So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:21-25)
I can hear all the feminists wince. Is this the start of all patriarchy? Actually, it’s the opposite. When this was written it was an accepted fact that men and women were different ‘things’. Not just in source, as if men were from Mars and women from Venus, but different in substance too. The greatest philosophical minds such as Aristotle and Plato thought like this. Aristotle, the first naturalist and first categoriser, said that women were lower than men and just above animals. But God in the Bible taught us differently. This passage teaches that women and men are exactly the same substance because the woman was made out of the man. Totally equal. Sure, man came first. But from this moment on every man would be taken out of woman. God not only taught us in word but also in reproduction that men and woman are exactly equal. God puts Adam, the first son of God, into a deep sleep and the woman is taken out of his side. The original Hebrew language is emphatic that when God brings the woman to the man he is overcome with joy. He delights in her and loves her. He is not ashamed to call her his own flesh and bones. No other created thing pleased the man like she did. They are united, naked and unashamed – complete openness, trust and harmony. Meet Jesus in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is the true Son of God. Proverbs 8:30 tells us that the One through whom God created the world delighted in the children of man. God cast Jesus into a deep sleep – after His side was pierced – and He slept the sleep of death. Through His death and resurrection God brought the church into being – His beloved Bride. Hebrews 2:10-14 tells us that Jesus is unashamed to call them ‘flesh of my flesh’ because He and His people have one source. By the Spirit we are united to Christ. No wonder Paul says marriage is about Christ and the church. PRAY and ask Jesus to help you let go of this world and cling to Him. Ask Him to help you look forward to the day when the Bridegroom comes to fetch His Bride. What a wedding that will be!