“For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
~Psalm 139:13-16
God made man on the sixth day. And when He made the first man (Adam) and the first woman (Eve), they were special and uniquely created. All of creation was spoken into existence, male and female, and by their own kind. But Adam was created in the image of God. When God formed Eve, He didn't create a counterpart separate from Adam (like the rest of creation), but the LORD used something from within Adam (one of his ribs) to create Eve, which is why Adam said of Eve:
"This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
~Genesis 2:3
Have you ever wondered why God used the bone from the man's rib to form the woman? I have. I used to wonder why God didn't use a piece of bone from the man's head so the wife could be over her husband. Or why God didn't use a bone from the man's shoulder so the wife could have an equal role and duties as her husband. Why didn't God use a bone from the man's thumb so his wife could be under his constant pressure? And why didn't God use a bone from the man's foot so the wife could be used as a feeble and dirty doormat?
Why did God use the rib?
We know that our God is a God of purpose and of order. Our God does nothing out of frivolity like many of us. God does everything with the specific intent to work good for all those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). What's the "good," you ask? It's not the "silver lining" in a bad situation; it's being conformed into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).
So, what's the deal with the wife and the rib? To find the answer, let's take a look at the makeup and function of the rib. The rib is:
- located on the man's side
- delicate, yet strong at the same time
- covers the two most vital organs of man:
- his heart
- his lungs
With what we know for certain about our awesome and purposeful God, and with what we know about the makeup and function of the rib, we can now make a more informed guesstimation of why God used the rib out of the man to form the wife. For the definitive reason, we’ll have to wait until we see the LORD in His full glory to ask Him then, that is, if we’re still interested. But for now, applying the reasoning God gave us, we can estimate that God used the rib to show both the man and the woman that the woman was made to be by the man's side. To walk alongside him, to bless, support and protect him, to be the closest thing to his heart.
God made the woman delicate in nature (that's why we get our feelings hurt more easily than men and even get physically injured more easily than men). But we are also strong. We are stubborn (sometimes in a good way and sometimes bad). Our strength gives us the ability to fight for our families and all that we believe in. And last but not least, we protect the two most vital organs of man: his heart and lungs. The heart pumps the very life-blood of the man throughout his entire body and the lungs give the man the ability to have breath. Without these two organs protected and functioning well, it is impossible for a man to function at his optimum and may even cause his death.
Therefore, we can clearly perceive that the very life-blood of a husband, that is, his vigor; all that he breathes in and breathes out is dependent on his wife's protection. And how does this apply in a "real life" situation? We’ll cover that in: A Modern Day Rib In Action!
