“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ Then God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food’; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (Genesis 1:26-28).
Thus is our summary of God’s creation of man, male and female. In Chapter 2, we hear a more in-depth retelling. Today, we will seek to understand femininity and womanhood based on God’s original design, as presented in Genesis 1-2. Although the Fall of Man (which we will get to in Gen. 3) changed everything, some laws are inviolable and immutable because they were given at creation when all was perfect. These laws which were given before sin entered the world, theologians have termed “Creation Ordinances.” Is there a creation ordinance for the role of man and woman? What do we find in Gen. 2? Well, read it and discover the answers with me.
Genesis 1:26-31: Inherent Equalities of Identity and Value
In Genesis 1:26, God says, “Let Us make man in Our image.” The “Us” is God–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–the eternally existing, triune God. And He says, “Let Us make ‘adam in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule….” Now, ‘adam is mankind. God says to let them, plural, mankind, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and the cattle and over all the earth and all the creeping things that creep along the ground. And God clarifies, in case we missed it, that He made man, ‘adam, in His image. In the image of God, He created them. Male and female, He created them. Three times God rephrased this for us. What point do you think He is trying to make?
Men and women are equal in their being created in God’s image, according to His likeness. They are also equal in their God-given mandate to rule, to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it. In verse 29, God provides both of them with good food.
Men and women are the same in that we seek fulfillment and search for meaning; where we must find our answers is also the same: in the God who created us. But even in paradise, men and women were uniquely created, both in the sense that they were created in unique ways and that they were created for unique purposes.
Genesis 2:7-8, 15: The Man
First, let’s see how man was created. In verse 1 of Chapter 2, we read, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.” And in verses 2-3, God rests on the seventh day and blesses it. Verse 4 goes backward and tells us: “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord made earth and heaven.”
The author says in Genesis 1-2:3, “Here is the big picture. Here is how everything was made.” Then in 2:4-24, he zeroes in on the creation of mankind and says, “And here’s exactly what it looked like…”
In English, Gen. 2:7a reads: “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground.” Using part of the original Hebrew, the sentence reads: “Then the Lord God formed ha’adam (the man) of dust ha’adamah (of the ground).” See where Adam got his name? The man, ‘adam, whom we find in Genesis 1 and 2, is so named because he came apar min ha’adamah, out of the dust of the ground. He came from the ground and was basically called “ground, land, or earth substance.” Rewind back to the broad picture in Gen. 1:26. The Hebrew word translated “make” is asah, which literally means “to do, fashion, accomplish, make; to press, squeeze” (Brown, et al.). In the first six days of creation, God spoke and there was. God said, “Let there be light,” and light was; it existed. This is the pattern from Gen. 1:3-1:25. Underline in that chapter all the times God says, “Let there be” or “Let something do” (like “Let the waters…be gathered” in Gen. 1:9). How many did you find?
Now, look at 1:26. God deviates from His previous pattern, and says, Let Us make. Let Us fashion, press, squeeze the dust of the ground, apar min ha’adamah, into man, ‘adam.
But Adam is not only “earth substance,” for God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” The Hebrew literally says that God formed Adam and “breathed into his nostrils a living breath and became man a living being, chay nephesh.”
Note: Hebrew scholars would croak because I am putting the Hebrew in English word order (chay=living, nephesh=being) and not conjugating things as the sentence requires. I wish I could; I know how to use a Lexicon but am not fluent in ancient Hebrew. So back to Genesis…
So God breathed living breath and man became chay nephesh, a living being, literally, a living soul, self, or person. Picture this! God fashions, presses, and squeezes dust of the ground until it is fashioned into man. Then He breathes into him life, which makes him a soul! Contrary to ancient Greek belief and neo-pagan belief, we are not bodies with souls or souls with bodies–our breath and bodies together make us a soul!
Look forward to Gen. 2:15, and see what God does with this newly fashioned person. “He took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” Picture this newly-created world God has made, and He says He will make man to cultivate it, which tells us that the majority of the land is wild. It is in this wilderness that God forms the man (Gen. 2:8). After Elohim has formed the man, breathes life into him, and he’s a living being, then God plants a garden and places Adam there.
Quick recap: God made Adam in order to rule over His created world (1:26-27). God fashioned Adam from the dust of the ground in the wild part of the world, then formed a garden (read tame land) and placed Adam there.
Genesis 2:18-24: The Woman
Uh oh. In Genesis 2:18, we find the first thing that is not good. It is not good for the man to be alone, God observes. So, does He tell Adam to do something about it? No, He takes it upon Himself to provide: “I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Then He creates animals and brings them to Adam to name. Another trait of the man: he was to rule over the animals and as part of ruling, he names them. But none of them are a helper suitable for him.
So God causes a deep sleep to fall on him. And as the man sleeps, the Lord takes a rib (or a side) from him, closes up the flesh, and fashions into a woman the side which He had taken from the man. And He brings her to the man. Immediately, Adam bursts into a poetic expression of excitement and passion, that here at last is bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh. He says, “This is a person, a soul, like me!” Then he names her.
Wow. We have quite a bit to unpack.
Man was created in the wilderness; woman was created in the confines of the garden.
Man was created to rule over the created world; woman was created to help him.
Their distinct roles are made clear in the garden. Woman accepts the name from the man, which indicates his authority over her. This authority is a care-taking, protecting, guiding love. In the same way that Adam was to cultivate the ground and make it produce life, he was to have an intense relationship with this woman in which she supports him in his work, and he cultivates her soul and makes it produce life.
Woman was created for the man. She was created to accomplish God’s purposes with him. That’s why I prayed so long for a man like Andrew, with whom I can serve the Lord and help accomplish His purposes through being a help suitable, an ezer kenegdo.
Before you close this window because “help meet” makes your insides quiver, please read the following definitions of “meet” or “suitable.” This is the help woman was created to be, a help: “corresponding to, parallel to, opposite.” Even sexually, the woman’s body corresponds to, is opposite, and yet parallels a man’s body. Our being opposite should not be a cause for warring but rather for lifting up. Our differences help us correspond. Two puzzle pieces that are the same can never make a complete picture. You have to have two opposite, corresponding pieces. But we must parellel our husbands; we must be going in the same direction. What direction is your husband going in? What direction are you going in? Do you consider your paths to be two separate people who live together, or do you have an over-arching vision for your life, your one life together?
I’ll draw some more practical applications next time. For now, I’ll leave you with a poem I wrote shortly after I met Andrew. I am praying for you that God will open your heart to hear truth from His word. I am praying that you will see femininity as beautiful and that you will embrace the person, the self, the soul, God specifically designed you to be. Your being made a woman is not an accident; God has specific purposes for your life that necessitated your being made female. Ask God what it means to be a woman. Ask Him how to redeem your perception of womanhood. I’m praying, too.
Male and Female He Created Them
You are of earth, strong and rugged
I am of flesh, gently crafted
You are the sun’s brightest rays
I am the moon reflecting your grace
You are an ocean, untamable, wild
I am your shore, accepting and mild
We are so unlike and yet I know
The rhythm to the dance within your soul
I know your song playing in the breeze
For I am the harmony to your melody
I think of you often and am anxious to meet
This man whose heart my heart completes
ishsha 