before the fall of man

[warmstrong]

Dr Mike

In studying the men's fraternity class a question came up that I wanted to get your opinion on.

the first question

Before the fall of man, Eve was a help mate for Adam. After the fall, genesis talks about how eve would want to desire what Adam desired and that man would rule over woman, and that man would be the dominate role in the family, was this the case before the fall of man or only after the fall?

the second question


Further more, if Adam would have stepped up and denied eve of eating the apple, at some point in time the fall of man still would of occurred anyway, right???

thanks Dr. Mike see you at church tomorrow

[Mike Miller]

First, before the fall, man and woman would have lived in a perfectly harmonious relationship as depicted in Ephesians 5:18-32. The man would have provided godly, loving leadership, and the woman would have submitted graciously as a partner and help-mate. Neither would have been superior in status, but they would have fulfilled their God-given roles. The fall messed all that up.

The phrase translated "your desire" is the exact same Hebrew word found in 4:7 where God told Cain that sin would "desire" him. It indicates a desire to control. The word in 3:16 for Adam ruling Eve is also the same word in 4:7 for Cain needing to "rule" over sin. The idea, then, is that one result of the fall is that the relationship between husband and wife would now be one of conflict and struggle. The woman would no longer so graciously submit but would want to rule her husband instead. The man would also no longer provide godly leadership but would instead be domineering. I think we see this a lot today with women resisting their husbands' leadership and so many men abusing their leadership. This is all a result of the fall.

Second, it's hard to comment definitively on a hypothetical. We don't know what "would have" happened "if" something else happened. Of course, those of us who believe in the sovereignty of God believe that things worked out just like God intended (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8). Even if there were some leeway in the exact circumstances, it surely seems like the fall was part of the plan from before creation.

Great questions. Thanks for posting.