Your desire shall be for your husband

And he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16b). To say in another way what we said in the last mediation, the statement “he shall rule over you” would be the reality in a fallen world where the yeast of the Kingdom had yet to permeate (Matthew 13:33). Man dominating woman is not part of God's plan to bring the rule of God to earth as it was in paradise (Matthew 6:10). In paradise Adam and Eve ruled together over creation, not over each other. But what are we to make of “Your desire shall be for your husband?”

The commentators do not agree on what this means. Part of the confusion is that the Hebrew word translated here as “desire,” occurs only in two other places, and does so with different meanings. The first is Genesis 4:7 which reads “if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” God was warning Cain that his anger was wanting to control him. If this is the sense of the word here in Genesis 3:16, it means that Eve's desire would be to control Adam, but in stead he would rule over her.

The only other occurrence of the word is in Songs 7:10 where comes in the context of the honeymoon stage of King Solomon's love for the Shulamite. It reads “I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.” This is not just sexual intimacy however, though it certainly includes it. In fact Songs is quite raunchy at times, even instructing us on foreplay (2:6)! It is significant however, that the very next verse admonishes “Do not stir up nor awaken love, until the time is right” (Berean Study Bible). The point is that sex engaged in too soon can sabotage a relationship. In particular, as we were saying in earlier if the time is not right (i.e. in marriage) then the friendship love (phileo), is stunted by sexual love (eros). And is is here that the two meanings of the Hebrew come together. True intimacy is nurtured over time, and within the pseudo hyper sexual love that so dominates the West true intimacy (body, soul and spirit), it is largely absent. In the Jewish context, the (at least) year long betrothal with abstinence, had the benefit of increasing longing resulting in true intimacy. And to do this, while at same time, taming the beast of lust without which, it inevitably eclipses the deeper intimacy.

Emotions, longing and desire, in and of themselves, are neutral. They become sinful however when, for example, we allow anger to turn to rage, and attraction to lust. As with Cain we must master them. Brain research has show that emotions and thoughts come together as a package, and that every thought has an emotion attached to it. When we obsess it amplifies the emotion. So then in order to take control of our emotions, we need to take our thoughts captive unto obedience to the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Father, emotions out of control do not bring the Kingdom. Paul tells that those who are Christ’s have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). When we do our part in, by the Spirit, putting to death the deeds and desires of the sinful nature (Romans 8:13), You do yours! You even change our desires (Philippians 2:12, 13). For these and many other things we give You thanks and praise in Jesus Name Amen

The yeast of Kingdom come on earth

The perceived teaching of the Bible on the woman's and other issues are red flags to our culture, but it's widely misunderstood. We are only now beginning to understand the ancient texts in context. One huge misunderstanding is that not every admonition is for all times, and all circumstances. Moral commands don't change, cultural ones might. If Paul's command concerning men's hair was for all time, how come the Nazarite vow required men to let their hair grow? There are many examples, do women need to wear hats in church (1 Corinthians 11:14, 6; Numbers 6:5)?

The primary mandate of the disciple is to cooperate with God in bringing in the Kingdom of God (Mathew 28:19, 20). Kingdom come is revolutionary,  and if we don't see this, we have misunderstood Scripture. Cunningham and Hamilton's “Why Not Women?” is helpful with respect to women's issues. Kingdom come is revolutionary, but it doesn't promote violent revolution. Jesus told that the one who lives by the sword shall die by the sword (Matthew 26:52). In other words violence promotes violence.

Kingdom principles and practices are very different from the World's. The picture is of yeast working its way through the lump (Matthew 13:33). Kingdom yeast does not address the problems head on, and change comes only gradually as hearts are changed. Consider slavery. It would be easy to make a (false) case that the Bible endorses it.  But if we love our neighbour as ourselves, we'll set slaves free wherever possible (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31). The yeast of the abolition of slavery is contained in this commandment.

William Wilberforce worked the yeast of the Kingdom for the abolition of slavery through his speeches in Britain's Parliament. It was a life long battle. Similarly it was the yeast of the Kingdom working though the suffragettes a hundred years ago, that lead peacefully to a women's right to vote.  “Kingdom come” reforms things, rather than tearing them down.  When things are not done in a Kingdom way however, things inevitably finish up going overboard.  Far too often in the World, the oppressed become the oppressor. Surely Wilberforce's way, was preferable to the carnage of America's abolitionist war. And it's still not settled today! Violence promotes violence, and hatred promotes hatred. And this is exactly what we have in the West in the tyranny of radical race ideology, and in the extremes of the women's movement. There is  much hatred of men in general, and masculinity in and of itself is said to be toxic. To be sure violence against women and gays is still very much a problem, and yes there are inequities in all these arenas, but if we don't follow Kingdom principles in reformation, things will always go too far.

The Kingdom is all about changing and winning hearts, and bringing peace. A key principle, if not the key principle, is forgiveness.  And if there is to be peace, the victim has to be the better person. It's a hard lesson to hear when you've been abused, but while we are not responsible for the wrong done against us, we are responsible for our response to the wrong done. Even harder to hear is that if we don't forgive, neither will we be forgiven (Matthew 6:14). But as King David came to realize, the one we have all offended and sinned against the most, is God (Psalm 51:4).

Father, we pray Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us grace to do our part Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Male female equality: Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.

“The LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam ... He took one of his ribs, and made it into a woman. And Adam said: 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh'” (Genesis 2:21-23)

The Bible gets short shrift when it comes to woman's issues, but too often we fail to see its positive radical nature that spoke to the cultures into which they were written. In particular we need to see this story as a polemic (a corrective) to cultures far and wide, ancient and modern. My main source here is Cunningham and Hamilton's “Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership.” While their work discusses the attitudes and practices of ancient Greece, I have no doubt they are similar to those of cultures into which Genesis was written.

Our growing knowledge of ancient Greece does not paint a pretty picture. It was one of the most woman-hating civilizations in all history! In particular, it would be hard to find a society that so elevated one sex, and subjugated the other. The poet Homer cast the die for beliefs and practices for thousands of years to come. In 'The Iliad' we learn that women were considered to be the cause of all conflict and suffering. They had no value however, they were mere possessions to be won, and pawns in men’s power plays. Things progressed negatively from there. Roman law gave the husband the right to kill his wife for either adultery or drunkenness. In the light of this, we need to see the positive radical nature of Biblical teaching. Cunningham and Hamilton's book is a must read in terms of understanding this!

A huge source of influence on beliefs and practice in ancient Greece were the gods, and their attitudes and practices filtered down into the culture. Zeus not only beat his goddess wife Hera, he had offspring with at least seven other goddesses. Hera of course was expected to be faithful. The Greek poets Semonides and Hesiod emphasized the separate origins of men and women, saying that women were a divine curse, originating from a sow, a donkey, or some other despised animal.

Over against this, Genesis paints a picture of shared origins. Created from Adam's rib, Eve is of the same exact flesh and bones. The Genesis 2 account, is an elaboration of the overview in Genesis 1:27, where we read that God created both male and female. Before Eve was created, it was not good for man to be alone (2:18). Only afterwards was creation declared to be very good (1:31). Her arrival transformed Eden into paradise! Matthew Henry comments “woman was made of a rib, out of the side of Adam; not out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” Adam and Eve were created equal, and we need to see here in the very beginning of the inspired Scriptures, the seeds of the emancipation of women. There is much to say!

 

Father, thank You for scholars who can give us insight into things we have likely missed. Again Genesis before the fall is the goal. Help us Lord, we have a long way to go, and we need Your help in Jesus Name Amen