111. Chief Joys
Given that one of a man's chief joys is to work in his garden,
and a woman's is her home service to husband and family,
HOW COME they are the 'punishments' God meted out to Adam and Eve??
Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
etc etc.
And the serpent was to slide on his belly.
These are our chief joys.
They are not punishments .
But they are punishments if we consider what they might have had as their chief joys,...walking with God in Eden,
perhaps partaking of the ( various) fruits of the tree of life.
Community with the best of Gods creation, his chosen ones.
But what they had instead were only simple pleasures, small l life, small j joys.small p pleasure.
The punishment if as such was by means of a restriction.
But the big issue was, they then became the propperty of Satan until mankind could be redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus death which bought ( from Satan) the mortality of man and gave back man his eternal life with God.
They did, 'surely die".
And I guess Woman's desire could have been meant to be much higher than her husband. It was probably to God Himself, as in Mary mother of Jesus.
Indeed the sons of God saw the daughters of men to be fair...I read that to be fallen angels partaking of women who were meant for God or Gods purpose, breeding for their own . Previous posts about Angels indicate a vacuum of female angels, so maybe the original purpose of our lovely ladies was far far different.
I guess the Bride of Christ can indicate more meaningful depth, altho I know this refers to the Church.
But consider the late arrival of Gentiles, and possibly the alteration of Gods plan for mankind , and its anybody's guess what women's role was meant to be.
Perhaps it is no wonder we worship them on the little pedestals we put them on...
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown.
Does that make sense?
and a woman's is her home service to husband and family,
HOW COME they are the 'punishments' God meted out to Adam and Eve??
Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
etc etc.
And the serpent was to slide on his belly.
These are our chief joys.
They are not punishments .
But they are punishments if we consider what they might have had as their chief joys,...walking with God in Eden,
perhaps partaking of the ( various) fruits of the tree of life.
Community with the best of Gods creation, his chosen ones.
But what they had instead were only simple pleasures, small l life, small j joys.small p pleasure.
The punishment if as such was by means of a restriction.
But the big issue was, they then became the propperty of Satan until mankind could be redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus death which bought ( from Satan) the mortality of man and gave back man his eternal life with God.
They did, 'surely die".
And I guess Woman's desire could have been meant to be much higher than her husband. It was probably to God Himself, as in Mary mother of Jesus.
Indeed the sons of God saw the daughters of men to be fair...I read that to be fallen angels partaking of women who were meant for God or Gods purpose, breeding for their own . Previous posts about Angels indicate a vacuum of female angels, so maybe the original purpose of our lovely ladies was far far different.
I guess the Bride of Christ can indicate more meaningful depth, altho I know this refers to the Church.
But consider the late arrival of Gentiles, and possibly the alteration of Gods plan for mankind , and its anybody's guess what women's role was meant to be.
Perhaps it is no wonder we worship them on the little pedestals we put them on...
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown.
Does that make sense?
posted by Ross at 10:37 am
6 Comments:
Good post Ross, and our dog, she agrees (at least, when I put the question to her as she pretended to be deep asleep on her sheepskin but wasn't fooling me, 'cos I noticed the slight raising of an eyelid keeping an eye on her food-bowl just in case... she started wagging her tail involuntarily). Yep gardening is a joy, but what about the weeds? I think they're part of the punishment - kind of like the witches in Act4, Scene 1 Macbeth "Double, double toil and trouble"
um ... well it seems to me that our "punishments" are not just to cause us suffering, they are to teach us, extend us, reform us etc. The suffering is the transition period before the reforming. (The most painful time in labour is reputed to be the "transition period"...interesting.)
So Eve saw that the fruit was pleasant and desirable to make one wise. But there is knowledge and there is wisdom .... perhaps wisdom could be defined as the discerning application of knowledge.
Paul said women would be saved in childbirth. If he is being sexist it is only in the most positive way. It is confirmation that our "punishment" is woman's salvation ... our transition to wisdom. There is no doubt that bearing and rearing children is a spiritual experience .... we are preoccupied with the issues of Life and Death. Its as if God says, "well, sorry, but you disobeyed me, Satan can introduce his methods now and you will have to learn the hard way." The sorrow and anxiety, the sacrifice, the hard, lonely lessons of motherhood (thank goodness there is a sisterhood of mothers who share and understand the experience!) certainly prepare our hearts to welcome the Bridegroom of the Soul, Jesus, when he comes to offer us redemption.
Perhaps the desire a wife has to her husband is her disire to please and support him, attend to his comfort etc. If he is fulfilling his role as protector and supporter of his wife her gratitude is only justice ... and it benefits their partnership and the family unit as a whole.
When there is a choice between husband and children, I think a woman's responisiblity is to the children, while they are vulnerable and needing her care. And I think there is the always the higher desire in a woman ..."the getting of wisdom".
For most woman her desire for a man is closely linked to her desire for a relationship which also satisfies her soul.
A good woman will sell her soul for love ....maybe it is the sin to which she is most vulnerable.
..."missus r" .... name change from "lady r" ?-)
A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle
Meaning:
A feminist slogan.
Origin:
Often attributed to Gloria Steinem. Other claims for origination point to Flo (Florynce) Kennedy, or to an anonymous author who painted the slogan on a wall at University of Wisconsin in 1969.
Gloria Steinem had this to say in a letter she wrote to Time magazine in autumn 2000:
"In your note on my new and happy marital partnership with David Bale, you credit me with the witticism 'A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.' In fact, Irina Dunn, a distinguished Australian educator, journalist and politician, coined the phrase back in 1970 when she was a student at the University of Sydney."
Pity help us if we ever become so bitter, hardened and arrogant that we think we (men and woman)dont need each other! At the very least we always benefit from one another's contribution.
We need companionship, comfort, security and to a certain extent we draw these things from other human beings. But for infinite, aboslutely reliable companionship, comfort and security we need to learn to draw from the Spirit or Presence of God. That gives us an independence from one another; weakness and unreliabity is inherent in every human being because we are not omnipotent and omnipresent as God is; being dependent on God gives us freedom to benefit from human love, yet not injured by the betrayal that comes from human weakness.
Was Eve blonde?
The Sons of God saw the daughters of men were fair...
further to the idea of our "punishments" being our chief joys ..... yet another indication of the mercy of God, that we would become devoted to our "punishment" or "rehabilitation", recognising the benefit of it and taking pleasure in it!
Children,all their live, are a great joy; many women feel cheated if they cannot experience their "punishment" of childbirth and childrearing. They know they have missed out on something very enriching and joyful. lady r
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