Sermon Tone Analysis

Opening prayer

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Intro:

This is one of those passages that is not often preached on in the church very often - in fact I’ve seldom heard the Creation preached on.

Yet this passage in particular is a difficult one for us because of how we have heard that it might be interpreted.

It is difficult to read and understand sometimes because we read into it rather than hear what it actually says, and so I hope we can all approach it honestly, aware of our own pre-conceived ideas and biases.

Our passage this morning speaks of the the creation of woman.

As I was preparing and planning this series I wondered if I should just pass over this passage, but one of the things I learned from one of my early pastor/mentors, Dr. Edwin Byrd, was this, “never shy away from Scripture and what it says.”

It is my hope that all of us, eager to understand the Scriptures as they were written, can approach our text this morning with an open mind and heart - seeking God first.

As we prepare to understand this passage let’s remember what we already know of Creation of humankind from God’s perspective in chapter 1:

Genesis 1:26

So before we go any further, let’s recognize that God created both male and female in his image.

And with that understanding let’s dive into our Scripture for today.

If you would open your Bibles, or electronic devices or simply turn to the screen we’ll begin with our passage at :

Genesis 2:18-25

May God bless to our understanding this reading from God’s Word.

Now as we begin I want to take a few moments to point out some things that are happening linguistically:

The word “man” that we read in verses 18 - 23 the word is the same, it is “adam” and is always proceeded by the definite article.

“adam” which is the generic word being translated “man”, and can be translated mankind.

This is the word that was used in Chapter 1 when God created “man” in his image.

In verse 23 you see how our translation shows the words “Woman” and “Man” distinguished by their capitalization.

This is also showing a different word that is being used there.

The word being used for man is no longer “adam”, generic man that came from the earth (“adamah”).

Now it is “ish”, and the word that is used for woman is “ishsha”.

So what we see is that “adam” came from “adamah” but now we have a flip in that “ishsha” comes from “ish”.

This is also showing a different word that is being used there.

The word being used for man is no longer “adam”, generic man that came from the earth (“adamah”).

Now it is “ish”, and the word that is used for woman is “ishsha”.

So what we see is that “adam” came from “adamah” but now we have a flip in that “ishsha” comes from “ish”.

For the rest of the chapter man and woman are recorded using the words “ish” and “ishsha” respectively.

Lastly I want to look at our opening verse, specifically one word:

Helper - that’s a word that we have minimized and even trivialized.

We say to a child, “you’re a good little helper.”

Which is really somewhat patronizing when we think about it.

That’s not what this is here.

The word here for helper is “ezer” and though it is used of woman here, and is rightly translated as “helper” or one who helps.

The word is most often used in reference to God as our help.

(SKIP TO NEXT SLIDE)

These verses are listed for the Bible Study Group on Wednesday nights - here’s your shout out! :-)

Ps 121:1

Ps 146

Ho 13:9

And others… (, ; , ;

Returning to our thought in

When all the plants and creatures in all creation were created they seem to have been created in quantities:

Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants (note the plural) yielding seed, and fruit trees (plural) bearing fruit in which is their seed.

Let there be lights (plural) in the expanse of the heavens.

Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures (plural) and let birds (plural) fly above the earth.

Let the earth bring forth living creatures (plural) according to their kinds (plural)

Let us make man in our image…(singular?)

Male and female he created them.

(ah, plural).

Yet in our passage that we’re looking at today that plural has not happened yet.

There is no companionship for “the man” in chapter 2.

God recognizes it is not good for man to be alone.

Up until this point

Genesis 2:19Elsewhere in the Bible God alone is a partner, a help to human beings.

The animals and man have been formed of the same earth (vs.

19): We heard the language, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures,” and “God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”

As man and animals came from the earth, they were in a way brothers and sisters - they both had the same origin.

And so God causes

Elsewhere in the Bible God alone is a partner, a help to human beings.

The animals and man have been formed of the same earth (vs.

19): We heard the language, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures,” and “God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”

As man and animals came from the earth, they were in a way brothers and sisters - they both had the same origin.

And so God brought every living creature before the man and he named them.

It’s interesting that Adam is the one given the choice of selecting his helper - what would be the perfect fit?

And then we’re given the verse that pronounces Adam lonely, vs. 20.

Adam recognizes that he is different from everything else that has come from the ground.

In every other thing that was created from the ground there was none that was considered suitable to Adam, he knew it, and God recognized it in him.

So now, something unique and something special happens to Adam.

Immediately Adam recognized that there was something special about this, Adam knows that God has made this other person, but Adam also recognizes that God has made use of the human - that is of himself.

And it is with true joy that we hear these words from Adam:

I already shared with you the humor in the Hebrew where Adam - that is man, came from adammah - that is the earth and how you could literally see it in the Hebrew.

What’s interesting here is that the words now being used do the same thing:

The word being translated as Man (with the Capital M) is “ish” and the word being translated Woman (with the capital W) is “Ishshah”.

Just as you could see the word Adam in adammah, you can see the word ish in ishshah.

So though we see that the word man can come out of woman, we know that the woman literally came out of the man.

This is not a reason for pride for Adam; it is a reason for gratitude to God.

This demonstrates the interdependence of humankind on one another.

They came from one and are bound to one another - two separate individuals, yet also one.

Bonhoeffer put it this way,

This bond is best described in the expression: he now belongs to her, because she belongs to him.

And finally we get to our closing verses:

, ,

This is where the one sharing the story slips a bit.

At this point neither the Man, nor the Woman have had any experience of Father or Mother , and yet we read “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

It is important that we recognize that neither male nor female has the superiority here.

Both are one flesh, both are created by God, both are created in the image of God, both were created to fit together.

When we look at our beings as male and female, from the beginning there is a clear sense that:

Both male and female are created in the image of God.

There was a need for one another - Adam (the man) could not find a suitable partner among any of the other created animals from the earth.

There was no created “less than” - helper is a position of strength and power.

Both men and women need to recognize that.

This is not only true in the beginning, but it is true throughout Scripture.

We read passages like in Ephesians where we read, Wives submit to your husbands and we get all in an uproar of one being better than the other, but that’s completely out of context.

The context there is all about walking in love:

Ephesians 5:

and ends with the statement:

Ephesians 5:3-

Ephesians 5:28-32

Today, we live in a fallen world, our text has not yet gotten to the fall.