Fallen Dominion.

 A commentary on Genesis and Dominion. 

Our God is a God of order.

When we think about the creation of man back in the garden God decided to make Man in His image. HE made Man and gave him dominion over the earth. Was this dominion to control and oppress the creatures that God had just made in a form of harsh slaveship? I don't think so. He created man and had him give all the animals names and he was to cultivate the earth. Cultivate, dominion. TO tend to the ground and care for it that it may yield fruit the way it is intended to. 

Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Man's purpose before the fall was to exercise his dominion 

The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 

He wasn't oppressing the land by tending his dominion. He was operating in his Divinely assigned role. God did not make woman first and give her this role of dominion over the earth. God did not make woman at the same moment as man to share in this dominion.  Instead, Man was alone in his dominion and God said it wasn't good that he be in solitude/ alone. 

Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.

Still within the dominion of Adam, in his reflection of the Creator, he is ruling and giving names to that which is in his dominion. God puts a sleep over Adam and instead of creating independently from the dirt again as with Adam and giving her the same dominion and creation as Adam- God takes the woman from the rib of Adam.  

 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man 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.”

Who gives woman her name? Adam. Who gives Adam his name? God.  The reflection of God is present in this creation. She is created by God and by Adam. Adam not only titles her woman, but gives her the name Eve as is his role given to him by God, of dominion. 

 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

It is stated that Man is the covering over the woman just as the example of The Father being over Christ, The King being over the Bride, so is the Husband over the Wife. The royal kingdom set up of a king and queen has the king ruling with the queen at his side- yet he is still the one in dominion. 

 For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 8 For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; 9 for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake -1 Cor 11

When God gave the command to not eat of the tree He didn't give it to the woman. 

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Who is the first person to add to the commands of God?  The woman 

 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”

For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

The woman was deceived, but the scripture points out that sin entered through Adam. 

The Lie was that it will:

• open your eyes 
• make you like God 
• know good and evil 

The Temptation was that :

• "good for food"
• "delight to the eyes"
• "make one wise

One of the definitions of Know/yada is to declare. Mankind has been declaring good and evil instead of what GOD defines as good and evil, and this includes the roles given to us by God. We have opened our eyes to sin, and have made ourselves like God in our declaration.  It is for this reason there is such indignation by the Savior to the Pharisees who set aside the commands of God for the sake of their own traditions- going so far as to say that they declare what is and isn't food based on ritual hand washing traditions of the elders. The delight of self made wisdom rather than the wisdom of God. 

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 

God walking in the garden does not call out "Egalitarian couple of equality, where would both of you be located?" He calls out to the man as it was his duty and role to walk in the dominion of which he was given.  

10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Adam, instead of accepting the responsibility for his choice to disobey God, BLAMES HIS WIFE even though ADAM was not the one deceived by the Serpent because Adam  had the command directly from the mouth of God. Adam had ceased to reflect the nature of God's guardianship by ignoring the word of God and surrendering his dominion. 

To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children;  Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”

The Judgement of God to the woman is that she will have pain in childbirth (which she still does) and Her desire will be for her husband (dominion) but He shall rule over her( Dominion). We know this is the right meaning  that the desire is to be in dominion over her husband as its used in the next chapter  as with Cain and his sin offering. Compare:

To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children;  Yet your desire (H8669 tᵊšûqâ) will be for your husband, And he will rule  (H4910  māšal)over you.” 

 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire (H8669 tᵊšûqâ) is for you, but you must master (H4910 māšal) it.”

But what does God say to the man? 

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you;In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;  And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground,  Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

God states clearly that because Adam took the Egalitarian position and passed his dominion role over and followed his wifes doctrine given to her by the serpent, That now his role is going to be much much much harder. The ground is cursed because of Adam. The arena of his dominion has been infected 

Again I highlight the Pharisees issue of calling eating bread unclean if you eat it with unwashed hands... as it seems to completely dismiss the decree of God that one will toil in the dirt and eat the bread. 

Now, in the context of Adam and the Dominion of which He was supposed to lead and guard and care and cultivate both the ground- which is polluted by sin based on Adams dominion, and care for his wife, who was given to him to help reflect the image of God let's look at a few passages. 

 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned - Romans 5:12

Eve didn't doom humanity, Adam did. Adam is who I see at fault. Adam chose, He was not deceived. 

NOW look at 1 Timothy 2

 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 

Paul is making direct reference to Adam and Eve in the Divine order of dominion not as a personal opinion but in the order that God instructs. God did not create man to destroy the world, but to give him careful dominion and stewardship that full prosperity may be maintained. The reason that women are scripturally not permitted to be in authority over men and be pastors is that it is a direct reference to this. God spoke to the man, man spoke to the woman. God led the man, man led ( or was supposed to ) the woman. NOW look at the example in scripture even closer in this context of Ephesians 5

22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 

Just as Adam was given Dominion to care for and steward the earth he was given his wife to care for watch over, TO WASH HER, CLEANSING HER - that is dominion language, not in a oppressive pejorative way but in a way of LOVE and deep tender care AS HE IS TO LOVE HIS OWN FLESH! 

And the wife, She is STILL called like Eve, to submit to her husband in everything and RESIST that desire over him to seize dominion!!! As a wife refuses to allow her husband's leadership per Divinely appointed call, She actively resists GOD and the reflection of the order that HE put in place. She not only defies GOD's call over her husband, BUT ACTIVELY REJECTS GOD'S CALL OVER HER OWN LIFE in the way she was created to reflect HIS GLORY 

When women reject the order that God has set to reflect HIM And HIS order and defiantly take to the pulpits declaring themselves to be pastors over the men and congregations They have absolutely and unequivocally eaten a doctrine from the adversary of which they have been deceived as being good for food, a delight to the eyes, and having made them wise.