Gtcotr/ws080410
From the dawn of mankind, women have exercised their God given abilities to influence the course of history. At every critical juncture, be it internal family affairs or a world at war, you will most often find a woman behind the scenes using her powers of persuasion to affect the outcome.
It is certain that women have more influence than do men. Who do you look at in the commercials on television; who do you believe when you hear a husband and a wife differ in their recollection of a story; who do you dress for – to win the approval, acceptance and respect of men or women? (most likely a woman, unless you specifically want to influence a man, then you dress perhaps a bit more provocative)
Women know what attracts men while men have no idea what is attractive to a woman. Women know what it takes to keep a man happy while men are often clueless. Men for the most part are simple creatures in comparison to the complex creature we call woman. It is impossible to win an argument with a woman – oh, you may think you have won, but just wait, it’s not over yet! (She may soften you up a bit more before the next round, but believe me, there will be another round.)
From time to time I pick up a little consulting work. Last year I was asked to help develop a marketing strategy aimed at increasing sales of a certain product to the religious groups within the US. At the center of my proposal was the crucial element of securing an appointment and developing a relationship with the CEO’s presumably female secretary or female executive assistant. I submitted that only after gaining her confidence should the pitch be made to the CEO.
I further proposed than any failure at the CEO level should be followed up by a continued relationship with the secretary and reassess the pitch potential each quarter thereafter. It seems that sales people always want to have an appointment with the decision maker of a company. Where they often miss the mark is knowing who the decision maker relies on to help them make their decision. That person is often much more accessible and much more vulnerable to a good sales pitch. Women are influencers but they are also susceptible to being influenced themselves.
The story of the Bible and indeed the whole world would not be complete, as was creation not completed, without the woman and her God given gifts of persuasion. Tonight we begin a new Wednesday evening series entitled:
Women Of The Bible
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
We have nothing to prove but a whole lot to understand as we survey the lives and affects of several women whom God chose to include in His Story – history. So, let’s begin at the beginning and take a look at the prototype for all womanhood – Eve. Was she good, bad, or just plain ugly?
You probably know the story from the last few verses of Genesis 2 where in verse 21 God caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam and removed a rib from his side from which He created woman. You know men are still unconscious of how women are made.
Anyway, as the story continues when Adam saw this woman he was hooked, (no ‘hooker’ pun intended – however, remember the children’s song: “Oh be careful little eyes what you see …”? – The fact is, even Adam fell in love with the first naked woman he saw! --- So young men, and old men alike – don’t get hooked by the wrong woman!). At any rate, Adam was smitten by the woman’s beauty and charm, on top of that he was lonely, (watch yourselves when you’re lonely), and Adam desired to be one with her. His first words were:
Genesis 2
23 And Adam said:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 This is the reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
There was presumably some amount of time between the end of Genesis 2 and the account which takes place in the first few verses of Genesis 3.
Genesis 3
1 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’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 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.”
6 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.
With this we are able to draw some conclusions as to Eve’s place on our list.
Was Eve good, bad, or just plain ugly? When I use the word ugly, I’m not talking about what some “shallow Hal’s” might see in the physical appearance but rather those truly wicked and evil women in history who full well knew the destruction they were using their craft to accommodate. There are women who are purely evil and intend wickedness without remorse. However, Eve was not one of those women.
Eve was good. She was not a bad, nor was she a wicked or evil woman, as some would make her out to be. Eve was not bad, she was tricked.
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
As I said, Eve was tricked. She was sold a bill of goods by the first slick ad campaign and believed the salesman had her best interest at heart. She made a decision based upon what was staring her right in the face. She heard a voice telling her to do it, it made sense to her and she went for it.
Her husband, Adam, was right there with her. Whether or not he heard that “snake in the grass” who was attempting to convince his wife to buy the apple story, we don’t know. But, most likely if Adam was hunting, fishing, gardening, dinosaur watching or watching the turtle races on TV, he was completely disconnected from the conversations his wife was having around the garden anyway. But, that’s a subject for a later series. For now, let’s stick with Eve.
1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
As I said, Eve was not bad and not rebellious, she was tricked, deceived, influenced if you will, by what she heard and what she saw and what she wanted, and subsequently she exerted her influence on Adam. Eve was a good woman, a Godly woman, a great grandmother of Jesus, the woman God chose to be the mother of all living. I believe Eve is in heaven.
However, Eve, and many other ladies in the Bible, throughout modern history and even women today, perhaps even you, may underestimate the influence and the real impact you have on others in your life, especially the men to whom you relate.
You don’t have to be bad and you don’t have to be rebellious to be wrong. Women have influence, but what influences women?
What influences women to be good?
What influences women to be bad?
What influences women to be truly ugly?
Well, that’s a question which requires a little more research before we determine the answer. So, next week we will pick up on this same theme as we take a candid look at the women in the Bible, the good, the bad and even the ugly. See you next Wednesday!
