Hypocrites and Backsliders- 008 Adam and Eve: Part 2 - mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur ("The...

Hypocrites and Backsliders-008

Adam and Eve:

Part 2 -

mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur

("The world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived.")

Hypocrites and Backsliders 2007

12/09/07 2

Hypocrites and Backsliders: Human Nature and the Christian Life

Now, in secular reference, Adam's rib is associated with little more than facetious comments.

Humor ranges from "woman is only a side issue". And, "Adam was the earliest electrician because he

furnished the spare parts for the first loud speaker." Another "side-splitter" states that "woman was taken

from Adam's side, halfway between his heart and his wallet and has had control of both ever since."

But these misogynist jokes are not as bad as some of the Biblical commentaries have been:


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Jewish commentary: "I will not create her from the head for she may carry herself

haughtily; nor from the eye for she may be too inquisitive; nor from the ear, for she may be an eavesdropper, nor from the mouth for she may be too talkative; nor from the heart for she may be too jealous; nor from the hand for she may be too acquisitive; nor from the foot for she may be a gadabout.

I will create her from a hidden part of the body that she may be modest. Even when man stands naked, his rib is covered."

But this midrash on Genesis goes on to say that God's careful planning went awry, for woman is conceited, curious, a gossip, a chatterbox, envious, grasping, and a gadabout. (Genesis Rabbah 18, 2.)


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It was right for the woman to be made from a rib of man ... to signify the social union of man and woman; for the woman should neither use authority over man, and so she was not made from his head; nor was it right for her to be subject to man's contempt as his slave, and so she was not made from his feet. (Thomas Aquinas)

The "social union" to which Aquinas referred is coupling for the purposes of procreation, even though the original rib story makes no reference to this.

Aquinas made this Augustinian comment about Eve: "She was not fitted to help man except in generation, because another man would have proved a more effective help in anything else."


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Aquinas borrowed from Aristotle the judgment that "the female is a mutilated male." However, he was hesitant to accept Aristotle's description as completely true for he found no defect in a woman with regard to her reproductive function.

For Aquinas, woman was essentially a womb-man.

It was not until two centuries later that some other Dominican scholars related Aristotle's view of woman to Mohammed's view of Adam's rib.


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Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, who were commissioned by Pope Innocent VIII to stamp out witches, wrote:

"There was a defect in the formation of the first woman, since she was formed from a bent rib, that is, a rib of the breast, which is bent as it were in a contrary direction to a man. And since through this defect she is an imperfect animal, she always deceives."


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The book from which this misogyny is taken, Malleus Maleficarum, "was the ultimate, irrefutable, unarguable authority" wherever witchcraft trials were held.

The book was a prime basis for the torture and execution of many thousands of European women.

Montague Summers, a prominent witchcraft researcher, and a twentieth century Roman Catholic priest, evaluates the book as "among the most important, wisest, and weightiest books in the world."


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Another example of anti-feminist sentiment is contained in The Taming of a Shrew, by an anonymous Englishman.

A rib was taken, of which the Lord did makeThe woe of man, so termed by Adam then"Wo-man," for that by her came sin to us;And for her sin was Adam doomed to die.As Sarah to her husband, so should weObey them, love them, keep, and nourish them,If they by any means do want our helps;Laying our hands under their feet to tread." (F. S. Boas (ed.), The Taming of a Shrew (London, 1908), p. 62.)


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More kindly commentary is found here: Jesuit Francis de Sales wrote: “Woman was taken from that side of the first man which

was nearest his heart, to the end that she might be loved by him cordially and tenderly ... God ... was pleased to ordain that the woman should depend upon the man, being bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, and that she should be made of a rib taken from under his arm, to show that she ought to be under the hand and guidance of her husband.”

Puritan John Milton also associated the rib cage with the heart.


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Adam, in Paradise Lost, speaks endearingly of the formation of his "other half": "Out of my side to thee, nearest my heart."

Adam expresses an ambivalence toward Eve for she is at once a lovely and gracious being but an imperfect expression of true humanity.

Regarding the former, there is this ode to Eve: O fairest of Creation, last and bestOf all God's Works, Creature in whom excell'd Whatever can to sight or thought be formd,Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet!


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Literary historian Katharine Rogers considers the [Adam and Eve] myth to be "unquestionably misogynistic" for it shows that "woman was created almost reluctantly, when no other creature could satisfy man's needs."

James Frazer likewise believes that the ancient myth-maker had a "deep contempt for woman": "The lateness of her creation, and the irregular and undignified manner of it-made out of a piece of her lord and master, after all the lower animals had been created in a regular and decent manner-sufficiently mark the low opinion he held of her nature."


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A Gentile ruler said to Rabbi Gamaliel, "Your God is a thief, because he stole one of Adam's ribs." Thereupon the rabbi's daughter said to her father, "Leave him to me; I will answer him." Turning to the ruler she exclaimed, "Thieves broke into our house and stole a silver vessel, leaving a gold one in its place!" The ruler laughed and said, "I wish I could have burglars like that every day." "Well," she retorted, "that is what our God did: he took a mere rib from the first man but in exchange he gave him a wife."


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"Behold de Rib!" an unidentified black preacher’s sermon:

“So God put Adam into a deep sleepAnd took out a bone, ah ha!And it is said that it was a rib.

Behold de rib! A bone out of man's side.He put de man to sleep and

made wo-man,And men and women been sleeping together ever since.

Behold de rib! Brothers, if GodHad taken dat bone out of man's head

He would have meant for women to rule, hah!”


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“If he had taken a bone out of his foot,He would have meant for us to dominize and rule.

He could have made her out of back-boneAnd then she would have been behind us.

But, no, God Almighty, he took de bone out of his side

So dat places de woman beside us.Hah! God knowed his own mind. Behold de rib!” ("The Story Context of Black

Theology," THEOLOGY TODAY, July, 1975, pp. 144-150.)


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According to the Hebrew of Genesis 2:20, woman is created to be an “ezer neged”, which is commonly translated "a fitting helper."

In contemporary usage a helper refers to a person in a menial position.

However, an examination of the twenty other usages of ezer in Hebrew Scriptures displays that it never connotes someone in a servile role.


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It often refers to a superior person and occasionally is associated with divine assistance.

For example, a psalmist proclaims: "Happy is he whose helper (ezer) is the God of Jacob."

Ezer is joined by neged, which means a like counterpart.

Ezer neged can best be translated "a partner corresponding to him."


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God made Eve out of Adam's rib and not out of the dust, and it has a great spiritual significance to it. Eph 5:28-33

''So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord, the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.


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This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband." (Eph 5:28-33)

In the twenty-eighth verse, we see that a woman is a part of man, for God made man male and female.

And the women was taken out of his side.


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So then she is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone.

So Adam loved Eve because he loved himself and the two were one flesh.

And so the apostle refers all the time back to the Creation and this original state of the human pair, Adam and Eve.

This is a natural reason why he should love his wife, and nourish and cherish her because the twenty-ninth verse says no man ever yet hateth his own flesh.


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Now we are members of His body. 30 “We are members of His body and of His

flesh and of His bone.'' We are partakers of the nature of Adam, but

we are also in our state of regeneration through Jesus Christ.

He becomes the head of the church and the savior of the body of the church.


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So we as members of the church are members of this Spiritual body.

So we are united to Him by one spirit in the closest way possible.

Paul compares that and he finds that similar to that relationship which Adam and Eve had.

Now verse thirty-one says, “shall be joined unto his wife.''

This word, joined, is an interesting word.


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It really means glued or cemented to her. So he should be cemented to his wife.

A well-glued board will break easier in some other place than where the joint is glued. So the Lord meant that only death should part the husband and wife, and nothing but death should dissolve their affection for one another. And so God meant for this to be a wonderful, pure, holy union.

Paul in the thirty-second verse says, “This is a great mystery.'' And it had been a great mystery all down through the ages.


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I suppose many of the Old Testament saints asked themselves this question, "Why did God make Eve out of Adam's rib instead of going ahead and making her out of the dirt?''

Paul says it's a great mystery. But he says, "I speak concerning Christ and the

church.'' And now this mystery is going to be revealed thorough

the Holy Spirit. We understand that the mysteries in the Bible are often

natural things, but they signify some great spiritual matter.


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Only the Spirit of God can reveal these mysteries, but there are times when they should be revealed.

Here is the time. Paul is revealing through the power of the Holy Spirit,

this mystery to the church at Ephesus. He is talking all the time about the Creation and about

Adam and Eve, and the relationship that they were to have one with another, the great love that God meant for Adam to have for his helpmeet, Eve. Adam couldn't help but her so much because she was a part of his own flesh.


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So it was intended, no doubt, from the very beginning, from the Creation.

The church is the bride of Christ. There should be this same union and same relationship

and same love one for another, Christ for His bride, and the bride for the bridegroom.

The church, the redeemed are the bride. So we see here that the great mystery has been

revealed. We are highly privileged not only to be a part of understanding this mystery, but also the glorious privilege of being part of the body of Christ and of the bride of Christ.


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So the thirty-third verse says, "nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself.''

So God's design in the institution of marriage is "Let everyone of you love his wife as himself,'' because she's both naturally and by divine ordinance part of himself.

And she is to reverence her husband, consider the husband as her head and not only by nature but by the ordinance of God.


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The Bible clearly points to a definite role in the home. There's a place for the wife and the mother, a very

honored place, and a very particular place that she has in the home, her relationship to her husband and to her family, and her children.

Also there's a particular place for the husband, and particular joys and obligations that he has to fulfill.

Working together in perfect love and harmony seems to be what the Lord had in mind when he first designed the institution of marriage.


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Going on looking at these verses that we just looked at, we think of this mystery that the Lord has revealed to us, this great mystery which was kept secret for many many centuries.

We see here very plainly now that the Lord makes this allusion to Adam when he said of Eve, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.'' (Gen 2:23)

So the apostle says concerning Christ and believers, "We are bone of His bones, and flesh of His flesh.'' (cf Eph 5:30)

That is we are parts of His body and the body is the church.


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By this application of Adam's words concerning Eve, to Christ and His church, He intimates first that the formation of Eve from a rib taken out of Adam's body was a figure of the regeneration of believers by us coming from Christ's body.

Secondly, Adam's love to Eve on account of her being formed of his body was a figure of Christ's love to believers because they become a part of His body.

Thirdly, Adam's marriage with Eve was a figure of the eternal union of Christ with believers in heaven.

That's mentioned in verse twenty-seven. "For he left his father to be united to his church.''


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Now when Adam says,This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother... (Gn 2:23-24)

So although the taking of Eve out of Adam might be a reason for Adam's affection toward her, it was no reason for the affection of his posterity toward their wives who were not formed the same way as Eve was.

The reason of their love to their wives is their being creatures of the same species with themselves.


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There is no other conclusion than that by the most ancient Divine institution, God intended Eve's creation account as a figurative representative of the regeneration of believers by the death of Christ and of His eternal union with them in heaven, and that Adam and Eve were taught by God himself to consider themselves as such.


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We have a number of expressions and images that will bear out this interpretation.

For instance, in Romans 5:14 Adam is called a type of him who was to come and in I Corinthians 15:45 Christ is called "the last Adam''.

The church, the espoused Bride, consisting of believers of all nations is called the body of Christ, and the members are said to be members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.


12/09/07 33


In Revelation 19:7, the New Jerusalem is termed "the bride, the Lamb's wife.''

The preparing of man for that happy union by introducing them into the church upon earth through faith, and by sanctifying them through the Word is called in II Corinthians 11:2, "fitting them for one husband, that at the resurrection they might be presented a chaste virgin to Christ.''


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Twenty-fifth verse: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it.''

Of course this is quite clear to everyone, there's no hidden meaning there, Jesus laid down His life for the church.

So husbands, if necessary according to the scripture, should be willing to lay down their lives for their wives.

As Christ gave himself for the church to save it, so husbands should, by all means in their power, labor to promote the salvation of their wives and their edification and righteousness.


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Now, the next verse, twenty-six: “That he might sanctify it”

Paul is speaking about Christ loving the church, and He laid down His life for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water of the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

And so Jesus died so that He could present His bride to himself pure and holy--a beautiful, beautiful description here of His bride, cleansed, washed, and sanctified.


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This presentation is going to take place prior to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb during the Tribulation and the church is to be glorious, without spot or wrinkle, it says in the twenty-seventh verse. “That he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. But it should be holy and without blemish.


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So it was for this purpose that Christ gave himself for the church. What purpose?

That we could be without spot or wrinkle, without blemish, that we could be pure and holy, and should be presented to Christ pure and holy, a beautiful bride for Jesus Christ in all holiness and purity.

He most certainly did not plan for us to be Hypocrites and Backsliders!

And so, why did the Lord take the rib out of Adam and make Eve?


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Well, it all goes back to this. It's symbolic of the love Jesus Christ has for the church because we are part of Him, and because we are part of Him we are cleansed and purified, as long as we “reverence” Him.

To reverence Him is to reverence the life that He provides for us -- The Reservoir of Righteousness that is ours in Him.


12/09/07 39


Ribs and the like: DNA sequences of humans and other living

things have now been compared. Here are some very surprising insights we have at this time from that effort...A tiny fruit fly has 13,601 genes. It appears we humans have about 25,000 genes, not the 100,000-140,000 genes scientists had anticipated, since we are far more “evolved” than other forms of life.There is hardly any uniqueness to our human genes.


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For example, our genes are the same as 99% of those found in chimpanzees and are common to 70% of those found in mice. Many human genes have similar or identical functions as genes found in other living organisms, both complex and simple. All of the information that is available about DNA today leads scientists to conclude that there was a common source for the DNA that has found its way into every living thing on this planet.


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One can say that our DNA is in many ways a general blend of all other DNA that exists, with one big exception. Here is the part that continues to mystify the best scientists in the world:

There are 223 genes in the human DNA code that are not found in any other living organisms studied. In other words, it appears we did not inherit this package of genes from any other form of life on this planet.


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There are various attempts of science to copy what has already been created by the Almighty God. Don't you find it ironic that the worldly mind that rejects or diminishes the idea of God, attempts to duplicate that which has already been made by the creator they deny?

God had taken a man's rib and out of it made a woman, which was much more advanced than cloning. From this rib God formed a brand new personage - a female, man's counterpart, who had the ability to reproduce and nourish a new member of the human family.


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But it was with a rib. And, by the way, here is where we have the first use of general anesthesia - used by God, created by God.

The Bible says in Genesis 2:21,1.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; Why did God choose a rib?

Was this account in Genesis simply words of mere men, as the critics claim?


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Science now knows that the rib which God chose to create Eve has some very unique characteristics that we are just beginning to understand ﾐ characteristics the engineer of all life knew perfectly.Why a rib? Why didn ﾕ t he choose another pile of dust? Why didn ﾕ t he choose some other physical part of Adam ﾕ s anatomy? Why a rib? For one thing, when bone grafting is necessary, one ﾕ s own rib is the most likely candidate to contribute. This ideal candidate is full of bone marrow.


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Bone marrow is a spongy tissue found inside bones, but super power-filled bones such as the breast bone, skull, hips, spine, and ribs actually contain stem cells that manufacture the body ﾕ s red and white blood cells. White blood cells defend against disease and red blood cells bring oxygen and nourishment to the body and remove waste products. God chose a rib.


12/09/07 46


In a 2003 article in Science News titled, “From Bone to Brain,” and subtitled, “Transplanted male bone marrow makes nerve cells in women and girls,” the following excerpts were taken:

An unusual study of the brains of women and girls who had received transplants of bone marrow from men indicates that marrow cells can transform into nerve cells. Researchers found that each female brain had nerve cells containing a Y chromosome, presumably derived from the transplanted bone marrow.


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Over the past several years, numerous research groups have reported that bone marrow, the source of a person’s blood cells, can transform into cells of the skin, muscle, heart, liver, and even brain. These lab and animal studies have raised hopes that bone marrow or cells derived from it could repair hearts, cure neurological disorders, and treat many other medical conditions.

Funny how God knew about the wonders of the contents of a “Rib”.

Hypocrites and Backsliders- 008 Adam and Eve: Part 2 - mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur ("The...

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