Monday, August 9, 2010

A 'helper comparable'

Genesis 2:18 (NKJV): And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him".

The words ‘helper comparable’ (NKJV) or ‘help meet for him’ (KJV) in Hebrew is ‘ezer’, which means ‘to aid, to surround & to protect’. Therefore, the word ‘helper’ in Genesis 2:18 & Genesis 2:20 for Eve is never an inferior word. Eve was someone comparable & compatible to Adam. In fact, the words in KJV ‘help meet for him (Adam)’ show to us that Adam has found his rightful ‘match’, when no other creature on earth could fill that 'place'. You see, many wives see being 'helper' means they are 'inferior' to their husbands (or so they were made to think), but the very word 'ezer' doesn't just mean 'to aid', but also 'to surround & to protect'! There are areas where the husband (as head of the family) do the protection (e.g. in giving physical security to the wife, etc), but do you know that a husband needs the wife's protection as well (especially in some of the more 'subtle' areas of life)? An 'aeroplane' cannot fly (soar) with only one 'wing'. It takes two (i.e. husband & wife comparable), lest it 'flutters'!

Now, I'm here to say that I'm not 'affiliated' to any 'male rights' or 'women rights' group, or any 'rights' group. The only one sure foundation I stand on is the Word of God, nothing but the Word! It's about what God says, not what man (or woman) says!

It’s time to ‘rebuild’ what God has originally ‘built’, and that includes the area of 'marriage'. In a time when the original Word of God has been so 'watered down' and 'adulterated' with so many human philosophies or fleshly opinions, let's go back to the very original! Psalm 89:34 says 'My (YHWH's) covenant I will not break, nor alter the Word that has gone out of My lips'. In fact, the word 'Genesis' in Hebrew is 'reshiyth', meaning 'original, origins, beginnings, the first (in place, time, order, rank), firstfruit, chief of chiefs, the principal thing’. 

This word 'Genesis' is also where the word ‘genetics’ come from. Now, what does it mean by 'being genetically-altered'? It means ‘not original anymore, i.e. adulterated’. To be 'adulterated’ means ‘become poorer in quality after adding other substances’. This is exactly what has been happening in our time, the end-time! The original Word of God has been compromised just to suit the 'fleshly desires/philosophies' of human! There are just too many opinions here and there, & everywhere nowadays. But has God not spoken clearly in the Word? The Word of God is actually so simple (and direct) that it needs 'help' to misunderstand it! Remember how the serpent 'helped' Eve to misunderstand what God has spoken (so clearly) to Adam? See Genesis 3:1. 

Has God created an Adam with more than one 'Eves'? Has God indeed created an Adam with a 'Steve'? Or has Eve been created to be like a 'maid/servant/slave' to Adam (since the English translation of 'ezer' has been grossly misunderstood as merely 'helper')? 

People of God, not what flesh has built, but what God has built! It’s time to break away from men’s traditions or man-made religious practices that may have 'crept' into even the Body of Christ! Don’t build on what YHWH has never originally built! Dig back to the Word, the unadulterated Word of God, the principal thing! That's why I personally study the Word of God by also studying in Hebrew & Greek in order to get the original meaning. Anything that’s not built on/upon the Word of God will not last. Matthew 7:24-29 says to build the 'house' on the rock (i.e. the unadulterated Word of God, & Jesus is the Word became flesh), not build it on the sand (i.e. on men’s ideas, men’s philosophies, men’s opinions, or religious traditions). Unless the Lord builds the 'house', it’s all built in vain (Psalm 127:1). In Luke chapter 4, Jesus said “It is written” three times (a 'picture' of 'complete' trust in the Word, as the number 'three' in Hebrew means 'complete'). 

Get back & dig back to the 'unadulterated' Word of God, not the 'genetically-altered' version! One sure area is in ‘marriage’. Marriage is God-ordained. It is sacred. In fact, it's a covenant! A marriage is a covenant relationship (i.e. lifetime relationship – ‘till death do us part’), and it cannot be broken. This is different from a 'contractual agreement', where the two parties can end the ‘contract’ by mutual consent. A covenant is 'for lifetime'. In fact, God puts the highest priority on the covenant of marriage. Proof? Look at Adam & Eve, the very beginning ('reshiyth', i.e. 'the principal thing'). Do you know that a marriage covenant has existed long before any tabernacle, temple, priestly service, or even the 'law' ever existed on earth?

Husbands, as head of the wife, love, cherish & protect your wife, giving yourself for her just as Christ did for the church (Ephesians 5:22-25). Wives, as you submit to your husband, you are not just an 'aid' to him, but you are also to surround & protect him (the very meaning of the word 'ezer'). Also, for both husbands & wives, give priority to one another, and a 'listening ear' to one another. Husband and wife must ‘communicate’. That is the main key! If the husband does not 'communicate', chances are the wife will find 'somebody else' to communicate. And if the wife does not 'communicate', chances are the husband will also find 'somebody else' to communicate! This is a breeding ground towards an 'emotional affair', and if not checked, it may lead to 'physical/sexual affair' outside a marriage. This eventually leads to the downfall of a marriage (which started so blissful in the beginning). The same happened to the first couple. Adam could have communicated (what God has spoken directly to him about eating what & what not in the garden) more clearly to Eve, and not ‘presume’ she knows whatever he knows. The consequence? Eve was deceived to believe the lies of the serpent (to eat the 'forbidden fruit'), and eventually both Adam & Eve had to share the 'blame'. Speaking of lack of communication! They were then pronounced ‘cursed’ & 'guilty' (Genesis 3:15-19). God had to keep His word ("for in the day that you eat of 'it', you shall surely die"). A sin is still a sin. Now thank God for the 2nd Adam (Jesus) who made things right again some 2,000 years ago!

I end this writing with the word ‘husband’. Do you know the origins of this word? It comes from the word ‘house-bound’, i.e. 'someone bound and covenanted to his wife only & his newly-founded family (where the two have become one)'. A 'house-bound' is someone who 'honors his marriage covenant'. It is a good kind of 'being bound'. Within this 'boundary', the husband is 'aided, surrounded, & protected' (the very meaning of the word 'ezer'). So, it's completely untrue the sayings 'a wedlock is a padlock'! In a marriage, one finds true protection. Indeed, "behind every great man is a great woman"!