Reading Diary A: Bible Women

Bible Women

Eve: This is one of my favorite Bible stories because it represents the beginning of mankind.

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."

This is the first sentence of the story, which is written so poetically. God gave Adam the job to "dress" the garden. He named the animals and essentially became their caretaker just as we take care of our pets. However, he had millions under his care where we usually have about three or four.

Later on in the story, after Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God gave each gender a punishment. I had never noticed this certain consequence until a few months ago, but it explains so much. God told Eve, "Thy desire shall be to thy husband." This means God's initial desire was for both genders to experience equality, but because sin entered the world, women started to naturally feel a desire to please men. This is a huge part of why feminism is present in our world today - to fix this problem. There are also epidurals to help with the pains of childbirth, which is another punishment the woman received because of her disobedience. 

Altogether, this story brings forth much grace. After they sinned - after they did the one thing God asked them not to do - God gave them clothing to cover their shame of being naked. They had every other freedom possible, yet they deliberately disobeyed because of their curious flesh. 

 (Garden of Eden, by Lucas Cranach)

Hagar: This is such a sad story because Sarai was frustrated with her own circumstances so she told her husband to sleep with her handmaid. After she conceived a child, Sarai became an evil woman toward her. Making sure Hagar felt alone, unloved and ashamed. God loves the brokenhearted and heals those in need. He did just this when Hagar was about to leave her baby under a bush because she didn't want to see him die. He showed her to a drinking well to symbolize hope as well as to literally give her a drink. 

Leah: It is so interesting to me that the story of Leah and Rachel is so similar to Sarai and Hagar. Having their handmaids sleep with their husbands to give them children seems to be a trend.