The Bible: One Bite at a Time Expository Sermon Series Notes Genesis to The Revelation Sid Galloway © 1999

Day Six: Continued ...Genesis 2:21-23 "Man the Glory of God - Woman the Glory of Man"

Tape # 14 - Jan 23, 2000         (Notes Updated ..... March 2, 2000)
(Some images are from http://www.answersingenesis.org , by permission)
Don't miss the pictures of my own zoo days. And Creation Creature Features soon.


Review: (Gen 1:1-2:20) Days 1-6 See the notes on the Web

Exposition and Commentary - Genesis 2:21-23 (Strong's #'s in parentheses)

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs (6763, tselah = side) and closed up the flesh in its place.
22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made (1129, banah) into a woman (802, Ishshah), and He brought her to the man.

- As mentioned in the previous sermon, the "deep sleep" (like that of Abraham in Gen 15:12) forces the recognition that what was about to occur would be God's work apart from man. So all esteem, all glory, for the results of the work should go to God, and not to man, soli deo gloria.
- The term rib (tselah) simply means "side" and is used that way many times in the OT (Old Testament) such as Ex 26:20 referring to the side of the Tabernacle. It might have been one of Adam's ribs or it might refer merely to tissue on his side.
- Q: Why did God not use tissue from the top of his head or soles of his feet?
  A: The picture of a godly wife throughout Scripture is one of a "helper" (ezer), to walk along side her husband in cooperation as he seeks to fulfill God's purposes.
Even God is called a helper of the fatherless (by the same Hebrew root, azar = Psa 10:14)
Jesus also called the Holy Spirit our "helper" (parakletos = one called along side).
This clearly pictures that woman was not to be man's authority, nor was she to be walked on as a doormat under his feet. Rather she was to be his partner, under the arm of His delegated authority, protection, and provision.

** It is also possible that this reference to woman being made from Adam's "side" could be a pre-scientific revelation of the genetic fact that God packaged the male DNA character in the XY chromosomal pair, but took only one side of that pair to make woman: XX.

-Beware, however, of the erroneous theory promoted by a few today (i.e., Richard Fugate, etc.) that Adam before Eve was an androgynous mix of masculine and feminine characteristics. This speculation has no basis in either Scripture or in science, and is in fact a dangerous distortion of the image of the God's masculine authority that Adam was created to reflect. Adam was what men are today, except for our sin and the genetic mutations that now tarnish God's image through us.

23 And Adam said:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman, (802, Ishshah)
Because she was taken out of Man (376, Ish).”

As with all of Scripture, this wonderful truth about the human marriage union reveals the awesome beauty of God's unique character (Gen 1:26-31; Eph 5:32). Jesus, the Son, is called in Heb 1:1-3, the "brightness of [the Father's] glory and the express image of [the Father's] person". What does this mean and how might it help us to understand the gloriously designed distinction between man and woman? The answer is found, like so many others, in the Scriptural doctrine of God Himself, as He reveals His glory. This is the very purpose for which we were created, to reflect the image of God's glory (Gen 1:26-28; Eph 1:6, 12, 14; 3:10-21; 5:17-6:4).

Glory (Hebrew term = kabod = heaviness, significance; Greek = doxa = revealed nature) simply refers to the manifestation or reflected image of some source, like the Sun and the Moon, the light from both originating from the Sun's nature. Thus the esteem or dishonor for that glory ultimately belongs to the source, not the reflection.

The One, triune God, Father - Son - Holy Spirit, has eternally existed in an intimate relationship uniquely characterized by agape (self-sacrificial love) and hypotasso (subjection to authority). Therefore, when His image or glory is manifested clearly, these supernatural character qualities are front and center. For example, the Holy Spirit shifts the glory up to Jesus (John 16:13-14), and Jesus in turn passes the glory up to God the Father (John 17:1, 4). Ultimately all esteem goes to Him alone (1 Cor 15:24-28). The Holy Spirit seeks no glory of His own, but only to draw attention and esteem upward to Jesus. As the image and glory of the Father (His authority), Jesus always deflected esteem ultimately away from Himself and up to His Father. This is the Biblical key to understanding what it means and should look like when man is the "glory of God", and woman is the "glory of man".

In 1 Cor 11 the context emphasizes the hypotasso rank under authority from wife to husband to Christ, and then 1 Cor 15:20-28 exalts the Father as the pinnacle authority over all. Just as Jesus deflected all esteem to his authority, that is His Father, man is to deflect all esteem to his authority, Jesus our Lord. John the Baptist humbly said it best, "He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all" (John 3:30-31). When people see such humble submission in attitude, behavior, or relationship, they are compelled to say, "Now that is not natural, not of this world, so it has to be supernatural".

So how can a wife deflect glory and esteem up through her husband to glorify God? Marriage and the practice of a wife taking her husband's last name originated for this purpose. In taking his name, she acknowledges that her husband becomes her authority. He does not "own" her, but rather she "represents" his name. By her attitude, behavior, and countenance, she either brings him honorable esteem or dishonor (Prov 31). All that she is, says, or does, becomes either a help or a hindrance to her husband in his rank, role, and responsibility under Christ. His responsibility is to glorify God and his wife is a complementary companion designed to enhance this awesome task of revealing God's nature to His creation.

So why is this beautiful structure, which is designed to point upward toward the male authority of God the Father, so difficult for both man and woman to practice for His glory? Because we are selfish, rebellious sinners, and God's characteristics of agape and hypotasso are not natural to our nature. Everything in our flesh cringes at the very idea of submissively passing all esteem to the authority we were created to represent. Our sinful little souls want the glory for ourselves. But God will not give His glory to another. He alone is worthy (Rev 5). Only God is good (Mat 19:17).