Today's Word

Navigator Choose A Date     Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31       Printer friendly version Send to a Friend Discuss this devotional   Subscribe…   To subscribe to the FREE 'Today's Word' mailing list, enter your email address below, click "Go!" and we will send you a confirmation email. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your addition to this list.

" yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you" Genesis 3:16

Desire - This verse is part of the curse placed on Eve after she and Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. We are probably more familiar with the part of the curse that talks about increasing the pain of childbirth. But there is more to this passage than just childbirth problems. In the creation of Eve, God takes special care to make sure that Eve has equal status and equal respect. The story says that Eve was taken from Adam's side (not rib). The two of them are side-by-side partners. There is not hierarchy of authority in the Garden of Eden. There is only community of fellowship between both human beings and God. They walked and talked together.

Things changed with the introduction of sin. This word for "desire" (t' shuqa) in this text is found only two other places in the Old Testament. One is in the Song of Solomon where it is clearly about romantic, sexual desire. The other place in Genesis 4:7 where the implication is that sin wants to control and dominate. Now we see how this word helps us understand the curse on the woman. Sin has upset the intended equality between the sexes. Sinful men will attempt to control their partners. They will take on the role of the tyrant. Sinful women will lust after men. They will also attempt to control their partners. The battle between desire and power becomes part of the human condition. But it was never intended to be this way.

Restoration of the equality intended by God will never occur through politics, legislation, obligation or prosecution. Those activities only curb something that is now deeply embedded in the corruption of the human heart. God knows that we need a new heart, not a re-modeled one. Treating someone of the opposite sex as an equal in every respect is the result of a change in the inner makeup of our lives. Without this change, sin's curse will always find expression. How you act is only an expression of how you think. Are you in touch with God's intention or are you thinking in the categories of the curse?

Visit At God's Table for more
inspirational devotions by Skip Moen.

Copyright Statement:

"Today's Word" devotional, from Skip Moen . © 2003 is used by permission. All rights reserved. "Today's Word" may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) A proper credit must be given to the author, along with a link to http://www.studylight.org/col/tw/  2) "Today's Word" may not be arranged or "mirrored" as a competitive online service.