Genesis 2:21-25 Sugar and Spice... and a rib
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
man being made last of the creatures, as the best and most excellent of all
Eve’s being made after Adam, and out of him, puts an honour upon that sex, as the glory of the man
7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
6 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
If man is the head, she is the crown
a crown to her husband
the crown of the visible creation
The man was dust refined, but the woman was dust double-refined, one remove further from the earth
Adam slept while his wife was in making
no room might be left to imagine that he had herein directed the Spirit of the Lord, or been his counsellor
does not afflict himself with any care about it
lies down and sleeps sweetly, as one that had cast all his care on God
If we graciously rest in God, God will graciously work for us and work all for good
God caused a sleep to fall on Adam
opening of his side might be no grievance to him; while he knows no sin
God will take care he shall feel no pain
When God, by his providence, does that to his people which is grievous to flesh and blood, he not only consults their happiness in the issue, but by his grace he can so quiet and compose their spirits as to make them easy under the sharpest operations
That the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.
Adam lost a rib
in lieu thereof he had a help meet for him
what God takes away from his people he will, one way or other, restore with advantage
Adam was a figure of him that was to come
out of the side of Christ, the second Adam, his spouse the church was formed
when he slept the sleep, the deep sleep, of death upon the cross
his side was opened
there came out blood and water
blood to purchase his church
water to purify it to himself
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
II. The marriage of the woman to Adam
Marriage is honourable
this surely was the most honourable marriage that ever was, in which God himself had all along an immediate hand
the man, the woman, the match, were all God’s own work
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh
God, as her Father, brought the woman to the man
he is giving the ancient equivalent of our “in weakness and in strength.”
One of the meanings of the verb behind the noun bone is “to be strong.”
Flesh, on the other hand, represents weakness in a person.
he did not leave her to her own disposal
God’s gifts to us are to be received with a humble thankful acknowledgment of his wisdom in suiting them to us
she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man
she was his child, and she must not marry without his consent
his work of naming is triumphantly concluded in a title that echoes his own
differing from man in sex only, not in nature—made of man, and joined to man.
The institution of the ordinance of marriage, and the settling of the law of it
The sabbath and marriage were two ordinances instituted in innocency
the former for the preservation of the church
the latter for the preservation of the world of mankind
It appears (by Mt. 19:4, 5) that it was God himself who said here
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh
should seem, they are the words of Adam, in God’s name, laying down this law
how great the virtue of a divine ordinance is
the bonds of it are stronger even than those of nature
To whom can we be more firmly bound than the fathers that begat us and the mothers that bore us?
Yet the son must quit them, to be joined to his wife
See how firm the bond of marriage is, not to be divided and weakened by having many wives
nor to be broken or cut off by divorce, for any cause but fornication, or voluntary desertion
obviously your heart aches because there has been so many unfaithful wives and so many unfaithful husbands who have made havoc out of marriage
that’s part of the curse, that’s part of the fall
See how dear the affection ought to be between husband and wife, such as there is to our own bodies
that’s part of the chaos that comes. But this is God’s ideal.
This is the wondrous way in which it all began
In the beginning it was perfect then it was wonderful and there was no shame about anything in that relationship because there was no evil
no consciousness of any potential evil
This was the wonder of the original creation
perfect ease between them
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed
no alloy of greed, distrust or dishonour
was understandably an immediate casualty of the fall
the chapter ends with a pointed reminder of our vanished concord.
evidence of the purity and innocency of that state wherein our first parents were created
both naked
needed no clothes for defense against cold nor heat
needed none for ornament
needed none for decency
The climax of creation is this: the man and his wife were both naked
Physical nudity? Yes.
there are other kinds of nakedness
The verse is claiming a total transparency between this primal couple
they were naked, and had no reason to be ashamed
They knew not what shame was
you can see where we are in the text
The next words, Chapter 3:1, now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field
And here we go into the tragic fall of man. And we’ll look at that next time.
in Christ we can know again the wonderful delight and joy and bliss and wonder, love of marriage
in Christ marriage becomes the grace of life
in Christ, we can leave and cleave in a strong bond becoming one for life
Adam was a figure of him that was to come
out of the side of Christ, the second Adam, his spouse the church was formed
when he slept the sleep, the deep sleep, of death upon the cross
his side was opened
there came out blood and water
blood to purchase his church
water to purify it to himself