Genesis 1& 2

The first mention of the word “female” is in the first chapter of the Bible. From the beginning, women are present. Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Both man and woman are created in the image of God. Genesis 2 goes into a more detailed creation of man and woman. First, God creates man out of the dust of the earth and breathes life into him (Genesis 2:7). God then establishes His first covenant with man in Genesis 2:16-17: “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.” (Remember this when we go into Genesis 3!) Then, the Lord saw it was not good for man to be alone. None of the animals were a good fit to work with Adam. Adam needed Eve. So, God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, “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 form the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21-22). I believe Matthew Henry explains the importance of the rib best when he said, “She was not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” The fact that Eve was taken from his side, to be his equal partner debunks the idea that women are less than man! There is no biblical evidence that supports the idea that Eve is less than because she was created second. The text supports that Adam needed Eve and Eve was not created to be Adam’s servant but to work with him, as an equal, side by side.