Hi this is pastor Ken, welcome to my Monday Marriage Message, I have entitled this episode…It Is Not Good

Genesis 2:18 And the Lord God said “It is not good that man should be alone I will make a helper comparable to him.” I have heard many teachings on this verse. Some good, some not-so-good. The poorest of these have indicated that God thought Adam would be lonely and so He created Eve to keep Adam company and be a helper by keeping his needs met. While this might make for a good story, it isn’t accurate. More likely and in my opinion recklessly so, it has probably been meant to serve man’s (male gender) purposes to utilize scripture to illustrate that women are inferior to men in some way. In fact, a correct exegesis of this scripture proves nothing could be further from the truth.

When we look at the original Hebrew, the phrase “it is not good” is indicative that it was not yet complete. Each day of the creation week, we see the same phrase spoken in the affirmative. Genesis 1:4 says: and God saw the light (that He had just spoken into existence), that it was good. In verse 10 it goes on to say and God called the dry land earth and the gathering together of the waters He called seas. And God saw that it was good. Again in verse 12: And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Farther on in verses 16-18 we read: Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. Again in verse 21: So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. The phrase is repeated again in verse 25: And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Finally, we come to verse 31 after God has made mankind and the statement is made once again with exclamation, Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. In light of that we know that as God completed the various parts of creation He made the statement that it was good. From that we see that the statement It is good is akin to it is finished, or it is completed.

In Genesis 2:18 when God said “It is not good” we can surmise that He meant it is not complete for man to be alone. Additionally, this is affirmed in the meaning of the Hebrew word used [Towb] pronounced [to be] that we translate to the phrase “It is not good”. According to Strong’s Bible Dictionary, the definition for this Hebrew word as used in this reference means inappropriate for its use, or incomplete for its intended use.

The Hebrew word for “Alone” used here is [Bad] pronounced [bad]which means separated or apart from its counterpart. Much like if your salt shaker was in the dining room and your pepper shaker was alone in the kitchen. Though it was by itself, it would still be part of a set intended to be used together.

The final phrase necessary to have complete understanding of this verse is “A helper comparable to him.” The King James Version reads “A help meet.” This phrase comes from the Hebrew words [ezer] pronounced [ay’-zer], and [Neged] pronounced [neh’-ghed]. These words together, according to Strong’s, mean an absolute counterpart to a perfect set.

When you put all of that together, a literal translation of Genesis 2:18 would be: And God said, It will be inappropriate and mankind will be incomplete in his intended purpose if man is not joined with his counterpart, so I will create an absolute counterpart to him (woman) and together they will be a complete perfectly matched set, each an equal part of the whole. 

Eve was the absolutely, perfectly created, counterpart to Adam. She was equal in valuation to Adam in every way. She was not more than Adam and not less than Adam. He was not superior to her in any way; she was not inferior to him in any way. They were a perfectly created, matched set. Equal in every way, yet often completely different in function. Together their purpose was to reflect the image and likeness of God. The analogy I like to use for them was that of a mirror. A mirror’s purpose is to reflect what is in front of it. A mirror is made up of two components. A sheet of clear glass and a polished aluminum coating. Neither the glass nor the aluminum by themselves are very effective at producing a quality reflection, but when married together, they form a mirror that reflects things with absolute clarity. The glass is not superior to the aluminum nor is the aluminum inferior to the glass, they are simply different yet both crucial to their collective purpose.

Adam and Eve’s oneness was intended to reflect the image and likeness of God. The primary purpose of your marriage is the same.

Questions to Answer:

  1. Do you look at yourselves as a perfectly matched set, each having equal value but different functions within the marriage?
  2. What ways do you think you are doing a good job of reflecting the image and likeness of God in your marriage?
  3. What ways would you like to see the mirror that is your marriage do a better job of clarifying the image of its creator?

Actions to Take:

  1. Discuss the ways you see your functions being different, and yet your value being the same.
  2. Discuss how you might encourage each other to be even better as a couple at reflecting God.
  3. Talk about what attributes of God you think others probably see when they view your marriage in action.

So now, learning to see yourselves as created to be equally valuable counterparts to the whole, fulfill your purpose together and allow your marriage to be a good reflection of God’s image and likeness and then you will be awesome!