Eve: The Mother of All Living
Gen 3:20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. (This is where the woman is first named Eve and the first use of “mother”). God had made for man a helper to serve alongside of man. The phrase “help meet” (KJV) implies companionship, equality, and perhaps a reference to strength, as one translates this “strong helper”.
I will make him a help meet for him; עזר כנגדו ezer kenegdo, a help, a counterpart of himself, one formed from him, and a perfect resemblance of his person. If the word be rendered scrupulously literally, it signifies one like, or as himself, standing opposite to or before him. And this implies that the woman was to be a perfect resemblance of the man, possessing neither inferiority nor superiority, but being in all things like and equal to himself. (Clarke)
The failure of Adam and Eve resulted in a curse upon the earth and all the lives upon it. (Genesis 3:13-15). Our loving Creator could not leave man with no hope and with the curse gave a promise of deliverance. It would be the seed of the woman (a child born of a woman) that would bruise the serpent’s head. Eve looked for the promise to be fulfilled in her lifetime.
Lesson One: Expect greatness in your children.
Eve Looks for the Promise of God in her Children
Genesis 4:1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.”
She named her first born Cain: (literally) I have gotten “a man – the LORD”. Her name for this firstborn son indicates her belief in the promise of The Lord and that she would see the promise in her lifetime. She expected her son to be the promised one and likely told Cain about her audience with The Lord in the Garden. She shared her faith in the promise to not only Cain but to Abel and again to Seth.
Mothers, encourage your children to fully follow after The Lord. Look to them to be the next missionaries and evangelists that will bring the world to Christ. Tell them about the promises of God and that they have been fulfilled in Christ. Pass your faith to the next generation.
Lesson Two: Share your faith and leave the results with the LORD.
Eve looked for Cain to represent the LORD and to fulfill the promise. However, Cain was not to be the one to break the curse and he failed to offer a sacrifice that was pleasing to The Lord. This was not the fault of his mother. This is perhaps a reference back to the curse in 3:16 “In pain you will bring forth children”.
The same mother bore Cain, Abel, and later Seth. Of these three, two were righteous and sought after the LORD but one rejected the LORD to the grief of his mother (see 3:16). The Lord indicated that Cain knew better when He said, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” (4:7). Cain’s failure was not the fault of his teacher-mother, but of his own rejection of the revelation of The Lord.
It is common in households of believing parents to have some children follow after The Lord and others reject the gospel. The godly mother may be consistent in her testimony of faith and in training up her children, yet get different results. Eve looked for the promise, grieved when her son rejected The Lord, but continued to faithfully transmit the Word of God to the next generation of children.
Summary
Mother’s, look for God’s promise in your children. Perhaps it will be your child that changes the world and does great things for the Kingdom of Heaven, or perhaps they will quietly pass their faith on to the next generation.
And if you have a child that departs from the way be encouraged that God sees your grief – as he did Eve’s and He will provide them an opportunity to turn back to Him.
