marriage and home, and often those opposing come from the most unlikely places. From where I come, Male Headship was forced in many cultures to the point where wives and children were little more than stock items necessary for men’s pleasure, prosperity and posterity. Women in some cultures led the way to enforce “equality” in the country’s constitution. Largely this was due to the unbiblical and harsh treatment placed upon them as women and their children by their husband. We sadly, cannot get away from the “sin” issue. Due to the inherent sinful disposition transferred from our first parent to all of the race, humans tend towards wicked behavior all too often. Wives, women and children were and are often treated as slaves and inferior to the adult male, husband and father. This is anathema to the teaching of the Bible. Please read the same passage again:
Ge 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 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. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
1) We have observed so far … that God …
(i) Made the male human first v7. There was no suitable helper … companion for him v18 and v20.
(ii) He was mandated to work the Garden of Eden in which God placed him v15.
(iii) He was issued with the Probationary Commandment v16-17.
(iv) Man was authorized to name the animals v19-20.
(v) From man, God made the woman v22.
Although we are not done yet, we see a picture of the man being given authority to rule and ruling. These are undeniable Biblical truths that God appointed man to have authority in the home. This will become more apparent as we get into chapter three.
2) The naming of the female human. Here we find another aspect of man’s headship. He names the “suitable helper” God made from him as “woman”.
Ge 2:23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
She is acknowledged as taken out of man. She is the same bone and the same flesh as he is … human! It follows that if she is the identical material, she would enjoy the identical “likeness and image” of God that the male was fashioned in! This would take us back to chapter one where we have the general account of the creation of the human being:
Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
In verse 27 God created man as male and female, both equally enjoying the same image and likeness of God, with the blessing to be fruitful, increase numerically, fill the planet and subdue it, with ruling over the animal kingdoms and by implication, the land. Now … the man named the female “woman” because she was taken from him. From what we see in the Bible text is that the male and female are equal in every sense, but where it comes to headship, man is appointed. Perhaps put another way is that God made man first and man was active in his leadership role before the female was made. This shows us that God and not man gave man the authority of headship. This headship, power or authority was existent when the woman was made. We shall discuss this more later.
3) The marital process. In God bringing the woman to the man, it reveals God instituting marriage and stamped his will upon the act of marriage as the normal natural way for the man and woman.
Ge 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
However you see this verse, it is part of the Bible and part of Moses’ writings. God permitted it to be included. It might have been the man’s words following verse 23 or it might be words Moses was inspired to include. However it is God’s Word and includes helpful information for all men and women. I would like to elaborate on this verse, but for now please notice three matters that naturally flow from it.
(a) Man will leave his parents’ home.
(b) Man will be united to his wife.
(c) They will be one flesh.
These three aspects of marriage also form the home and need to be coupled to:
Ge 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it”
The normal home will have a husband and wife who have both left their parents’ home to establish a new home as a married couple for themselves. Following this is what I call the legal aspect of formal marriage. It is being united to the wife. Here is the permanent aspect of marriage. Then, once the first two parts, leaving the parents and being formally married have been fulfilled, they participate in the sexual union. It is important to see the flow. Today the sexual union is the starting point and because of this, most such unions are dysfunctional and unhappy.
6) Shameless nakedness.
Ge 2:25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Legal union or formal marriage results in being shameless. Naturally at this point, sin was unknown and nakedness unknown because both the man and woman were both fully displaying the image and likeness of God in all its holiness. We shall see in the next chapter how nakedness become embarrassing to both these humans in front of each other and before God. They covered themselves in fig leaves! We shall return to two vital aspects of this Daily Note … the first being Male Headship in the marriage and home and the second is the marriage union.
O God our great King and Lord, help us to be diligent as we study Your Word. Prevent us from following the trends of the modern world and remain faithful to Your Word. Amen.