Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Genesis 2:18 ¶ Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 2:18 ¶ Now the LORD God said, "It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him--a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him." |
Subject: Man Could Have Been Made Solitary |
Bible Note: Hi Lionstrong, C.S. Lewis in his "Screwtape Letter" showed that he knew a lot about spirits. I read that as required reading in college some forty years ago. However, I haven't read much more than that of his. But I believe that God is a Spirit, capital s and is different from the spirits. True, the spirits do not have bodies, nor given in marriage, nor do they procreate. But if God does not have a body, He sure does give the impression that He does. Heart, bowels, arm, hand, and finger come to mind just off hand. I don't think we can know too much about the sexuality of God, but I do know that He does not have an aversion to it. The procreation of the earth was one of the things included in the seven "good" days of His creation. Also, as we have been thinking of a time when this evidently was not available to Adam in the first chapter of Genesis, even though there were male and females there. It is not until Adam is still alone and in the garden that God had planted, that God determined that it was not good, (sufficient, satisfactory, see Amplified version) that Adam was alone. A single man can be an especially good and devoted worker for the Lord. He should be always available and eager to please Him in his life. But I think God wanted Adam to be of some earthly significance also in keeping the world going. I am glad that this man was good enough at that time that God wanted to arrange for duplicates. I see also in Genesis 2:23 that this man and woman were already one flesh. God took the rib out of Adam but evidently "this one" had been taken out of Adam also. Gen 2:23, "And the man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She [this one] shall be called Woman, Because she [this one] was taken out of Man." Verse 24, "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. verse 25, And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed." God has no aversion to sexuality. And sexuality was not involved in the fall of mankind. Sexuality was involved in the penalty for their sin. Time of pregnancy and pain of birth were increased or multiplied.The question could be asked here, "Did Adam and Eve know each other before the fall?" If pain was increased what was it increased from? Or, "Who was Cain's wife?" It is here BEFORE chapter 4 and the birth of Cain, that Adam called his wife Eve, i.e. living; or life, because she was the mother of all the living. So it could very well be that there were children who were not included in the lists of mankind. But Cain was the first "gotten one" after the fall, with the help of the Lord. The Lord will be required and His will and sovereignty realized after the fall in regards to how much mankind grows in number. Not everyone will be able to have children. I have strayed from your topic as we sometimes are prone to do on the forum.:) I hope that my thoughts will be found to have some value. From the heart, Ray |