Listen to today’s episode of Trinity Tidbits – “5/10 Elizabeth: Mother of John the Baptist” on Anchor.fm.
At the moment each episode is available to listen to for 24 hours from the time it is recorded. You have until tomorrow, Tuesday, the 14th of Nov to listen to this episode. After, that, I’ll have a podcast channel we can use.
Forgive me while we have growing pains with this audio segment of Trinity Digital Ministry. Thank you for your patience.
Eve was the first sinner and saw the fruit of her sin as she stood at the world’s first grave and buried her dead son. After confessing her sin she heard the Lord say to that serpent, the devil, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15). With this first promise of the Redeemer, there started the wicked path of life ending at the cross where Jesus Christ, born of a woman, presented a satisfying victory over sin and Satan.
Through a woman, God’s just universe was ruined and became “a world of sinners lost, and ruined by the fall.” Now, through a woman, a perfect salvation has been given for a sinful people. Through Eve’s sin, death came into the world, but at the cross, both sin and death were defeated, through “dying, death He murdered.” When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” He meant that the serpent’s head, symbolizing power and authority, had been bruised. He defeated all satanic principalities and powers that Eve’s sin brought into the world, and put them under His feet.
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!
As we leave our reflection upon the world’s first woman, first wife, first sinner, first mother, and first mourner, there are one or two lessons to be gleaned from Eve’s story. For instance,
What a shrewd, wicked impostor Satan is. How naive so many are – of his tricks! Besides,
There is no sin in being tempted. We only sin when we give way to temptation. Refusing to give way to the attraction of sin, our Garden of Eden awaits perfect.
Paul said, “in Adam, we die- in Christ, we are made alive.”
In asking loyalty to Christ, Paul relates Eve to represent the quickness that one is wicked (see 1 Timothy 2:12-14).
So, there you have it. The Biblical account of Eve.
How can you relate to Eve’s story? Comment, let’s interact.
Next week: we’ll be talking about, Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist.
The results of a divine creation, Eve emerged as a complete, perfect woman. She was never a baby, a girl, or a daughter. The first female born into the world was Eve’s first daughter (After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Genesis 5:4). How many daughters were born to Adam and Eve we aren’t told. If Eve lived as long as her husband—930 years (So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died. Genesis 5:5) – there would probably be many sons and daughters in earth’s first family. Eve, therefore, wasn’t born. She was created out of Adam. Having existed in God’s plan, she came upon the earth. Pioneers, evolutionists, and worldly authors may ridicule that “rib of Adam” out of what Eve was made. Adam was literally created by God out of the dust of the earth, but Eve was formed out of a bone taken from Adam’s side.
George Herbert comments, “The man was dust refined, but the woman was dust double refined.” There is a spiritual application of the bride God made for Adam. It speaks of the sacred mystery, the bride of the Lamb, who owes her life to His bruised side (John 19:33-37), and who, even more than Eve, has a place close to the Bridegroom’s heart (Jeremiah 31:3), and who is intended to enjoy His companionship in a sinless paradise (Revelation 2:7; 21:9). The marriage of the Lamb, like that of Eve’s, is made in heaven.
God saw that even though Adam was in a state of perfect purity, it wasn’t good for him to be alone. It would be good for him, spiritually, mentally, and culturally to have a wife. He needed someone to love and bear his children since the command had gone out “to multiply and replenish the earth.” Therefore with Adam – the world was sad, the garden was off, and man the solitaire lamented till woman greeted him. God spoke of the woman He was to present for Adam as his “helpmeet” – a helpmeet or reconciled to him – a phrase giving the woman her true standing in the world. It is only where the Bible exists and Christianity is practiced that she succeeds to such a place as the helper, or equal of man.
In lands where darkness dominates, a woman is a slave, the goods of man. Therefore Eve was given to Adam and their two hearts beat as one in love for each other and for God. Eve was formed while Adam slept. He knew no pain during the operation as still there was no sin in the world. How true it is that God is continually working while men sleep! He frequently awards true blessings to His own as they sleep.
It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2
When I wake from sleep, despair has fled, and hope is near; The sky seems blue, and visions clear have banished all my dread and fear; quoted from: All the Men of the Bible/All the Women of the Bible Compilation Book By Herbert Lockyer
So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body. Genesis 2:24
What a path of grief and wretchedness followed her sin! When Cain, her firstborn, came into her life and home how Eve must have loved him. She named him Cain, meaning “to get” or “to possess” or, “acquisition.” He became a tiller of the ground. Her second son was Abel, a name implying, “that which ascends” or “a vapor” – something doomed to fade. The following was a spiritual man and sacrificed the firsts of his flocks to the Lord. The previous son brought of the fruit of the ground, that is, that whatever he had produced, and gave it to the Lord who rejected it and received Abel’s offering because of its sacrificial satisfaction. Cain lost his temper over this act of divine reception and denial and murdered his brother Abel. Consequently Eve’s favorite firstborn was marked with shame, and spiritual Abel became a saint. Behind Cain’s murder of his brother was the serpent who had caused their mother the world’s first sinner. Jesus said that he was a murderer from the beginning (You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has nothing to do with the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44).
After the crime and exile of her first son, and the funeral of her second one, God gave her another that she called Seth. “For God,” she said, “has appointed me another seed instead of Abel, for Cain murdered him.” In naming her third son so she voiced her faith in God’s love, mercy, and provision. It was through Seth that the spiritual genealogy was kept and it was after his birth that Eve’s name disappears from the pages of the Old Testament, even though it is mentioned twice in the New Testament. While Eve unquestionably shared the length of Adam’s life – 930 years – and brought forth an unspecified number of sons and daughters, there is no record of her motherhood apart from the three named sons.
I love the parallel comparison scripture has of Adam and Eve as the first bride and groom and the Bridegroom of Christ being Himself and the Bride being His church.
I also am in amazement and awe at how the whole world came from Adam and Eve.
Looking at Eve, however, the text talks about her standing in the world, in culture. The wife at Adam’s side, his equal.
We, as women, were not created to be the head of the home. We were created to be a “helpmeet” for our husbands. Is it any wonder there is such chaos in the world?
There is much debate in the world about women and being equal with man. We are equal. But not as the world defines equal. We’re equal to being one with our husbands.
Just like with our body parts. Each one has its function. If all the body was one part how would it function? Looking at the standpoint of a machine. If the whole machine was one part, how would it function? All the parts cannot do the same thing, or it wouldn’t operate.
As one, we have different functions. We work together, as a team, to accomplish what we need to get done, spiritually and physically.
Where are you in this functioning? How’s your team doing? Let’s interact. Comment. No hate speech! Period. If any negative hate speech and lambasting happens the comments will be deleted and commenting will be disabled. There’s no place here for hate. Think very hard at what you are about to comment before commenting.
Eve’s StoryEve means ‘life-bearer’. Eve is the Great Mother, Everywoman.
Genesis 2
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam, there was not found a helper fit for him.
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
23 Then the man said, “This, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man.”
They are of the same flesh and the same bone. From the moment of creation, neither man nor woman can be complete without the other. Working together, they form the basic unit of society, the family. The story recognizes that men’s and women’s lives interlock so completely in economic and social matters, that need each other.
Eve [and Adam] were given a perfect world, but they were also given the power of choosing, making decisions.
However, here’s what happens:
‘Eat the fruit’ said the serpent. ‘Why not?’ Eve was intrigued. The fruit would make her wise, she thought. So she took one piece from the Tree of Knowledge, ate it and offered some to Adam. He ate it too.
What choices and actions have you taken that further this curse Yahweh has placed on humanity?
What can we do to get in line with Yahweh and living a Godly life?
Afterall, Yahweh gave us the option of choice. What are your choices? How do they affect your life?
Next up will be more about Eve and her role as wife and mother! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post.
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Today’s episode on Trinity Tidbits, the audio radio station on Anchor:
As mentioned in the audio; subsequent day’s posts will be building on the story of Eve ending at the end of the week on Friday.
Today’s devotion will focus on Ruth.
What’s the Book of Ruth about?
Ruth means ‘lovely friend’.
People often think the Book of Ruth is just a pretty love story. It’s not. It’s an outcry account against some of the severe laws passed in Israel at the time – the ‘purity laws’ of Ezra and Nehemiah.
These laws banned Jewish men from marrying non-Jewish women and commanded Jewish men to divorce their non-Jewish wives.
Many people disagreed. They said a woman’s worth was in her actions, not her blood-line. Boaz agreed. He knew Ruth was from Moab, not Israel, but he loved her and married her anyhow.
It’s awesome he did: she was loyal, hard-working, and generous – and gave him a great-grandson who was Israel’s hero, King David.
Ruth’s story
Even though there was protesting against the laws; the text of the Book of Ruth is, still, one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible.
Notwithstanding of this, Ruth survived and thrived. It’s just as well she did because it was vital for the future of Israel. Ruth’s great-grandson will be David, king of Israel, founder of a royal dynasty.
What are the chief points of Ruth’s story?
Ruth has special importance for Christians: Matthew’s gospel lists four women who were ancestors of Jesus (Matthew 1:2-17). Ruth is one of them.
Life Lessons from Ruth
Do you have rich rewards from your obedience to Yahweh God? If not, why? If so, praise His Holy Name. Share with us.
Why be obedient to Yahweh? What’s the importance of it?
Comment and let’s interact. Or, if you prefer, send me feedback in the contact form below:
Listen to segment 1 of “Trinity Tidbits: 1st (Mary) of 10 amazing women of the Bible!” on Anchor: Episode 1: Mary: Mother of Jesus.
Today’s devotion will focus on Mary of Nazareth.
What do we know about Mary? The audio episode linked above tells a little bit about her. When you listen to the audio you’ll know a little information.
Mary spoke Aramaic. She lived with extended family. The nuclear family of today honestly didn’t exist. It wouldn’t have worked. There were too many chores that needed several people working together.
When she was about 11 or 12 years old, Mary began to menstruate. This meant she was of marriageable age, in Aramaic a betulah. The corresponding word in Hebrew, the ancient language of religious texts, is almah.
The first menstruation was a big milestone in any girl’s life, and in Mary’s case, it would have been celebrated with a party – to let everyone know she was now ready for marriage.
Now that Mary’s menstrual periods had started, serious consideration was given to the choice of a husband.
Mary’s whole family joined in the selection of an appropriate husband. After all, it was something that would affect them all, because of the nuclear family lifestyle they lived.
Joseph, Mary’s prospective husband; he was a young man, not much older than she was, and well-regarded by the people of Nazareth. We know this because Matthew’s gospel calls him ‘just’ or ‘righteous’.
The betrothal was a formal agreement to marry, settled with the transfer of property from the young man to the girl. The betrothal of a young couple had to be public, witnessed by many people. At this stage, there was no sexual contact.
During Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin. She was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. Her name was Mary. Luke 1:26-27
Mary was pregnant. What’s following? The next thing we know, Mary was pregnant. Her normal menstrual periods stopped. This can be hidden for quite a while in the modern world. But in Mary’s time, when a whole family lived and slept in one or two rooms, the fact that a young girl’s periods had ceased was noticed immediately.
In the conservative Jewish family Mary belonged to, her pregnancy meant severe embarrassment if not outright disgrace to herself and all her family.
This is human thinking:
These are the facts we know:
So who was he? There are several theories. Only theories.
Shocking as the idea may be, he may have been a member of her own family. Statistics in the modern world show that pregnancies with an unnamed father usually come from the girl being interfered with by an older male relative. Probably not much has changed in two thousand years. This is one possibility, however distasteful, that has to be faced.
Another theory, quite well argued, is that the father of her baby was a Roman soldier posted at a nearby army station. On the face of it, this sounds unlikely, something you’d read in an offensive tabloid. But there are some facts that make the theory at least probable:
At around about the time that Jesus was conceived, a great many of Galilee was in an open uprising against Roman rule. This uprising followed immediately after the death of Herod the Great in 4BCE. Sepphoris, only four miles from Nazareth, was the center of the uprising in Galilee. The royal palace there was attacked and robbed (Josephus, Ant.17, 10.5/271-72). The whole area was a breeding ground of raging discontent against the Roman occupation.
So a Roman soldier as the father of Mary’s unborn baby is a possibility. No more than a possibility, but at least that.
Mary visits Elizabeth
It’s at this stage of her pregnancy that Mary went away to stay with a reputable cousin, Elizabeth. It’s not known which relative she was. It was possibly done for her own safety.
Mary returned to Nazareth and Joseph takes responsibility and asks Mary to marry him.
I’ll end this post with that. However, let’s go back to the audio episode linked at the top. What can we take away from Mary and her actions?
When we take on the attitude of obedience and trust what happens? Where does it lead us?
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Listen in on Today’s Word on the Trinity Tidbits Anchor station:
Click here: Ruth: Loyal Daughter-in-Law in the women of the Bible series.
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Micah tells of Yahweh’s expectations of we humans.
Known as the “practical prophet,” Micah states plainly what God expects of man: to do rightly of others, to love kindness, and to live humbly with & obey Yahweh. His plain and effective communication gained esteem and honor.
We all have expectations, of ourselves and each others. Think about it. How do your expectations line up with Yahweh’s?
We’re very busy making ourselves what we want. What about what Yahweh wants? How are we busy with making ourselves line up with Yahweh? Or, are we at all?
Living rightly, being kind, and living humbly obeying Yahweh will bring more blessings into our lives than we can imagine. We need to get vertically aligned with Yahweh. How do we do that?
Here’s what scripture says:
Galatians 5:16-18 So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit. Then you will not do what your sinful selves want. Our sinful selves want what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against our sinful selves. The two are against each other, so you cannot do just what you please. But if the Spirit is leading you, you are not under the law.
The key to living in spiritual alignment is to remove anything satan uses to control you. I know, it sounds complicated. However, it’s not.
Some tools to help:
Where do you find yourself today? Apply these tools and let go of your human nature wants that aren’t in line with Yahweh. How’s that working for you?
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