precious marriage

Genesis 2:¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him."

Genesis 2:²³ "At last!" the man exclaimed.

"This one is bone from my bone,
    and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called 'woman,'
    because she was taken from 'man.'"

Genesis 3:1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"

Genesis 3:6b So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

I used to wonder why the serpent decided to work on Eve rather than Adam.  But I have come to the conclusion that Satan was interested in attacking every aspect of God's design when it came to man and woman.  A key part of that design was, and is, marriage.  When God formed Eve from Adam's rib and brought her to Adam, Adam knew that Eve was formed to complete him and for them to be complete together.  He therefore had implicit trust in her and absolute love for her, as he loved himself and as he loved God.  By tempting Eve first and seeing her fall, Satan sought to not only separate man and woman from God...he sought to dissolve the trust that lay at the core of their marriage.  I believe that if Adam had been tempted first he would have been just as likely to disobey as Eve had, but there was something especially sinister about Satan attacking Eve first.  When Eve gave some of the fruit to Adam this was an example of Eve providing help to Adam.  He knew that it was wrong to eat the fruit but he was also strongly influenced by the fruit coming from his "helper".  I imagine that Adam and Eve had to spend some serious time in the marriage counselor's office for some time after these events unfolded.  I am reminded that we, as individuals, are precious in God's sight and our marriages, themselves, are also precious.  Just as there is purpose in us individually, so there is great purpose in and through our marriages and homes.  And the enemy of marriage is not your marriage partner!

blessings!

Rob Smith