. . . In between . . .

It's amazing how animals spoken into existence and man created from dust have so much genetic material in common. Even more amazing that animals spoken into existence return to dust the same as man who was created from dust.

From the benign to the malignant

Adam's perception of the Woman as being inferior to him because of something she had done was the basis for Cain feeling so inferior that the only way he could guarantee his survival was to kill his brother. This is not a sufficient explanation because it is obvious that for a while they co-existed peacefully, pursuing different vocations. Why didn't Adam kill Eve if his view of her resulted in one son killing the next. That will be the subject of my next post.

My Gift

Adam's reaction when asked about the fruit is interesting. At first he called the woman, "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." The meaning of that statement is found in the commentary that follows, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." Adam realized that the Woman was one flesh with him. She did not have an independent identity. But he was reacting out of fear when he called her "the woman you gave me." This is significant. She had gone from being me to being mine.

As bone of his bone she was equal to him, but he now viewed her only as a gift. It does not matter how much a gift is admired and appreciated, it is never equal to the recipient. A gift can be abandoned, discarded, mistreated, destroyed, in addition to being cherished and appreciated. It simply is not equal to the recipient. Why the change? Not because she had changed. She was the same woman. Adam viewed her differently because of something she had done. And in that moment the seeds of human misery were planted, because inequality is the root of all human violence, in the same way that inequality in pressures are the root of all violent storms.