A few weeks ago I visited a public library and joined up as a member because they have so much to offer the public. Whilst there, I saw a lady with a T-Shirt with the words …. “My personal pronouns are ‘they’ and ‘them’.” By now most people understand this identifies the person as part of the LGBTQ+ “community”. Very interestingly, names or pronouns identify people, either in general or specific. Take one word used by God in Genesis chapter 3. Up to now the name Adam referred to man in general but as soon as we get to verse 17, we find that the word “Adam”, does not have the definite article, meaning God is speaking to an individual whose name is Adam. Please read:
Ge 3:17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
1) Adam listened to his wife. Because you listened to your wife. As much as it will irk some, what Adam, the husband had done was relinquish his authority as the head of the wife and submitted to her. Rather than him have her listen to him in who lay the authority as her head, he gave her the ear for instruction. He listened to her so called wisdom, which was rather the mind of the devil! Let’s get something out of the way quickly. Before they sinned, they were pure and innocent. They had not been corrupted by sin. Eve knew her place as the wife … to be loyal to and submit to her husband as her God appointed head. After they sinned, there was confusion and resistance … which has been passed down to us throughout the ages. With man as the head of the wife it does not mean that he knows better than the wife each time. Now he is a sinner as she is. But when man takes the authority to “rule”:
Ge 3:16 To the woman he said Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you
leading her Biblically, he is her head and this is exactly how every Christian marriage ought to be. When a man does not “rule” his wife as we discussed yesterday, the marriage and household shall not be Biblical and not enjoy the fruits God has installed for those who follow His will. Instead of Adam showing his wife the way to truth, she showed him the way into rebellion. Men, this is a wakeup call should you not be the head of your wife. How will you ever prepare her for glory if you do not lead?
2) Adam, from her hand, ate the forbidden fruit … and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it’. We must not underestimate the magnitude of what Adam did. God has given him authority to rule, not only his wife but over the animal kingdom. He was even given authority to name all the animals and the woman. Before God took a part of the man … bone and flesh … and made the woman, we read:
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.”
This helper would be suitable … one like him, yet subordinate to him. We can’t remove the word “helper” from the text. To Adam, God had said just before this:
Ge 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
God had given Adam the Garden to work and care for it. God even commanded Adam to eat from the wide variety of fruits available in the Garden, putting one prohibition before him. He was not to … eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil … promising Adam that should he … for when you eat of it you will surely die. Yet, just as Eve submitted to the devil’s seduction, so Adam submitted to his wife’s enticement. What was the carrot in both cases? It was the wicked counsel of the devil!
Ge 3:4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Be like God! Be like God, knowing good and evil. They knew the good … they were pure, sinless, godly … yet they wanted to know evil too. Adam was sucked into this deceit … he wanted to be like God … or better … above God!
3) The jeopardy of rebellion. To listen to God or not to listen to God? God said … for when you eat of it you will surely die. The serpent (devil) said … You will not surely die. This is terribly sad. They had listened to God’s voice … His known and trusted voice, as He walked and talked with them in the Garden in the cool of the day, yet they ignored this voice to listen to an unknown, untrusted voice. I have to stop here and speak about God’s Word, the Bible, in relation to the many other voices you hear out there in the world every day. It always amazes me that Christians fall prey to material outside of the Bible that speaks again the Bible. Sometimes it is clearly an open attack on God’s Word, yet mostly it is like the devil’s approach to Eve … subtle, cunning and deceitful. You see, it’s couched in terms and language that is contemporary and could mean many different things. The intent is to sow confusion and cause doubt. That was the devil’s approach with Eve. Confuse her. Twist truth with lies. It was the barbaric Hitler that said when you tell people a lie for longer enough they believe it to be the truth! They is the devil’s approach. There is a wide spectrum of attacks on the Word of God daily. The sad thing is that these are made mainly in places where Christianity used to be intentional. It’s called the “West” or the “First World”.
4) God curses the ground. “Cursed is the ground because of you. You might ask the question … “How can the ground be cursed when the ground is not responsible?” It is inanimate. It cannot make decisions. All it can do is respond to how it is treated. Either it is cared for and worked or it is left unproductive. Rather what is being said is that the effects of the curse will be upon the man. He shall feel the burden of the curse. We shall pursue how the earth is cursed and how this effects man tomorrow, but for today we have a few takeaways.
(1) We live in a world that fights fiercely against the headship of man. As men of God we need to see a distinction. We are required of God to take up the responsibility of being the head of the wife, family and Church. If we do this correctly we shall reflect this into our immediate society and our places of work. Always remember that headship comes with responsibilities and accountabilities. The overarching thought here is love, protection, provision, care and preparation for glory.
(2) The world’s wisdom that might sound so rational and acceptable is decidedly not God’s wisdom. Chose the wrong path and you shall find it will lead to bitter destruction. Look at Adam and Eve!
Heavenly Father, You who are Almighty and everlasting, we come today for help. Grant us such grace to look to You through Your Word for Your wisdom to deal with our lot in life and not fall prey to the wisdom of the world. Amen.