Introducing my third series for 2023, "Women Of The Bible!" I thought it would be a good place to start with the very first woman ever created- Eve.
In this series I plan to take a look at different female characters we meet in the Bible and highlight some nuggets of truth and observations from their real life highs and lows. This series will come with Scriptures, poetry verses, points for reflection and insight afterwards.
I hope these words and videos can help us learn from both their positive and negative traits which the Bible never seeks to hide from us. Hearing about their challenges, successes and failures encourages us and I pray this poetry series helps us to relate to just some of the many fascinating ladies we meet in God's Word.
May it aid us with the practical application of Biblical wisdom in our lives and draw us closer to God as we learn about some of history's most intriguing women!
Women Of The Bible- Eve
Genesis 2:20-3:7
“So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
And Adam said:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”
"Women of the Bible. So many to perceive!In this series I plan to take a look at different female characters we meet in the Bible and highlight some nuggets of truth and observations from their real life highs and lows. This series will come with Scriptures, poetry verses, points for reflection and insight afterwards.
I hope these words and videos can help us learn from both their positive and negative traits which the Bible never seeks to hide from us. Hearing about their challenges, successes and failures encourages us and I pray this poetry series helps us to relate to just some of the many fascinating ladies we meet in God's Word.
May it aid us with the practical application of Biblical wisdom in our lives and draw us closer to God as we learn about some of history's most intriguing women!
Women Of The Bible- Eve
Genesis 2:20-3:7
“So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
And Adam said:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”
Let’s start at the beginning and take a look at Eve.
The Lord had said it wasn’t good for man to be alone
And so designed the woman, a gift of flesh and bone.
Created in perfection and straight from Adam’s side,
Equal to her husband yet unique to be his bride.
United in their partnership, a pairing like no other.
Fashioned in God’s image, they were joined with one another.
Brought into existence to thrive within their union,
To get to know their Maker and enjoy His sweet communion.
Eve was wife and mother, the first in all Creation.
She also was the first to turn her focus to temptation.
Seeking to be spiritual, she heeded Satan’s voice.
Deceived, she ate the fruit and thereby made a woeful choice.
Confusing Eve with whispered lies and pulling her away,
He undermined the Word of God with, “Did God really say?”
Placing doubt within her mind, a crafty place to start.
Questioning God’s Word, he put distrust within her heart.
Taking God’s protective words and positive command,
Rephrasing things, he made them seem a negative demand.
Lies that seek to tear us down, they’re lines that we’ve all heard!
Attacking the Authority and meaning of God’s Word.
When Satan’s dark, deceptive speech comes slithering my way,
May I turn no ear but cling to what the Scriptures say!"
2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Hebrews 4:12
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Points For Reflection And Insight
I really love the story of Creation and especially the creation of Eve. It’s such a beautiful picture with so many lovely things to be seen within it. We see how Adam recognised that in all God’s created things, there was nothing that was equal to him among the animal kingdom. Adam had named all of the creatures God had created but only he was created in God’s image and likeness. He recognised that as a human with a spirit, he was set apart from the rest of Creation.
We also see that Adam didn’t stress or fret over the matter of “finding a wife.” He simply rested in the Lord as God took care to provide for Adam, in His perfect way. I also love the details we’re given about how God created the first woman. There’s a beautiful Jewish tradition that says,
“God made woman, not out of man’s foot to be under him, nor out of his head to be over him, but she was taken from under his arm that he might protect her and from next to his heart that he might love her.”
It’s such a caring, beautiful picture of the first man and his bride. It’s interesting to note that the first Adam gained his bride through the wounds of his own body. Jesus, who is referred to in the Bible as “The Last Adam,” also gained His Bride through the wounds of His body. It was through His death on the Cross that the Bride of Christ was won by Her Bridegroom for eternity. It’s amazing to think that here, in chapter two of Genesis, we already have a picture of Christ and His Bride.
The story of Adam and Eve is such a unique one as we hear about the first humans ever created and from whom the whole human race has descended. We also hear about how sin came into the world through Adam and Eve and the fall to temptation. As we know, being tempted isn’t a sin, it’s how we respond to that temptation that determines the outcome.
We also know that none of us would have fared any better, given the same circumstances. Adam and Eve were “hot off the press” so-to-speak and they were perfect. They still fell short however as their free-will allowed them to choose to disobey God. If the very best people ever created couldn’t resist temptation, we know we wouldn’t have done any better.
In my poetry verses, I draw attention to the fact that Eve was deceived by the devil who spoke to her through the original form of the serpent. God hadn’t commanded Eve directly not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He had given this command to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17. Those verses read,
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
The death being referred to here is spiritual death and the separation that comes from rebelling against God. Physical death would also follow eventually but God is speaking of the spiritual death Adam would experience on that day as a result of his disobedience.
Romans chapter 5 speaks at length about how sin came into the world and death through sin, by one man. Verses 12-21 show us how death came directly through Adam and in contrast, how eternal life comes through Jesus Christ. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus is referred to as “The Last Adam,” showing us that the responsibility for the fall of mankind lies with Adam, not Eve. Romans 5:18-19 clearly summarise the point by saying,
“Therefore, as through one man’s offence judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
With the responsibility of mankind’s fall lying with Adam through his act of disobedience, this is why I draw attention to Eve being deceived. This is highlighted in the Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 3:11 where he says,
“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
There is much we can learn from Eve’s actions and attitude that day in the Garden of Eden. Too much for me to go into fully just now but we can certainly draw out some key elements that might be worth noting.
We can take a look at Eve’s life and see from the Scriptures that she really does have a perfect existence! She’s blessed with a wonderful marriage, idyllic surroundings and enjoys close fellowship with her Creator on a daily basis. Her every need is met and yet somehow her focus is still pulled aside and she finds herself desiring more.
We see in Genesis 3:1 the devil’s first attack against the things of God and he instantly starts with an attack on God’s Word. The statement, “Has God indeed said…” is such a common undermining and twisting of Scripture that we hear so often in our own lives. If the devil can successfully undermine the validity of Scripture in a person’s heart then he can do a lot of damage in that person’s life.
I think it’s important to note here that questioning God’s Word isn’t in itself a bad thing. After all, the Bible tells us in Isaiah 1:18,
“‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord.”
God doesn’t ask us to leave our brains at the door. We’re meant to digest the Scriptures, wrestle with them and mull things over. When we read the Word and allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, we’ll come away understanding God better, knowing Him better and with a clearer picture of His will for our lives.
Scripture encourages us to delve into God’s Word because truth doesn’t mind being questioned. It will always be able to stand firm under questioning and truth will always hold up under scrutiny.
Sifting through God’s Word for ourselves isn’t discouraged. Trouble only comes when we start to believe the lies of the devil and doubt the truth of God’s Word. We begin to fall afoul of the enemy’s attacks when we get our eyes off of the things of God and instead go seeking after the lusts of the flesh while twisting the Scriptures to try and accommodate our sin.
We can see from Eve that stepping outside of the will of God and His commandments whilst trying to find a way to excuse our actions only leads to sorrow. Doubting what God has said and trying to do things that go against the Scriptures is a foolish thing to do.
As I mentioned earlier, being tempted isn’t in itself a sin, it’s how we respond to that temptation that’s important. We know from Hebrews 4:15 that Jesus was tempted, just as we are yet He was without sin. What we also see from Matthew 4:1-11 is that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil, He responded each time by quoting Scripture. Every time temptation was placed before Him, He replied, “It is written…”
Looking at Eve’s response to temptation in the Garden of Eden and comparing it to Christ’s response to temptation in the wilderness, we can see a few helpful things. The first thing to do when temptation comes our way is respond with Scripture! We must use God’s Word in our lives. God’s Word is the source of all truth. It’s powerful, active and cuts through lies like a two-edged sword. When we turn to the Word of God in the midst of a battle, we win!
The second thing we can learn from Eve is to embrace where we’re planted. It can be so easy to become dissatisfied with even the most wonderful things! If we’re not careful we can become ungrateful for what God has blessed us with and start looking at the things we don’t have or wish we had. Too readily we can allow our focus to shift and before we know it we’re letting our lusts lead us in the wrong direction. If God has placed us in a certain place then that is where He wants to use us for His glory.
The third thing we can learn from Eve is to believe God and don’t doubt. It’s good to remember that God’s ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not like our thoughts. If He has given us boundaries or commandments according to His wisdom and knowledge, then we know they are worthy to be trusted.
By all means we must explore God’s Word and open up the meanings of what is being said but if anything attempts to undermine the Authority of the Bible then it’s a lie and must be cast aside as such. God’s Word is there to help us, guide and protect us. The next time we hear the lies of enemy whisper in our ears, “Did God really say…” may we not doubt like Eve. Rather, may we confidently affirm like Jesus did, “It is written.”
Some helpful questions to ask ourselves might be:
Where is my focus today?
Am I resting in the things God has given me or am I looking to things I wish I had?
Am I content where God has put me and allowing my life to be used as a witness for Him in this place?
Do I trust God’s wisdom and plan for my life or am I trying to go against Scripture and do things my own way?
Whatever our answers are to those questions today, may we draw close to our Creator in this moment. May we trust His Word which does not return void, apply it to each situation we face in life and allow our lives to be used for His glory!
