What is a woman? The confusion over the answer to this question in recent times has astounded many who think they know. Or those who can’t answer the question at all. And this begs the question: does anyone really know? Is it a mystery? Who can unravel the mystery of woman?
Only One who has the authority.
In the last blog, we answered the question by considering who has the right to define a woman? I hope you saw the obvious answer there; the One who created woman gets to define her! He is the final authority about and over her. So now we will peer back through time to the actual creation of woman to get some idea of what God had in mind when He created the first woman. Our conclusions are guaranteed to be helpful by virtue of the fact that what God reveals is truth. However, what we can discover from the Biblical text is not exhaustive. There is an element of mystery to it.
The mystery of woman.
We will see that God has not revealed the details of all that occurred. It is profoundly beautiful and mysterious. Still, there is much He lets us see. Let us go back and see all that God will show us about her.
18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 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. Genesis 2:18-19
It was not good that man should be alone.
We observe:
This is the first “not good” in the creation account. Therefore, her creation was very important and very good, implied by what God said about how He created her.
She was created to be a helper comparable to Adam.
We observe:
God created her to be a helper, and not only that, but comparable to the one she was created to help. God created her capable for the job. Why is this?
Reading back in Genesis 1:27, we learn that the man and the woman were spiritual equals. Both were made in God’s image. This makes them both equally unique in all creation.
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
However, though they are the same species with the same unique place in creation, we see something else:
The man and the woman are not the same.
God created her from the man; God did not create the man from her. She was created uniquely as his helper. This is a critical point. It would be God’s prerogative to make them two identical creatures if He wanted to, but clearly He did not. God saw aloneness in Adam and He graciously gave it the in creation of someone who was part of him, yet different from him.
So how did this come about?
This is some of what we know of the mystery:
21 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. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Genesis 2:21-22
There were no other humans to witness this. God of course was there, and maybe some angels, and the animals. And maybe an Enemy. Bur more about that later.
The Holy Spirit who inspired sacred scripture has revealed as much as is good for us to know. We don’t know exactly how God opened Adam up, how he removed his rib, how He closed up his body after. We don’t have details in this passage what He did to the rib to fashion it into the first female human being.
Meanwhile, Adam was in a deep sleep. He had no say and apparently was not even a witness in the creation of the Woman.
What we can observe about her:
God did not create her in the same way He created Adam, from the dust of the ground. God fashioned the woman from Adam. We don’t see yet many of the differences between them.
Then God brought her to the man (v22).
What Adam observed about the mystery of the woman:
23 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.” Genesis 2:23
Though he had been asleep the whole time, somehow he knew she was “bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh”.
He named her, as he had named the animals, but her name was not based upon what he thought might be cute. Her name was based on how God had created her. God created the Woman from man.
God instituted marriage at creation.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
This is the first marriage; the joining together of one man and one woman as one flesh.
We see that marriage is perpetual in the human race. We know this because Adam and the Woman had no parents. They are our first parents in a long line of parents whose children would marry and then leave to establish their own families. God founded marriage to go down through the generations.
How amazing that God took a rib out of the man, made a woman out of it, and then joined the woman back to the man in a one-flesh union! It is breathtakingly beautiful and yes, mysterious!
Furthermore, God gave them jobs!
8 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:8
The man and the woman were to have dominion (rule) on the earth and fill the earth with their children. We will see how God made them co-laborers, using their different gifts to accomplish His purposes. So that is where we will leave it today but…
Stay tuned for more revelations about the mystery of the woman!
The whole Bible gives us increasing glimpses of the mystery of woman. We will learn more of the story of God’s purpose in creating women. Coming up, we will see how through sin, woman fell from her dignity and stature. However, there is great hope in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
it is plain from scripture that God is, over both man and woman, a redeeming saving God by nature.
God did not forget the woman. The fact that the woman would miss the mark in devastating ways did not change God.
Knowing what is to come in Genesis 3, let the revelations to come give us great reason to hope.
Application: How does this apply to you?
As you read about the purpose God assigned to woman at creation, are you willing to accept God’s authority in creating you and designing you the way He did?
For Single Women:
It is understandable that some of this could be perplexing for the never married, divorced or widowed women. We will address this more going forward. Just be assured that no matter what your circumstances, there are ways to serve and glorify God in accordance with the way He created women!
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