Eve: Mother of All the Living

Bible Verses: Genesis 1:26-31, Genesis 2:18-4:2, Genesis 4:25, Genesis 5:1-2, 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, 1 Timothy 2:11-15

Eve is famous for being the first woman in the Bible, and infamous for being deceived into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She appears in what biblical scholars have recognised as the ‘primeval history’ of Genesis chapters 1-11, as opposed to the more literally historic ‘ancestral history’ of Genesis chapters 12-50. This primeval history forms a creation ‘myth’ that shares deep theological truths about the nature of God, humans, and the world. The claims it makes are radically different to the creation myths of the cultures that surrounded the ancient biblical authors – but this blog post will focus on the messages of Eve. Eve is not just the first woman but the only woman to exist before the fall of humanity into sin. As such, she can help in understanding what God’s intention for women is. However, it is important to remember that all the characters in the Bible are just that – their own flawed characters – and are not perfect models of how we should live.

Created & Blessed by God

From the beginning woman was created equally with man in the image of God, who declared them to be a ‘very good’ creation. God blessed Adam and Eve (and through them all humanity), granting them the authority to rule earth together in the shared purpose of furthering God’s good plan. They were called to ‘be fruitful and multiply’, or in other words to create life and flourishing. This doesn’t just mean to have children, but to reflect the image of God’s creativity and love by doing whatever brings life and encourages earth to thrive.

A Need for Woman

The only thing that God states to have been ‘not good’ before humanity’s fall from Eden was for Adam to be alone. According to the Bible, our God is a God who loves to share. He is a trinity of three-in-one which means that God is a community of love and sharing, who also wants to love and share with us. Since humans are made in the image of God, we have a need to love and share with others and are made to be in community. God, however, did not bring Adam and Eve together straight away. Instead God waited for Adam to recognise he needed someone and that there was not an equal partner to be found among any of the animals. Eve was different from the other creatures of the earth and Adam had to recognise she was missing so that he would truly appreciate both her and God’s goodness.

Strong Help Meet

When He creates Eve, God says that He will make a ‘help meet’ for Adam. This is an English translation of the Bible, whereas it was originally written in Hebrew and used the phrase ‘ezer kenegdo’. This phrase has implications that are lost in the English translation. The word ‘ezer’ does not in any way indicate a subservient assistant, but rather someone strong who provides vital help – or in other words, a rescuer. Throughout the Old Testament this term is most frequently used to refer to God Himself, who is a strong helper and rescuer to His people. Obviously, women are only human and the type of help they provide is not comparable to God’s, however it shows that God created woman as a powerful important partner for man to solve the only thing that was ‘not good’ and so that man would not be alone.

The word ‘kenegdo’ means that woman is corresponding to and fit for man. They are equal and the same, yet also different in important ways that enable them to meet as good partners and complete each other. This can be seen from the fact Eve was taken from one of Adam’s ribs. She was taken from his side to be his partner beside him, not from his foot to be subservient and trampled upon or from his head to rule over him. Ribs are also strong and provide vital help in protecting the heart and life itself. God brought Eve to Adam as a treasured gift to be valued and loved, and God prepared Adam beforehand as a gift to Eve so that he would be ready to value and love her. Adam recognises this when he declares Eve to be ‘bone of my bones’ and ‘flesh of my flesh’. Their partnership is created good by God and men are to ‘cleave unto his wife’ and give them priority over all other human relationships.

Naïve but Not Innocent

Eve had been brought to Adam in the beautiful garden of Eden, where they dwelled close to the presence of God and in peace with all the other creatures whom God had made. All was good. The Bible says that ‘they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed’. This can be taken both as in unclothed and as in emotionally naked. They trusted each other completely and could be truly themselves, vulnerable without hiding anything, physically or emotionally. God had told Adam that they could eat from any tree in the garden – except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was just one simple restriction. Just one test that allowed them freewill to either trust or disobey God. Adam, as the first human, was given the responsibility to share this command with Eve. God could have repeated His message to her directly, but it seems that God likes people to share with each other and grow in relationship together.

However, Eve was not properly taught God’s words. God had said not to EAT of the tree, or they WILL die; yet Eve had learnt this as to not EAT or even TOUCH the tree, or they MIGHT die. Eve had learnt a distorted version of God’s command, but she still knew what she was not to do. Before the fall she could have had no way of knowing the intentions of the serpent that tempted her – no one had ever faced temptation before – yet this sadly only makes her naïve. She was not innocent in her deception because she ultimately still chose to distrust and disobey God.

Distorted Humanity

What is so tragic is that Eve was tempted into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because she saw it to be ‘a tree to be desired to make one wise’, when true wisdom can only come from God. We are told later in the Bible that ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge’ (Proverbs 1:7) – and Eve chose the very opposite of this. She trusted surface appearances over God’s words and valued her own desires over Him.

The sad thing is that even as she is about to sin by eating the fruit, Eve still has the instinct to share it with Adam. Humans were made to be so good, yet instead ended up leading each other into sin. It’s worth noting that while this whole scene between Eve and the serpent was taking place, Adam was just complacently standing by. Adam knew exactly what God’s command had been, yet even though he was close enough to be passed a piece of fruit he did not interfere to protect the woman he loved.

Consequences to Human Sin

Immediately there were consequences to their sin. God is the creator and the ultimate source of life. To cut yourself off from Him means death. Adam and Eve died spiritually that day, meaning they could no longer live where heaven and earth overlapped in the garden of Eden, and in dying spiritually they set a ticking clock on how long their physical bodies could last.

Their sin also brought death to their relationship. The first thing Adam and Eve do is try to cover themselves and hide, as they can no longer trust each other. They even try to hide themselves from God, which of course does not work, even though God respects their free will by pretending He can’t see them and doesn’t already know what they’ve done.

Reflecting on the detail of this story, I find it amazing! This is essentially the first prodigal son story. Even though these humans had just brought death to the world by doing the one thing God told them not to, His first response is to call for them. Our Father wants so much for us to be in His loving presence, and yet loves us so much that He respects our free will and decisions even when they’re terrible! Like any loving parent, God wants the best for us but knows we must be allowed to make our own mistakes, with the hope that we will return to Him again.

Responses to Sin

When God asked Adam and Eve what they had done they both tried to avoid responsibility by blaming others. Adam becomes very defensive, blaming Eve and even daring to blame God for giving him Eve, before he admits what he did. Through this defensive denial of self-responsibility, Adam only adds further damage to his two most valuable relationships, attempting to protect himself by sacrificing his wife. Eve in turn tries to blame the serpent before admitting what she has done but does not at least contribute further damage towards her broken relationships.

Even though God loved them unconditionally, there is a cost to sin and they each had to face the consequences. Gender has become distorted and corrupted as a result of the fall, yet from this story in the Bible it is clear there were God-ordained differences between men and women even before the fall because they each face different consequences.

Consequences for Woman

For Eve there would be increased pain in childbirth and raising children. Since she must bring life into a world now full of death, it is inevitable that this would bring hardship. Yet even among judgement God was so eager to bless humanity that He declared what is known as the ‘protoevangelium’ – the first promise of a future saviour who will defeat evil by sacrificing himself. This saviour would be the woman’s child and God warns the serpent that He ‘will put enmity between thee and the woman’, signalling the start of a war between humanity and spiritual evil.

Another consequence for Eve was that she would desire her husband but that because of his own sinful nature he would be inclined to take advantage of this. Men would tend to rule over women instead of becoming the partnership God intended. We only need to look at history to see how this has played out, with girls being taught to idolise romantic relationships and women being oppressed or disregarded by patriarchal cultures. The word translated ‘desire’ in the Bible is the Hebrew word ‘teshuqah’, which can also be translated as ‘turning’. This suggests that women will tend to turn to their husbands to fulfil their needs, instead of turning to God. They will desire their romantic partner more than they desire God. This gives men a tremendous amount of power and is doomed to failure because no human can fulfil all another human’s needs. That is a position meant to be filled only by our ever-loving, all-powerful God.

The Woman Named Eve

It is only at this point in the story that ‘the woman’ is called Eve for the first time. Adam names her after God has pronounced the consequences of their sin, marking their reconciliation as husband and wife and his newfound appreciation of her.  The Bible explains that he calls her Eve ‘because she was the mother of all living.’ Most names in the Bible have significant meaning and Eve’s is no exception. In our English translations the name ‘Eve’ is derived from the original Hebrew ‘Chavah’. ‘Chavah’ means ‘life’ or ‘living one’ and is also connected to the Hebrew word for ‘experience’. As the first woman, Eve is life. From her we can see that womanhood is inextricably wrapped up with the giving of life – whether this is through mothering children or by nurturing creation in other ways.

Eve Finds Faith

Not much is said about Eve after she and her husband Adam are exiled from the Garden of Eden. The story of the Bible instead continues by following her children and then descendants. However, the little that is said about her in the remainder of the Old Testament can tell us a lot. Eve had already been the first woman, the first wife, and the first human sinner. Now she became the first mother and the first human to praise God. When Eve gives birth to her first son Cain, she recognises that her child is gift from God and praises Him accordingly, declaring ‘I have gotten a man from the LORD’. She then gives birth to a second son named Abel, but the evil that had entered the world through sin does not go away and destroys this next generation. Cain murders his younger brother Abel and in consequence God sends Cain away to wander the earth in punishment. The pain and grief this must have caused Eve is left to be imagined. What we do know is that Eve had found a strong faith for God. When she gives birth to her third son Seth, she still appreciates and praises God even in her grief. She knows He has not forgotten her.

Danger of Deception

While the story of Eve is told in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, there are also two commentaries on this story to be found in the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians the story of Eve’s deception by the serpent is presented as a cautionary tale to the church. Like Eve, we are also at risk of being ‘beguiled’ through ‘subtilty’ and need to guard against our minds being ‘corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ’. God had made his will clear with the simple command that Adam and Eve must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, yet the serpent distorted this to make it seem more complex than it was. Eve allowed herself to doubt and be deceived by the serpent’s over-complications instead of trusting God’s unchanging word. We must learn from her mistakes and avoid making the same.

Education for Women

The second New Testament commentary on Eve is found in 1 Timothy. This passage can be confusing if we don’t understand it properly, so I will link below a video series that I think explains it really well and in a biblical way. Eve was deceived by the serpent because she had not been fully taught God’s word and this lack of education had left her vulnerable to others’ suggestions. Adam had also disobeyed God but had done so knowingly, whereas Eve hadn’t understood what God had asked of her. For this reason, the Bible says to ‘Let the woman learn’ – a radical statement in its day – so they can study holy scripture and come to know God better. We are to learn from scripture with a peaceful spirit, rather than claiming false authority, and are to subject ourselves to the word of God. Through good biblical education we can defend against deception and become the woman that Eve was created to be.

Mother of All the Living

The passage in 1 Timothy concludes by declaring that ‘she shall be saved in childbearing’. This does not mean that women’s sole purpose is to have children, although children are a precious gift. Rather, for those of us who are Christians, we know we are saved by our saviour Jesus Christ and our faith in Him alone, not by what we do or fail to do. However, it was the childbearing of women that led to Jesus finally coming into the world. Eve brought death into the world through sin and was the mother of all the living. Then many generations later, Mary was the mother of the living Christ who defeated the power of death and sin on the cross. Because of these women, we are all saved through their childbearing – as long as we ‘continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety’ by choosing to follow Christ. God’s promise in the Garden of Eden of a future saviour is fulfilled! God brought life and salvation through woman, making Eve not just the mother of all the living as in all the people on earth, but the mother of all who shall have eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ! What an amazing God we have!

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