The Woman

Her name is written but four times in the entire Bible. Genesis 3:20, Genesis 4:1, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Timothy 2:13.

Many other women’s names are written much more often. Also examples, they have much less effect on our lives. Ruth and Esther have their own books. Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel have much longer stories, telling of their husbands, their families, their descendants. They are mentioned often by name. She is not.

Her husband, when accusing God of causing his sin, referred to as “the woman.”

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:12 KJV)

Why do we do that? We blame everyone around us rather than accepting responsibility for our own actions. Who is “the woman” for us?

For husbands, wives are a good target; for wives, husbands. The person closest to us becomes “the woman” who led us astray, gave us the wrong information, led us into temptation. Remember, we do not sin when we are tempted – we sin when we give into the temptation. There was no sin when the woman heard the temptation. There was sin when she took the fruit and ate it. There was no sin in Adam’s hearing the woman’s sales pitch. There was a slide toward sin when he took the fruit and accomplished sin when he ate it.

Still, Adam blamed both God and the woman given by God for the result. Spread the blame. Maybe our sins won’t be noticed, or at least they will be mitigated, if we hide among others. We’re real cowards, aren’t we?

One of our best excuses is “Everyone is doing [insert your sin of choice: pick any one of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21)]. Many more people to hide among so we won’t be notice among all those sinners.

Want to know a good place to find sinners? Go to your local church. If the doctrine like ours, every member has at one time stood before a congregation and admitted to being a sinner. They’ve made an additional statement that they’ve chosen to leave their sins in the hands of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, who died to offer them eternal life. We are a work in progress. We make wrong choices even after promises to follow Jesus and have to work hard at changing, at repenting of the sins we commit. It is a spiritual battle displayed in the flesh.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12 KJV)

We have, however, been given a glimpse of the outcome.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 KJV)

Please, us in learning more about accepting responsibility for our own actions instead of blaming “the woman.”