Eve

For the List of the "Women of the Bible", click Blog Archive, 2008 December

23 Questions
Scripture Reference: Gen 1:26-31; Gen 2-4

#1. When you hear the name Eve,(Gen 2,3) what are the characteristics you define about her?

#1. The first woman created, wife of Adam, who was deceived by Satan and disobeyed God by eating from the tree of knowledge, mother of Cain, Abel, Seth, and other sons and daughters(Gen 5:4), Original ancestor of all people and thus her Fall made all people inherit Sin.
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#2. Who named the woman, Eve- God or Adam?

#2. Adam
Gen 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
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#3. Who designated the first woman as "suitable helper" and as "woman"?
#3. Suitable helper by God, and Woman by Adam.
Gen 2:20-23 But for Adam no "suitable helper" was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, for she was taken out of man."
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#4. Where else in the scripture you see God himself is called the believer's "help"?

#4. a)Psalm 46:1 b)Psalm 33:20
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 33:20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
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#5. Eve is the prototype woman. In the story of the creation of Adam and Eve, does Eve's identification as a "suitable helper" for Adam imply woman any subordination or inferiority?

#5. Certainly not. Each is created in the image of God. Together they share dominion over earth.
Gen 1:27,28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
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#6. Why Paul doesn't allow women authoritative teaching roles in the church?
(1 Tim 2:14)

#6. 1 Tim 2:11 woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

While Eve knew that it was wrong to eat the forbidden fruit, she was all too easily convinced to question God's motives and doubt the consequences of disobedience
(Gen 3:1-5).
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#7. How many years Eve lived?

#7. Gen 5:4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. (No special mention about Eve)
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#8. What did Adam do when he was enamored of his wife?
(enamored = inspired by foolish or unreasoning fondness/love)

#8. Adam's willful act of disobedience chose to leave God for the one he had given him.
2 Cor 11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
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#9. God banished Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. Is there any possibility of regaining our lost estate?

#9. with the long, slow process of redemption by the Savior.
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#10. True or false. The creation of Woman story helps us define the relationship between husbands and wives.

#10. True.
It is stated that man was created male and female.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Gen 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Here at the start of the human race we find the divine origin and sanctity of marriage: one man, one woman, one flesh.
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#11. What is "the Seed of the Woman" according to the Scripture?

#11. It is a figurative expression. Here seed means descendant.

Gal 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

Physiological: A man's seed or emission of semen is a frequent expression in Hebrew laws.

The NT speaks of Christians as having been begotten by God.
1 Peter 1:23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

1 John 3:9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
This seems that God is determined, and the Messiah is promised to Eve, in spite of Adam and Eve's sin, to bring His creation of mankind to a successful end. As the Fall was set in motion through Eve, so will redemption come through woman. It will be the "seed of the woman", that is born of woman without the agency of man. It is the hint of the virgin birth of Christ, for there has been only one descendant of Eve who was born of woman without being begotten by man.
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#12. Who made dresses for Adam and Eve?

#12. First by them and then by God.
Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Gen 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
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#13. What is God's judgement to Eve?

#13. God denounced curse against Eve.
Gen 3:16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
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#14. What are the names of the children of Eve?

#14. Cain, Abel, Seth and other sons and daughters.
Gen 4:1-2, Gen 4:25,
Gen 5:3-4 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.
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#15. Christ, the messiah was born through which son of Eve?

#15. Seth
Luke 3:38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
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#16. What is an appropriate title for 'One of the saddest' passages in scripture mentioned in Gen 3:1-4?

#16. The Fall of Man
Gen 3:1-5 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
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#17. Just like we rationalize many sorts of reasons, what are the 3 reasons Eve figured for eating the fruit and rationalized her sin?

#17. Gen 3:6-7 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
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#18. Did Eve get her eyes opened, when she ate the fruit first?

#18. No. Nothing happened. When Adam ate the fruit both of their eyes were opened. Ref the Answer 17 above.
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#19. Whom does Eve acknowledge as the source of life?

#19. Eve recognized life was in God's control. See, at Cain's birth what she exclaimed.
Gen 4:1-2 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Gen 4:25 Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him."
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#20. Among the 3 participants who is to blame of the Fall and got punishment of the fault?

#20. Adam and Eve produce a classic scene of passing the blame- Adam blames Eve. Eve blames the serpent. Look at what the Scripture say.

Gen 3:11-19; 22-24 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" 12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." 16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." 17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
.........22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
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#21. What does the term "labor" mean with respect to childbirth?

#21. Seven dictionary meanings are given below, last 3 are related to childbirth.

a. of or pertaining to workers, their associations, or working conditions: labor reforms etc.
b. the body of persons engaged in such activity, esp. those working for wages.
c. physical or mental work, esp. of a hard or fatiguing kind; toil.
d. to burden or tire: to labor the reader with unnecessary detail.

e. the physical effort and periodic uterine contractions of childbirth.
f. the interval from the onset of these contractions to childbirth.
g. to be in the actual process of giving birth.
(British spelling: labour)

Eve was the first woman to conceive a child, the first to harbor a fertilized egg in her womb. This miracle must have been a wonder for her. Because of her sin they lost the paradise. That led to God's judgement on Eve, "with pain you will give birth to children". Eve must have experienced exactly what was ordered in birthing even her first child, probably with the only help of Adam. Later Hebrew women had the help of experienced midwives, who knew remedies for common delivery difficulties. Their responsibilities after the birth include: cutting the umbilical cord, washing the newborn, rubbing it with salt for cleansing, and wrapping it in swaddling cloths.

Exod 1:16 The birth-stool referred in here was probably a low stool on which the mother-to-be squatted, allowing the force of gravity to aid in the birth process. The midwife and others held the mother's hands to give comfort as well as stability as the mother bore down with pains, panting, the mess and the disorder connected with the birth of a child. Thus the child birth process is appropriately termed as labor.
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#22. All the 3 participants got punishment. What is the order of judgement?
#22. Curses fell first to serpent, second to Eve. and third to Adam.
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#23. God's grace and mercy are marvelously evident, even when God was pronouncing his judgement. Give 4 promises related to grace in the Scripture.

#23. a)John 1:16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
b) Romans 5:20-21 But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
c) 1 Cor 2:9 However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him".
d) Rom 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

(Few other related promises are given below: Phil 4:23; Col 1:19; 1 Thes 5:28; Ephe 2:4-5;
John 1:14; Acts 11:23; 20:32; 2 Cor 9:14; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; 1 Cor 10:30;
1 Tim 1:1-2).