Lesson Aim: To show man's need of woman and to encourage his respect for her.

Monday: Genesis 2:18-25, Genesis 1:31
Tuesday: I Corinthians 7:4, I Corinthians 11:8-9
Wednesday: Ephesians 5:23-24, Colossians 3:18, I Peter 3:1-6
Thursday: Ephesians 5:25, 28, 33, Colossians 3:19, I Peter 3:7
Friday: Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:1-4, Colossians 3:20-21
Saturday: Matthew 19:5-9, Mark 10:6-8, Ephesians 5:31, I Corinthians 16:6, Hebrews 13:4
Sunday: I Corinthians 14:33, Philippians 2:3, James 3:14-18, James 1:25, James 4:7, John 13:17

LESSON OUTLINE

I. MAN WITHOUT A MATE IS INCOMPLETE.

A. It is God who declared that man needs a companion. (Genesis 2:18)

1. Not only did God say that it is "not good that the man should be alone," He also said, "I will make him an help meet for him."

"Help meet" is from the Hebrew word Ezer (ay'zer) meaning "aid."¹ The woman was to be a helper or suitable aide for the man.

2. In the reproductive process, the male (man) contributes 24 genes and the female (woman) contributes 24 genes. A complete human cell requires 48 genes. Mankind could not survive without both male and female. One without the other is literally incomplete.

3. Sexual needs involve more than reproduction. There are passions and emotional needs. True sexuality necessitates an intertwining of love. Apart from one of the opposite sex, the male as well as the female is incapable of fully satisfying his own sexual needs. "The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife," I Corinthians 7:4.

From the beginning, God established the place of sexual fulfillment to be between male and female in monogamous marriage, never in a homosexual relationship. Those who embrace sexual positions counter to male/female relationships in mutual love and marriage are doomed to frustration and a lack of fulfillment and true happiness.

B. A companion to complete man can only come from a mate of the opposite sex. (Genesis 2:19-20)

1. To impress upon Adam (and all men) the impossibility of man finding a mate or suitable companion to complete him from among the animal kingdom, God brought a great number of animals to Adam for personal observation. Apparently they came in male and female pairs.²

2. In addition to naming these animals, which is a great testimonial to the intelligence of Adam and the fact that he was not some backward being barely out of a cave and only slightly separated from apes, Adam perceived that there was "not found an help meet for him."

3. A qualified helper for Adam would require a being of like nature to himself. This Biblical account is a clear refutation of the concept of evolution. If Adam had evolved from a lower animal, he could easily have found a mate among his "animal cousins," but such was not the case. Man is not a part of the animal kingdom and therefore cannot find true and full companionship in any animal.

C. Without woman on the scene, the overall condition on earth was "not good." (Genesis 2:18)

1. The use of "not good" by God in Genesis 2:18 is not in contradiction to His declarations at the end of the days of creation in Genesis 1 that "it was good." "Not good" is a statement of the fact that God had not yet finished His work. All He had done to this point was good, but He had not finished the job.³

2. God’s statement in Genesis 1:31 that "it was very good" was not made until the end of day six, after the Woman had been made.

3. Let every person, who would act or speak despairingly of his mate, remember the eternal truth of God that male/female companionship is of God, and all, who lack it, are incomplete.

II. A QUALIFIED HELPER TO COMPLETE MAN REQUIRED A SPECIAL CREATIVE ACT OF GOD. (Genesis 2:21-22)

A. To make the female, God put Adam into a deep sleep and took a rib from him.

1. One might have expected that God would simply have taken more dust and formed it into the female (Eve), even in like manner as He made the male (Adam). Such was not the case. God took a part of the man and made woman from that part. By this action, God forever tied the woman to the man. His life would be her life. She would have to have him to be complete even as he must have her to be complete. Lesbianism and women’s liberation concepts were never the plan of God. (I Corinthians 11:8-9)

2. In this first surgical operation, God took a "rib" from Adam and formed it into a woman. In the Hebrew, "rib" is tsela meaning "a side" or " a door or chamber."⁴ From Adam, God took bone, flesh and blood. Adam thus declared, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh," Genesis 2:23. In all other cases, man has been born of woman. In the first case, woman was personally built by God from a man.

3. The petty objection to this text that man does not have one less rib than woman is totally invalid. God’s taking of a rib from Adam would have left him with an acquired characteristic even as one who might lose an arm or other body member. Acquired characteristics are not transmitted to offsprings. The fact is that outcome of the offspring is determined and controlled by the genetic code of the parents, not by acquired characteristics.

This observable fact is a great refutation of the concept of evolution which contends that under certain circumstances plants and animals randomly acquire characteristics or adaptations which they pass on to their offsprings. According to the position, these gradual changes lead to new and more complex species.

B. The spiritual ramifications of the creation of woman are profound.

1. Though He could have done so, God did not take a part from Adam’s head. By His action at the beginning, God made it clear that woman is not to rule over man. (Ephesians 5:23-24, Colossians 3:18, I Peter 3:1-6)

2. On the other hand, God could have made the woman from a bone from Adam’s foot. Here at the beginning, God made it clear that man is never to trod woman under foot. She is not inferior to him and he is never to treat her with any type of superiority attitude. (Ephesians 5:25,28,33, Colossians 3:19, I Peter 3:7)

3. God took a part from man’s side and made the woman from it. Woman is to be man’s "help meet," an aide sufficient to meet his needs, his completer. He is to treat her as his equal, as that which is nearest to his heart, with tenderness and compassion, and with the purest and deepest love.

III. GOD’S FIRST SOCIAL INSTITUTION WAS MARRIAGE. (Genesis 2:24)

A. The family unit, which is established in marriage, is society’s most fundamental and essential building block.

1. Not only does the Genesis 2:21-24 text show the home to be a place of mutual love and respect, it is also obvious that it is to be a place of authority and instruction. The long infancy and helplessness of humans require careful protection and training by parents. The primary place where these are to be provided is the home. (Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:1-4, Colossians 3:20-21)

2. Those who by-pass the home in favor of polygamous, common-law and other relationships outside the monogamous home, not only damage their children and all of society, they also cheat themselves of true fulfillment and happiness. (James 1:25, James 4:17, John 13:17) Marriage is where true fulfillment and happiness is. (Hebrews 13:4)

B. In marriage, a man and a woman are to become one. (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5-6, Mark 10:6-8, Ephesians 5:31)

1. We know from I Corinthians 6:16 that the "one flesh" of Genesis 2:24 is a specific reference to the sex act, yet the overall teachings of scripture make it clear that in marriage, two are to become one in spirit, soul and body.

2. In marriage, two lives should merge into one sphere. Achieving that status requires extensive yielding and submission on the part of both marriage mates. Co-operation, compatibility, having all in common, the mutual sharing of time, of talent and of treasures in an environment of willing submission, mutual respect, love and peace is where fulfillment and joy in marriage is. This was the intent of God from the beginning.

3. "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace...," I Corinthians 14:33. Marriage conflict and divorce are rooted in strife and division. These are not of God. (Philippians 2:3, James 3:14-18) In His commentary on the making of Eve and the marriage union, Jesus said the union was intended to be permanent. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder," Matthew 19:6. Speaking specifically of divorce, He said, "In the beginning it was not so," Matthew 19:8. He went on to say in Matthew 19:9 that divorce happens, but such was not the original intent of God. Every person entering marriage should enter only with the intent of permanence.

4. Also, here in the initiation of the marriage relationship and the home, God established the sovereignty and independence of each home. Genesis 2:24 says, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother..." Though all people are to honor their parents throughout their lives, at marriage mates are removed from the direct authority of their parents and become directly accountable to God for their own newly formed home.⁶

It cannot be denied that the thinking expressed in this Genesis text on marriage is from God. Adam, having been created only hours before, could have known nothing of a father or mother except by revelation from God.⁷ God, not man, is the author of marriage and its related concepts as expressed in Genesis 2:23-24.

FOOTNOTES

1. Strong, James, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, New York: Abingdon Press, 1958, page 87, reference 5828.

2. Morris, Henry, The Genesis Record, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976, page 98.

3. Ibid., page 95.

4. Strong, page 100, reference 6763.

5. Morris, pages 98-99.

6. Hutson, Lester, Christian Family Principles, Houston: Berean Publications, 1981, pages 100-106.

SUMMARY

A man without a mate is incomplete. Man not only needs a female companion to reproduce himself, he cannot know true fulfillment and happiness apart from companionship. It is God who first observed that "it is not good that man should be alone," and the making of woman was God’s idea.

Woman was made by God to be a helper for man. In the marriage relationship, man and wife up-build each other. "Help meet" means " a suitable aid." Sexuality is a complex phenomenon. In mates, it not only involves a physical oneness, it also involves spiritual and emotional oneness. Since physical reproduction requires mutual genetic input from both the male and the female, neither male nor female has power to propagate life apart from the opposite sex. Yet, for sexuality to be complete and fulfilling, it must involve love and meet the emotional and spiritual needs of the participants. In recognition of the mutual need of man for woman and woman for man, the Bible says, "The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife," I Corinthians 7:4.

Before He created Eve, God emphasized the fact that man can never find a suitable companion for himself from the animal kingdom. Only in the person of a being like unto himself can man find true companionship. Before making Eve, God brought many pairs of animals to Adam. He named them, which attests to his highly developed intellectual ability, and he also observed that in all of the animal kingdom, there was no being suitable to be his companion.

A companion suitable for man required a special creative act of God. The creation was "not good" (incomplete, unfinished) until it was done. God put Adam into a deep sleep and opened his side from which He took a rib. In Hebrew, "a rib" is "side." This "rib" from Adam involved flesh and blood, as well as bone, as Adam stated in Genesis 2:23. The first woman literally received her life from man whereas men now receive their lives from women.

Some have scorned and discounted the Genesis account of the making of woman from man’s rib by pointing out that men today do not have one less rib than women. Those who advance such an argument expose their ignorance of the fact that acquired characteristics are not passed on to one’s offspring. The condition of one’s offspring is genetically controlled. This fact is a great contradiction to the concept of evolution, which contends that over long ages, plants and animals tend to acquire certain characteristics, which they pass onto their offspring. Adam’s acquired rib deficiency would have had no impact on Eve or Adam’s offspring from her.

The manner in which God made woman communicates a strong message regarding the relationship between a man and his wife. God took a bone from Adam’s side and made Eve from it. He did not take a bone from the foot or from the head. The clear message is that man is not to rule over the woman as inferior and woman is not to dominate the man. The two are to be equal in marriage, the man having the power of authority and the woman having the power of influence. Marriage is to be marked by yielding, selflessness, co-operation, teamwork, love, tenderness and mutual support. Oneness in spirit, soul and body is where true marriage fulfillment is.

QUESTIONS

1. Who decided that man needs a companion?

2. From a physical standpoint, why is a mate for man essential to the continuance of human life?

3. Apart from reproduction considerations, how is a person without a mate incomplete?

4. Discuss the terms "help meet."

5. How did God impress upon Adam the futility of finding a mate from among the beings in the animal kingdom?

6. Discuss the intellectual capacity as manifested by his naming of the animals.

7. Discuss the statement of Genesis 2:18 that it was "not good."

8. How did God forever tie woman’s dependence to man?

9. Discuss the words "a rib" in light of the Hebrew definition.

10. Discuss Adam’s statement that Eve was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.

11. In light of God’s surgical procedure on Adam, what is an "acquired characteristic"?

12. Are acquired characteristics passed on from parents to offspring?

13. How are characteristics of parents passed on to their children?

14. Explain the obvious and glaring contradiction to the concept of evolution presented by the inability of parents to transmit acquired characteristics to their offspring.

15. In the making of Eve, how did God establish the fact that a man is never to "trod under foot" his wife?

16. In the making of Eve, how did God establish the fact that a woman is never to dominate her husband?

17. By making Eve from Adam’s rib, what did God suggest the emotional relationship between a man and wife should be?

18. Discuss the first social institution established by God.

19. Discuss the fact that the first marriage was monogamous, heterosexual and permanent.