Cook's helper or Partner? In Genesis 2, when God creates the woman, she is described in relation to the man. In two Hebrew words packed full of meaning, ‘ezer kenegdo, God describes how the two are designed to go together. They are made for each other, just hours apart. Once together, they are to be a resourceful and satisfied pair, at home together in Eden.

Modern language versions of the Bible translate these two Hebrew words ...

This first marriage, and the description of marriages to come, was the ideal pattern for all men and women to follow, a pattern with four points:

Many blame Eve as the Temptress. This medieval idea is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says the Tempter in the Garden was the serpent. That is why God cursed the serpent Tempter. And that is one of the reasons why, when we look for a curse on the woman in the Hebrew text, we find none.

Satan tempted both the woman and the man. The Hebrew text in Genesis 3:1-5 shows him using plural pronouns each time he says “you.” In other wo...

God spells out the ultimate doom of the woman's enemy which will come through her. Even though he will persist in his attacks and even though figuratively he will bruise the heel of her offspring, who we know ultimately to be Jesus, her offspring will bruise Satan on the head.

In Genesis 3:15, in God’s last words to the serpent, God prophesies that the woman’s “seed” or “offspring” (the Hebrew word is zera‘) will defeat the Temp...

God did NOT curse the woman in Genesis 3:16  IN ANY WAY! But modern translations make it look like God did. So it is necessary to think again about the word patterns in 3:15-17, and the larger context of Genesis 2-3, to see what God really said. 

Genesis 2-3, in Hebrew, is a  meaningful seven-part pattern that is a chiasm. A chiasm can be pictured as a rainbow or as a bell curve.

Line 1 of 3:16 is the center of a linchpin pattern tha...

To understand Genesis 3:16 we must recognize that in God’s first words to the woman in Line 1 God didn’t even touch on the subject of childbirth. (1) God spoke to her about shared sorrowful-toil (the Hebrew word is ‘itsebon) in field work and (2) God spoke to her about conception or pregnancy (the Hebrew word is heron) and especially of the offspring who would bruise Satan’s head.

The way the words are put together in a chiasm in Ge...

In the Garden the man listens to the words of the serpent tempter. And the man makes the intent and actions of Satan his own. He too rebels against God.

Step by step he moves away from God and toward Satan! 

The “speaking” simply stated as such in Ephesians 5:19a involves two practical actions, “teaching and admonishing.” All believers filled with the Spirit are to teach one another the truths found in the psalms, in hymns and spiritual songs. Every believer is to inform or remind every other believer in the Body of Christ. On the other hand, and where necessary, believers are to admonish, or correct, one another.

This is the first way ...

Here are the four points for Spirit-filled walking in Ephesians 5:19-21. Each point in Greek starts with an -ing verb. 

The New Verb in verse 22. The action and the people involved in the incomplete sentence of verse 22 – “wives … to your husbands” must be filled in with the paired actions of the Spirit-filled believers in Ephesians 5:19a and 21. Thus Paul’s meaning in verse 22 is 

Wives and husbands be submitting to the teaching and correction you are receiving from one another in Christ

-ing verbs can be read as having an exclamation point after eac...

In Ephesians 5:22-32 the unity of believers in one body with Christ is illustrated in the three sections: (1) verses 22-24, (2) verses 25-27 and (3) 28-32. The introductory verses are 19a and 21. The summary verse is 32.

in verse 25b, two main ideas are grouped together in the center of the linchpin. They are: “As Christ loved” and “as Christ gave of himself.” 

Believers in Christ are to love and give of ourselves one to another. Thi...

Translators’ errors are hurting so many lives. Perhaps the biggest error of all is occurring in Genesis 3:16. People get a sour taste when they read modern translations of Genesis 2-3 that make God appear unfair and even vindictive. 

What they read leads them to think God cursed the woman in some way even though she had been deceived. They think she had been the Temptress and deserved a curse unlike the rebellious man whose body was...

The focus of this episode is:

Ephesians 5:32-6:9. Family members submitting one to another

Have you ever been in a conversation like this? Maybe you’re talking with a lovable old uncle, or you’re in conversation with a friendly neighbor. You’ve been talking about one thing and then you get off the track and start talking about something else. Finally, comes a moment when one of you says, “Let’s get back to what we were talking about....

The hot topic, the hot verse in all of 1 Timothy is 1st Timothy 2:12. People want to go right there and from that verse only they want to know all about “women in church.” But if they look only to verse 12 they are taking a scriptural teaching out of context! 

Context and content. What is the context of 1 Timothy 2:12? It is found in a series of ideas that actually begin back in 1:18 and continue down to 3:16. What is the content of...

A quick survey of the key points in Genesis 2-3 that are affected positively by a correct understanding of Genesis 3:16.  Christy and Kaylin interviewed Bruce C. E. Fleming on their podcast about what Genesis 3:16 really says in the Hebrew text and how this helps our understanding of the other verses that tell us what happened back in the Beginning. Lots covered and lots of fun in this interview!

Order a 3-Pak of the paperback, The ...

Paul listed MY THREE SINS in 1 Timothy 1:13. First, Paul was a blasphemer. He had spoken evil of Jesus. Second, he was a persecutor. He had persecuted believers in Christ. Third, he was injurious. He had disrupted the church. 

Three groups in Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:18-3:16). Paul often gave a list near the start of his letters. The list pointed to what was coming next in his letter. When I learned of this I began looking for a list in...

The first seven verses in 1 Timothy 2 are Paul's discussion of his second sin, that of being an official who persecuted the church. But many commentators and theologians haven't understood how the first seven verses of 1 Timothy 2 fit into the structure of Paul's letter. 

Some have suggested like this person, that Paul "strung his ideas together in 1 Timothy in a rather haphazard manner." That doesn't sound l...