Our Priceless Wives

“And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” (Ge 2:18 AV)

The tense of the verb ‘should be’ is a bit different than we are used to in the English.  The tense is infinitive.  What this means is neither past, present, or future.  It does mean to exist.  But it also means to come into existence.  In other words, it is different than saying that Adam ‘is’ alone, or ‘will be alone’.  The statement is not a mere statement of a condition.  Rather, it is a statement of condition in comparison to purpose.  Present conditions that cause his loneliness to be labeled from the LORD as ‘not good’ is not as much a concern as the conditions that will be which will also cause his loneliness to also be ‘not good’.  In short, the situation which Adam is in will change, making his loneliness more ‘not good’ than it is at the time the statement was made.  So, the question becomes, what will change that will make Adam’s loneliness a worse condition than it is now?

Keep in mind the this was the only time God said that something was not good in the first six days of creation.  On day seven, He said that it was all good.  So, putting it all together, there was something that changed in day six that the creation of Eve rectified from not good to good.  There were two changes that occurred.  They are that God asked Adam to name the animals.  The other was to be fruitful and multiply.  Herein was see the wonder of marriage.  The key to a fulfilling relationship which the LORD had said was not good, then became good.  God gave Adam three responsibilities which he could not accomplish without Eve.  He could not name the animals, tend the garden, and procreate without Eve.  Let us consider these truths for just a moment.

The older I get and the longer I am married, I realize just how integral a help meet is.  Not for companionship alone.  If that is all the LORD intended, I would be most blessed.  But even more than that.  My wife is the essential half of what we need in order to accomplish that which the LORD desires of our lives.  What is harmful to our ladies is teaching them they can find satisfaction in life outside of God’s divine design for them.  Adam could not accomplish what God called him to do without Eve.  When we consider which of the two is more essential, an argument could be made that it is Eve, and not Adam, who is more essential to the perfect plan of God.  Eve was made for Adam, and not Adam for Eve because Adam cannot survive or succeed without her.  God bless our wives.  The are far more important than many give them credit for.