Eve: The Mother of all Living

Eve: The Mother of all Living

Eve was the first female upon the earth.  Genesis 1:27 records her creation in brief.  She was created in the image of God.  According to Genesis 2 she was created after the first man, Adam.  Eve was created from a rib which God took from Adam.  She was created because there was not found a help who would be a mate for Adam.  After God created Eve, He brought her to Adam.  The first recorded words Adam spoke to this female were: “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”  The first recorded command by God to Eve, including Adam,  was: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

The mention of Eve’s name occurs only four times in scripture.  Genesis 3:20, 4:1, 2 Corinthians 11:3, and I Timothy 2:13.  The first passage mentioning her is interesting.  Adam “called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”  The reason this passage is interesting is that to this point no children had been mentioned.  Were there children already?  How could she be a mother, especially of all living, if she did not?  Additionally, what did Adam call her before she became the mother of all living?  It would not be shocking if she had a different name prior as many well known individuals in the Bible were renamed: Abram, Jacob, Gideon, Daniel, Cephas, and Saul to name a few.

Genesis 4:1 is the second passage Eve’s name is mentioned.  Adam and eve had sex and she conceived a son.  The boys’ name is Cain and Eve gives honor to God.  Was this the first child?  It is the first child recorded.  Eve and her husband were obediently following the command given by God to be fruitful and multiple.

Assuming Genesis was written by Moses by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Bible does not mention Eve’s name again for over 1600 years.  In 2 Corinthians 11:3, the apostle Paul recalls a life altering event from Genesis 3.  In the garden, Eve was deceived by the serpent (The serpent is identified in Revelation 20:2 as Satan, the devil.).  The context of Paul’s usage is his concern over the Corinthian Church.  He uses the language of marriage in explaining he was instrumental in their betrothal (by baptism) to Christ.  Paul is worried that they will be deceived by others and led away from their “sincere and pure devotion to Christ”.  Paul’s comparison comes from the fact that God had told Adam in the garden that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not to be eaten.  This command had been shared with Eve, likely by her husband.  Rather than being devoted to him and respecting his authority and God’s, she fell to deception and ate of the fruit, and gave Adam to eat as well.

The final passage mentioning the name of Eve is found in I Timothy 2:13. The context of this passage begins with verse 9.  The apostle Paul is proclaiming in this letter to Timothy that godly women are not to be focused on drawing attention to themselves by their adornments but rather their focus should be upon good works.  They are to learn quietly and in subjection.  They are not to conduct themselves as a teacher or exercise authority over a man.  Why? “For Adam was first formed then Eve.  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in transgression.”  These are the two eternal reasons given.  They are given by God through the Holy Spirit to Paul and shared to Timothy.  The reminder of the woman’s role and Eve’s sin in the beginning (An eternal reminder of the need to be devoted to her husband, a given role and responsibility, not an inherited sin.) is not meant to overwhelm a woman.  As a comfort to her, she will find healing and fulfillment (“shall be saved”) in the raising of godly children (Genesis 3:16).  This was from God’s intention from the beginning: Malachi 2:15 “And did not he make one? [He Bound them like a rope with the breath of life]. And why one? That he might seek a godly offspring...”.

Although Eve is only mentioned 4 times by name in scripture, she still plays an important role in the shaping of mankind.  She was created to be a loving help to her husband.  Her role was not to lead, but to be devoted to Adam’s wellbeing.  Additionally, serving in her role she was to bring about godly offspring.  These items are what  God desired from Eve, the mother of all living,  and He still desires the fulfillment of women in this same role today.

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The Dogs

The Dogs

I share my home with my darling wife, two dogs, and two stupid cats.  The cats and the wife have days where they really don’t like me much.  However, the dogs just love me.  Every morning, I open my eyes and as I peer to my side of the bed, there my dogs are.  They are happily resting and waiting for our routine to start.  I get out of bed, stumble around the bathroom, get dressed, and then leave the bedroom.  At this point my English Shepherd pops up to follow me.  We go to the kitchen, take morning pills, then pour a cup of coffee.  Often, I will plop down on the couch for a bit and wake up.  The shepherd lays down on my feet happy to be there.  At some point, I head upstairs to start my studies.  This is when the Bluetick Hound comes and joins us.  The hound comes and gets a pat on the head, greets the shepherd, then they lie down as I try to work my brain.The Dogs

While I regularly work on articles, lessons, or word studies, my most frequent activity in the morning is listening to lessons online.  I imagine my dogs have listened to more lessons than many people.  They have heard lessons on baptism, premillennialism, marriage, and many books of the Bible. The list would be quite extensive if I wrote it all down.  I know I have a drawer with piles of lesson notes that the dogs have been present to hear.

Typically, around 9 am, the hound lets me know it is time for her to go outside and bark at the brush for 15-20 minutes.  The shepherd joins her and then they beg to come back in to eat some breakfast and be in my presence as I finish up my morning studies.  Next on our agenda is a few hours of outside work, some lunch, and then some late afternoon study.  Finally, at the end of the day, the bluetick heads to bed while the shepherd typically gets in one more lesson with me and my darling wife.

Did you know the words dog and dogs appear a combined 65 times in the King James Bible?  (Cat does not appear once.)  There really aren’t many kind comments you are going to find about dogs in the Bible, but there are some.  The Bible makes it clear comparing someone to a dog typically isn’t a compliment.  It is pointed out that dogs enjoy vomit.  They can be noisy.  They will howl.  They sleep a lot.  Unfortunately, the term is lumped into this verse from Revelation 22:15 – “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”  However, it is mentioned they can work with a flock (my shepherd would like that).  They will clean up the crumbs from your table (my hound would like that).  They will lick your sores if you have them.  And last but not least, a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Regarding my two pups again, the question might be asked, “With all the exposure to Biblical investigation and analysis, how much has it helped them?”  The truth is, when you get right down to it, and you consider the serious nature of scripture, all the exposure to the spoken words of the Bible has not done them a bit of good.  They are dogs.  A human can understand, will benefit from, and needs the Word of God in their life.  A dog? No.  My dogs certainly do recognize a number of words I use such as: sit, stay, get back, outside, lay down, go get it, are you ready, and treat.  However, when it comes to spiritual matters, dogs do not understand.  God put them here as beasts upon the earth for man.  He gave man authority over them.  Dogs are good companions, but they aren’t human.  They aren’t made in the image of God.  They are not eternal.  According to Ecclesiastes 3:21 and 12:7 a dog’s spirit goes to the ground while the spirit of a man returns to God.  God values man above all his creation.  A dog’s life is not comparable to the value of a human.

I am thankful to God for dogs.  My two bring me a lot of joy.  Studying about the occurrence of their mentions in the Bible has been interesting, but it only benefits me, and you if you take a look too.  It is amusing to see the dogs stare at the computer or television screen as if they knew what was going on.  Yet, they don’t.  Therefore, I just love them and enjoy them which is what God intended.

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Jesus Found Eating with Others

Jesus Found Eating with Others

The last chapter of John describes the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection. He had manifested Himself to them when Thomas was absent, then again when Thomas was with them. This chapter describes how seven of the disciples (including Thomas) had spent the entire night fishing and had caught nothing. They did not recognize the Man who told them to cast the nets on the right side of the boat, but they did as He told them.  The events which followed convinced them, and they saw and recognized that the “stranger” was Jesus. They rushed to shore and discovered He had prepared a fire and had fish and bread ready for them to eat. Think for a moment about the Lord and His eating with them. The Jesus who had been raised from the dead was the Jesus who had walked among them. It was His nature to share food with those around Him.

Jesus often ate with others. Just a few days earlier He sat in the upper room and ate the Passover meal with the apostles, and now He shared that fish beside the Sea of Galilee. They had toiled all night in their boat, but without fishing He had a fish already cooked for them. Jesus ate with others.

He ate with sinners and tax collectors. Shortly after He called Matthew to become a disciple, He went to Matthew’s house where there were many other tax collectors and shared a meal with them (Mark 2:15-16). The religious leaders of Jesus’ day would never have eaten with such “evil” men, but Jesus came to live among sinful men and lead them to heaven.

He fed the multitude of followers with only a handful of loaves and fishes—five thousand and then four thousand men (not counting the women and children who also ate). What is remarkable is that many of them only followed Him because of the food He gave (John 6:26).

He ate at the home of a Pharisee and did so without washing His hands (Luke 11:37-38). The Pharisees always ritualistically washed their hands, but Jesus did not do this. He was not concerned about how one ate food but was gravely concerned about sin which in the hearts, even of those who washed their hands.

There are many other accounts of Jesus eating with men while on this earth but take time to consider one special account of Him eating with others. In the upper room, He spoke of how the Passover was to be fulfilled in the kingdom of God where He would assemble again with them in a weekly feast, the Lord’s supper (Luke 22:15-16). He gave them a direct command to insure that it was done remembering Him. He longs to eat around that table with you every week. How can anyone choose to fail to be at that special feast with Him!

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Never Give Up

Never Give Up

Dating all the way back to elementary school, I have loved sports and competition.  The mind set has always been “We can win this!”, regardless of who the opponent was.  The score may have been lopsided, but my motto was “Never Give Up!” My brain always told me that there was some key or action that would counteract anything the other team could do.  The issue was figuring out what that key was and working together to win.  To win may mean doing something completely out of character, position, tradition, orthodoxy, etc.  To accomplish this meant communication, trust, resilience, and despite the belief that a win could be had, humility.

We have not seen the final victory of God over this world.  God has communicated that it will happen.  “Death is swallowed up in victory”.  He has throughout the Old Testament demonstrated His power to deliver and conquer despite seemingly overwhelming odds from a human point of view.    God provides a clear path in scripture of how to overcome the world and by the hands of angels, judges, prophets, Jesus, and apostles communicated this frequently.

God never fails those whose ears and heart are open to His direction.  A statement like this implies that the recipient of communication trusts the giver of the message and engages in the course of action provided.  Someone who simply says, “I believe” or “I have faith” or “I trust” and does nothing, really did not have trust.  This is the sentiment provided in the second chapter of the book of James.  Do you trust God?  Then engage in His plan for victory.

There are times in scripture, where God has tested the faithful.  They did not see victory instantly.  They lost battles.  They were scattered.  They failed momentarily.  They were allowed to engage in the foolishness of sin.  Yet, in resilience, Israel finally marched away from Egypt, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, and the people of AI fell to Israel.  Of the men of Judah in the days of Nehemiah as they tried to rebuild the city wall it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing.  There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” Yet, they continued and finished the wall despite harm threatening from all sides.  David in his foolishness, committed adultery and was guilty of the murder of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah.  Upon the confrontation of his sin through Nathan, David could have given up.  Yet, David was resilient in repentance.  He did not give up.  He acknowledged his failure, and continued His walk with God.

Communication, trust, resilience, all of these are fine attributes to have within a team and a relationship with God.  However, these falter if not joined with humility.  The Pharisees had put themselves in the seat of Moses.  They saw themselves as guides to the blind.  The shared the communication of God with the people.  There was an appearance of trust in the many works that they observed and commanded.  Truly, there was resilience in holding to the commandments of the Old Law even when the teachings and signs of Jesus and the apostles confronted them.  A blameless Pharisee zealous for the Law of God named Saul persecuted the Christians vigorously.  Did He know the communication of God?  Yes. Did he trust God? Yes.  Was he a resilient man?  Yes!  Yet, until Saul humbled himself before God, there was nothing he could have done to see the victory over this world.  It is the poor in spirit to whom belongs the kingdom of God.

There is a similarity in the book of Esther to scriptures in Revelation.  The Jews of Esther’s time were subject to an edict initiated by Haman an official of the king of the Persian Empire.  The Persians controlled most of the known world and the edict called for the elimination of all the Jews in the kingdom.  Why not give up and renounce God?  It appeared the end of the people of God was at hand.  Similarly, in Revelation 20, Satan and the nations of the world emerge immanently positioned to destroy the Church of God.  In Esther, the Jews are given victory by the hand of God.  The same occurs in Revelation 20 despite what appeared to be overwhelming forces.  The world menaces wickedly as a Goliath in comparison to the small shepherd boy of the faithful, yet, for those that hear the Word of God, trust in it, endure in their obedient faith, and submit themselves to the Almighty God, the band of believers which compose the Church will be victorious.

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A Goal to Help

A Goal to Help

Charlie and I went up to the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas to go to the Little Missouri Falls.  Our goal was to take some pictures for the photography club that we are in, and we accomplished that goal.  After we were done looking at the falls, a man with a big number on his shirt approached Charlie and said that he was running a marathon and lost the trail.  Nick was only twenty years old, alone, tired, and thirsty.  So we gave him some water, a granola bar, and set off to find the start of the race.  There was only sporadic cell service in that whole region, and so we had to drive around a lot to different places, but he was eventually able to use our phone to get in touch with his family.  We ended up in Langley, Arkansas at a small gas station around 5:00 PM where we met the race director, and Nick was reunited with his wife and family. goal of help

After we dropped Nick off, Charlie commented to me, “Dad, helping people is hard work,” and it is true.  You never know what you are going to get into when you start helping someone else.  It involves real sacrifice because you are giving yourself over to them fully and putting your interests behind their needs.  Paul wrote: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Phil.2:3-4).  Being a Christian is not something that we do on Sundays only, take up as a part-time hobby during the week, or only practice at home with our family.  Being a Christian is something that takes place every moment of our lives as we render service to God in whatever situation we are in at that moment.  God has blessed us greatly!  May we be a blessing to others as we serve the Lord Jesus.

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