My dark... plus His Light... began this teaching...
R... revere
E... engage
S
P
E
C
T
The teaching continues... the Scripture that woke me yesterday... revealed the S...
Stand at the crossroads and look...
This is what the Lord says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is,
and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, 'We will not walk in it.' ..."
Jeremiah 6:16
Each day...
every moment...
we stand at a crossroads...
we have a choice...
our way...
or...
His Way...
...the ancient path... the good way... is the way it was meant to be... in the beginning... at the genesis...
Consider the outcome of the choice...
In this case... the choice to... respect... the command given to wives... regarding their husbands...
Eve... she did not respect her husband enough to ask... What do you think... about this fruit...? or... What exactly did God say...?
Perhaps she thought as I do at times... He's not even interested in what's going on here... what's the point of asking... or... He probably wasn't listening... the game was on... there's no way he remembers...
Patterns of thought... that reveal... a lack of respect...
No respect... for the one... whose job is to keep the Garden... and all that is in it... especially his helper...
The Lord took the man and put him in the garden...
to work it and keep it.
Genesis 2:15
ESV
keep... the Hebrew... it means... keep, i.e. cause a state or condition to remain... guard, watch, i.e. limit access and movement of persons or objects in and out of an area, implying protection to or from the item being guarded...
Adam... he had a job... and so did Eve...
Eve... entered the garden... as a helper... fit for Adam...
Then the Lord God said,
"It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him a helper fit for him."
Genesis 2:18
ESV
But she is not just any helper...
When God creates Eve, he calls here an ezer kenegdo. "It is not good for the man to be alone, I shall make him [an ezer kenegdo]" (Gen. 2:18 Alter). Hebrew scholar Robert Alter, who has spent years translating the book of Genesis, says this phrase is "notoriously difficult to translate." The various attempts we have in English are "helper" or "companion" or the notorious "help meet." ...Alter is getting close when he translates it "sustainer beside him."
The word ezer is used only twenty other places in the entire Old Testament. And in every other instance the person being described is God himself, when you need him to come through for you desperately.
... A better translation therefore of ezer would be "lifesaver." Kenegdo means alongside, or opposite to, a counterpart.
---John & Stasi Eldredge, Captivating
Woman... created to help man... be all he was created to be... it is her divine appointment... and she has been given... divine gifts... power... to fulfill this role... the main gift... respect...
...the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 5:33
(emphasis added)
Respect encourages the one we are to revere... to do... and be... what he was created to do... and be...
Satan... he saw this... and his mission... was to destroy God's image... mankind... male and female... and he began by attacking the helper...
Even a sinless Adam... had doubts... was subject to temptation... yet... a word from Eve... a reverential question... engaging him in the conversation... would have stirred Adam to engage the serpent in conflict...
The lack of respect... led to trusting the one... who sought destruction... division... the new way... the way of the world... looked lovely... reasonable... but it was... the bad way... it was deadly...
Stand at the crossroads... and look...
Respect... an ancient path... a good way...
Consider the outcome of the paths... the ancient... versus... the new...
This same crossroad... is before every Eve... today...
Which way... will you choose...
Note: This relational truth is not just for husbands and wives... but is a message that effects all male/female relationships...
father to daughter...
mother to son...
brother to sister...
co-workers...
friends...
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