Women and men are the same in many ways. We are all created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). We are all human beings with (mostly) similar features. We all have personalities. We all are equal in the sight of God. We are all sinners.
However, we differ in many ways. I would go as far as to say that we are fundamentally different. There are some things that are just normal for men, and normal for women. There are things that men were created for, and different things that women were created for. We see it even at early ages of our children. Boys are rowdy and rambunctious, like to hit each other, and build cars out of legos. Girls are calmer and gentler, like to hug, and play with Barbies. As teenagers, boys get confused about what their girlfriends are mad about, and girls get mad because their boyfriends don't understand what they've done! As adults, men handle arguments by walking out and blowing off steam. Women handle arguments by talking about their feelings.
The list could go on and on, but enough about the differences that I notice between the genders. Let's see what the Bible says about it. Here we pick up in Genesis 2 right after Adam was created. Remember that the first man and woman, and the first marriage, are setting the pace for the rest of us and defining our roles and responsibilities.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 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. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 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.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
(Genesis 2:15-25 ESV)
There are a few things to notice here:
1) Man and woman were different from other creatures. They had dominion over all the other creatures. Man and woman were uniquely made in the image of God, and were above all the rest of creation. This is why Adam was given the responsibility of naming all the animals.
2) Man and woman were different from each other. They were created at different times, in different ways, and for different purposes. They were also given different jobs. Adam's job was to work and keep the garden. Eve's job was to be Adam's helper-to support him in his job. This set the pattern for men and women for the rest of time, and still holds true today.
3) Adam was established as the head of the family. The authority to name the other creatures showed Adam's rule over them. Notice that Adam names Eve as well. Of course, there is still the blatant difference between Eve and the rest of creation. She is Adam's helpmate, tailor-fit to him. Their covenant is described right here. He loves her and will hold fast to her. She is a part of him. The fact that he names her doesn't undermine her or place her down with the animals, but it underlines his role in their relationship as a
loving leader. Remember, this is going to be a huge picture throughout the Bible of Christ and His church, so we don't want to misunderstand this relationship.
2) Eve was a Helper. Many women are actually offended by this passage, and want to twist it so it doesn't hurt their pride. They think it is condescending, belittling women's ability and importance. This isn't true at all. Again, women are equal with men. Both have essential roles and responsibilities. If you are a woman in a relationship, your role is to help your husband and support him as leader. You should feel honored and important, but also humble and submissive to the leader in your family.
3) Eve was fit specifically for Adam. None of the animals would have been a good helper for Adam. Only another human being, made in God's image, would do. She was not only made for him, but from him. Flesh of his flesh. I could be wrong, but to me this is a reminder of us being made in God's image. Eve was literally a part of Adam-how could they not be incredibly in love and cherish one another? This should remind us that we, the Church, are made in God's image, by Him and from Him and of Him. And that is an even greater love and more amazing covenant than that of Adam and Eve.
This passage says so much about who women were created to be, and our relationships with men, and our individual/corporate relationships with God. This is really only touching the very surface on these topics, but it is a wonderful place to start and study, and to refer back to. This is the starting point--the foundation to build on. There is much more we can look at, but we will look at more another time.
To finish it up...you know that ridiculous commercial where the man and woman are singing "Anything you can do, I can do better?" Yeah, that bothers me so much. Women, we need to accept and embrace the fact that we are different from men. We don't need to compete with them, just like they don't need to compete with us. We don't have to feel inadequate, and we cannot feel superior. Unlike popular culture will tell you now, feminism shouldn't be about making sure we can do absolutely everything a man can do. Trying to step into a man's role goes against God's design for men and women (same goes for men trying to step into a woman's role).
True femininity is being exactly who God created you, as a woman, to be.
