DAY 7: OBJECTIVE – To further explore the separation of the male from the female and their subsequent purpose. (Read Genesis 2: 4- 3:15)
Genesis 2:18 (KJV) –And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man (‘adam) should be alone; I will make him an help meet (`ezer) for him.
QUESTIONS:
1. Who is speaking in Genesis 2:18?
2. What did he say he was going to make for the man (adam)?
WOMAN is male Adam’s help. Paul teaches in his first letter to the Corinthians that the Woman was created for the Man. But in what capacity was she created for the Man? She was to be created as an help for Adam. Our English word “help” was translated from the Hebrew word `ezer which means “one who succors, helps or brings aid.” The Hebrew word occurs 21 times in 21 verses in the KJV. Twice it refers to the Woman. All other 22 times it refers to God as a “help” whenever a savior, deliverer or protector is needed against an enemy.
For a better understanding of the Hebrew word `ezer, let us examine the following verses in which the same word `ezer is used:
–Exodus 18:4;Deuteronomy 33: 7, 26, 29; Psalms 33:20; Psalms 70:5; Hosea 13:9
In every instance, this word is used to speak of one who brings relief or deliverance, military aid. It is often used alongside shield and in the climate of warfare or battle.
QUESTIONS:
3. So based on the meaning of ‘ezer, what then is the Woman’s role alongside male Adam? What does she bring to the union? What was she built for?
4. Read Genesis 2:15 -What two main jobs/roles was the man given to perform in the garden?
We are told that, before the introduction of Woman, Man had two main roles in the garden: to tend and keep the garden. The former role had to do with working or laboring with the soil or ground. The latter had to do with warfare.
The word keep was translated from the Hebrew word shamar which means “to guard, keep watch and ward, protect.” To guard means to watch over in order to protect and, to protect means (1)to keep safe from harm or injury OR (2)to defend or guard from attack, invasion, loss etc. The question that follows would be, “If the Man and Woman were in Paradise and had dominion over every living thing that moved on the Earth, what would he be guarding or protecting the garden from?”
Read Genesis 3: 1-15.
The following chapter in Genesis introduces an adversary of God, one who takes the form of the subtlest beast in the garden: the serpent. His being described as subtle suggests that he was intelligent; sharp; quick to understand, learn, devise and apply ideas and plans; skilled at achieving his aims by indirect or deceitful methods. The goal is to get Man to fall from his proper state and place of habitation, just like he did. To do that he did not launch a direct attack on the keeper.
Instead, he attacked the keeper’s help, without which the keeper would be weakened and inevitably fall. He waged warfare against the Woman, not a direct attack but an imperceptible attack against her soul (mind, emotions, will, imaginations, intellect), resulting in her deception. The Woman fails in her role as helper to Man. The Man who is present during this battle fails in his duty to keep the garden. One chapter later, God promises the serpent, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15, KJV)
The very language of this promise implies hostility, conflict, and war. The woman, `ezer, the military ally of male Adam, is now destined to conflict with the Serpent; she and her seed. Although the Woman, and not the Man, was deceived thereby causing sin to enter Mankind, her role as `ezer did not change but was further clarified in terms of how it will look going forward. She will rise in her `ezer’s anointing, the anointing for deliverance and relief, and give birth to the second Adam, who will save all Mankind from sin.
Using what we have explored about God’s design for us, complete the prompts below to arrive at a definition of who you are.
-I am Adam so I am ….
-I am female so I am….
-I am woman so I am ….
SUMMARY: Female Adams – women – have been anointed and appointed as `ezer to the male Adams. `Ezer are special agents called into battle whenever deliverance or rescue is needed. One of the weapons of warfare that `ezer specialize in is Intercession.
`ezer = helpers in the war; among the mighty men.
-To surround, that is, protect or aid;
-Girding, defending
Ezers are watchers; watchers who use intercession as their primary weapon.