# 23 The Missing Piece

The Book of Genesis Day 23 Ge 2:18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. Doesn’t this seem a little bit out of order? Why is it necessary to put verse 18 in here at all? Wouldn’t it make more sense to move v18 to v21 when God goes through the process of creating Eve? Well, that’s not the way it is! God starts out with the pronouncement that ”it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” First of all, this “helper” was to be a counterpart, a complementary piece, a mate. But before God makes this mate for Adam, he assigns Adam the task of naming all the animals. What a fun job, and what a keen mind Adam had to come up with all these great names! Aardvarks, to Zebras and everything in between! But as Adam is naming all these animals, he must’ve been struck by the fact that there was a Mr. and Mrs. Hippopotamus, and a Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal, and so on…..but, where was the Mrs Adam? “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” All these animals had their counterparts of the opposite sex, perfectly suited to be fruitful and to multiply and perfectly suited to serve as a team in raising their families and mastering their environments. But Adam had nothing of the sort, and one can almost hear the longing of his heart after his task of naming all the animals was finished. “Where’s my Mrs.?” Here’s where it gets real special! God did not make female animals using the ribs of the males. He created them separately out of the clay. Eve, on the other hand was to be very special. She would be created out of the very substance of man, and you know what? Husband/wife relationships would do so much better if we would remember that in our world today. How much more honor would the man bestow upon the woman, and how much more respect would the woman show the man, if they but remembered how it was before Eve arrived on the scene. Reflect: What’s your favorite animal at the zoo? Why? If you’re married, how do you and your mate complement each other? If single, can you recall how your parents complemented one another? How can a review of the beginnings of man and woman help us in our roles as men and women? Pray: Father God, thank You for this reminder of the charge you have given us to be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth. Thank you for providing the complementary pieces of man and wife to help get the job done. Amen