Memory Text: Genesis 2:24 NIV “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”

Sunday, July 1 The Image of God
Genesis 1:27 Holman “So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.”
Genesis 1:27 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY The account of the accomplishment of the divine purpose is expressed in a form of Hebrew poetry, common in all poetic books of the Hebrew Bible, in which the thought expressed in the first part of a stanza is repeated with slight variations in words but not in meaning in the second or even in the third part of the stanza, as in our verse:
“So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him;
male and female created he them.

What feminine images for the attributes of God are used here?
Deuteronomy 32:11 NRSV “As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young; as it spreads its wings, takes them up, and bears them aloft on its pinions,”
Isaiah 49:15-16 NRSV “15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”
Isaiah 66:12-13 NRSV “12 For thus says the LORD: I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees. 13 As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
Hosea 13:8 KJ21 “I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion; the beast of the field shall tear them.”
Matthew 23:37 KJ21 “"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
Matthew 23:37 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE When the hen sees a beast of prey coming, she makes a noise to assemble her chickens, that she may cover them with her wings from the danger. The Roman eagle is about to fall upon the Jewish state-nothing can prevent this but their conversion to God through Christ-Jesus cries throughout the land, publishing the Gospel of reconciliation-they would not assemble, and the Roman eagle came and destroyed them.

Monday, July 2 A Suitable Helper
Why did God make a wife for Adam? What was God’s description of this wife He had made?
Genesis 2:18 Holman “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is like him.””
Genesis 2:18 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY God, as her Father, brought the woman to the man, as his second self, and a help meet for him. That wife, who is of God's making by special grace, and of God's bringing by special providence, is likely to prove a help meet for a man. See what need there is, both of prudence and prayer in the choice of this relation, which is so near and so lasting. That had need to be well done, which is to be done for life.

Tuesday, July 3 Husband and Wife
1 Corinthians 11:11-12 God’s Word to the Nations “11 Yet, as believers in the Lord, women couldn’t exist without men and men couldn’t exist without women. 12 As a woman came into existence from a man, so men come into existence by women, but everything comes from God.”
1 Corinthians 11:12 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES The sexes are dependent on each other, and should therefore cultivate an indissoluble union.
Genesis 2:24 God’s Word to the Nations “That is why a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
Genesis 2:24 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY These words express the deepest physical and spiritual unity of man and woman, and hold up monogamy before the world as the form of marriage ordained by God. These words do not recommend a forsaking of filial duty and respect toward father and mother, but refer primarily to the fact that a man’s wife is to be first in his affections and that his first duty is toward her. His love for her is to exceed, though certainly not to supersede, a very proper love for his parents…The unity of husband and wife is expressed in unmistakable words, existing as they do in a unity of bodies, a community of interests, and a reciprocity of affections. It is a significant fact that Christ uses this very passage in His strong condemnation of divorce.
Genesis 2:24 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE These words may be understood in a twofold sense. 1. These two shall be one flesh, shall be considered as one body, having no separate or independent rights, privileges, cares, concerns, &c., each being equally interested in all things that concern the marriage state. 2. These two shall be for the production of one flesh; from their union a posterity shall spring, as exactly resembling themselves as they do each other.

Wednesday, July 4 Two Are Better Than One
Genesis 3:1-6 NLT “1 ¶ Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made. "Really?" he asked the woman. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?" 2 "Of course we may eat it," the woman told him. 3 "It’s only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die." 4 "You won’t die!" the serpent hissed. 5 "God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil." 6 ¶ The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too.”
Genesis 3:6 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY The statement that “she gave also to her husband with her,” does not imply that he had been with her all the time, standing mute at the scene of temptation. Instead, she gave him of the fruit upon rejoining him that he might eat it “with her” and thus share its presumed benefits.

With this context, what do the following texts tells us?
Proverbs 11:14 God’s Word to the Nations “A nation will fall when there is no direction, but with many advisers there is victory.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 God’s Word to the Nations “9 Two people are better than one because together they have a good reward for their hard work. 10 If one falls, the other can help his friend get up. But how tragic it is for the one who is all alone when he falls. There is no one to help him get up. 11 Again, if two people lie down together, they can keep warm, but how can one person keep warm?”
James 5:16 God’s Word to the Nations “So admit your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you will be healed. Prayers offered by those who have God’s approval are effective.”

Thursday, July 5 The Curse on the Relationship
Genesis 3:16 Holman “He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children in anguish. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will dominate you.”
Genesis 3:16 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY Thy desire shall be thy husband. The Hebrew word shuq, “desire,” means “to run after, to have a violent craving for a thing,” indicating the strongest possible desire for it. Though oppressed by man and tortured by the pains of childbirth, the woman would still feel an intense desire for her husband. Commentators have been divided in their opinion as to whether this is part of the punishment. It seems reasonable to conclude that this “desire” was given to alleviate the sorrows of womanhood and to bind the hearts of husband and wife ever more closely together.
He shall rule over thee. The woman had broken her divinely appointed relationship with the man. Instead of being a help “meet” for him she had become his seducer. Therefore her status of equality with man was forfeited; he was to “rule over” her as lord and master. A wife is described in Scripture as being “possessed” by her lord. Among most non-Christian peoples woman has been subjected throughout the ages to degradation and virtual slavery. Among the Hebrews, however, the condition of woman was one of distinct subordination though not of oppression or slavery. Christianity has placed woman on the same platform as man as regards the blessings of the gospel (Gal. 3:28). Although the husband is to be head of the household, Christian principles will lead a man and his wife into an experience of real partnership, where each is so devoted to the happiness and well-being of the other that it never occurs to either to attempt to “rule” over the other (see Col. 3:18, 19).
Genesis 3:16 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY Adam laid the blame on his wife; but though it was her fault to persuade him to eat the forbidden fruit, it was his fault to hearken to her.

What point is Paul making in this text? How is his point tied in with the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden?
1 Timothy 2:11-14 MKJV “11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach, or to exercise authority [over] a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but [the] woman being deceived was in the transgression.”
1 Timothy 2:11 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE ON SIMILAR VERSE (1 Corinthians 13:34) All that the apostle opposes here is their questioning, finding fault, disputing, &c., in the Christian Church, as the Jewish men were permitted to do in their synagogues; together with the attempts to usurp any authority over the man, by setting up their judgment in opposition to them; for the apostle has in view, especially, acts of disobedience, arrogance, &c., of which no woman would be guilty who was under the influence of the Spirit of God.

Friday, July 6 Further Study
Ellen White, The Adventist Home, p. 25 – “God Himself gave Adam a companion. He provided "an help meet for him"--a helper corresponding to him--one who was fitted to be his companion, and who could be one with him in love and sympathy. Eve was created from a rib taken from the side of Adam, signifying that she was not to control him as the head, nor to be trampled under his feet as an inferior, but to stand by his side as an equal, to be loved and protected by him A part of man, bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, she was his second self; showing the close union and the affectionate attachment that should exist in this relation. "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it." "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one."