Sunday School

LESSON 2 • SEPTEMBER 10, 2023

GOD’S IMAGE: MALE AND FEMALE

BIBLE BASIS: GENESIS 2:18-25

BIBLE TRUTH: God shows concern for relationships by creating a woman to be a help meet with the man.

MEMORY VERSE: “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18, KJV).

LESSON AIM: By the end of the lesson, we will: KNOW how and why God created human companionship; APPRECIATE that God takes an active role in creating loving partnerships; and IDENTIFY spiritual practices that honor strong family bonds.

BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES: Genesis 1, 2; 5:1,2 — Read and incorporate the insights gained from the Background Scriptures into your study of the lesson.

LESSON SCRIPTURE

GENESIS 2:18-25, KJV

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the "eld, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the "eld; but for Adam there was not found an 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 instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto 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 unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

BIBLICAL DEFINITIONS

A. Adam (Genesis 2:7) adem (Heb.) — the first man; created by God, in God’s image. God made Adam from the dust of the ground, breathing the breath of life into his nostrils.

B. Woman (v. 23) issa (Heb.) — the first woman; created by God to be a companion for Adam, the first man. Adam named her Woman because God made her from one of Adam’s ribs.

LIFE NEED FOR TODAY’S LESSON

AIM: "at your students will develop a practice of relying on God for help with choices.

INTRODUCTION

The book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible and the first book of the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Old Testament. The Jewish label for these books is “Torah,” which means teaching, while English Bibles refer to these books simply as the “Law.” Written by Moses, the leader of the enslaved Hebrew people (Exodus 1), the book of Genesis is a book about beginnings—the beginning of the universe, the beginning of creatures, the beginning of mankind, and the beginning of God’s activity in the life of the world. “In the beginning God created . . .” (Genesis 1:1) “And God said . . . and God made . . . and God blessed . . . and God saw. . .” (Genesis 1 and 2).

BIBLE LEARNING

AIM: Students will learn that God created in pairs so that His creatures would be dependent on one another.

SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES

QUESTIONS

1. Why does God say it is not good to be alone?

2. When should a husband and wife not compete with one another?

GOD PROVIDES COMPANIONSHIP

GENESIS 2:18-20

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Here we see the combination of the name “LORD God.” The personal name for the God of Israel is represented by the four-letter consonants YHWH or Yahweh, also called the Tetragrammaton, while the name El/Elohim was used for God throughout the ancient Near East. The Hebrew word for “Lord” or master, adonai (aw-dah-NAHY), is substituted for the Tetragrammaton in English translations of the Bible in all capital letters to respect the ancient Jewish tradition of not pronouncing the name of Israel’s deity out of deference. Ancient Jewish scholars inserted the vowels “ a-o-a” in ado- nai between the consonants to remind the readers to substitute adonai when they read YHWH aloud.God was concerned for the man’s social well-being and declared that the man (Heb. adam, aw-DAWM) should not be alone. Technically the man was not alone; God, along with the other heavenly beings (Genesis 3:22), was present with him. The announcement serves more as an explanation asah (ahSAW) means “to do” or “make.” God is depicted as making the creatures by hand in chapter 2, in contrast to chapter 1, where God spoke and Creation came into existence.

The Hebrew verb for “form” or “fashion” is yatsar. The Lord God formed all of the living creatures (Heb. nephesh chay, nehFESH khah-E) in the field and in the air out of the soil or earth (Heb. adamah, ad-aw-MAW). The image of God in 2:18–19 is as a potter at the wheel spinning and molding the creatures into shape. The prophet Isaiah drew upon this analogy to connote the relationship between God and the people (Isaiah 64:8). Isaiah expressed that we are all intimately related to God as living creatures formed by Him.

God brought the creatures to the man to name them. This included the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. The Hebrew noun chay (khah-E) means “living thing” or “animal” and conveys a wild beast that has not yet been tamed or domesticated. It also contrasts the difference between the man and the animals.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the "eld; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

The verb yatsar means “to form” or “shape.” God is depicted as a potter, making the creatures by effort and definite actions of His hands, in contrast to chapter 1, where God speaks, and Creation comes into existence. A man is worthy to have a partner (ezer) who is a help to him. However, if he was not worthy, she would be his adversary (kenegdo). –

By naming the animals, the man asserted his authority or dominion over them, but this also included a caretaker role. Also implicit in this verse is that by naming the creatures, the man would find one with whom he would be compatible. The man’s expectations probably rose and fell with each presentation of a new creature to name and define its function. The Hebrew verb “find” (matsa, mawTSAW) means to “attain to” or “find,” as in a thing sought. However, he did not find the one that he was seeking or that God intended for him—one that corresponded to him.

GENESIS 2:21-25

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 instead thereof.

The Hebrew noun tsela (TSEH-law) is translated “rib” or “side.” The term is translated “rib” in verse 21. However, the exact meaning is unknown. God had determined that in order to create a help meet compatible with the man, He would have to take a di#erent route. The new creature would have to consist of substance taken directly from the man. God closed (Heb. sagar, saw-GAR) the place where the rib was taken, leaving it as if nothing had occurred. God is the surgeon par excellence who performs the task with precision and finesse.

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

The verb in Hebrew translated in verse 22 as “made” is not the same verb as in verses 18–19 that describes God as making or forming. The verb here is banah (baw-NAW) and means “to build,” as in a house or to perpetuate or establish a family. God fashioned or shaped the rib into the form of the being that was the opposite of the man. The act of forming or shaping objects conjures images of simpler, plainer creations. However, to fashion suggests a higher form of creation where the creator has paid more attention to the details. One can imagine God being especially intentional about getting just the right partner for the man this time.

The understanding of “to build” in place of “made” is also appropriate as the creation of one like the man would be the necessary piece for beginning to build up the human family.

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.

The man’s response to the new creation was pure joy. He had finally found one like him who was made of bone (Heb. etsem, eh-TSEM) and $esh (Heb. basar, baw-SAWR). As if to emphasize that this creation was the one who would finally bring him the companionship he sought, he named her Woman (Heb. ishshah, ish-SHAW) because she was created from the side of the man (Heb. ish). This song of praise celebrated the culmination of God’s creative acts in the garden. What God declared was not good in verse 18 (Heb. lo-tov) had been remedied in verse 23.

The creation of the woman introduced gender difference. In Genesis 1:27 God created male and female, biological and physiological sexual categories. Man and woman are characterized by masculine and feminine gender roles in 2:23.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

The Hebrew verb azab (aw-ZAB) means “to leave,” “forsake,” or “loose.” For the man to leave his parents explains why males abandon or reject kin to marry and start new families with their female partners. The Hebrew word for woman, ishshah (ish-SHAW), is the same word for wife.

The Hebrew word for “cleave,” also cling or keep close, is dabaq (daw-BAK). It represents here the sexual union of the man and his wife. The differences inferred by gender are muted by the unity of the man and woman. The separateness of the two when God took the man’s bone and $esh to create the woman has now been reunited through their becoming husband and wife. The two becoming one flesh (Heb. basar, baw-SAWR) symbolizes this union.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

We come into this world naked. Children have no inhibitions about being naked. Parents will often permit toddlers to walk around in nothing but a diaper. Caretakers think nothing of bathing children together in the same tub. The fact that adults don’t make an issue of this allows children to feel comfortable and free in their nakedness. The nakedness of the man and woman represented their childlike innocence at the time of their creation. They were not ashamed (Heb. bosh, boosh) of being naked (Heb. arome, aw-ROME). This lack of shame attested to their lack of sin at this point. They could look upon each other without any need to cover or hide themselves. After the fall, God clothes them when their sin brings about shame (Genesis 3:20).

BIBLE APPLICATION

AIM: Students will recognize the importance of developing godly relationships.

Those of us who are healthy, have strong family ties, and are regularly connected to a church family can take companionship for granted. There are people among us who are shut in and because of illness, incarceration, low self-esteem, or poverty. Their circumstances exclude them from continuous human contact. With the popularity of social media, they are ignored and shut out because they do not have the existing technology, negating their efforts to maintain face-to-face contact.

STUDENTS’ RESPONSES

AIM: Students will commit to regularly calling and visiting with a person who is shut in.

Commit to regularly telephone and visit with a person who is shut in. If they desire, show the person the existing technology and how to use it. If your church has a prison ministry, become involved. If your church is located in an inner city, become involved with the community. Be genuine and display the love of Jesus.

PRAYER

Dear Father, we declare that You are the only wise God and You know all things. We pray that You would help us to not lean on our own understanding but to acknowledge You in all our ways. We want Your Spirit to guide us in all the choices that we make. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

DIG A LITTLE DEEPE

The beauty and wisdom of God’s creation, in its sexual duality of anatomy and physiology, is part of the subtext of the early chapters of Genesis. Specifically, the biblical narrator celebrates the introduction of gender difference through God’s fashioning of the woman in the garden. This celebration has been muted in these modern times, as concepts like “gender fluidity” and “transgenderism” gain traction in popular culture. For example, in order to comfort sufferers of genuine psychological pain caused by gender dysphoria, there is an ill-advised campaign to redefine our understanding of gender and sex.

Dysphoria is a mental state in which a person has a profound sense of unease or dissatisfaction. Gender dysphoria describes the stress associated with the incongruence between one’s biological sex and one’s perceived gender. Gender dysphoria has historically been recognized as a psychiatric disorder. Even in the recent past, it was obvious to the healthcare community that psychiatric treatment was appropriate for someone whose view of self did not align with his or her chromosomal and biological identity. But there has been a massive shift in medical ethics recently. Advancements in plastic surgery and hormone replacement therapy have made it easier to help dysphoric patients transition outwardly, and now the healthcare industry is often choosing to engage in these invasive and costly treatments. The new presumption is that outward sex reassignment is a valid and reasonable means of alleviating gender dysphoria.

The issues surrounding this very real mental affliction must be addressed by the Church. We actually have a perspective and biblical counsel that the sufferers of dysphoria desperately need. But we should become familiar with the details. An excellent introduction to the issue is the article on the Gospel Coalition website, “The Christian Response to Gender Dysphoria” (posted September 9. 2016). The author, Andrew T. Walker, makes a call for us to respond to this issue with compassion and truth. The information he imparts is edifying, and the charge he gives is persuasive. Explore the link and read it for yourself.

HOW TO SAY IT

Cleave. CLEEVE.

Naked.. NAY-ked.

Ashamed. uh-SHAYM-d.

PREPARE FOR NEXT SUNDAY

Read Genesis 3:8b-17 and study “Knowledge of Good and Evil.”

SOURCES:

Gibson, John C. L. OT Daily Study Bible Series. Genesis, Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox Press, 1981.

Speiser, E. A. The Anchor Bible, Vol. 1 Genesis: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. New York: Doubleday, 1962.

DAILY HOME BIBLE READINGS

MONDAY

Living Creatures of Every Kind

(Genesis 1:20–25)

TUESDAY

Made in the Image of God

(Genesis 1:26–31)

WEDNESDAY

Formed from the Dust

(Genesis 2:1–9)

THURSDAY

In the Likeness of God

(Genesis 5:1–5)

FRIDAY

Made a Little Lower than God

(Psalm 8)

SATURDAY

Created in the Likeness of God

(Ephesians 4:17–24)

SUNDAY

Created Male and Female

(Genesis 2:18–25)