Saturday, April 25, 2009

Failing to Fight For Eve

God calls on husbands to be the spiritual leader of their homes. Husbands more often become passive and leave the responsibility to their wives. But the sad fact is, that's nothing new. Remember the fall? who did Satan tempt? He tempted Eve. He approached the woman. Genesis chapter 3, which records the fall, is a battle scene. The enemy is on the prowl in Paradise like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and he spots his prey. He has carefully chosen the woman. He will devour Eve.

The scene really began in Genesis 2:16-17. It says,
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'"
WHO did God command? The man! God warned Adam. don't you find it amazing that we never see that God warned Eve? Why? God didn't feel that he needed to since Adam was to be the spiritual head of the home. It seems that God trusted Adam to take care of that details. God trusted Adam to be able to handle the situation - to instruct his wife and guard and protect her. That is what God had created Adam for, to be the spiritual leader. So what happened? Adam failed in his task. He failed to protect his wife. He failed as the spiritual leader of his home.

Look at the actual fall in Genesis 3:1-6:
"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise,
she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate
."
Where is Adam while the serpent is tempting Eve? Adam is with her. That is what the Scripture says. The Hebrew literally means, right there at her elbow. Adam wasn't off naming the elephants that day or cavorting with the dinosaurs. He wasn't out picking pomegranates for dinner. He was right there beside her listening and watching the conversation. Yet, what did he do to stop this from happening? NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! He does nothing to stop this tragedy. He has no alibi. He stood by passively.

We don't know why, but Adam did nothing to fight for his wife's purity. He did nothing. And most of us men are a chip off the old block. We sit back and watch as our wives or our children drift off into sin, and we do nothing to stop it. Why would a man do that? Why would he let his kids run wild with the wrong crowd? Why would he let them date the wrong people - be taught the wrong things? Why? Yet, most men do. they sit in their lazy-boy recliner watching TV while their family goes to hell without ever lifting a finger to stop it.

What should Adam have done? Everything possible to have stopped this. He should have pleaded with his wife. he should have reasoned and cajoled her. He should have grabbed her arm and tried to drag her away, or grabbed her hand to keep it from putting the fruit to her mouth. He should have stopped her at whatever cost to him. And if he couldn't convince her to stop, he should have tried to chase the serpent away. He should have wrestled with him, thrown apples at him, hit him with a stick - something to get him away from his wife. He should have fought valiantly for her, but he did nothing! In the moment of crisis, he backed down. He gave up his rightful place as priest of his family, and he relinquished that role to his wife.

Men, have you done that? Have you left your family adrift spiritually? Have you left them unprotected to wander into sin without a fight? Have you abandoned the role to you wife to bring anything spiritual into your family? So many men do, refusing to fight for their wife and children. They refuse to take a stand to protect the purity of their families then wonder why their family is in such a wreck. But loving someone means wanting to purify them.

Now you don't have to be the brightest or most knowledgeable or anything else to be the spiritual leader in your home. You just have to set the direction and stick with it. You must establish the priorities of your home. You have to fight to protect the purity of it. You must be the one to say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," Then stick with it. You must insist, "We will do right! "We will not compromise" Husband, will you fight for your family?

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