tl;dr

God sees something not good: Adam alone. God gives the command for man to multiply and subdue the earth, but man is unable to complete the task. God delivers man from his inability by building him an ally…a delivering ally to collaborate and complete the command.

Genesis 2:18

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Bible Project

I am going through the Bible Project’s podcast series The City. So far in every podcast, I’ve heard something I’ve never thought about before, or I’ve been challenged to reconsider what I thought was my established understanding on a topic.

One challenge started with a re-evaluation of the classical word helper or helpmate from Genesis 2:18. The connotation of the word in the modern sense does not (as the podcast speaker posits) exemplify the original potential meaning of delivering ally (Eve). This is very intriguing because a delivering ally saves, partners, or collaborates with the member in order to bring about the deliverance. The delivering ally makes it possible to fulfill God’s command: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it…” Gen 1:28. The speaker continues indicating that the verb used to describe Eve’s forming is in the language of building a city. And from there he starts the process of examining the concept of city throughout the Bible.

Implications

Practically, I found this super helpful when interacting and envisioning how my helpmate delivering ally helps collaborates with me concerning the vision and spiritual desires for the family. We all have a part to play. The fulfillment of God’s commands still stand. Though sometimes our obedience can appear small, our obedience to all commands are truly important - even if they’re simple in our eyes.

• spiritual, gender, womanhood, manhood, masculinity, femininity