Final Cover for the Unbinding plus excerpt!

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die”(Genesis 2:15).

My grandson, when very young, asked, “Who made God first?” And then proudly answered, “Adam.”

We are often like my grandson and ask questions incorrectly, or sometimes, simply ask the wrong question. But let’s consider the question my grandson attempted to ask. He had meant to say, “Who did God make first?” Even my two-year-old grandson knew the answer—Adam. Why is this significant to our study? In the passage above, we see that God gives Adam instructions about the tree of knowledge before forming Eve. It’s not until verse 22, we read:

And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

Eve is not yet in existence when God gives the instructions, and probably, Adam passes along the information to the newly formed Eve. It’s also possible God gave her the instructions face to face. Regardless, she becomes confused, whether it's her fault or Adam's. We know this because she tells the serpent in Genesis chapter three, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”(emphasis mine)

God’s instructions to Adam did not include neither shall you touch it. 

Thus, the serpent targets Eve, knowing she is armed with incorrect teaching. The story continues:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:6, emphasis mine).

Adam stands by and watches the scene unfold without speaking up. Adam sins along with Eve. Throughout the Bible, scripture says man is the one through whom sin entered the world.

For example, Romans 5:12 tells us: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Remember that Adam and Eve formed one flesh, one man, one human, if you will. The Bible reiterates again and again that sin entered the world through one person, and that is the united Adam and Eve. The word translated “man” in Romans 5:12, is anthrópo. According to Strong’s Concordance, the definition is one of the human race.

Why, then, is Eve alone often blamed? Perhaps the verses below have led to our confusion.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.  ~1 Timothy 2:12

I do not permit a woman to teach cannot be a blanket statement since women are seen throughout scripture as teachers. And no one would argue today that women cannot teach other women or children. This statement, therefore, must mean not to teach in such a way as to exercise authority over a man. But does that mean what some think? Scholars agree that the Greek word authentein, translated here as “to exercise authority,” carries with it the idea of force to assume authority.

Based on a (mis)understanding of the text, women have been told throughout the ages that men are to lead and women are to follow.

But what if we look at these verses from a woman’s viewpoint at that time? What if women, with their new-found freedom in Christ, believe they are the ones chosen by God to assume authority?

 These early Christian women know salvation, in the form of Jesus, has entered the world through a woman.

They know Mary had given birth to the Christ! A woman had been part of God’s great purpose. 

Hope to have this book completed in a month or so. Look for it soon!