9/3/2024
Elijah McSwain, Sr.
Genesis 2:18-24 NKJV — And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 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.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Marriage is a hot topic of discussion in our world today. Many people have placed the concept of marriage under the microscope for thorough observation. The parameters for what define marriage for many individuals has become controversial. The controversy lies within the boundaries of people attempting to redefine what God has already defined and decreed. At the brink of this battle over marriage, the world has an established agenda that is set against the divine decree of God. Society has tried to devalue what God has orchestrated and permanently established for marriage and the marital relationship. Within this written composition, Genesis 2:18-24 is the institutional grounds for marriage as determined by God. It is the basis of God’s blueprint and framework for human relationships and marriage.
God’s Design For Companionship
Within the creation narrative, God deemed that everything that He created was good and very good from the Genesis chapter one account (cf. Genesis 1:3, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). The Genesis chapter one account is the vertical view of creation from God’s perspective from heaven to earth. It is the window that we are able to look into as He declared that His creation was good and then very good in Genesis 1:31. When it comes to the Genesis chapter two account, which is more of a horizontal view of creation from humanity’s perspective, God made an astonishing declaration before He ultimately finished creation. He pronounced that a certain element in creation was not good on the sixth day as a result of womankind not being brought into creation at the moment. At some point on the sixth day of creation as God surveyed the creatures within the earth, in verse 18, He declared that it is not good that man should be alone. Surely, in the process of Adam naming all of the animals, he had to notice that there were male counterparts and female counterparts within the animal kingdom. Inevitably, this would cause him to develop a desire for companionship as well. Therefore, God stated it was not good for man to be alone.
God made this statement as He created mankind with the ability to reason and express emotions.
In seeing the animals cohabitating with one another as male and female, this would create a sense of loneliness in Adam. There was no one among creation that was suitable for him physically, emotionally, and reproductively. As human beings, we are fashioned with the capacity to display community and fellowship. Humanity was created in the image of God and therefore, the other creatures of the earth could not provide Adam with any satisfaction relating to emotional, intellectual, and reproductive support. Donald Fleming stated “because human life alone existed in God’s image, none of the other creatures could share this life in any satisfying way. God therefore gave Adam one of his own kind, but of the opposite sex, to be his companion.” 1 As a result, God would make a suitable helper comparable to him that he might experience companionship. David Jeremiah affirmed that “as Adam named the animals, he became aware that none resembled him. So, the Lord created someone like Adam yet different. One reason God created Eve was because Adam’s aloneness was not good- a contrast to the rest of creation which God declared “good”. Relationships are part of humanity’s basic design. Marriage in particular is ideally a relationship in which each spouse brings true companionship to the other.” 2
Adam was missing the human element of sharing his experience on earth with someone like him. Therefore, the creation of Eve as his companion, would allow him to experience human emotions with one like him to compliment his very being.
The MacArthur Study Bible mentioned that “in observing man’s state as not good, He was commenting on his incompleteness before the end of the sixth day because the woman, Adam’s counterpart, had not yet been created. The words of this verse emphasize man’s need for a companion, a helper, and an equal. He was incomplete without someone to complement him in fulfilling the task of filling, multiplying, and taking dominion over the earth.” 3 Through the avenue of human companionship, the will of God would eventually be fulfilled through the procreation of husband and wife. Adam’s companionship to Eve and Eve’s companionship to Adam was the manifestation of Genesis 1:26-28 (NKJV) as God said, “let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So, God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
One writer wrote “the being of man by himself is not good.” The meaning of “good” must be defined contextually. Within the context of creation, in which God instructs humankind to be fruitful and multiply, the man alone cannot comply. Being alone prevents the man from fulfilling the design of creation and therefore is not good.” 4
Human companionship is rooted in God’s purpose and design to be fruitful, multiply, and produce offsprings to fill the earth. With the soon to be formation of Eve, Adam could not enact out the plan of God for creation. Thus, companionship through marriage is God’s design for human life and His way of humanity sharing life’s experiences with one another closely as husband and wife, male and female. In establishing the fact that Adam needed a counterpart to accompany him in life, the Lord brought Eve into existence. Verse 18 was the acknowledgement of Adam needing Eve. Verse 21 and verse 22 is where Eve came into existence.
Eve was created from Adam’s rib as God put him in a state of deep sleep. The surgical operation of putting Adam to sleep and forming Eve from his rib demonstrated God’s intentionality in meeting Adam’s need for companionship, human flourishing, communication, marital intimacy, and a shared life together. The act itself of creating Eve from the side of Adam embodies God’s intent for familiarity, oneness, closeness, intimacy and unity with their God-ordained relationship. The existence of Eve was vital to his livelihood and ultimate well-being.
God designed the marital relationship as a solemn, sacred, communal and complementary relationship between husband and wife, a biological male and a biological female for their enjoyment, companionship, and as part of His divine plan.
God Institutionalized Marriage
We live in a culture, that is driven by attempting to redefine marriage as if marriage is a human construct or a social construct. Marriage has been institutionalized by God and not the human populace. The Genesis account implicates that God brought the woman to the man (cf. Genesis 2:22).
This unfolds that God initiated, orchestrated, formalized, and established the grounds for marriage.
James Burton Coffman spoke that here was the first marriage, God Himself officiating in it, thus making God a partner and participant in every God-ordained wedding. 5 Every biblically based marriage is blessed of God and God shares in the marital bliss of such unions. Thus, when God brought Eve to Adam it signified that the concept of marriage is a divine concept and construct that was orchestrated without human intervention or collaboration. Warren Wiersbe revealed “God’s pattern for marriage wasn’t devised by Adam; as a traditional marriage ceremony states it, “marriage was born in the loving heart of God for the blessing and benefit of mankind.” No matter what the courts may decree, or society may permit, when it comes to marriage, God had the first word, and He will have the last word.” 6
God is the institutor of marriage. His role in the marriage establishment will not change regardless of what society plans and schemes. What was initially stated in Genesis 2:18-24, today is still God’s position and prerogative on marriage. Modernized thinking and progressive tactics will not change the heart of God about marriage. What He has decreed is eternally settled in heaven.
The Grace and Truth Study Bible articulated that “marriage is not a social construction but a divine creation that explains the wonder and power of sexuality and the magnetism between the sexes.” 7 When Adam saw Eve, no doubt he was magnetized by her beauty, her charm, and her elegance so he declared that this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man (v. 23). Adam more than likely had an expression of pure joy in seeing God’s handmade companion for him. No doubt, he was delighted to see someone that was comparable and suitable for him by God’s design.
When Adam laid hold of Eve's form and physical makeup, he acknowledged her person as part of himself as she was formed from his inner part, a rib. The statement that he made, “this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” emphasized that Adam identified and recognized her significance of being more than just another human. His statement carried the weight and expressed reality of her vital role for human connectivity and the marital fellowship between the sexes.
In the creation narrative, the naming of Eve by Adam by the indication of “woman,” stressed not only a relational unison but an established identity in the marriage union.
The implications set here for marriage is evidently clear that God has always intended for holy matrimony to be between a natural man and a natural woman. God created holy matrimony for the expressed purpose of revealing His mind relating to human relationships through His established pattern for the family, procreation, and the standard for every society. Lastly, within the institutional design for the family by God, Genesis 2:24 presents the foundational framework of marriage. It sets the tone and the precedent that a man shall leave his father and his mother to be joined to his wife. Leave means to establish a home of one's own to cultivate the marriage relationship. A marriage will not thrive the way that God intended when married couples still live under their parent’s roof. When a married couple establishes their own residence, this will prevent problems and setbacks in the marriage early on while giving way for the marital relationship to blossom as God intended.
The ideal of leaving one’s own parental family to form a new one through marriage highlights that married couples are to cleave to each other. Outside of God, no other human relationship should be invested in more than the marriage relationship.
Marriage was the first human institution established by God. Therefore, great attention, detail, and care should be given to the marital relationship. More attention should be given to the marriage relationship more than to your children, your job, the boys (gentlemen), your girls (ladies), your associates, your parents, your siblings, even your hobbies and so forth. All of the things mentioned previously have their proper place and time, but these things should never diminish the marital relationship and take priority over it.
As it relates to your children, H.B. Charles, Jr. verbally mentioned that children are not the root of the marriage but the fruit of it.
So, each married couple should give adequate time to each other as husband and wife. A man cleaving to his wife and vice versa, stresses the unified bond in marriage. The unified bond is demonstrated in one-on-one time being spent together to exhibit intimacy spiritually, emotional, mentally, and physically. The concept of cleaving gives ways for the enduring nature of the marital relationship to thrive and flourish as God has designed. The marriage account found in Genesis 2:18-24 is God’s formulated blueprint for human relationships. This written record sheds light on the importance of companionship, the solemn nature of the sexes within marriage and the holy sanctity and sacredness of marriage. Across the globe, there is mass confusion and distorted views about human relationships, however, Genesis 2:18-24 reminds us of God’s permanent design for marriage and human flourishing.
As we have gleamed from the Genesis 2:18-24, it should be our desire to honor God through our marriages, live in unity with one another, understand our role within the marital relationship, cultivate our marriage and deepen our understanding for connectivity mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually so that we can have a successful marriage according to God’s design.
References
Fleming, Donald C. “Commentary on Genesis 2:21”. “Fleming’s Bridgeway Bible Commentary”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bbc/genesis-2.html. 2005.
The Jeremiah Study Bible. Page 8.
The MacArthur Study Bible
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Genesis 2:22". "Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/genesis-2.html. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
The Wiersbe Study Bible
The Grace and Truth Study Bible