Eve

The Embodiment of Womanhood

by Joe Morecraft, ill
Introduction
E
ve is the mother of us all. She
is the one woman who embod-
ied potentially all that is fe-
male. If you want to know
what it is to be truly woman, look at
Eve. You resemble her physically and
spiritually, because, when she lived on
the earth around 6000 years ago, you
were in her loins. You, very literally,
are her daughter.
Exposition
I. (Genesis 1:26-28) Eve was
made with Adam.
A. The Purpose of Womanhood
God created Eve, as Adam, in
the image of God, as the crown of crea-
tion, with true knowledge, Col. 3:10,
true righteousness, Eph. 4:24, true holi-
ness, Eph. 4:24, and dominion over all
creation. She, with Adam, was commis-
sioned by God to multiply, replenish
the earth, subdue it, rule over it, and
benefit from it under the word and bless-
ing of God, the Creator. This Image
and Mandate define the meaning of
personhood for women, as well as men.
Eve, with Adam, was to be a prophet,
priest, and king under God in fulfilling
the Dominion Mandate.
B. The Place of Woman in the
Thoughts of God
Before Eve appeared on earth,
she existed in the loving thoughts of
God. God saw Eve in his mind, and be-
cause he saw her, he created her. The
creation of woman, as the creation of
the universe, was a work of love, for
God is love. God so loved the very
thought of woman that he created her
and made her exquisitely lovely in every
way.
C. The Sexual Identity of Woman
Eve's sexual identity is presented
in close conjunction with her being in
the image of God. Her femaleness is in-
eluded in that image. In fact, normally,
it is when the male and the female
come together in one fleshness that the
picture illustrated in that divine image
is complete. This is why feminism,
male chauvinism, homosexuality and
lesbianism are so perverted. They deny
this divine order of human existence.
II. (Genesis 2:21-22) Eve was
made from Adam. (I Cor. 11:8)
A. The Similarity of Man and Wo-
man
Being made from Adam, Eve is
like Adam: a physical-spiritual being.
She is not a soul with a body or a body
with a soul, she is a unified being, in-
separably physical and spiritual, except
at death, as the wage of sin, which de-
ficiency is healed by physical resurrec-
tion. Both sides of her being are impor-
tant to God. The close connection of
male and female as the image of God is
brought out in Genesis 5:1-2, where
both the man and the woman are called,
"Man." As Francis Schaeffer pointed
out: "Mankind is really a unit. Man
didn't just come out of nowhere. There
was a real beginning, a beginning in a
real unity in one man, one individual,
differentiated from all that preceded him,
and then differentiated in terms of male
and female."
B. The Dignity of Woman's Crea-
tion
Eve was never a child or a daugh-
ter. In the instant of her creation she
stood before Adam in Paradise, resplen-
dent in the full bloom of mature
womanhood. She was not half-civilized,
nor was she a primitive, ape-like crea-
ture. She was a full and complete wo-
man whose perfection was owing not to
training and culture, but to the product
of divine creation. Woman may never
complain that she is not a man, nor
may man look down upon woman
because she was made from Adam.
Woman, like man, is the result of spe-
cial divine activity. God's thought is ex-
pressed in her female being. God loved
the thought of women, so he created wo-
men.
C. The Uniqueness of Eve's Crea-
tion
Although she was made from
Adam, Eve's creation was unique, as
was Adam's creation. This teaches us
that one sex is not more ultimate than
the other, although a case can be made
for the sexual superiority of women,
according to George Gilder in MEN
AND MARRIAGE. One sex, or
spouse, may never be so absorbed in or
dominated by the other so as to lose
his/her distinct personality and individu-
ality.
D. The Root and Name of Woman
Because Eve was created from
Adam, Eve could not exist without the
prior existence of Adam. Adam must
always be thought of as the source and
background out of which Eve arose.
Moreover, Adam named Eve, Gen.
2:23, 3:20. To give someone or some-
thing a name in the O.T. is to have
authority over that which/who is
named. Adam's life and authority as the
source of the meaning of Eve's exis-
tence must be reverenced by Eve. Eph.
5:33.
1. Adam Named Eve, Woman.
(Gen. 2:23)
The Hebrew word for "wo-
man" is formed by adding a feminine
ending to the word for "man." To name
The Counsel of Chalcedon Aug.-Sept., 1989 page 21
Eve, "woman," is to call her the coun- and flesh of my flesh .... " This is a
terpart of man, without whom man is magnificent statement about a magnifi-
not ordinarily complete. Nor is she ordi- cent woman. "This is now" is a He-
narily complete, when she stands alone brew idiom which has a meaning .com-
as a self-sufficient female. She must al- parable to our modem idiom: "I've got
ways seek to find herself, and the mean- the beat. This is the rhythm of the
ing for her life, in terms of man. music, the rhythm of my life that I
2. Adam Named Woman, Eve. have been waiting for." "Bone of my
(Gen. 3:20) bone" means "the structure of my life."
-means---- -As--Rushdoony-points-out: "The skele;;--
"the Mother of all living." In faith that ton is the structure of the body, that
God would bring life into sin's death which supports the body; the body
and believing the gospel of Gen. 3:15, would be like that of a jellyfish without
Adam names his wife, Eve, which the skeleton. Adam says, 'She is bone
literally means, "she who gives life." of my bones,' i.e., 'the structure of my
E.J. Young writes: "This is a strong being is the structure of her being.'
way of asserting that life will surely Adam called her, Flesh of my flesh,'
come from Eve. Death is cheated of its Le., 'the very life of me is the life of
prey, for God has intervened. -- There her; I fmd myself, I realize myself in
was good reason for naming his wife terms of her."'
Eve, for she was the mother of all Nigel Lee put it this way: "There is
living. These words of explanation the aching pain of unfulfilled love in
sound as though they were spoken at a the side of every man until he finds re-
time when there were many living and lief in the returning love of a woman,
all mankind could trace itself back to and until he in blissful marriage cleaves
Eve as its mother. She is the life-giver to his wife and becomes one flesh with
par excellence, for she is the mother of her, thus recovering his lost rib."
all who live. Moreover, the Son of This fact of oneness in marriage al-
Mary is also the Son of Eve. so militates against religiously mixed
ID. (Gen. 2:18-25) Eve was
made for Adam.
A.. The Meaning of "Help-Meet"
Woman was created by God to
be Man's "help-meet," i.e., "a help as
before him,'' or "a mirror." Woman
mirrors man's image, I Cor. 11:3,7. As
Rushdoony writes: "She mirrors him
so that a mind finds himself not only in
relationship to God but in terms of a
woman. -- The woman is called his
'help-meet,' his mirror; and even as he
mirrors God, she mirrors him. He under-
stands his responsibility by looking to
God, and he can see how he is fulfilling
his responsibilities and proving his
obedience in relationship to his wife as
she mirrors his nature and responsibili-
ty." Furthermore, woman is a help-
meet to man in terms of his calling.
Marriage and Vocation are inseparable.
Marriage cannot be rightly understood
as an end in and of itself. Marriage was
given for the purpose of Vocation--God-
ly Dominion Over the Earth.
B. The Meaning of "Bone of My
Bones"
When Adam saw beautiful, holy
Eve, for the first time, he broke out in
song: "This is now bone of my bones,
marriages, II Cor. 6:14. A Christian
may not marry a non-Christian "be-
cause a Christian to fulfill himself in
terms of his calling must marry some-
one who is 'a help as before him,' some-
one who mirrors that which he is. How
can the woman be that mirror and have
the community that comes from being
the reflected image of man if her back-
ground is so different from that which
his is? They must have a common
faith, or, according to the law of God, it
is not a valid marriage.-- ... we are told
that she must be a help-meet -- bone of
his bone, flesh of his flesh -- sharing
his faith, sharing a common back-
ground, a common culture, a common
desire to fulfill his calling under God."
(Rushdoony)
As man's counterpart, woman is his
helper and compliment. Man is incom-
plete without woman. He needs her
throughout his life and vocation. That
is the glory and greatness of woman--
she alone completes a man.
IV. (Gen. 3:1-24) Eve Sinned
against Her Creator. (ll Cor.
11:3; I Tim. 2:13)
A. The Satanic Seduction of Adam
through Eve
The Counsel of Chalcedon Aug.Sept., 1989 page 22
Satan saw that the best way to
seduce Adam was through Eve. Woman
represents human grace and beauty in a
special degree. The beautiful in creation
apparently enthralls her more than it
does man, Gen. 2:9; 3:6. Her apprecia-
tion of beauty and her aesthetic sensi-
bilities were more susceptible and alert
to the impressions of the attractive.
This-is not to s1iy1ffiiCwoman is 'in-
stinctively less holy or more sinful.
For scientific support for this read, pgs.
35-36, entitled, "Are Men Really Brain
Damaged?" in Smalley's and Trent's
book, THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE.
B. The Effect of Eve's Sin
Eve's sin was essentially less
profound than Adam's and consequently,
it was not her sin, but his which thrust
the world into perdition, Rom. 5:12f.
Apparently she was constitutionally
less well-adapted to offer resistance to
this temptation than Adam. She is
stronger facing temptation with Adam,
than standing alone. The same is true of
man.
C. The Ravaging of Eve's Feminini-
ty by Sin
Eve was marvelously, divinely
beautiful. And because of her sin she
had. to leave the magnificent paradise for
a world of thorns and thistles. The
anxiety that anticipates and the anguish
that is in child-birth ravaged her being.
Eve probably lived for hundreds
of years and had many children. Her
days must have been tedious and exac-
ting and her suffering terribly painful.
To be thrust thereupon into a world in
which nothing had yet been provided for
woman must have been an awful con-
trast to the beauty of Paradise. Eve was
removed from her estate, her home. Her
feminine fullness was completely rav-
aged.
D. The Unique Effects of Sin on
Woman
Besides experiencing the com-
mon consequences of sin with her hus-
band, Eve experienced "special" effects
of her sin. Genesis 2:16 says: "To the
woman He (GOD) said, "I will greatly
multiply your pain in childbirth, in
pain you shall bring forth children; yet
your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you." Two unique
effects of sin on woman are seen here.
1. Sorrow and anguish in con-
ception and childbirth
"For woman _tl-!e bearing. of
children is to be a difficulty. Her concep-
tion is not what she might have desired
it to be, and not what God had original-
ly designed for her. It was the divine
plan that man should be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth. Eve, how-
ever, had disobeyed God and sought for
enjoyment contrary to God's law. She
therefore will be punished in her sexual
life, for not only will her pregnancy be
unpleasant, but her entire life. The
pains which will come to her will
threaten her own life, she will go down
to the very gate of death before her chil-
dren come into the world, and through-
out the remainder of her life she will be
reminded by sorrow that her life is not
filled with the enjoyment which she had
once erroneously believe would be
hers." (EJ. Young)
2. Her desire will be for her hus-
band
If we compare the word "de-
sire" in 3:16 with its use in 4:7, we can
interpret this curse as saying that, be-
cause of sin, the woman will struggle
with the inner desire to domineer man,
to make him to what she wishes. In
addition, woman's suffering will be in-
tensified by man's "ruling over" woman
in a domineering, not a loving, self-
giving and compassionate manner.
In the first sin, Eve had taken the
lead. She gave the fruit to Adam and he
followed and ate. Eve led her husband
into sin, whereas Adam should have led
Eve into righteousness. "In the divinely-
imposed arrangement the woman was to
occupy a certain position of subordina-
tion in that she was to be a help to her
husband. In the Lord she was to follow
his lead and to aid him as he faced the
world. In the temptation and fall, how-
ever, she abandoned this subordinate
role and sought to assume a position of
leadership. Thus she raised herself
above the man, emancipating herself
from him and in addition she led him
into sin. By her very nature the woman
reaches her supreme position as woman
when in the divinely-intended sense she
is subordinate to the husband and aids
him in his leading. Sin breaks this
divine institution, and unhappiness in
the married estate flows from an aban-
donment of what God has intended.
When fallen woman seeks to be the
equal (the head-JCMIII) of man, she
does not attain the happiness which she
thinks to find. Only in the role of wife
who seeks truly to be a help to her
husband does the woman properly (and
ordinarily-JCMIII) fulfill her role."
(E.J. Young)
3. To SUMMARIZE: Fallen
woman will struggle with a desire to
dominate man; and fallen man will
struggle with the desire to abdicate his
loving headship over woman. The
fallen woman's life will be filled with
heart-break, because of her own anguish
and guilt and from man's insensitivity
to her needs.
"The latter and simpler translation,
as given above, is the nearest approach
to the Hebrew, and also brings the verse
into harmony with Messianic meaning
and purpose of Genesis 3:15. Eve be-
lieved the promise that the child of wo-
man would defeat the enemy, who had
brought ruin to her family. Naturally,
when her first baby lay in her arms,
pure and beautiful, she thought that the
promised one had come, and in this
hope she cried out: 'I have gotten a
man, even Jehovah,' that is, the One
"Into the profound soul of this woman God
sowed the seeds of a glorious faith, and by
means of it again permitted a heaven to arise
before her." -Abraham Kuyper
V. (Genesis 4:1) Eve
in the Gospel-Promise
Creator.
Believed
of Her
"Into the profound soul of this wo-
man God sowed the seeds of a glorious
faith, and by means of it again
permitted a heaven to arise before her." -
-Abraham Kuyper
Genesis 4:1 quotes Eve as saying, "I
have gotten a manchild with the help of
the Lord." In the NASV, the words,
"with the help of', are in italics
denoting that they are not in the He-
brew text, but have been added by the
English translator. However, the NASV
does not give us the most direct and
natural interpretation of Eve's state-
ment.
Edward Mack's comments help us
understand what Eve was really saying.
He wrote, in his book, THE CHRIST
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: "The
simplest rendering is with the use of
the double accusative in the second
clause, thus: 'And Adam knew Eve, his
wife, and she conceived and bare Cain,
and said, I have gotten a man, even
Jehovah.' The same construction of
verb with double accusative is found in
the sentence which immediately fol-
lows: 'And again she bore his brother,
even Abel.' If so understood in one
sentence, why not in the other?
who will be, as the Divine name may
be literally translated. Eve was right in
her faith in the great fact, that the
Deliverer would come some day just as
Cain had come, born of a woman; she
was mistaken in taking Cain to be the
fulfillment, which was to be deferred to
the fullness of time in the far distant
ages.
"Seth, the third son of Eve, was
also a child of Messianic hope. 'And
Adam knew his wife again; and she
bore a son, and called his name Seth;
for, said she, God has appointed me
another seed instead of Abel,' Genesis
4:25. From this verse it appears that
Eve, disappointed in Cain, had trans-
ferred her hope of the Promised Seed to
Abel. Abel killed, with woman's un-
yielding faith, she still hoped on; and
with the birth of a third son she held up
her hands again in petition for the
fulfillment, in token of which she
called him, 'the appointed Seed.' This
pathetic insistence of her mother-heart
is used by the Spirit of God, in such
eloquent simplicity, to show us the
saving presence of the Messianic hope
in those first days of our race. -- Each
age yearned and prayed that the Seed of
Promise might come to it. And so God
led his people on victorious over
despair, with firm faith in the Coming
Savior, from Eve to Mary." Q
The Counsel of Chalcedon Aug.-Sept., 1989 page 23