Eve: In this first story, the woman is created after the man, which might make some people uncomfortable because of the order. I heard a sermon a few months ago from The Village Church by Matt Chandler where he spoke about God’s beautiful design in creating the roles of women and men. He touched on this area of Genesis and the potential misunderstanding. God created Adam first and realized it was not good without a helper. The word helper can be viewed as a negative word in this context, but throughout the Bible, God refers to himself as Helper. For example, in Psalm 10:14,
“But you, God, see
the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The
victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.”
The afflicted cannot
continue on without help, therefore, they are in need of assistance, which is
where God comes in. If we had everything perfectly in order and together by our
own will, our need for a supernatural God would be wiped out. Adam could not
take care of the garden by himself, which is why God blessed him with a helper.
After reading the story with this view, both genders seem appreciated, cared
for and purposeful.
Sarah: Sarah has an interesting story because of her fickle attitude. At first she wants Abram to sleep with her maidservant, but then changes her thinking after it happens and Hagar, her maidservant, becomes pregnant. Hagar had to listen to Sarah because she was her authority. Today, when I think about slavery, my mind goes to American slavery just over 100 years ago, but in reality, slavery has been around for centuries. Slavery is a form of oppression and force that makes me wonder how it became so normal. Through studying some about it, I realize some people placed themselves into slavery in order to repay a debt, but other times people were born or sold into the position. If I had to guess the origin, I would assume it could be attributed to nation’s conquering one another and taking their soldiers as prisoners. I now want to investigate more about this point.
Hagar: Going from Sarah’s story to now looking at Hagar’s misfortune, we see much unjust treatment. Even though she was unfairly treated, she received hope from the Lord through her journey, which is the better gift in the end. Sometimes afflictions give us eternal glories instead of earthly comforts.
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