Bible Study Genesis Part 32-Holy Anesthesia

A single line in Genesis can expose what we really trust. When Scripture says God put Adam into a deep sleep, took from his side, and made Eve, do we accept the miracle as literal history or do we label it symbolism because it clashes with modern taste?

We walk slowly through Genesis 2:21-25 and face the hardest objections head-on, including the claim that the creation of Eve is a fable used to justify misogyny. We don’t pretend the passage hasn’t been abused, but we refuse to confuse abuse with the Bible’s actual message. The text, read carefully, points to shared substance and unity, not inferiority. Along the way we call out the broader trend of giving the Bible a “makeover” so it can win cultural approval, and we ask what happens to faith when philosophy becomes the final authority.

Then we dig into why the “deep sleep” detail matters and what it reveals about God’s character: a Father who shields His children from pain and who intends abundant provision, joy, and purpose. From there we explore why God formed Eve from Adam rather than creating two separate human lines, tracing the theme of oneness through John 17 and the “one for all” logic in Romans 5. We also tackle Genesis 2:24 and whether it reads as Adam’s words or Moses’ concluding note, showing how authorship can clarify meaning without speculation.

If you care about Biblical authority, Genesis, Christian theology, marriage as “one flesh,” and how to read Scripture without sanding off the hard edges, hit play, subscribe for more, and share this with a friend. 

Transcript

Why Scripture Matters Most

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Welcome to the program Study in the Chapel. God's Word is supreme at Chapel Ministries. We consider it absolutely essential to a proper relationship with God. We study it, we love it, we rely on it every minute of every day. The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold. And we decided to share these with you in the hope that you too will be able to find inspiration, encouragement, and ultimately salvation through discovering Christ in Scripture. Our intention is to travel all the way through the Bible. It will be a challenging journey, but one that will undoubtedly bring you to a decision. Through this study, you will be faced with either believing or rejecting what God has said to us. It is our intention to provide you with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about God and his word. We strongly encourage you to listen intently and diligently, because though at the moment you may not realize it, these things are truly a matter of life and death. In fact, these are matters of eternal life and eternal death. Never treat what God has said lightly. There's truly nothing more important to you. Now join us as we seek God's will through his inspired word.

Wrapping Up Genesis Chapter Two

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We are still studying the book of Genesis. We're gonna be here for a little while. We are going to wrap up chapter two tonight. We will not be doing this again for two more weeks. We will not begin chapter three for two more weeks. Actually, three weeks. So we won't be back, I think, until March 8th. Just so everyone who's following us live, we will not be back doing this live until March 8th, where we will pick up starting with the first verse of chapter 3 of Genesis. We're moving right along. So tonight we're going to pick up where we left off last time. Uh, there's some trouble, Bruin, as you can remember from what I said last time.

The Rib And The Culture War

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Genesis 2, 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs. Some people just say it means the side. You can believe either one is up to you. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. Now I wrestled a bit with how I was going to handle this tonight, but I'm going to handle it just like we did when we discussed that very tough-to-hear section of Ephesians where Paul instructs husbands and wives on their roles. We're not going to pick that up again, but we do have a very similar situation here. You see, the world really doesn't like what the Bible says on this point, especially in our time and culture. The critics, and I'm sad to say, most churchgoers will argue that what we have here is simply a fable or a myth concocted in a mind that sees women as completely dependent on men, that this is somehow used to validate the attitude that the woman is inferior to the man, that this account of the creation of Eve has caused the female gender to suffer discrimination and marginalization and even contempt over the many centuries that the Bible has been circulating. Well, it may surprise you to know that I agree with some of that. I agree that there have been men who have used this verse to keep women down, that they like to point to the Genesis account of creation of the creation of Eve as proof that men are the favored ones. I agree that many men have used this section of scripture as justification to behave poorly toward the female of the species. I agree with that part, but I do not agree that this is a fable. This is exactly how this happened. Whether you like it or not, whether the world likes it or not, this is how woman was formed. But I see no evidence whatsoever for men to believe that this verse, Genesis 2.21, says anything about man being superior to woman. In fact, I believe this entire section proves that men and women are equal. Genesis 2.21 again. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs, or the side of his flesh, we don't know, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. Verse 22. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. This is

Symbolism Claims And Bible Makeovers

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how it happened. Let me harp on this for a second. Once again, modern-day Christian theologians have completely missed an opportunity to propagate a sense of faith in God's word. They missed an opportunity to emphasize the cohesiveness of God's word. Instead, they've left the Bible open to a confused interpretation. The so-called experts, they choose to apply their own philosophy as a replacement for what God has said. And I must say, if there's one thing I'm absolutely tired of in our modern church, it's philosophy. I don't care if you call it Christian philosophy or not. It's still mere intellectual mumbo jumbo. If you want to know what God's philosophy is, read scripture. Oh, I admit he's very good at spinning the Bible into something that sounds up to date. He's very good at grinding the words of Scripture into a palatable mush that the world can live with. You see, we've gotten to a point that we're so proud of the society that we're building. We so love our modern version of the world where the church and society can agree on what's most important. We so love that, so much so, that we've decided, well, the Bible needs to compromise more. It needs to be a little more flexible. In fact, it needs to be less rigid. In fact, why don't we just give the Bible a complete, full makeover? Now, we're still not bold enough to throw the thing out. That seems too radical, but we've sure rendered it unrecognizable. You see, God really needs our help in getting his message across to this sophisticated world. What he's saying in his word is just not going to make him any friends. Leave it to us, says the proudly intellectual Christian. We'll round the sharp corners off, we'll soften the harsh tones, we'll dilute the tough to digest. Listen, God, you just you gotta know how to talk to people. Let me give you one notable example. It comes from the commentary with the rather lofty name, the Cambridge Bible for schools and colleges. Yes, it's the Cambridge, the very excellent and very old university that's always ranked among the top five in the world, but that's also very concerned with how it's viewed by the academic community. So, with that in mind, let me read to you what they have to say about this verse we're currently studying. And I'm only doing this to demonstrate the typical worldly view of the things that God says, especially those things which are not in line with our modern sensibilities, whether they be social, scientific, or political or whatever sensibilities. And I'm also bringing this up to show you how that typical worldly view has permeated even the textbooks used to instruct future church leaders. In fact, let me read the passage again and then give you the opinion uh held by the Cambridge Bible for schools and colleges. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. Now the Cambridge commentary responds thusly, quote, the description in these verses is remarkable for its delicacy and beauty. That's not bad. He they go on to say, Nothing could be more clear than we are dealing with the poetry of symbolism, not with the record of literal fact. I love the cold statement without even an attempt to qualify it. Clearly, this is nothing more than symbolism. Clearly, this is not literal fact. Why is that clear? Why are you so convinced that this is symbolism rather than fact? Because it doesn't fit your views, then it must be clearly untrue? Now, listen, I actually like the Cambridge commentary. I use it a lot. I like its no-nonsense approach to biblical interpretation. It's just that sometimes it lets its love for its own reputation supersede its willingness to take a risk and stand by what God has to say. And is there anything more sad than having to consider it a risk to stand by what God says? Nonetheless, they had to say nothing could be more clear than we are dealing with this poetry of symbolism, not with the record of literal fact. They had to say that because anything else would hazard a sideways glance from their academic peers. It had to say that this commentary had to say this was symbolism because the statement is so simple, there would be no way to put a meaning on it other than what is actually clearly stated, and that is that God performed the miracle and woman was made. And I'm sure there are a few of you listening in that still are not convinced that this is true. Now, I'm not going to try to convince you of that. I'm not going to try to convince you that God did not revert to symbolism. Why would he have reverted to symbolism? After all of this, why would God revert to symbolism? Yes, he does use symbolism in the Bible, but only when it's appropriate, where it will enhance the message. This message needs no enhancement. It's simply a stated fact. The world will not accept the supernatural nature of the Bible, and I'm sure some of you won't either. Can you believe what John just told me? Listen to this. Come here. Gather everyone around. Big joke. The world refuses to acknowledge that God does things in ways that are far above our ability to understand. And the way we deal with that is to say it's primitive baby talk. The things that we don't understand, we say are baby talk, foolishness, primitive. Those are the things we say about the things we can't even understand. The world refuses to acknowledge that God is who he says he is and that he does what he says he does. Because to do so, listen to me, this is the real reason why we won't admit it. If we admit it, then we have to admit that he's in charge and we're not. Can you imagine a world that says it's dependent on God? Can you imagine the United Nations director getting up and say, we have figured out the answer to the Turkey-Syria problem? We must pray for God to deliver those people. He would never say anything like that. He wouldn't, I promise you, tomorrow he wouldn't be the director of the UN or whatever if they're called. The world will not accept it. Well, I'm thrilled that God's in charge, and I believe every word he says, and I hope you guys do too. He said that he caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. That's the way it happened. What a woman hater. What a misogynist. You chauvinist pig.

Do You Accept The Supernatural

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You don't get that one a lot. You don't hear that a lot anymore. You did in the 70s. Chauvinist pig, they said that a lot in the 70s, when I admit there were a lot of chauvinist pigs. Back to the Bible. Verse 22 again. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. This is another place in the Bible that we lose the interest of the world. It's happened already a few times. It's going to happen a lot more as we get through this. But so far, the six-day creation process, the world's not interested. The formation of man from the dust of the ground, not interested. The world does not want to accept that this is when the female gender was formed. Well, as I said already, I'm not going to defend the truth of what God has said, nor the methods by which he decides to act. He's my king, and he can do as he pleases. And besides, he's my father, and I know he won't lie to me. So this is how it happened. Now, just a few more things

Deep Sleep And God’s No-Pain Plan

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to say before we move on. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman, and he brought her unto the man. 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. Now I really like what the very uh I really like the very astute observation of that old Methodist preacher, Joseph Benson, what he said on this matter. He says that God put Adam in that deep sleep, quote, that the opening of his side and the taking away, by the way, you're going to get the impression that Joseph Benson believes what God has to say, poor guy. That the opening of his side and the taking away of his rib might be no grievance to him. While he knows no sin, God will take care, listen to this, that he shall feel no pain. Adam didn't deserve any pain then. Not a bit of it. God said, I need to put you to sleep. Benson assumes, as do others, that this sleep was meant to be a sort of anesthesia. Now I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure a rib removal is going to hurt. And there's no reason for Adam to suffer. So God shielded him from putting the pain. God shielded him from the pain by putting him in a deep sleep. The original comes from a primitive verb that means to stupefy. God stupefied Adam. God's listen to this. God's original intent for mankind was for an existence of the highest joy. One that would never experience a single unpleasant moment. God arranged it so that every need man would have would be provided for, and no danger, nor discomfort, nor pain would have entered into his life ever. True paradise. Really? I mean, you're gonna read this and really believe that? Why would God put it there? Why would God bother to tell us that he put Adam to sleep and took a rib? Why? He could have just said he took a rib or just not say anything and he said he created woman. Why bother telling us that he took the time to put Adam to sleep because God wants you to know he doesn't want you to feel pain? I think of all of the incredible facts that have come out of the creation story, of all of those, I think this one is the hardest for us to believe. We can't imagine even one day without some sort of soreness, irritation, or frustration, let alone none of those things ever to encroach during an entire lifetime. And remember, under the original plan, life was unending. All of these amazing things going on in these first two chapters, and the one that's most difficult for us to process and believe, frankly, is the notion of living an unending life with unending, unabbreviated, and unmitigated joy. And I can't help but to think that God wanted you to know that. That when when pain was going to come near you, he was going to shield you from it. Listen, pain is obviously a a part of life. There's it's going to be painful, but God is going to keep you from it. He's going to shield you from it. No human being today can even conceive of such a thing. Almost no one believes that this could have been possible. And that's about as sad as anything I can think of. John, why do you keep bringing this stuff up? Are you trying to make me feel bad about how my life has turned out? Of course not. The Bible is the record, listen to me, of God's dealings with mankind from the beginning to now and then off into the future. It is his record of how he is dealing with human beings. His original plan. Now I keep I keep saying original, and that's a mistake. Saying original infers alternatives or backups or revised plans. There's only one plan. There's always been only one plan, and I'm hoping that thrills you. You are destined for a life where God puts you in a deep sleep if he needs to. There are a few of us on that call on this call right now who could have used a deep sleep over the last few months. We're not there yet. But it's still the plan. God's plan is to provide for mankind, but not to provide in just some sort of subsistence way. He's not giving Giving us mush and bread. I'm more pleased. I'm ever so that's not it. That's not how it works. God isn't interested in giving us merely the bare necessities. The entire creation story, and I'm hoping you're realizing this by now, the entire creation story is demonstrating how a loving father wants to abundantly provide not only for our needs, but for our complete happiness. God's plan is to give us a joyful, well-taken care of eternal existence. Adam, before he sinned, was put in a deep sleep so he wouldn't feel any pain from the creation of woman. And he did so because God loves him and has committed himself to keeping Adam safe and happy. And let me tell you, Adam did nothing to earn that. He did nothing. God did it because he loved him. You keep trying to get yourself out of your sin problem. You think you can make yourself good enough for God, and you don't even realize that Adam did nothing, and yet he earned God's complete protection. The more nothing we do, it looks like the better we're off we are. Well, you may be thinking, what good does God's plans for Adam do me? I'm down here suffering. I'm broke, I'm sick, my wife left me, my car won't start. It looks to me like there's no such plan anymore. No, my friend, that's the point. Not only has God shown his love in this creation story, listen to me, but he's shown his power. Listen, I can have all the plans. I could say, tomorrow I'm going to build a garage in the backyard. And if I don't have the ability to do it, it isn't gonna get done. God has the desire and the ability to give you paradise. Remember, isn't he El Elion, the mighty creator? God, he wants you to know that he never loses. He can't lose. I mean, he sets all the rules. It comes down to this do you believe this Bible or not? If you do not accept the authority of Scripture, forget it. Your life is miserable. If you don't believe that God is El El Yon, then you have a sad existence in front of you. But if you do, a deep sleep awaits you for all that pain you're going through. The guy that makes the rules, remember, he set all the rules. God set all the rules. The guy that makes the rules always wins the game. If you've ever been to Vegas, you'd agree with that. That's why I said there is no original plan and then some other. God didn't say, oh, erase the board and let's try all over again. That isn't what God is doing here. God has only had one plan, and as El Elon, he will see that plan come to pass. He is Jehovah Elohim and El El Yun. God doesn't want you to forget your privilege. That's why Jehovah's there. He's this for you. He doesn't want you to forget it. He doesn't want you to forget your privilege nor his power to get you to that place. Mankind was meant for a life without pain, and the book of Genesis tells us that. I'm not making it up. It's right there in verse, what is that, 22? That is the plan. And that plan is still in effect. It was in effect for Adam and it's in effect for you. And the Lord God, verse 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man.

Why God Builds Humanity As One

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Have you ever wondered why God decided to make woman this way? I admit I never did. Because honestly, until I got saved, I didn't believe it. It seems so silly and primitive to me that he never gave it a second thought. We never asked questions about things that we don't think are real. I've never asked how old the man in the moon is because I don't believe there is such a thing. No one wonders what city the mad hat or was born in because we all know he's a fable. I never stopped to ponder how really unusual it was that God decided to use Adam's rib or a side or something from Adam's flesh to make a woman because I didn't think it was a fact. Things that aren't facts don't have facts to back them up. There's no way to ask questions, any further questions, because it's a waste of time. But now I know all of God's word is true, and I'm absolutely marveled by the fact that woman was created this way. So let me ask you now that I believe this to be true, why did God make Eve from one of Adam's ribs? Why didn't God just barraate her like he did Adam? Remember, barrah creating the action of making something from nothing? Why didn't God just borrow Eve? He borrowed Adam. Why didn't he borrow Eve? Well, he did. Indirectly. Let me back that statement up. The Bible has been given to us partly so we can see what God is like. We get to see what he loves, what he hates, what's important to him, and what he rejects. Certainly, as mortal beings, we will never fully understand God, but he does want us to know a bit of his personality. Well, one of the most obvious traits presented to us in Scripture is God's fondness for unity. We see this from the first moment he calls himself Elohim, the plural in one God, all the way through the Bible to the book of Revelation, where we see the 24 elders moving, worshiping, and acting as one. The whole thing shows us unity. Because that's God's trait. To get an idea of how important unity is to God, listen to just a snippet of our Lord's wonderful high priestly prayer offered up while he was on his way to the Garden of Gethsemane. John's Gospel, chapter 17, verses 20 and 21. Jesus is talking about his apostles here. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. Can you believe it? Jesus is praying for you right there. That they all may be one as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they may also be one in us, that the world may believe thou hast sent me. Unity, oneness, one body, one faith. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. There could have been no other method of creating woman that would have preserved God's unbending desire for unity. These were not two creatures, one male and one female. These are one creature, both of the same essence, both bara. If God had made Adam and then made Eve, that wouldn't have been possible. Unity would not have been possible if they were created separately. If the creation of male and female were separate, then mankind, listen to me, would consist of two lines, not one. And that's not what God wants. Why? Because whatever God does, He does for all through one. Did you get that?

One Sin And One Savior

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God works through only one to both bless and curse mankind. Scripture lays it out that way. Romans 5, 18. Listen to this closely. Therefore, by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. By one for all is physically impossible for a bifurcated race of mankind. You can't have two lines and bless through one. There must be total unity for all of God's plans to be realized by all. There can't be one action for Eve's side of the family and one for Adam's. Whatever happens, happens for us all. Though they that may still not be clear to you and me, it was sure clear to Adam. I know that he knew exactly what God was doing. How do I know that? Because he said it. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. Listen to this. This is Adam speaking. 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.

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I knew it.

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What a woman hater. Oh my gosh. The lengths we will go to to keep a woman down. This is so degrading. This is just a fable written by men who want to enslave women.

Marriage, One Flesh, And Moses’ Note

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Verse 24. Therefore, shall a man leave his, shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Who's the one leaving and cleaving? Who's the one that is left for and cleft to? The man leaves his family and cleaves to the wife. The man is the one who's called upset his life to be at the woman's side. Now I know I will never win this debate, so let me close this chapter out by reading the last verse. But before I do, let me quickly make another comment. A few weeks back, one of our very astute members of this Bible study brought up a very good point. She asked me, How did Adam know about such things as mothers and fathers? He never had one, and up to that point, nothing like that existed. No children had been born yet. Mothers and fathers were yet future to Adam. You know, I never thought of it that way, and I think it was a great question. Let's read it again. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. As we read this, it appears that Adam references things that had not existed yet. Now the question is, why? Perhaps some of you have wondered the same thing. Well, I believe the answer could be that God had already told Adam how things were going to go moving forward. As we've said before, not everything that happened was written down, just what was related to God's plans. We are told that God and Adam would walk together in the cool of the day. Maybe this is the time when they discussed things like this. Now I believe we have other examples we could draw from. For instance, in a couple of chapters, we will be introduced to Cain and Abel. About all we learn of these two is that they came to give God an offering. And one offering was acceptable to God and one wasn't. Well, why did they give an offering and how were they to know which was and which was not going to satisfy God? Well, the only answer could be is that God told them those details. It's just that we don't have a record of him doing so. In like manner, maybe God informed Adam about how the human race would be built up through fathers and mothers. That may be the explanation. If we assume that verse 24 is actually quoting Adam, let's read 23 and 24 again. 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. Now, does Adam continue to say, Therefore shall a man leave his mother and his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh? Is that Adam speaking? If so, then our explanation above is plausible, but highly speculative, I believe. And I don't like speculative answers to biblical questions. Speculation has led to lots of difficulties, including some very dangerous heresies. We must shy away from assuming things. Now, I actually believe there might be a better explanation. Listen to me. I believe that verse 23 is the limit of what Adam had to say. And verse 24 is simply the author's footnote. Let's read it again. 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. End of quotation. Comment by author upcoming. Therefore, I think that's the key right there. That word is the key, therefore, in response to Adam's statement from long ago, therefore shall a man leave his mother and his father. This is the result of that man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Verse 23 reads like a statement. Verse 24 reads like a conclusion. Statement by Adam This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Statement by Adam. Conclusion by the author. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Moses was the author of Genesis. If Moses put that footnote in, obviously he knew about mothers and fathers. Maybe something Adam didn't know. This most likely is not a statement made by Adam, but rather a statement made by Moses, the author of Genesis. Moses knew what Adam had said, and he made a conclusion, and that's what verse 24 is. As I said, a great question. Hopefully this was a worthy exercise. And then finally, verse 25, the last verse of chapter

Chapter Two Ends And Support Info

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2. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now we're going to discuss this when it comes up again in the next chapter. And with that, we close out our study of Genesis 2. Next up is yet another historical moment in God's story. Keep those seat belts tightly fastened. See you next time.

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