The Helper
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Genesis 2:18-25
Genesis 2:18-25
Talk about verses 19-20 to open then go back to talk about verse 18; 20- 25.
Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
Adam in the Garden
Adam given authority to rule over Creation
Walking in the authority given by God
to be a participant in brining order into chaos
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
V.18 states that it was not good for Adam to be alone.
V.19-20 state- God began to bring various animals to Adam
Adam participated in the act of bringing order
Adam was charged with giving names
God set the boundaries
None of the animals were deemed to be a suitable helper for Adam
V. 18 and 20 use the term Helper
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
The term helper is where I want to spend some time this morning
God states that it was not good for Adam to be alone.
God states that he will make a helper suitable for Adam
This is a poor translation in the English
help meet or help mate or even faithful assistant
It makes this helper seem to be an afterthought
Or a secondary position
A position of submission to the authority of Adam
The helper sounds like one who would assist Adam in things that needed to be done, while he performed the important task of naming the animals.
In English, the term helper, is not sufficient translation
Before we get into the meaning of the word itself, I want to remind you of a sermon from a number of months ago.
Sermon titled: Raise your Ebenezer.
The Sermon was based on the hymn: “Here I’ll Raise my Ebenezer.”
Click for Hymn
Verse in the Hymn:
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
In the sermon from a number of months ago, We talked about the word Ebenezer
it is a strange word to our ears
It sounds like we are to pick up some guy named Ebenezer and sing praises to God
We discovered in that sermon that the Hymn was based on events that took place in the book of 1 Samuel
The Philistines were advancing to make war with Israel
The Israelites cowered in fear at the enemy
Samuel offers them encouragement
Samuel encourages them that God will deliver them
Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel. The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car. Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
The term Ebenezer comes from the statement, the Lord has helped us.
The Lord has helped us comes from the Hebrew word Ebenezer
Eben- Rock
Ezer-Help
The hymn tells us to raise our Ebenezer
Not a guy named Ebenezer
Raise your Rock of help
1. Exalt the Name of Jesus, He is our Rock!
During that sermon, I said that there is another word that uses the term, Ezer
It is referring to women
Today is the day
Much of what I am going to share this morning about the term helper comes from a book by Dr. John Garr
He writes about the roles of men and women, of the church and of the family as the people of God
V.18
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
Talked about various translations of the word helper
In Hebrew it reads ezer-kenegdo
Click for Word
כֹּ וּ
Ezer-kenegdo is a hapax legomenon
write that down
Hapax Legomenon is a term that is used to classify a word which appears only once — in a written work, or the entire language.
The word Ezer-kenegdo is a hapax legomenon
This is a significant word because it is only used once in scripture.
The word is only used in context of God creating the woman.
It is only used in terms of creating a helper in English for Adam
It is a beautiful term because it is only given for women
Click #2
2. put hebrew word here describes the unique role of women in God’s design.
Dr. Garr suggests that a possible translation is: I will make help as his partner.
God did not just give Adam a helper
God did not just give Adam a faithful assistant
God gave Adam help as His partner.
God stated that He will create something that will be help to you
We can see that God did not just create women as an afterthought
God created women with intentionality for a unique and special role
God created men and women to partner together as a help to one another
He created us to be in fellowship with one another as a means of encouragement
Let’s look at what this word means, specifically
Ezer, we know, means help
Eben-ezer: Rock of help
This is the easy part of the translation
The second half of the word becomes a little more tricky
The second half of the word is kenegedo
Ke is a connecting word meaning like or according to
negedo means “in sight of,” “opposite to”
It implies people facing one another
Like we are right now
I am looking at you, you are looking at me
we are in sight of and opposite to one another
Ezer Kenegdo is a help that is in front of or in full view of Adam
God uses this term to describe the type of help that Eve would offer Adam
She would be a help in His sight
She would be placed before his eyes
Adam was before her eyes
They could watch over one another
Not only this, they could watch each others backs
Eve could see what was lurking behind Adam and she could offer warning
Adam could do the same
That was difficult I know
It was a little technical, but I hope that you can see why I wanted to take the time to dig into the purpose of God’s design.
it should be an encouragement to women
You are given a unique and special role
You are created with purpose for service in His Kingdom
You are not just a faithful assistant
You are not just a helper
You are a vital partner in the family of God
pause
Not only that, women are also a hapax legomenon
Two things that we can learn from this discussion
3. God designed us to be in fellowship.
God said to Adam you cannot do it alone
You need a family
You need support
You need a help that can watch over you
You need accountability
We need these same things
We need encouragement
We need support of a loving family
Turn to Hebrews 10:19-27
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
We have confidence in the Salvation of Jesus
He has purified us Reconciling us to God
4. Hold fast to your confession of faith.
Don’t neglect meeting together
In the meeting together, the fellowship we can stir one another up in love and encouragement
In fellowship we can be reminded of the glory of Salvation
We can find accountability in fellowship to help us reject sin
5. We need to watch over one another .
we need to protect one another from deception
We need to protect one another
We can hold one another accountable to stay honest in faith
This is why our families and our church family is so vital
This is also why the family is under such attack in our day
The enemy wants to tear apart fellowship
6. The enemy wants to divide so that we cannot help one another.
if fellowship is neglected, we give an invitation for deception
We open the door to be led astray because we have no accountability
The purpose of the church family is to lift one another up
Holding one another accountable and watching out for each other
That is the first thing
The second thing to learn is this
God created Eve placing her before Adam’s eyes
They were to fix their eyes upon one another to offer help
They were to look out for one another
As long as they continued to focus one one another, they had the capacity to remain strong
It was in those times when their attention was distracted that they found trouble
We will talk about this in the next chapter of Genesis
We are to do the same as we look upon Jesus as our Savior
Turn to Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
7. Fix your eyes upon Jesus
He is the author and perfecter of our faith
Our efforts to fix our eyes upon Jesus will offer us strength to endure
In our faith, we can lay aside every encumbrance of sin that attempts to entangle us
Looking upon Jesus gives us the direction to which we are to run
run the race that has been set before us
The race set before us is to set our gaze on our Savior
Remembering the price that He paid to Redeem us form death
Fix our eyes on Him, relying on Him for strength to overcome the hurdles that life throws at us
This is our race
To be an example of determination in faith.
we find trouble when we turn our attention form our Savior
Like Adam and Eve, when we forget to focus on the mercy that God pours out upon us, we find trouble.
In those times of trouble, we have to call upon Him for help
to restore us
Time I was in track
200 yrd dash
normally starts on the turn
At Tulpehocken the track was long
Coach told us to focus on the finish
running in a straight line for that long seemed impossible
looking to distractions would have caused you to drift from your course
Always have the Lord before our eyes
if we take our eyes off o f Jesus we find trouble
8. The goal of our faith is to become more like Jesus, everyday.
Imitate our Savior
As Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians 5
Be an example of Jesus to others
drawing them to Salvation
Genesis 2:23-25 to close
The man 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.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
God reminds us that He set the definition regarding biology
We are men and women created in His image
To bear witness to His grace
Last verse states that they stood naked before God and they were not ashamed
This is prior to sin entering the heart of mankind
This verse suggests that Adam and Eve had nothing to hide. There was nothing that separated them from God. Sin had not broken the purity of the relationship with God
When sin entered the heart of mankind, fellowship was broken
The purity of the relationship was destroyed.
This is why we need Jesus
9. We need a sinless Savior to restore the brokenness in our hearts.
If there is anything in you that you hold onto, confess it before God
Repent of your sins and turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life
If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, today is the day
The alter is open
If you need prayer for any reason, please come forward.
If you would like to commit your life to Jesus
Come forward
Talk to someone
Don’t hesitate
Benediction: Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.