I think this is an interesting place to start an Advent blog. Advent is a season all about waiting, but the woman in this passage just can’t wait. She sees something she likes. It’s within reach. And she grabs it. That moment of grasping brings about all sorts of misery: the woman and the man turn on one another: together they were supposed to rule over the serpent, but now the serpent rules over them; and the disorder and conflict just keeps spreading from there.
Sadly, the woman grabs for something God had already promised to give her. It isn’t just about the fruit for this woman, but more about the serpent’s promise that she would be like God. But God had already told her that she was created to be like God, and to do God’s work. So, she is grabbing after something that is really already hers–and she ends up getting less than nothing
So, this passages is a warning of the benefits of waiting, and the perils of rushing. But it’s also a story about grace. God responds to this failure to wait by setting up a new, even more grand, occasion for waiting: waiting for the child who will ultimately crush the serpent. And the woman gets to play a part. This woman will give birth to a child who will ultimately undo the damage she has done.
What are some things you are waiting for?
When have you felt that temptation to grasp after a lesser version of those things, and what happened?
How has God treated you in the times when you’ve succumbed to that temptation to grab?
December 1, 2009 at 12:41 am |
No matter how many times I see that waiting works, it’s still tough. It’s so counter cultural to push back against the urge to get going and make things happen (even though most of what I’ve ever made happen left me in a mess requiring significant clean up). Thanks for the reminder that waiting is part of letting God’s plan play out.
December 3, 2009 at 3:44 am |
Wow – this is an interesting topic….especially as it relates to Christmas where you have a way to get what you want through gifts, etc
….but I have a hard time waiting and the impatience can get to me and I can try to “make something happen”. If I get really consumed in something, I have to take that breather and remind myself that I am not as much in control as God is….silly lesson to have to learn again and again….its interesting to think about Eve and her impatience to wait for God’ goodness. I am constantly reminded…especially in my current life as there are some big changes about to happen and how hard its been to wait to see it all unfold. I’ve been reminded to try and live day by day (and I think that is ultimately what God asks us to do)…. Anyway, glad that blogging of the bible is back!
December 3, 2009 at 3:47 am |
Thanks, Karen. Glad to be back.
December 24, 2009 at 5:25 am |
[...] rock opera version of the whole story we’ve been reading the past three weeks. Just like in Genesis 3, there’s a woman, a child, and a serpent–but the serpent has grown to monstrous [...]