Here
is a quote from the Woman of Destiny Bible[1]
that I want to begin this study with:
Eve (or her Hebrew name Chavah) was the original first lady. She was not only a woman’s first experience with God, but God’s first experience with a woman. She was the first to delight the Father’s heart as only a daughter can. She was the first to grace this Earth with the ways of a woman and the first to encounter the wiles of the devil/ha satan. She was the first to love a man and the first to mislead one. She was the first to try to hide from God and the first to break His heart with her sin. She was the first to bear-and the first to bury-a child. She was the first to know the love of God and the first to suffer the curse of fallen humanity. She was the one after whom every woman who has ever lived has follow.
You too are a daughter of God. You were created and called according to His purpose. He may be calling you, live Eve/Chavah to pioneer. His destiny for your life may include some unexplored or unexpected territory. So go boldly after Him. Follow Him with all your heart. And if He asks you to do for Him what has not been done before, remember Eve/Chavah. She had no mentor, no mother, no older female friend to help her on her way. She had only God; and if you ever find yourself as a first lady, He will be there to help you blaze every trail and break open each new day.
As I read the above quote, I thought of all the woman of the “Messianic Movement”, like myself who are trying to find their place as His Torah obedient daughters in the Body of Messiah. Many of us had many friends in the Church, then we rediscovered our Hebrew Roots and made a choice to follow the Torah and not the traditions of men and soon found ourselves alone in the wilderness, learning to trust His guidance and provision for our lives, even if it meant walking alone for a season. But YHWH if faithful and He will use us if we are willing to be all He has called us to be in these last days.
As we study about these Virtuous Woman who have gone before us, I pray that we will be strengthened and encouraged to know that we can do all things through Messiah who strengthens us. Philippians 4:13
A Suitable Helpmeet named Woman
Gen 2:20
The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to
every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper
suitable for him.
The Hebrew
word for “Help” is “Ezer”
Strongs #H5828
עזר
‛êzer
ay'-zer
From H5826; aid: - help.
1) help, succour
1a) help, succour
1b) one who helps
Gen
2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept:
and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen
2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen
2:23 And Adam said, This is now
bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because
she was taken out of Man.
Only a Woman is a suitable helper “Ezer” for
the Man. As the saying goes, God made
Adam for Eve, not Adam for Steve. Our
husbands need us, just like we need them.
We have what they are missing, and they have what we are missing, but
together we are complete. Adam was
complete, out of Adam came the Woman.
When a man and woman marry they become “One Flesh” just as Adam was one
flesh with Chavah.
Here is what the Chumash[2]
Torah Commentary says regarding vs. 18
“A helper corresponding to him” (lit a helper against him). If the man is worthy, the woman will be a helper, if he is unworthy she will be against him (Yavamos 63a, Rashi). Many have noted that the ideal marriage is not necessarily one of total agreement in all matters. Often it is the wife’s responsibility to oppose her husband and prevent him from acting rashly, or to help him achieve a common course by questioning, criticizing and discussing. Thus, the verse means literally that there are times when a wife can best be a helper by being against him”
When would it be an appropriate time to “go
or be against him” the husband and be a helper that God called you to be? When he is or is going to do something that
will harm His relationship with God and His Torah, himself and/or his
family. There are times when we as
woman, wives and mothers must take a stand for His Torah to be upheld in our
homes. We do this by prayer and studying
his Torah[3],
by being a submissive wife and by helping our husband become all God has
created him to be and to oppose anything that would destroy the Shalom of our
home or come befween us and our relationship with God and Our Messiah Yeshua. –
Psalm 1
נשׁים אשּׁה
'ishshâh nâshîym
ish-shaw', naw-sheem'
The first form is the
feminine of H376 or H582; the second form is an irregular plural; a woman
(used in the same wide sense as H582).: - [adulter]ess, each, every, female, X
many, + none, one, + together, wife, woman. Often unexpressed in English.
Gen
2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Chumash
– “One Flesh” Let him cling to his wife and to none other, because man adn
wife are in reality one flesh, as they
were at the beginning of Creation. But that can happen only if they also become
one mind, one heart, one soul…and if they subordinate all their strength and
effort to the service of God.
Gen
2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not
ashamed.
Chumash
‘The Torah mentions this as an indication of the purity of Adam and Eve. People are ashamed of their nakedness because they associate vileness and list with their private parts. But not Adam and Eve. As Stomo explains, they used all their organs exclusively to do God’s will, not to satisfy their personal desires. To them, even cohabitation was as innocent as eating and drinking, so they had no reason to cover their bodies”.
YHWH’s glory
was their covering and there was no shame. Sin brings shame. Before Man/Adam fell they were not ashamed.
DECE'IVE, v.t. [L to take asid, to ensnare.]
1. To mislead the mind; to cause to err; to
cause to believe what is false, or disbelieve what is true; to impose on; to
delude.
Take heed that no man deceive you. Mat 24.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves. 1 John 1.
2. To beguile; to cheat.
Your father hath deceived me, and changed my
wages ten times.
3. To cut off from expectation; to frustrate
or disappoint; as, his hopes were deceived.
4. To take from; to rob.
Gen
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which
the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye
shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
What
is the first thing that is planted into Chavah’s ear? Doubt! Doubt that YHWH’s
Torah, His Word can be trusted. The
enemies tactic is the same today, he wants us to question God’s faithfulness
and His promises for our life and family. He wants us to question our mates
ability to take care of us, he wants us to doubt our ability to be a good wife
and mother, he wants us to question the gifts and callings YHWH has put upon
our lives as well. HE IS A LIER AND THE
FATHER OF LIES!!
2Co 11:3
But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Chavah in
his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Messiah.
The enemy wants to deceive us in order corrupt our minds to think that
YHWH made a mistake when He made us.
Those who fall for the lies that “Woman Lib” have fed the world have had
their minds corrupted. We have true
liberation in Messiah as His daughters. Ha satan wants us to be deceived in
thinking that YHWH can’t use us, or to listen to the lie that because of what
Chavah did we, as woman are doomed to be second class citizens. What a lie!
2Co 11:14
And no wonder, for even ha satan masquerades as an angel of light.
In what ways has he been able to deceive
the Bride of Messiah and The Church?
Here are some of the lies that he has planted and Christians have taken
as the truth when in reality it was a lie and deception and my response to his
lies
1.
The
Church has replaced Israel
2.
We do
not have to keep the Torah, it is bondage
3.
We do
not have to keep the Biblical feasts, they are only for the Jewish people
4, The Sabbath was changed to Sunday, we are
not to keep the 7th day Sabbath
Answer: NOT
5.
The
new holidays that replaced YHWH’S
feasts are, Christmas, Easter and Halloween
6.
The Old
Testament has been done away with, we only need to read the Epistles of Paul
everything else does not apply.
The
list can go on and on. None of the
above have any scriptural basis, yet Christians have accepted them as ‘Gospel
Truth”. And because they have no
foundation in the Torah they are easily deceived and are thrown about by every
wind of doctrine.
Rev 12:9
The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the
devil and Hasatan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down
to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Ha Satan is the TEMPTOR, not YHWH
Jam 1:12 Blessed is
the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the
crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Jam 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am
tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any
man:
Jam 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is
drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jam 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Isn’t
this a picture of what happened to Chavah.
The tempter came, instead of fleeing or standing against the temptation;
she was drawn away by her own lust and enticed. Once that lust was conceived (or given life by action) it
brought forth sin into the world, which brought forth death.
Jam 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Jam 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Jam 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Jam 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every
man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jam 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God.
Jam 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which
is able to save your souls.
Jam 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not
hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
If we are not
being a doer of His Torah then we are deceiving ourselves just like Chavah was
deceived.
Jam 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and
not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
Jam 1:24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way,
and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Jam 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of
liberty, and continueth therein, he
being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed
in his deed.
Jam 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious,
and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's
religion is vain.
Jam 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and
the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
What did Yeshua do when he was tempted by Ha Satan, He spoke forth the Torah, YHWH’s teaching and instructions. He did not listen to the enemies twisting of the truth (the same way he twisted the truth to Chavah), or allow him to plant any doubts into His mind he simply spoke what YHWH truly had said and did not add or take away from the Torah.
Mat 4:1
Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil.
Mat 4:2 When he had fasted forty days and forty
nights, he was hungry afterward.
Mat 4:3 The tempter came and said to him, "If
you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
Mat
4:4 But he answered, "It is
written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
out of the mouth of God.'"
Mat 4:5 Then the devil took him into the holy city.
He set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
Mat 4:6 and said to him, "If you are the Son of
God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will give his angels charge
concerning you.' and, 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don't
dash your foot against a stone.'"
Mat
4:7 Yeshua said to him, "Again,
it is written, 'You shall not test the Lord, your God.'"
Mat 4:8 Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly
high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.
Mat 4:9 He said to him, "I will give you all of
these things, if you will fall down and worship me."
Mat
4:10 Then Yeshua said to him, "Get
behind me, Hasatan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.'"
Mat 4:11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels
came and served him.
We stand against the enemies lies and deceit by studying and speaking
forth His Torah as Yeshua did.
1Ti 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Chavah.
1Ti 2:14 Adam wasn't deceived, but the woman,
being deceived, has fallen into disobedience;
Note what it
says here, Adam was not deceived, he knew the enemy was lying to Chavah,
He knew what YHWH had told him regarding the tree and the garden because the
instructions were given directly to him.
He failed to be Chavah’s protector and followed her lead instead of
rebuking the deceiver. Chavah failed to look to Adam to ask if what the
deceiver was saying was true. Adam
followed his wife’s lead, instead of Chavah looking to him. Here we see the first marriage getting out
of divine order with dire results.
1Ti 2:15 but she will be saved through her
childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and sanctification with
sobriety.
The enemy wants us to fall into disobedience to His Torah, so that we
will miss out on what YHWH has called us to do. He wants us to become rebellious against our husbands and His
perfect plan for marriage and make us think that the grass is greener on the
other side, when it is really all burnt up!
YHWH is calling us In Yeshua to walk continuously in faith, love,
sanctification and sobriety as His virtuous woman in these last days.
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may
eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen
3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is
in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Chavah misquotes what YHWH has said.
Are we being good students of His Torah so that when the enemy tries to
deceive us we know, that we know that we know what YHWH has said and not add or
take away from His Torah?
Gen
3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen
3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Again, the
deceiver makes Chavah doubt YHWH’s Torah, His Word and His Character.
Gen
3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to
be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with
her; and he did eat.
The Woman “Saw” , :Pleasant to the eyes” “A Tree to be
Desired” – beware what you allow your eyes to look at that it doesn’t turn into
a lust of the flesh. Are you meditating
on the latest “Romance Novel” or on His Torah. What kind of fruit are
you growing in your life? Galatians 5
Chumash
“For God
knows” The serpent used another ploy familiar to those who try to rationalize
the Torah away. They contend that those who convey and interpret the Law of God
are motivated by a selfish desire to consolidate power in them selves. “God did
not prohibit this tree out of any concern for your lives, but because He is
aware that by eating from it you will attain extra wisdom and become omniscient
like Him. Then you will be independent of Him” (R. Hirsh). The tempter did not
explicitly tell the woman to eat the fruit, but he had enveloped her in his
spell. She looked on the tree with a
new longing….Its’ fruit was good to eat, a delight to the eyes, and it would
give her wisdom. Then she brought it to
Adam and repeated everything the serpent had toldher. He was “At one with her’
and not blamelss (i.e. he was not hopelessly tempted or unreasonably deceived)
and therefore liable to punishment) (Radak; ibn Ezra)
Gen
3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons.
Gen
3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in
the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of
the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Gen
3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Gen
3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid,
because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Gen
3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast
naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou
shouldest not eat?
Gen
3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did
eat.
Gen
3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that
thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen
3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done
this, thou art cursed above all cattle,
and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust
shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen
3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Gen
3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and
thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over
thee.
Chumash
“Before the
sin, Adam and Eve lived together and she conceived and gave birth immediately
and painlessly. Now that would change. Conception would not be automatic, and
there would be an extended period of pregnancy and labor pains. (Sforno)
“ And he shall rule over you” Her punishment was measure for measure. She
influenced her husband to eat at her command: now she would become subservient
to him (Ramban). The new conditions of
life that made sustenance the product of hard labor would naturally make woman
dependent on the physically stronger men. Obedience to Torah; however; restores
her to her former and proper status as the crown of her husband and pearl
of his life (Proverbs 12:4. 31:10) R.
Hirsh
The Sages ordained that a man should honor his wife more than himself, and love her as himself. If he has money, he should increase his generosity to her according to his means. He should not cast fear upon her unduly and his conversation with her should be gentle, he should be prone neither to melancholy nor anger. They have similarily ordained that a wife should honor her husband exceedingly and revere him… and refrain from anything that is repugnant to him. This is the way of the daughter of Israel who are holy and pure in their union, and in these ways will their life together be seemly and praiseworthy (Rambam Hil. Ishus 15:19-20)
Eph 5:22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as
to the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, and
Messiah also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body.
Eph 5:24 But as the assembly is subject to Messiah,
so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Messiah
also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it;
Eph 5:26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed
it by the washing of water with the word,
Eph 5:27 that he might present the assembly to
himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it
should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28 Even so husbands also ought to love their
own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
Eph 5:29 For no man ever hated his own flesh; but
nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly;
Eph 5:30 because we are members of his body, of his
flesh and bones.
Eph 5:31 "For this cause a man will leave his
father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one
flesh."
Eph 5:32 This mystery is great, but I speak
concerning Messiah and of the assembly.
Eph 5:33 Nevertheless each of you must also love his
own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Gen
3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice
of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the
ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of
it all the days of thy life;
“People
always make choices in life and they are responsible for them. Adam failed to
exercise his responsibility to investigate what he was being offered and to
realize that when he had to choose between pleasing God and pleasing the one
who was offering a momentarily enticing choice, his first allegiance had to be
to God. As Or HaCahaim put it, he succumber to her voice without examining the
content of her words.”
Gen
3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou
shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen
3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return
unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Gen
3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because
she was the mother of all living.
H2332 - Eve
חוּה
chavvâh
khav-vaw'
Causative from H2331; lifegiver; Chavvah (or
Eve), the first woman: - Eve.
Chumash – Her name indicates she is the mother of all the
living.
Gen
3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of
skins, and clothed them.
Gen
3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is
become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his
hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Gen
3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to
till the ground from whence he was taken.
Gen
3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden
of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way
of the tree of life.
Chumash
“God grieved at the sin and its results for Adam had now made it
impossible for God to let him stay in the garden. By eating from the Tree of
Knowledge, Man had become like the “Unique One among us”, meaning that he had
become unique among the terrestrial ones, just as God is unique among the
celestial ones, for now Man can discriminate between good and bad, a quality
not possessed by cattle and beasts (Rashi, following Targum). Because Man has
this unique ability to know good and evil, and his desire for sensual
gratification had become enhanced, there was a new danger. If Man kept the
capacity to live forever, he might well spend all his days pursuing
gratification and cast away intellectual growth and good deeds. He would fail
to attain the spiritual bliss that God intended for him. If so, Man had to be
banished from Eden, so that he would not be able to eat from the Tree of Life
and live forever.”
Chavah along with Adam paid dearly for that time she choose to listen
to the deceiver. However out of the
fall came great mercy and grace, Messiah Yeshua.
Batya Wooten writes in her book “Mama’s Torah, the Role of Woman”[4]
“Eve ate of the forbidden
fruit and it was thereafter decreed of all of her daughters, “Your desire shall
be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you” Genesis 3:16
Like the “by the sweat of
your brow” curse pronounced over her husband, so “ruling over the woman” is
part of the woman’s curse for disobedience”
This ruling could not have
been part of the original plan for our lives since it was decreed as part of
our punishment. This is instead a product of sin, and thus should not be
commended as though it were an ideal, for those who follow the Messiah are no
longer under the curse” (Galatians 3:10)
Do not let the
enemy rob you of the blessings that YHWH has planned for you and your family by
listening to his lies. Choose this day
not to be deceived as Chavah was, learn from her and choose the path of life,
the path of the way of His Torah.
Jos 1:6 Be strong and of good courage; for
you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers
to give them.
Jos 1:7 Only be strong and very courageous,
to observe to do according to all the law, which Moshe my servant
commanded you. Don't turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you
may have good success wherever you go.
Jos 1:8 This scroll of the Torah
shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night,
that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then
you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.
Jos 1:9 Haven't I commanded you? Be strong and of
good courage. Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed: for the LORD your God
is with you wherever you go.
Jos 24:15 If it seem evil to you to serve the LORD,
choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers
served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amori, in whose land you
dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the
LORD.
[1] Woman of Destiny Bible Thomas Nelson Publishers copyright 2000
[2] The Chumash, The Stone Edition, Art Scroll Series Published by Mesorah Publications ltd copyright 1998, 2000
[3] When I say Torah I am referring to the first 5 books of the Bible, but also to His Entire word, from Genesis to Revelation
[4] Mama’s Torah The Role of Woman by Batya Ruth Wootten, Key of David Publishers copyright 2004 Batya Wootten.