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Text:God's Word to Women:Lesson 4

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==THE BEGINNING OF EVIL.==

27. It has been fashionable of late to believe that Genesis, second chapter, along with others, was written by a different author from the one who wrote chapter first, and that they are contradictory accounts of creation. The proof is supposed to lie principally in the fact that "God" alone is mentioned in the first chapter, "the Lord God" (Jehovah God) in the second. It is not for us to wander far a field in textual and higher criticism. But it is useful to know that recent highly valuable investigations of the original state of the Hebrew text, by Mr. Harold Wiener, M. A., L.L. B., (a Jewish barrister-at-law, of Lincoln's Inn, London), seem to conclusively show that our "received text" is at fault, at this point.

28. While our New Testament translation rests upon the comparison, one with another, of many ancient Greek manuscripts, heretofore the translators of the Old Testament have contented themselves by the use, almost wholly, of what is known as the Massoretic text of the Hebrew Old Testament. Mr. Wiener brings other authorities to the front, as to the state of the original Hebrew, and shows, among other things, that the name of God did not always stand as it does in the Massoretic text. He holds that the scribes often made a mere sign for the name of "Jehovah," and then later scribes wrote the name in full.[1] The copying scribe of chapter one wrote "God;" of chapter two, "Lord God." Therefore the difference may be due not to different authors, but to different scribes. No Higher Critic has been able, as yet, to meet or refute Wiener's challenge of their theory; and his works are making a profound impression.

29. But, did Moses write the Pentateuch? Why not? If it be true that the antediluvians lived to the great age that the Bible asserts (sin having not, as yet, wrought its havoc in shortening the length of life), then the claim is easily sustained. Adam and Methuselah were contemporary 243 years, and thus Methuselah could, according to primitive custom, be well drilled in oral, traditional history by Adam, or Eve. Methuselah and Shem were contemporary during a full century; thus Shem could learn the story. Shem and Isaac were contemporary for about 48 years; thus Isaac learns the story. Isaac and Levi were contemporary for about 33 years; thus Levi learns it. The daughter of Levi, Jochebed, was both great-aunt and mother of Moses (Numbers 26:59); but long before Moses was born, indeed, before Isaac's time, writing had come into use. Moses could certainly have easily composed the Pentateuch, excepting the account of his own death, in Deuteronomy 34.

30. We return to the story in Genesis. We conclude that the first chapter of Genesis describes the original creation of "Adam,"--mankind. (We must bear in mind the fact that the word "Adam" is applied sometimes to mankind, and sometimes to the individual being who was husband of Eve). The second chapter describes the elaboration of the first Adam into two sexes. The second chapter nowhere uses the word "create," of Adam, but a totally different word,--"formed." Please look up this same word, "formed," in Isaiah 44:2, 24 and 49:5, and convince yourself that it is used there exclusively of all idea of creation. Then turn to Isaiah 43:1, 7; 45:18, and see how it is used of a process additional to creation. This is what St. Paul refers to, where he says, "Adam was first formed then Eve,"—1 Timothy 2:13. He is speaking of development, not of original creation. Adam and Eve (so far as their primal state is concerned) were created simultaneously; but Adam was "formed," elaborated, first.

31. After Adam was created, Genesis 1:31 tells us, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Therefore Adam was very good; but this condition did not last. Genesis 2:18 tells us that presently God says: "It is not good that the man [or "Adam"], should be alone." The "very good" state of humanity becomes "not good." What had wrought signs of this change? We are not told, but the following points should be weighed: (1) Adam was offered "freely" the tree of life (2:16), but did not eat of it (3:22); (2) was made keeper, as well as dresser of the Garden, (2:15), but Satan later enters it, (read paragraphs. 36, 37). (3) Had God simply meant by the words "not good" that one person alone was not a desirable thing, the Hebrew expression for "one alone" in Joshua 22:20, Isaiah 51:2, etc., would seem more appropriate. This expression means, "in-his-separation,"—and from whom was Adam "in separation" but from God?

32. Attention to some of these matters has been called by more than one theologian, only to be ignored by the generality of Bible expositors. For instance, William Law, a learned theologian and one of the most accomplished writers of his day, declares: "Adam had lost much of his first perfection before his Eve was taken out of him; which was done to prevent worse effects of his fall, and to prepare a means of his recovery when his fall should become total, as it afterwards was, upon eating of the earthly tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 'It is not good that man should be alone,' saith the Scripture. This shows that Adam had altered his first state, had brought some beginning of evil into it, and had made that not to be good, which God saw to be good, when He created him."

33. The late Dr. Alexander Whyte, of Edinburgh, in his book, Bible Characters, set forth some of the views of William Law, and also of an earlier writer, Jacob Behman, the great German philosopher (whose writings Wesley. in his days, required all his preachers to study). Whyte quotes Behman as teaching,—

"There must have been something of the nature of a stumble, if not an actual fall, in Adam while yet alone in Eden . . . Eve was created [he should say, "elaborated"] to 'help' Adam to recover himself, and to establish himself in Paradise, and in the favor, fellowship and service of his Maker."

34. As to Adam's need, God said, 'I will make a help meet for him." This word for "help" does not imply an inferior, but a superior help, in O. T. usage. It occurs 21 times in the O. T. Here it is used twice of Eve. In Isaiah 30:5, Ezekiel 12:14 and Daniel 11:34 of human help; but in every other use made of the word, it refers to Divine help, as, for instance, Psalm 121:2, "My help cometh from the Lord." Please notice, further, that the expression is not "helpmeet," or helpmate, as is often quoted. The word "meet" is a preposition, and Gesenius, the greatest authority as to the meaning of Hebrew words, defines this preposition as often implying, "As things which are before us, and in the sight of which we delight, are objects of our care and affections, hence Isaiah 49:16, 'Thy walls are before me,' they have a place in my care and affections." With this preposition "before," or "over against," is coupled the adverb "as,"—the whole meaning "as before him," (see margin).

35. By the elaboration of Eve, and her separation from Adam, God intended the development of the social virtues, as an aid for Adam. Again William Law says, "Could anything be more punctually [pointedly] related in Scriptures than the gradual fall of Adam? Do you not see that he was first created with both natures [male and female] in him? Is it not expressly told you, that Eve was not taken out of him, till such a time as it was not good for him to be as he then was?”

==Footnotes==
[1] This was because the name “Jehovah” is held by Jews as too sacred for utterance.

==See Also==
[[God's Word to Women]] |
[[Table of Contents]] |
[[Foreword to the 1943 edition published by Ray Munson]] |
[[Foreword to the 2005 edition published by God's Word to Women]] |
[[Author's Note]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 1 | Lesson 1]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 2 | Lesson 2]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 3 | Lesson 3]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 4 | Lesson 4]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 5 | Lesson 5]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 6 | Lesson 6]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 7 | Lesson 7]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 8 | Lesson 8]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 9 | Lesson 9]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 10 | Lesson 10]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 11 | Lesson 11]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 12 | Lesson 12]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 13 | Lesson 13]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 14 | Lesson 14]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 15 | Lesson 15]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 16 | Lesson 16]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 17 | Lesson 17]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 18 | Lesson 18]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 19 | Lesson 19]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 20 | Lesson 20]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 21 | Lesson 21]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 22 | Lesson 22]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 23 | Lesson 23]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 24 | Lesson 24]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 25 | Lesson 25]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 26 | Lesson 26]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 27 | Lesson 27]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 28 | Lesson 28]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 29 | Lesson 29]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 30 | Lesson 30]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 31 | Lesson 31]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 32 | Lesson 32]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 33 | Lesson 33]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 34 | Lesson 34]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 35 | Lesson 35]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 36 | Lesson 36]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 37 | Lesson 37]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 38 | Lesson 38]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 39 | Lesson 39]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 40 | Lesson 40]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 41 | Lesson 41]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 42 | Lesson 42]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 43 | Lesson 43]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 44 | Lesson 44]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 45 | Lesson 45]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 46 | Lesson 46]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 47 | Lesson 47]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 48 | Lesson 48]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 49 | Lesson 49]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 50 | Lesson 50]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 51 | Lesson 51]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 52 | Lesson 52]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 53 | Lesson 53]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 54 | Lesson 54]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 55 | Lesson 55]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 56 | Lesson 56]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 57 | Lesson 57]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 58 | Lesson 58]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 59 | Lesson 59]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 60 | Lesson 60]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 61 | Lesson 61]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 62 | Lesson 62]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 63 | Lesson 63]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 64 | Lesson 64]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 65 | Lesson 65]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 66 | Lesson 66]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 67 | Lesson 67]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 68 | Lesson 68]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 69 | Lesson 69]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 70 | Lesson 70]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 71 | Lesson 71]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 72 | Lesson 72]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 73 | Lesson 73]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 74 | Lesson 74]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 75 | Lesson 75]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 76 | Lesson 76]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 77 | Lesson 77]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 78 | Lesson 78]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 79 | Lesson 79]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 80 | Lesson 80]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 81 | Lesson 81]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 82 | Lesson 82]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 83 | Lesson 83]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 84 | Lesson 84]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 85 | Lesson 85]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 86 | Lesson 86]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 87 | Lesson 87]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 88 | Lesson 88]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 89 | Lesson 89]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 90 | Lesson 90]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 91 | Lesson 91]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 92 | Lesson 92]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 93 | Lesson 93]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 94 | Lesson 94]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 95 | Lesson 95]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 96 | Lesson 96]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 97 | Lesson 97]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 98 | Lesson 98]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 99 | Lesson 99]] |
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 100 | Lesson 100]] |
[[Index of Scripture Texts]] |
[[Dictionary]]
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