God's Daughters: The Creation of Woman

The world wasn't perfect to begin with.

When God created the world, He saw that everything He had created - everything He had breathed and spoken into existence - was good. And yet, something was amiss in this new, unblemished universe. There was only one thing that gave Him displeasure: the human He had formed with His own hands was alone.

The very first problem.

We all know this story. Next, God brought before Adam all the creatures that had been made. Adam was given the task of naming them all, but none were found to be a suitable partner for him. I don't believe that this was ignorance or innocence on God's part. He knew that He alone could create a match for Adam. I believe that Adam needed to realize this.

At this point in many translations, God says something about creating a helper for Adam. I love Dr. Friedman's translation: "And YHWH God said, 'It's not good for the human to be by himself. I'll make for him a strength corresponding to him'" (emphasis mine).

This completely changes the way we look at the first woman. She wasn't created just to be a servant to the man. She was created to be a strength to him. Please understand what I'm saying: I am not forgetting that we are called to serve each other in Christ. I am simply trying to combat those who have downplayed woman's role. A woman is not a maid, meant to be at the beck and call of her husband. She has a unique role to play that cannot and should not be disdained.

Adam had to realize that there was nothing else on earth that could fill that longing for companionship. No matter how much apes may resemble us, Adam knew that he could not lend his strength to (i.e. perform husbandly duties) and, in turn, be strengthened by such a creature. (For the record, I don't have anything against apes.)

Eve was God's final handiwork in the formation process. She was the grand finale and the culmination of creation. John MacArthur says this: "Adam was refined dirt; Eve was a glorious refinement of humanity itself." God had made for Adam exactly what he needed and wanted.

I want to point out that God did not just create Eve for Adam. God knew that Adam alone could not represent God's image. God is not a man, so how could one man do justice to God's image? Our heavenly Father knew that femininity was also needed to complete the picture. I would suggest that God knew all along that He needed two humans to embody His image on earth, so He created Adam for Eve and Eve for Adam.

It is important to note that men and women are created differently but not unequally. From the beginning, our roles have been designed to complement each other. This has been an issue of contention since the dawn of humanity. God recognized the need for both masculinity and femininity. Neither was meant to dominate the other. I'm sure you've all heard the old saying - God took woman from man's side, not to rule over him or to be under his rule, but to walk beside him and be his partner. Our differences should emphasize the fact that we need to work together.

Men were created as physically stronger beings. Some women take great offense to this, but it is true in most of the world. I would ask this question: Do you think Adam was longing for someone exactly like himself? Or do you think he was pleased by her feminine curves, the hair cascading down her back, and those softly batting eyelashes? (This is not intended to be a discussion on homosexuality, so please don't take it as such - that's a different issue altogether.) Men and women each represent a part of God's image. Women may not have the same form as men, but we have different strengths.

I love what John MacArthur says on this subject: "Feminism has devalued and defamed femininity. Natural gender distinctions are usually downplayed, dismissed, despised, or denied. As a result, women are now being sent into combat situations, subjected to grueling physical labor once reserved for men, exposed to all kinds of indignities in the workplace, and otherwise encouraged to act and talk like men. Meanwhile, modern feminists heap scorn on women who want family and household to be their first priorities - disparaging the role of motherhood, the one calling that is most uniquely and exclusively feminine. The whole message of feminist egalitarianism is that there is really nothing extraordinary about women."

This attitude that women must act like men in order to be "equal" downplays the very creation of women in the first place. Our differences are okay. Women should celebrate the fact that we are different from men rather than despising it. When a woman chooses to stay at home, why do we call her just a housewife? I'm not saying that women shouldn't work or that women who choose to work are unfit mothers. I just want to put things in perspective. We are not men. We are women. Let's revel in our femininity, ladies!

There are several books I would love to recommend if you are curious about this subject. Lisa Bevere has wonderful books about the roles of women and femininity. Fight Like a Girl, Nurture, and Lioness Arising are all worthy reads, and Lisa speaks much more eloquently on the subject than I ever could. I also love John MacArthur's book, Twelve Extraordinary Women, which tells the stories of some of the exceptional women of God featured in His word.



Works used:

Friedman, Richard E. (2001). Commentary on the Torah with a New English Translation and the Hebrew Text. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

MacArthur, John. (2005). Twelve Extraordinary Women. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.