Eve: Mother of all living

(From Lorna)
“Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” Genesis 3:20 NKJV

The scripture tells her story, almost in abbreviated fashion, which helps us focus more clearly on the aspects of her life that have the most significance.

Her creation

Gen 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him.
Gen 2:21 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;
Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23 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.
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

God carefully assembled a whole new creature with just the right set of attributes to make the ideal mate for Adam. She completed Adam in every way. She was “taken out of man” they shared the same essential nature, she was his spiritual counterpart, his intellectual coequal.
Eve’s creation contains some important biblical lessons about the divinely-designed role of women. Adam was created first; then Eve was made to fill a void in his existence. Adam was designed to be a father, provider, protector, and leader. Eve was designed to be a mother, comforter, nurturer, and helper.
Also look at 1 cor 11:14, Ehp 5:22-24, col 3:18 and 1 Peter 3:1-6

Something to think about? The way Eve was created speaks of her fundamental equality with Adam. What does this mean to you? How do you understand the duty and role of women

Her temptation

Genesis 3 then introduces the tempter, a serpent.

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Satan came to Eve in disguise. That epitomizes the subtle way he intended to deceive her. He appears to have singled her out for this cunning deception when she was not in the company of Adam.
”Has God indeed said….”Skepticism is implicit in the inquiry. This is the classic modus operandi. He questions the Word of God by suggesting uncertainty about the meaning of God’s statements, raising doubts in Eves mind. Eve ate and then gave to her husband to eat. By Adams act sin entered the world and death through sin…Romans 5:12

Her Humiliation

And in a moment, her innocence was gone. The result was agonizing shame.

Her Expectation

She was given hope, she would have “seed” and would still have the opportunity to become the mother of the human race. Even better, was the promise that her seed would bruise the serpents head. This was the guarantee that her race would not be hopelessly subordinated to the evil one’s domination forever. This is also shown in the name of her son Seth “appointed one”
Gen 4:25 It suggests the underlying hope that one day her seed would destroy the power of sin.

What life principles have your learnt from the study of Eves life? How would you apply these to your life?