Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Behold the Man (Chapter 7)

I really enjoy reading books and sometimes I find things that are real good eye openers. I liked this one a lot and so I am just going to quote it but bear with me...

"Now, for the both of you, as you know, the first marriage of all marriages was performed by God himself, between Father Adam and Mother Eve. Not only is this proof of the sanctity of marriage and its centrality for all mankind, but there is much in the account thereof which provides instruction for us.

"When Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, he was alone. After a time, the Lord God, blessed be his name, made a profound declaration. Said he: 'It is not good for man to be alone.'"

He leaned forward, as earnest as Simeon could ever remember seeing him. "Consider on that statement for a moment, Simeon and Yehuda. That is a divine declaration. 'It is not good for man to be alone.'"

David let that sink in, his eyes challenging them to ponder the import of those words. Then he went on. "After declaring that it is not good for man to be alone, the Holy One of Israel made a second, most significant declaration. He said, 'I shall make an help meet for him.' That is a most instructive term, 'help meet.' In the original Hebrew of the sacred writ the phrase is ezer knegdo. Some have translated that phrase to mean a helper or a help mate. That is not true to the deeper meaning of the phrase. Helper would imply a superior role for men and a helping or inferior role for women. Many feel that way, of course, and treat their wives as chattel, but that is not what the Creator of us all declared. Knegdo means to 'meet' or to have two things brought together. But it carries a much deeper connotation, where one finds something that is equal to something else. In other words, a help meet is a person who helps us 'meet ourselves,' like looking into a mirror and seeing yourself."

Both Yehuda and Simeon were listening intently. They knew the words of course, but they had not heard it defined in exactly this way.

"What then follows is the creation of Eve. And here, too, there is much for us to learn from the sacred word. You know it well. The Lord God caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam, and he took from his side a rib, and from that rib he created woman."

Simeon's father smiled thoughtfully. "I've wondered if the Lord couched this account in imagery to teach us important truths. It is a widespread supposition, for example, that men have one less rib than women, a fact that Luke, our physician here, assures me is not the case. But be that as it may, what do we learn from the story of the rib?"

Simeon tentatively raised a hand. "I've heard it said that woman was taken from Adam's side because it is closest to his heart, suggesting that she should walk beside him always."

"Yes, I'm sure that is part of it. If Eve had been taken from Adam's head, then she would rule over him. If she was taken from his foot, he would rule over her. If from his hand, she would be only a tool to do his bidding. To be taken from the side is beautiful imagery and teaches us much about how we are to treat our wives. But I think there is something much more profound than that."

The two men waited expectantly, not yet seeing what it was David was suggesting.

"Once Eve was created from the bone taken from Adam, what follows in the account?"

"The commandment for them to become one flesh," Yehuda replied.

"Yes. Think about that. Adam now has a help meet, or in other words, he has finally met his equal. And the Lord now says, 'Therefore'- in other words, because I have created woman and brought her to you- 'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife."

David ben Joseph stopped and turned his head. In the distance, as though barely a whisper, the first cries of the approaching wedding party could be heard. He turned back quickly. "Think of that interesting choice of verbs for a moment. Normally, 'to cleave' means to cut asunder, to split into two parts. We speak, for example, of the camel having a cloven hoof. But in our language, that word also carries the opposite meaning. It means to put back together two things that have been separated, to join them so tightly one to the other it is as if there was no original separation.

"And here, my two young sons, is the key to understanding how God views this sacred relationship between a man and a woman. Adam had something cut away from him, cloven from his side. He was missing something. He was not whole any longer. So what is the solution? How does a man become whole again?"

"By cleaving to our wives," Simeon said in wonder.

"Yes. By cleaving to the only creation that is truly equal to us. And when we cleave together- or better, cleave back together- we become whole once again. We become not two, but one- one in flesh, one in mind, one in spirit. Then and only then, can man be fully complete."

Simeon was struck with another thought. No wonder his mother and father loved each other as they did. This was the basis for that love: total respect for each other, viewing themselves as different but of equal importance.

-Gerald N. Lund

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