| His Great WisdomusnessThe Rat is here today to discuss something there is still much dispute about: a woman's place.Since this subject is one that scripture deals with in depth, the Rat will be making this a series, of which this is the first installment.Today's post will be dealing with only ONE scripture from the passage below.You begin, perhaps, to see what the Rat means about the book being complex?Strange as it may seem, stoopid humans, there are still many today who treat a woman with less respect than they do a man. Many even base this bad behavior on scripture, as much as if to say God could somehow be impressed by one's race, color or sex, when He Himself is the Creator of all three (one might almost suppose Him to be a lover of diversitywhich would be a great shock to many who claim to be His followers, would it not?).Let us look at one of the opening passages dealing with woman in the book:Gen. 2:7?And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.8?And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.15?And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it.16?And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17?But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt surely die.18?And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him a help meet for him.19?And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was its name.20?And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowls of the air, and to every beast of the field: but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him.21?And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.22?And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, he made woman, and brought her to the man. 23?And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. 24?Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh.25?And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.Let us look at this passage and see what we can see.Today, let us note this verse:18?And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him a help meet for him.Please note that this statement does not come from Adam.It does not come from the National Organization for Women.It does not come from Misogynists-R-Us, nor from the Men's Organization of Pantywaists as NOW MOPs the floor up with them.It comes from God, Who had just made man, and Who was stating what was NOT good for that creation'to be alone'.Ponder this a moment, stoopid humans: did Adam not have the companionship of all the animals, as we see in the entire passage above?And, even better, did he not have the companionship of God HIMSELF?And yet it is GOD Who states that Adam was 'alone' in some sense, and that it was NOT GOOD.Anyone who has read Genesis knows that the chapters on creation are the very ones full of the statement:?'And God saw that it was good', right from chapter one.Yet here we have God not simply 'seeing' a thing as NOT GOOD, but actually SAYING it.Can we say 'Divine emphasis', stoopid humans??And can we not agree that such emphasis, coming from an omniscient being, would have a purpose?And that such a being would not say what He did not mean?And that it might be a good thing for the finite to listen and ponder what the Infinite meant by such emphasis?We often hear smart men themselves speak of how a woman's influence on them can draw them to live differently than they do, if they are bachelors. |
| And that it might be a good thing for the finite to listen and ponder what the Infinite meant by such emphasis?We often hear smart men themselves speak of how a woman's influence on them can draw them to live differently than they do, if they are bachelors.It is true that anyone living with another person will have to make adjustments.It is also true that any influence can be used for good or for bad.Still, we have God making the initial conclusion that it was better for man NOT to be alone.When the Rat heard some years back that Pat Nixon had died, the Rat commented, "Richard will follow soon."Sure enough, the ex-president died not too long after that.The same thing happened with June and Johnny Cash.Was the Rat an apocalyptic prophet?After all, he had at least as much stuff right as Nostradamus.No, stoopid humans, the Rat would not make claims like that.Studies do show that, in couples married a long time, when the woman dies, the man, in most cases, will shortly follow.The life span of women does not seem to be adversely affected by the death of the husband (please remember that the Rat does not make these things happen, as he is only a rat.Please do not shoot the messenger, as he is only a messenger, not the Grim Reaper himself).We do see here that God does not say of woman that it is not good for HER to be alone.In light of these studies, it does seem a bit odd, does it not??At least, we rats ponder such things.Of course, there is more later on what God says to woman on her relationship to man, but that will take more room than we have here today.Please also note that God says He will make 'a help meet for him'.Help: ?e?zeray'-zerFrom H5826; aid: - help.Meet: negedneh'-ghedFrom H5046; a front, that is, part opposite; specifically a counterpart, or mate; usually (adverbially, especially with preposition) over against or before: - about, (over) against, X aloof, X far (off), X from, over, presence, X other side, sight, X to view.Strangely, many who name the Name only see this word in terms of the 'part opposite' definition.And that can be a very good and wonderful thing, as the Rat thinks every time the Rat is nesting down in a warm, comfy bed with the Rat's mate.It is the differences between us that make us interesting, is it not, stoopid humans?Although one must sometimes wonder if one must be a rat to see it like that.The part of this meaning that is decidedly ignored by many, is the word 'counterpart'.According to Oxford University Press Dictionary it means: counterpart >noun a person or thing that corresponds to or has the same function as another.Uh oh.There go a lot of arguments about social roles up in flames with just a single word.Of course, there are those who will fall down frothing at the mouth as they sputter about this HAVING to mean 'there are no differences between women and men' (please wait while the Rat pauses to wipe away tears and boo hoo over the threat to their mindset that poses), even though the text AND the dictionary imply nothing of the kind.One may be a secret agent and one may very well work closely with other secret agents.These agents, according to Oxford, would be one's counterparts.Does this mean that they will look, walk, talk and act exactly like you?Of course not, stoopid humans, and only someone utterly lacking in common sense or desperate to shore up an undefendable position would likely to see it that way.(Can we say 'agenda'?I knew you could.)Psyc studies have found that there is actually more difference personality-wise between individuals than there is between male and female.This only makes sense, since, should something happen to one partner or the other, the one left behind must step in to care for the children by themselves.It would be a very unwise planner who would create a system otherwise, would it not?Does this mean they are interchangeable?This is a stoopid question, as everyone knows NO humans are interchangeable unless they sit in Congress, or become pop stars or models.But otherwise, each human is very unique.In studying pharmacy, the Rat learned that even our bodies react differently to drugs (or anything we ingest, as those with food allergies know).The dosage we see on the little boxes of pills we buy at the drug store are the average dose for the average body weight of the average person.The Rat, for example, has a smaller frame than most, and has always had to take half doses of most medications.And there are just some drugs that work well for some, but will not work well, or at all for others: this is because, even in physiological construction, humans are a still a great mystery to themselves in many waysor as a wise man once marveled, long ago: fearfully and wonderfully made.Why some people would want to disparage this great creation remains too great a mystery for a rat, though rats have their suspicions.With humans, it is nearly always about power, and it is a shame that those who name the Name often show themselves to be as hungry for it in lustful ways (as opposed to healthy ways) as those they parade around trying to 'save'.Stoopid humans.One thing the passage above clearly shows is that man DOES need woman's help: God would not have created her for the role otherwise, would He?And only a complete idiot would turn down God-given help...at least, we rats are not so stuck on ourselves as to do that.?But, are there biblical differences in how God made man and woman?And do those relate to our perspectives of one another?Yes, stoopid humans, but those are the subject of another blog.So be sure to read the Rat's next blog, as there are some lovely surprises, and things of interest to us all.But, for now, it is the Rat's lunch time, and the Brie souffle is getting cold. |
| But, for now, it is the Rat's lunch time, and the Brie souffle is getting cold. |
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