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Why did the serpent approach the woman instead of the man?
The following is a fantasy of what might have been, if Adam had not sinned...
1The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
...the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man took the woman by the hand and showed her around the garden. He told her, "The Lord God commanded me, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from
it you will certainly die.'
"The Lord God left me to take care of the garden. He formed all of its creatures from the ground, and he let me name each of them. He also formed you from part of me, and I named you. He made you for me, and I care about you. I would not want to lose you!
"Therefore, since the Lord God commanded me not to eat from that tree, I am commanding you not to eat from it either."
She responded, "Yes, sir. I will not eat from that tree."
...Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'"
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she was tempted to eat it, but she did not.
She said to the serpent, "My master commanded me not to eat from that tree, and I will not disobey him. You must speak to him about it."
The man was nearby and overheard the conversation. He said to the serpent, "Who are you and what do you want?" The serpent did not respond and withdrew to try again another time.
The man said to the woman, "What did that creature want?"
She said, "He told me we would not die if we eat from the tree you commanded me not to eat from."
"That creature is a liar. Do not listen to him. Our Master commanded us not to eat from that tree, and we are not going to eat from it."
The man took the woman by the hand and they walked in the garden, naked and unashamed. And the Lord God was pleased.
All glory to God!
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1Italics from Genesis 2-3 NIV
2Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adam_and_Eve_in_the_Garden_of_Eden.jpg
UPDATE, July 28, 2022...
So, why did the serpent approach the woman instead of the man? I think the answers are in the non-italicized text of the fantasy, which are my words.
The Genesis account says nothing about how the man told the woman what God told him. The fantasy fills in that gap. The man is explicit and provides leadership, and the woman responds positively to that leadership.
In the Genesis account, the woman did not respond to the serpent with the same message God gave to the man. She added that they were not to touch the tree. Did she touch the tree at some point because it was beautiful and the man rebuked her? We don't know. In the fantasy, she repeats what the man said verbatim. Is that likely? She got the information second hand, and anyone who has played the game of telephone knows messages become corrupted when they are passed verbally between people.
The serpent then lied to her. In Genesis, she listened to him, believed him, and then acted on her own. She was open to the suggestion and she disobeyed authority. But in the fantasy, she resisted the temptation, submitted to the man's authority and deferred to him. The man also took charge and confronted the situation.
Do we handle situations like the Genesis account, or the fantasy? Which is better? What should we do?
Marriage is the model God gave us to understand our relationship with Jesus. If we understand submission in marriage we have a better chance of learning to submit to Jesus and do things His way.
UPDATE, August 2, 2022...
Fallen people are influenced to distort what is righteous until it is ridiculous, and then they are used to propagandize and program the masses. Most women are repelled by photos like this, and they will move directly in the opposite direction, ... which is exactly what the Darkness wants.
God designed the sex act to have dominant and submissive roles. It is beneficial. Not only does it continue God's creation by producing offspring, it bonds the couple together: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It reminds the participants who is in charge.3 And it is also very pleasurable. The clitoris has no other purpose than to produce pleasure. God is good. Men and women aren't, ... unless and until they have been allowed to repent and experience the Kingdom.
Men must be warriors; their women must help them. Those are dominant and submissive roles, and the Darkness is terrified of them because they are effective against it.
UPDATE, August 23, 2022...
The model is dressed as a kajira in a camisk, as described in the John Norman Gor novels. I am not interested in reading any of the books, and if you check out the link (Wikipedia) you will understand why. A "Gorean subculture" exists where people order their lives based on the books. It seems some people are looking for ways to fulfill their God-ordained gender roles despite politically-correct cultural pressures.
The mark on the model's leg is a "kef" and it seems to be associated with the word kajira, which means "slave girl" in the Gorean fantasy world. The kef looks a lot like a "K," which is the eleventh (11) letter of the alphabet. Where have we seen that before?
The font on the cover of the first Gor book includes some triangular-shaped letters. Again, that looks like symbolism to me.
As I mentioned in an update to the Manifestations post, a woman named "Svali" confessed her role in the cult she was born into. She also discussed how that cult has infiltrated institutions so they can control the world, ... or control it for their masters. They have infiltrated all professions and walks of life, and their members include authors and publishers. Popular books are one of many ways they propagandize, influence, and control the masses.
Midland, Michigan is the home of The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and a guy named Joe Overton worked there and developed the idea of the "Overton window." The center's interest is public policy, but the concept applies to all aspects of life.
Those who want to shift the Overton window will introduce and promote radical and unthinkable ideas. For example, bikinis and short-shorts were introduced in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Those things were radical back then, but are common today. The Overton window was shifted.
That is what Svali's cult and others have been doing and is what the number eleven (11) is all about. They use the Hegelian Dialectic to create two sides and then pit them against one another. Radical and unthinkable behaviors polarize the groups.
These evil people think this will lead to what they want: world government where they are in charge. They think the masses will be sickened by the chaos and will submit to anyone who seems to have a viable plan. Create a problem and provide the solution. That has always been their modus operandi.
So, one of the conflicts they have created is the Feminists versus the Goreans. That's what's going on. Don't fall for it. Step out of the Hegelian Dialectic and defeat it. Stay with God's model for marriage and enjoy your spouse.
I really do miss my wife.
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18 NIV)
UPDATE, May 31, 2023...
3The following link is an explicit short story of a married, Christian couple's reconciliation and "make-up" sex acts. Some people may find parts of it beyond their comfort zones, but overall I think it is a good example of how I believe God intends for us to build each other up and enjoy one another in our marriages. It gets more edgy the further you read, so you can "bail out" if you begin to feel uncomfortable. I think the entire thing is what God intends for us, and Yeshua is pleased when we cherish what His Father has given us.
I believe Yeshua really is looking forward to His wedding, and it will be infinitely beyond anything we can experience or comprehend during this age.
https://marriageheat.com/2023/05/24/submissive-unto-my-husband/
UPDATE, June 30, 2023...
If we do things God's way, we will see Him open doors (and close doors) that will ultimately bring about His purposes. If we insist on doing things our way, we will fail. It's as simple as that.
UPDATE, July 22, 2023...
Putting it another way, this is not about prohibiting women from doing anything. It is about everyone doing their own jobs and staying in their respective lanes.
If men lead, women will not see a need to take over. If women give men respect and encourage them to lead, they will probably do so. And if a wife embraces her role as their husband's "shulamite," I believe she will be greatly rewarded and her man will accomplish great things.
The book of Judges is an account of bad examples, and how God triumphed anyway. The story of Deborah is not something to emulate. A woman was doing a job men should have been doing, but the text does not say specifically why. In general terms, the people had stopped obeying the LORD.
After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.
Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. [That's an interesting number: 110 --> 11.] And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.
Then the Lord raised up judges [or leaders], who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua. (Judges 2:6-23 NIV)
The same will be true for us if we do not do things God's way. There is nothing new under the sun.