In Genesis, we first get to know man as a steward as expressed in Gen 2:15, The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Then a few verses later in Gen 2:18, The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Adam's work was naming the animals but we can be fairly certain that Adam didn't need any "help" doing that. Therefore, let's consider that before steward, we are priests and there's a service to God that comes first that requires a helper.
Gen 3:20 says Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living. At first glance, it seems to reinforce her role as only being child bearing but the revelation comes when we think about the difference between living and being alive. In Luke 9:60, Christ says "Let the dead bury their own dead" further differentiating the difference between being alive and living. Additionally, in John 6:53, Jesus says" Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."{reading through to John 5:58 is worth it} To ensure that his disciples were among the living, Jesus Christ "eagerly desired to eat this Passover" as described in Luke 22:19-20 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." Therefore the Passover is a matter of life or death!
Or living or dead to be more precise! The Passover is first introduced to most of us in connection to the plagues of Egypt in the time of Moses. In this case, it was a matter of staying alive by placing the blood of a lamb over the door post. The commandment to continue to celebrate the Passover came later but celebrating the Passover is seen as early as in the time of Abraham. In Gen 14:18 it says, Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. Melchizedek did this as part of blessing Abram and emphasizes that this is the way God shows acceptance.
It's clear that this is a custom that all must keep and it's fair to believe that Adam and Eve was no exception. We see in Luke 2:41 that it was the same for Jesus' family. If there's anything Eve needed to help with, it seems to be the preparation of the Passover. To tend to sheep and a vineyard, has to be a lot for any person especially one with the amount of responsibility Adam had and a "helper" would probably be required. Through the story of Cain and Abel, we know that the practice of making offerings to God had been established and that Adam and Eve were taught the ways of God in the Garden of Eden. As we know, Abraham, the father of faith and his wife Sarah is a copy of Adam and Eve where Sarah was barren until blessed by God. We learn in Gen 20:2 that Sarah is Abraham's sister making her bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh and affirming the copy. Therefore it's likely that until God blessed them in Gen 1:28, Eve also could not bear children further emphasizing that childbearing was not her primary role especially since God initially created Adam alone. There's an instruction in 1Co 7:8 to do as God and stay unmarried further confirming its not a command to multiply but a blessing and a secondary role after praising God and taking care of his planet.
As we see in Ezekiel 37, God didn't need a woman to create the people of Israel as he didn't need a woman in order to create Adam. John the baptist in Luke 3:8 says that God can make people from stones. Additionally, because God was planning to create a people in the Garden and Adam's role was clearly time consuming already, there would be a need for a teacher and organizer as well as simply someone to record all the names of everything. Maybe this was the first Book of Life. Overall, we could learn about Eve through analysis of Sarah and more about ourselves as so many struggle with purpose. Can you think of any more roles of Eve?
By the way, I didn't mention the Passover bread because we don't need any of the women belong in the kitchen rhetoric since we all know men are better chefs, so that can't be the reason for Eve's creation. Do you agree? And if you want to learn about the people of Eden, another post is to come soon so stay connected!
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