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.
Genesis 2:23–24
Adam was not only excited to meet the being that God had made out of bone instead of dust like him, he was also excited to name her and, in naming her, he called her WOMAN because she had been taken out of man. She looked like him but was also very different; she had features that he did not have and I bet he was eager to explore the differences and utilize them. Adam said “…she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
When God made man, He made them male and female (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 5:1–2). Consequently, the fact that she was taken out of man is confirmation that she was originally a part of him. It makes me wonder, therefore, why we fight each other so much if both of us started as one, in the image of God. If, in the beginning, Adam recognized that she was taken out of man, why is there so much division in our homes? Why do our men not recognize that their wives are a part of them? This is a question I often ask but to which I have no answers and I am sure that heaven is asking the same question and not getting any answers either.
The significance of the woman being taken out of the man is put succinctly by Matthew Henry, the great Bible commentator, as follows:
“The Woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam: not made out of his head to rule him, nor our of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.”
This makes it very clear that the purpose of God for bringing the woman out of the man is not for him to rule her but to love her. Ephesians 5:25 commands husbands to love their wives and I sincerely wish that everyone would walk in the light of this wisdom. It is important to keep love alive in our homes because if more people did, the divorce rate would be much lower in our society today than it currently is; let us love one another (1 John 4:7–8).
Prayer Point:
Lord, please help me to walk in love for love is of God.