Ribs

Read Genesis 2:18-25

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%202:18-25&version=NIV

Beth cooked me a nice, juicy rack of ribs for dinner tonight.  Man were they good!  Hot.  Smothered in barbeque sauce.  Meat falling off the bone.  Did I mention that they were delicious?  Oh, my!  As I was finishing off rib after rib I assembled a small pile of bones.  Looking at them I remembered our Sunday School lesson from several weeks ago.  It was about the creation of Eve.

In Genesis 2 we are told that while all the other animals had mates, Adam had none.  No one to talk to.  No one to laugh with.  No one to spend time with.  No one to share his life with.  (Also no one to yell at him.  No one to make him ask for directions.  No one to give him a ‘to do’ list.  But that’s for another post!)  God recognized that Adam needed a companion.  So He made Adam fall into a deep sleep.  Then God removed one of Adam’s ribs and fashioned the very first woman.  He then brought her to Adam.  What Adam said is not recorded in Scripture but I like to think that he said something along the line of, “Oh yeah, baby!  This is what I was talkin’ about!”  Or something very similar.

The question I have is, “Why did God make Eve different than He made Adam?”  Adam was created from the dust of the earth.  Why not Eve?  And then why did God select Adam’s rib?  Why not his femur?  Or his humerus?  Unfortunately God didn’t reveal His reasons for creating Eve differently from Adam.  Or why He selected Adam’s rib.  So we are left to wonder.  I do like the idea that someone came up with about why God created Eve the way that He did.

Woman was created from the rib of man.  Not from his head to top him.  Nor from

his feet to be walked upon.  She was made from his side to be his equal.  From

       beneath his arm to be protected by him.  From very near his heart to be loved by him.

Isn’t that a great thought?  Ultimately Eve was created from Adam so that she could be a integral part of his life.  She was created from his rib - to be by his side.  And that is one of the great aspects of marriage.  Companionship.  Two people, a man and a woman, going through life together.  Supporting each other.  Enjoying each other.  Loving each other.  To me it’s a picture of our relationship with God.  Walking through life together.

Wow.  You never know what kind of spiritual insight you are going to have from eating dinner!  Now I’m going to have a little dessert.  Hmm, I wonder what God is going to say to me now?

Lord, I thank you for Your creative genius as You created Eve from the rib of Adam.  What wonderful imagery it portrays.  Thank you for my wife.  For her being my companion.  For her support.  Her love.  May I cherish her all the days of my life.  A gift from You.  To me.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.