We learned in lesson one that God created a woman to be with the first man. The story of how this was done is very interesting—and significant. Let’s read in Genesis chapter 2.
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:21-22)
It is interesting that God chose to make Adam’s companion out of a part of his own body. All of the other creatures, and even Adam himself, were fashioned from clay, or dirt from the ground (Genesis 2:19, 7). However, God chose to make the woman in a special way, using a bone from Adam’s body. This signifies the oneness of their relationship.
Let’s look at Adam’s reaction when he saw the creature that God had made for him.
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’, for she was taken out of man (Genesis 2:23.)
We can imagine what a close relationship they had; they were the only two people in the world. I’m sure they talked a lot, walked around together a lot, worked together tending the garden that God had planted for them. This was a very happy time for them as “newlyweds”, and I can imagine they did just about everything together; there was no other person for them to fellowship with, except God—and they did have a very special relationship with Him. We see in Genesis 3:8 that it was customary for God to walk “in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). We get the picture that He visited them now and then and conversed with them as friends. I can imagine that He taught them many things about life and the world.
Let’s focus on Adam’s perception of this beautiful creature. He says, she is “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. Let’s think about this bone that God used to make the woman. Maybe some of you don’t know what kind of bone the rib is. Does it come from a man’s head? No, God did not use a bone from Adam’s head—he did not intend for this woman to be over him. So, is the rib a bone from the foot? No, God did not use a bone from Adam’s foot—he did not intend for the man to kick her around, step on her and abuse her. Then where does the rib come from? It comes from the mid-section of the body. God took a bone from Adam’s torso, close to his heart, close to his stomach. This shows us that God intended for the man to care for his wife, meet her needs and to cherish her as his beloved. She came from under his arm for him to hold and love.
This shows us a beautiful relationship that we should all strive for—this oneness of spirit, of soul. Often, we speak of someone being our ‘soulmate’. This means someone who has similar values, similar goals, a similar outlook on things, and someone that we feel very close to and like to spend time with. This is what we need to strive for in our relationship with our spouse. There is no other relationship between human beings as close as the relationship between a husband and a wife who truly love each other and have become ‘one flesh’ (Genesis 2:24). Of course, our relationship with God should be even closer; we’re talking about human beings here.