“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness . . .So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.’” Genesis 1:26, 27
“But for Adam no suitable helper was found . . . then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [or part or side] that he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man” Genesis 2:20b-22
God creates both male and female in His own image. The female is not said to be less than the full image of God; she reflects God’s image as much as the male. Yet the man was left alone in the garden for a season and kept busy with naming the animals–an exercise that led him to an “aha” moment. None of these creatures looks like me.
After each stage of His creation, God had declared in satisfaction, “It is good,” zeh tov, in Hebrew. Yet, after perceiving Adam’s need for a partner, for the first time God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone” and proposes a solution: “I will make a helper suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18).
Helper, Suitable—a good design!
In English, the word “helper” is often thought to be a demeaning, second-class description of the first woman. It would be a terrible mistake to believe this. Unfortunately, this false interpretation has diminished the standing of women in both the church and in secular society through the ages. Let’s slow down and look a little closer at this word and its importance.
The word “helper,” in Hebrew, is “ezer.” Quite often this word is used to describe God Himself—our “Helper.” That’s anything but deprecating. Here are five examples:
- When Moses names his second son Eliezer (Exodus 18:4), he said, “My father’s God was my helper”: Eli, “my God,” ezer, “is helper.”
- Or when Moses blessed the tribe of Judah (Deuteronomy 33:7), he said: “Hear, O LORD, the cry of Judah . . . be his help, ezer, against his foes.”
- “Samuel named the stone Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus has the LORD helped us (1 Samuel 7:12)’”. Ebenezer is ebeb, “stone,” ezer, “helper.”
- Also read Psalm 20:2 and 46:1, where God is referred to as the ezer.
- In the New Testament, Jesus names the Spirit who will be sent, the Paraclete, your defense attorney, your “helper.”
God supplies Adam, not just with any helper, but a particular kind of helper: one suitable for him, or “opposite-but-complementary” to him. The Hebrew word is kenegdo, meaning “corresponding to him, a counterpart.” So how do we understand what this means?
The woman would share the same nature as the man, made, as he was, in the image and likeness of God. They would correspond to each other physically, socially, and spiritually. What was “not good” in the lonely man, the woman would supply. Two would then become “one flesh” for a life together. Marriage was the establishment of God’s first institution after creation. Procreation follows! God commanded the man and woman to “increase and multiply.”
Let’s pause from our biblical timeline for a pastoral moment. This is not suggesting that single men or single women are inferior, or somehow not fulfilling God’s design. All are to be celebrated. The Apostle Paul speaks about the value of celibacy and singlehood. Not all women are called to marry or physically become moms. And some women may struggle with infertility or inherit their family through adoption. And many women are called to have spiritual children serving as missionaries, aunts, youth workers, or caregivers. You are valuable regardless of the particular expression of your womanhood or motherhood. With that, we return to our biblical chronology.
The Living One and her Son
After God established the man and woman as His representatives, they rebelled against Him. This great rebellion resulted in their expulsion from Eden, the paradisial garden that God had prepared for them.
Only in Genesis chapter four do we learn that the woman’s name is Eve, a word meaning “living.” And indeed, from that point on, all new life comes through the body of this “living” woman. Carefully observe that God did not curse the man and woman after their disobedience. He only cursed the serpent, the deceiver who lied to the woman. Graciously, God’s promise to Eve is a reversal of their misfortune. In the future, another woman will give birth to an offspring who will “crush [the serpent’s] head” (Genesis 3:15).
All eyes are now on the woman and her offspring. The promised offspring will have the power to annihilate the evil one. Alongside this favorable promise, Eve recognizes, in a new way, her dependence on the Lord. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man” (Genesis 4:1). In a beautiful play on words, we see that in her first pregnancy, Eve, “the helper,” rediscovers her divine Helper.
Eve must have wondered if her child would be the deliverer her divine Helper had promised? He was not. Cain’s digression into sin was indicative of things to come. As each biblical generation unfolded, hope in God’s Promised One was kept alive; another woman would bear that offspring.
Keep your eye on the woman is the not-so-subliminal message
Lists of genealogies fill the scriptures and other women emerge as matriarchs and role models for us: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam, Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law; Deborah the Judge, Rahab the prostitute; Ruth the faithful Moabitess, Bathsheba “the wife of Uriah” as Matthew so subtly puts it (Matthew 1:6). Still, each Hebrew girl who had a connection to the line of the tribe of Judah carried the hope that perhaps her baby boy would be the “He” who would crush the evil one’s head. Each of these biblical women was faithful and a spiritual mother in succession towards God’s heavenly invasion. Even so, they were still waiting; “these were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised” (Hebrews 11:39).
Isaiah the prophet cried out, “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down . . . Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:1, 4). Seven hundred years after Isaiah’s cry, a young Jewish girl in the backwash settlement of Nazareth was chosen to bear the Chosen One. The woman had been found. “Be it done unto me,” she replied to the heavenly messenger. And so, the chosen one came through this virgin. She was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. Eve’s daughter could also say, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” The serpent crusher has arrived through this young Jewish girl by the power of her divine Helper.
The serpent crusher restores God’s original design
Jesus of Nazareth was the one promised from ancient times; He was the serpent crusher. His ministry and example also restored God’s original intent for biblical womanhood. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Jesus never demeaned women or placed limitations on them. Christian women are co-heirs with Christ and co-rulers with men in God's garden. They walk in first-class identity and not as victims or inferior citizens of the Kingdom. We need women in all their fullness to use their unique gifts and personalities to help build God’s Kingdom on earth!
In all of this, we remind each other that most of the "roles" and "expectations" for women are human-made and lack biblical support. There's a wide range of God-given gifts and personalities among women. Women are equally loved and uniquely designed by our Heavenly Father. Their giftings and ministry should be appreciated and encouraged by the whole church family.
Today, women followers of Jesus rejoice that our Promised One has come. He has honored His promise to Eve, the “living,” and has continued to minister life through women through the centuries. Biblical womanhood is a blessing. And motherhood, whether physical or spiritual, is also a unique gift to the world. We bear God’s image and produce His life. For this, let women and men rejoice and give thanks to the God and Father of us all.
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