God’s assignment for Adam in the garden shows that rule or dominion included care and cultivation (Genesis 2). There is nothing negative about it in Genesis 1 or in Genesis 2. Nor is there anything negative about the male’s place as the first created, the first instructed and the first to deal with animals and plants. Genesis 2 is a time of harmony between humans and other creatures and between the man and the woman. Blame and conflict first enter the world with the sin of Genesis 3. In this new context, God affirms (or reaffirms) the male’s leadership role. Remember that the woman takes the initiative about the forbidden fruit. She is not helpful to her husband, and she does not seek his guidance. Now God specifically tells her that he is to lead.
When God places the man in charge in Genesis 3, is God enticing the man to sin? Certainly not. God is pure. He has no part in something wrong.
The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is He (Deuteronomy 32:4).
God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one (James 1:13).
In God’s goodness, we know that “rule” does not give a husband the right to abuse his wife. In many cultures, men mistreat and oppress women. In so doing, they turn their position and their physical strength against the will of God. Even if we should understand this “rule” in Genesis 3 as a consequence of sin, it does not have to be a sinful thing. For example, pain in childbirth (Genesis 3:16) is a consequence, but it is not a sin. The pain of childbirth has continued even after Jesus’ death on the cross. And, judging from what the New Testament says about roles, the male’s basic leadership role has not changed greatly after the cross either. In fact, 1 Timothy 2:11-15 relates the woman’s sin of Genesis 3 to the principle that women should not have spiritual authority over men. Why does the cross not change that? Because male leadership is not wrong. It is simply part of the structure set up by God. If He implies male leadership in Genesis 2, He leaves no doubt in Genesis 3. The male’s basic role plays out in various ways through much of the Old Testament. But we learn in the New Testament, with the coming of Jesus, the full meaning of leadership.