The Help Meet

Well, I wasn't going to get into this so quickly, but the Lord revealed something to me through His Word this morning that I found rather exciting, so let's look at the "help meet" that Woman was created to be for Man.

The Hebrew word used to describe the purpose of the Woman in Genesis 2:18 and 2:20 (translated in the KJV as "help meet") is ezer: meaning quite simply a helper, an aider. On the surface, that doesn't seem all that impressive a job title, does it?

BUT…let me share with you what the Lord showed me this morning:

Remember how Paul compares the husband to Christ? He said that the husband was to love the wife as Christ loved the church. Well, there seems to be a similar analogy for wives found in the simple Hebrew word of "ezer." Think about it. If the husband can be compared to Christ, then the wife might be compared to the Holy Spirit who is also known as "the helper," mightn't she?

Before you begin calling my statements sacrilegious, know that I am not saying woman IS the Holy Spirit, just like Paul is not saying that the husband IS Christ. But we cannot deny that the Holy Spirit IS sent to be a "helper" just as woman also is sent to be a "helper." So I think we can learn a lot from looking at the similarities of the "job title."

Remember what Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 11:1-15, parts of which I highlight here:

"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God….a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image of glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels."

Just as the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ, so is the purpose of the wife to glorify her husband. This doesn't mean that the wife has no glory of her own; what it means is that her goal is to benefit him rather than herself just as the Holy Spirit benefits or exalts Christ in those to whom He is sent to help. Helpers cannot help those they do not love and have great respect for; which is why Paul goes on to say:

"However, let each man of you love his wife as his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband." Ephesians 5:33 [The Amplified Bible offers this amplification of the words respects and reverences: that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly.]

The primary meaning for the Greek word for glory [doksa] is: "opinion, view, estimate." In other words, Jesus became the world's view or opinion of who the Father was because he was the "glory" of God. If Jesus had been a cruel person, still performing those miracles, the view of God that would have been given to the world would have been that God is cruel. But Jesus presented a true view of God in that God is love, justice, mercy and grace.

Paul says that man also is the image or reflection of the glory of God; as such man is to present a view of God that is consistent with whom God is. The same goes for a woman, except that the view or opinion that she herself presents to the world extends to her husband first, for that is her main purpose, and as she accomplishes that purpose of glorifying her husband, she also is glorified.

To put this into more practical terms, you must read Proverbs 31. The picture presented there is of a woman that most of us women desire to be, and that, frankly, some husbands wish they had. But what is that woman all about? She is about providing for her husband and her children and her household. She is a hard worker, without a doubt. She does not seek praise from the world, yet by all that she does, by the very act of taking care of her husband and children, and seeing to it that no shame is brought to them by any lack in her, she "glorifies" her husband; and her husband and her children have nothing but good to say about her. In all of this, in all of her obedience to God, God also is glorified.

Now picture a modern-day distortion of this woman (although according to some of the problems demonstrated in the Corinthian church this is not only a modern-day problem):

She is a wife and mother, and she also is a hard worker (so far very similar to the woman in Proverbs 31). But she has to be in control of everything because basically, in her own opinion, her husband is useless, and if she didn't take care of everything, it would all fall apart. She is the strength of the family, and she makes sure everyone knows it because she spends a lot of time complaining about her husband to family and friends; this also builds up her own ego and garners affirmation for herself from other women who agree with her actions and attitude (perhaps they have similar situations at home). There is a lot of chaos in the house because arguments frequently break out about how to raise the kids, how to spend the money, etc. There is a constant power struggle over who has the last word. She frequently berates her husband in front of the kids (and others) and eventually they lose respect for him themselves; and as she is the outspoken and dominant leader of the household, she gains their wary respect instead. If the children are girls, they grow up to be just like their mother; if they are boys they grow up to be like their dad. God is not glorified; and the cycle continues into future generations.

Please note that this dysfunction is not the fault of the woman alone, for the man has not done what God intended for him to do either. But two wrongs have never made things right. In fact, if the woman had remained consistent to God's purpose, she might have been able to "help" the man become the head of the household; but to usurp his position completely or even partially was not in God's will. And, of course, if neither party love God more than themselves they cannot possibly fulfill His will towards their marriage partner.

This is a long posting but there is still more to be said in the next posting.