(Gen.3:20; 4:1; 1Tim.2:13; 2 Cor. 11:3)
Eve, the mother of us all, is the only person created who permeates our every thought and plagues the regrets of our hearts. And all this without her name ever needing to be spoken. Her beginnings were perfection, her end desolation. Her duty a simple command, her rebellion a world of confusion. In the Hebrews Eleven Hall of Faith we do not find her. Rather, Paul holds her forth to illustrate the grave concern he has for the Corinthian brethren: “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2Cor.11:3).When instructing Timothy, Paul again returns to the incident in Eden. He bases his apostolic command for the submissive role of women concerning teaching and authority upon two aspects of Eve’s life and being. Firstly, that she was created after Adam, and secondly, that she was the first to sin (1Tim.2:11-14). The Garden of Eden was perfection on earth. Adam and Eve not only enjoyed the ideal lifestyle, they lived it with God in their midst. Giving in to the Devil’s lie was an invitation to suffer the consequences of their choice. Remember, they willingly ate the fruit. Nothing has changed on that front since then.Eve’s physical DNA fills our bodies, and her sinful DNA fills our world. But Satan may have won against our parents in Eden, but by God’s mercy, within Eve lay the ‘Seed’ of hope. In the Bible’s first redemptive message God informs Satan of his inevitable destruction under the heel of the Christ to come:“And I will put enmityBetween you and the woman,And between your seed and her seed;He shall bruise you on the head,And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Gen.3:15)(johnstaiger1@gmail.com)
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