“So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs [ṣēlāʿ] and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made [bāná ] a woman from the rib [ṣēlāʿ] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”

Genesis 2:21–22, NIV

(Source1)

The Miss: Sadly, our modern cultural and social context can tend to frame our understanding of words and verses. Today when we think of a “rib” we think of a part of the human body that is helpful but not necessary. It is very possible for someone to fracture, crack, or even break a rib and the pain is immense but it’s not necessarily life or death.

When we take that understanding and import it onto Genesis 2:21 the conclusion can be that woman is an important part of creation, but since she comes from Adam and his rib, she still comes in 2nd best. In other words, yea; it could be painful to lose her but its not life or death. She comes from “just a rib” after all. Right?

Wrong.

The course correct: The Hebrew word translated into English as “rib” is ṣēlāʿ and in addition to rib it means side and in some architectural settings it has to do with the “stabilizing beam of a structure.” (1) This is the course correct that we need to retrieve.

The fact that tsela is connected to architecture and a stabilizing wall/beams becomes even more important when we consider that God “makes/bāná” her from the rib/tsela.

God takes what is commonly translated in our Bible’s as “rib” but the Hebrew word is “ṣēlāʿ.” This is the first time we find the Hebrew ṣēlāʿ and typically, there are at least 6 interpretive methods. Sadly, most of these methods presume ṣēlāʿ means “rib” and according to Driver this may be due to imposing an Arabic word meaning curved which relates to a curved bone like a rib - however, as one Hebrew scholar noted:

“The only certain thing, however, is that if ṣēlāʿ does mean “rib,” it does so only in this one passage. This semantic singularity, of course, suggests that one seek a different solution.”2

So, what is the “different solution?” In context, the Hebrew ṣēlāʿ refers to the whole side. It’s used roughly 37x times in the Hebrew Bible. 24x referring in context to an entire side.

Of importance for this discussion is the usage of the word to refer to the side of the temple as well as the supporting walls within the temple.

“He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot). The lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits and the third floor seven. He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.” (1 Kings 6:4–6, NIV)

These side room chambers were used structurally as a way to stabilize the walls. By offsetting the ledges around the temple’s exterior, they were able to use the walls themselves as the structural support of the entire building.

The same concept is used again in Ezekiel’s temple description.

“Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot) around the temple was four cubits wide. The side rooms/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot) were on three levels, one above another, thirty on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot), so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple. The side rooms/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot) all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.” (Ezekiel 41:5–7, NIV)

What makes this also interesting is that the LXX opts for pleurón generally meaning “side” all leading to my view that we are not simply talking about a “rib.” There is much more going on.3 We see this through the pairing of words with the Hebrew bāná which is translated into english in Genesis 2:22 “made.” 4

The Hebrew word bāná is an architectural term that implies the inherent “beauty, stability, and durability.” Thus, I’ve opted for a version of the “sacral architecture” interpretation that fits with the usage of ṣēlāʿ and correlates with “ezer” (a militaristic term applied to God rescuing Israel elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible) and the unusual verb in this context bānâ which means to “build” which contextually reinforces an architectural reading and interpretation. As one scholar notes, “The verb built by its very definition implies beauty, stability, and durability.5

Therefore, I’m theologically and linguistically unconvinced of the simplicity of the rib” interpretation because it leaves room for a misunderstanding of the Hebrew terms that can relegate women as secondary and inferior to man.

I think all of this is mindblowing.

In order to make man “whole” he has to first make him “half” and then give him his counterpart, woman. And when the Man and Woman come together they become truly whole.

Now, think about this for a second. What good are pillars of stability without a structure to hold up? And think about the devastation of a structure without pillars of stability!

The creation of Eve (woman) was a necessary action of God that brings about the stability of man, and in bringing that stability, it highlights women’s beauty and the stability and durability that she brings to creation. All of this highlights the creative brilliance of God.

The last note here. There is no room for superiority or hierarchy from the man or the woman. Both are needed together. Imagery and metaphor at some point fall apart, but what we can be sure of is that God intended for both men and women together to form the household of God, the very temple of God, which is where the presence of God resides. This is a theological claim and a premise that is reinforced conceptually and linguistically in Gen 1 and 2 in the context of Eden. Humans (male and female) are created and destined to be “God’s temple” (1 Cor 3:16), where the presence of God dwells and the one place amongst all of creation that God’s image can be seen. (3).

To relegate the woman as a non-essential “rib” is both a tragedy and a theological error.

It is an offense against God and His good creation. Women are an essential and necessary part of creation that bring about stability and beauty. Men and Women together form the temple of God where the presence of God can be found.

For another verse often weaponized against women, check out the next essay. But before you do that, if this essay was helpful and encouraging, consider upgrading your subscription. When you become a paid subscriber, you get access to my entire essay archive (over a hundred theology essays), and you will also enable me to continue to write, research, and produce as much Biblical content for free as I can.

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Greco-Roman

In the New Testament we find continued discussion of sexuality and sex in explicit terms. The Apostle Paul spoke often of the dangers of unbridled sexuality. Paul’s teaching in the NT comes into focus once we locate it in the backdrop of the Greco Roman world, “where various forms of sexual license were common.” This detail is important for us because it builds a bridge to our current context. Sexual freedom, exploration, and license is as common today as it was in the Greco-Roman world. It is true that Rome was a very sophisticated city that had influence in the known world at the time. However, it was also one of the most sexually depraved. While it could have been easy for Paul to adopt the sexual ethic of Rome, he refused. Rather, Paul brought to the forefront his Jewish (OT) sexual ethics and imposed them onto the Greco-Roman culture.

Additionally, Paul’s focus throughout his writings is on the community of faith and their missional impact and witness of the Kingdom of God in the midst of the kingdom of man. Often, today we read Paul’s letters in an individualistic fashion (me, myself, and I) however Paul often uses the 2nd Person plural (ya’ll) in his teaching and doctrinal imperatives. In other words, Paul is often speaking to the gathered community of believers in the local church that are doing life together and sent out on mission as a unified front to image the goodness of God in the city of man. Within this context, Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:1-2 describes the seriousness of sexual perversion because it has an impact not only on the individual, but also on the community.

Paul’s language is instructive as it recall’s the Greco-Roman background. Paul uses the Greek word, “porneia” and it includes any kind of illegitimate (extramarital or unnatural) sexual conduct. Paul wants us to see the larger context of the dangers of a sexualized environment and how it will derail humanity from the good that God intends for them.

The response Paul gives is severe; he tells the church to “purge” the ones that are unrepentant and unwilling to bridle their desires with the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 5:5). Paul’s aim for the church is not necessarily to deal with the issue of sexual perversion by dealing with the culture directly. Rather, it seems Paul’s first aim is to suffucate the sexual perversion in the secular culture through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit embodied and acting in the lives of followers of Jesus who refuse to bend to the inward desires of the flesh but rather turn to Christ and ideal of God for the whole of their lives. Especially, as it relates to gender, sexuality, and sex.

Biblical Ethics and The Church

Paul, reflecting on the teachings of Jesus (Mt 5:27-30; Mk 10:1-12) set the first century church in motion to deal with the pervelant sexual perversion that was destroying individuals and communities. Jesus recalled the teachings of gender, sexuality, and humanity made in the image of God first established in the OT (see the Sermon on the Mt). Paul continued in the footsteps of Jesus leading the churches that he loved and planted into a counter cultural way of living. In 1 Thess 4:3 Paul establishes the fact that our sexuality is actually connected in an intimate way to our sanctification (process of being conformed into the image of Jesus). For Paul, porneia was an obstacle that would derail us from the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification. Paul tells the church in Ephesus that there must not be even a hint of porneia. Why? Because if we let something like sexual indulegence run rampent we will be discipled by it and it will drive us to ruin. Rather, Paul leads us to bridle our sexual desires and disciple our bodies into holiness reflecting our love and affection for God. Today we face the same issues of porneia, and we’ve given it the appropriate label of pornography. As the church addresses pornography we must also address the root issues surrounding it, namely how human imagination has been broken.

Ultimately, pornography is a perversion of God’s gift of imagination. God’s intent for man and women to be attracted to each other and enjoy the passion (controlled/limited) of sexual intimacy within the context of covenant marriage has been viciously attacked by internal and unbridled desires of the flesh, namely lust. Kleining defines lust as, “disordered, possessive desire, the self centered desire for personal sexual gratification at the expense of another person.” The difference between a type of passion that is good and one that is unholy and destructive is found in it’s aims. Godly passion is framed in marriage and has the ultimate well being of the spouse in mind. It constantly moves us from selfish to self-giving. Unholy lust however is framed by “whats best for me” and it has the selfish personal desires as the final aim which turns people into objects to be used like products that we use while we like them only to disregard and throw them away when they have lost appeal.

Pornography has a goal, and it presents the goal as self-fulfillment. This is true for a time. However, in the same way a person can take heroin for a time and “feel good” they are only in the long run poisoning and killing their bodies. Pornography is an act that is driven by lust that is actually de-humanizing us. If sanctification is the process of becoming like Christ which means we regain our truest and fullest humanity, pornography is stripping us of our humanity.

In 1 Cor 6:19 Paul says, ““Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, CSB)

It was common practice for the temples of the gods to include prostitution as a means of appeasing the gods to be favorable to humanity. This type of sexual perversion was a danger to the newly formed body of Christ. The ethics of the Kingdom of God are vastly different from the pleasures of the world. Christians no longer go to temples to experience the presence of God. Now, the very Spirit of God indwells believers, therefore our bodies are the temple of God. In Ephesians 2:18-22 Paul develops this temple theology further commenting on how the temple is continually being built and formed as the people of the world made up of the nations of the world come together to form the temple of God. For this reason there is a focus on individual sexual order because we bring that into the larger community of faith.

When the church rightly orders sexuality and places sex in its rightful place as a good God from God that comes with boundaries we serve as a witness to the world. In fact, this is one of the goals of the people of God since Adam and Eve were first created and commissioned. To be representatives of the King and embody His will and wisdom for the world. The Israelites were set apart as a holy nation not for exclusivity but to invite the nations into the household of God. Forsaking the false gods and the way of the world and embracing all the good that comes with rightly ordered worship of God.

Today, the church continues the legacy of the ancient faithful family of God. In a world that proclaims sexual freedom and license, Christ beckons us to order our sexual desires within the context of covenant marriage. The world celebrates a “me first” mentality. The Holy Spirit convicts of a “God first” posture. The damage done and that is continually being promoted by unrestricted sexual freedoms in the form of pornography and in Paul’s understanding simply a “sexualized environment” has been truly destructive to women, families, and children. Embracing porneia in any form or relegating it to a “not that bad” mindset is the deceitful hook that will lead our society into a total loss of our will and enslaved to a cruel and destructive master, Satan; who’s leading and arguably highest ranging general is porneia. The church, the family of God, individually and collectively must rise up, stand up, and speak out for our sakes and the sake of future generations of Christ followers. These future generations will inherit the soil that we have cultivated. What will that soil be filled with? The righteousness of God or the sexual seduction of porneia?

What Can We Do?

Great news, if you’ve made it to the end of this paper you’ve already done one of the most important things. You’ve at least considered that unbridled and uncontrolled sexual sin is not God’s ideal and will lead you and your loved ones into so much harm. So now, we make the distinction between simply doing what feels right and living in accordance with what is right. How do we do this? Now that we’ve recognized that Pornography (porneia) is simply an ancient sin that has been cleverly repackaged we need to move from awareness to action.

Paul’s writing context is so instructive for us. He writes to specific churches and expects the people who are in these churches to be involved in each other’s lives. There was a sense of intimacy, trust, and honestly present amongst the community of faith in these local contexts. In the same way, after we acknowledge that things need to change one of the most powerful ways of initiating that change is for it to take place in the community. This can be a small group, or just the group of girls that always find themselves regularly on facetime on a group call or at the favorite coffee shop around a latte. Accountability, honesty, and transparency in safe and trusted environments is crucial for both the person wanting to break free from the bondage of sexual sin/addiction but also for those that are suffering the impact of loved ones that are entrapped.

Friends are great, and the next step is a licensed therapist who has a Christian perspective/foundation. A therapist skilled in this area can help work through past trauma, the reality of triggers, and how to navigate the future in a space that is trusted. If you need a recommendation you can view the list of therapists from AACC.

For those reading this paper and feeling overwhelmed or even experience guilt and shame for issues related to sex/pornography I want to remind you first, shame is not used by God it is a tool of the enemy. Guilt for our sin is an invitation from God to turn to Him in repentance and know that nothing we’ve ever done or will do will prevent us from the free offer of grace and forgiveness at the feet of Jesus. God is in the business of taking all the bad in our lives and turning it into a type of good we could not have ever imagined. God can and will refine and redirect our missaimed sexual imagination. God will honor our sexual faithfulness and bring redemption to areas of sexual sin. Every instance of sexual weakness we experience on this side of eternity is an inviation to turn to Jesus and place our trust in the Holy Spirit to walk us out of the temptation and into holy obedience.

Finally, I’d leave you with a sober warning and encouragement from Peter:

“Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.” (1 Peter 5:8–9, CSB)

In our homes, work, our screens, and ultimately in the heart and mind. What we need more than anything is a continual daily dependence on Jesus who empowered us with the Holy Spirit. Friend, you are not alone. The battle is not lost. The future is not empty. Will the road be hard? Yes. But walking along us every step, and carrying us when we can’t walk any longer is our faithful High Priest and King, Jesus - who happens to be our friend. He is with us, we are never alone.

“To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16, ESV)

Certain verses in the Bible have been used in ways that the Bible itself never intended. At times, these verses have been weaponized in manipulative ways. At other times, the verses have just been misunderstood and misapplied. Though the intentions may have never been malicious, the impact was nonetheless damaging.

(Source1)

Genesis 3:16 is one of those verses. I want to take a look specifically at the second half of the verse, talking about a woman’s desire and the man’s rule.

Here is how this verse has been weaponized.

Some may say: The consequence of the fall is clear. Women will have a desire to control their husbands, but they need to be in total submission because the husband has to rule over them. This means that women need to be in submission to their husbands. This also means there is a general understanding that men in society are the leaders and women are the followers.

So a woman’s rightful place in the home, in the church, and in society is to be ruled over by men, which will overcome her natural desire to control men. Also, an ambitious woman is sinning because that ambition is evidence of her controlling desire.

WRONG.

The course correct: Let’s do a quick exercise. Look up Genesis 3:16b (the second half of the verse) in a few different translations (ESV, CSB, NASB, NLT). Notice anything? Yeah, there are differences and nuances in the way the language of “control, desires, and rule” plays out in the relationship between men and women.

This is not God’s ideal. It is also sinful. Women are not second best. They are not the runner-up. They don’t play an exclusive support role behind the scenes. They are, as Genesis 2:15-16 emphatically declares, also made fully in the likeness and image of God.

But, does the Hebrew language and the overall witness of Scripture affirm this? The first place to start is with the Hebrew language of “control, desire, and rule.” These words work together and are actually about male and female oneness, not hierarchical rule.

The Hebrew word (tesuqa/desire) is only found 2 other times in the OT Gen 4:7; Song of Songs 7:10). Genesis 4:7 provides a negative reading of the desire. However, we should be careful in applying the usage of the word “desire” in the Cain story as similar to what is happening in Genesis 3:16. Genesis 4:7 is a figurative reading while Genesis 3:16 is literal. Additionally, the statements are inverted in the passages. The object of desire, Cain, is also the object of the curse. While the object of the desire for woman, man, is not.2 A better comparison is found in Song of Songs 7:10.

“I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.” (Song of Solomon 7:10, NIV)

Here we see similarity with Genesis 3:16 as both are literal expressions. They both address relationships between opposite genders. And finally, the question of the “desire” is abundantly clear as it relates to intimacy. As a hermeneutical principle, we should use the clear to determine the obscure. As Genesis 4:7 adds to the obscurity, we should prioritize Song of Songs 7:10 as a hermeneutical key to meaning. What is that meaning?

We need to be careful not to hedge the entire interpretive process on the etymology of the word. Especially knowing there is an ongoing debate on the word, where it is used elsewhere, and how, and the implications. We should also not overlook the fact that there is a surface reading of this verse, which is true when you take into consideration the impact of sin upon all people. Can there be an impulse for a woman to have a “desire” to domineer? Of course. But that desire is not exclusive to women! As one scholar notes,

Woman may desire to dominate or rule over man, but it is not a part of the punishment pronounced upon woman; it is just the essence, character, and result of all sin against God. Self-exaltation and pride always result in the desire to dominate and rule. Every person to some extent desires to dominate and rule over others—not just woman over man.3

The second important word to consider is “rule.”

The Hebrew word (masal/rule) is the regular word for reign or rule, and it does NOT demand a negative context. In fact, if a negative context was implied it would have been placed alongside an adjective like “harsh” or the more aggressive Hebrew word (kabas/to subdue) would have been used and both are missing. This leaves us with a genuine question on what “kind” of “rule” is being described. Nahum Sarna says, “It is quite clear from the description of woman in 2:18, 23 that the ideal situation, which hitherto existed, was the absolute equality of the sexes.”4 Sarna goes on to talk about how a domineering rule is the byproduct of sin.

Derek Kidner says:

The phrase your desire shall be for your husband (rsv), with the reciprocating he shall rule over you, portrays a marriage relation in which control has slipped from the fully personal realm to that of instinctive urges passive and active. ‘To love and to cherish’ becomes ‘To desire and to dominate’5

To suggest that a hierarchy of rule that is domineering and absolute is God’s ideal for this marriage relationship is problematic on many levels. However, to avoid any kind of leadership between a husband and wife also seems to be problematic. Instead of trying to force the text into a binary framework that is comfortable for us today, such as complementarian vs. egalitarian, maybe the better decision is to let us sit with the tension of the text.

A kind of hierarchical rule that is domineering and destructive is contrary to God’s idea. While also acknowledging that even prior to the fall of Genesis three, Adam had a role of responsibility that God held him accountable for.

Therefore, if intimacy and oneness rooted in role and responsibility are the idea, then we have to be careful not to import an idea of domineering and absolute hierarchy as God’s ideal which actually seems to be foreign to the text.

Even more important, if intimacy and oneness are the point, then the world we build with this in mind is quite different from the one that has been constructed to keep women in submission, silence, and subjugation.

Instead, the Biblical picture finds both men and women not in a hierarchy of value (1 vs 2) but in an economy of intimate congruity. Men and women are distinct and find the best in each other together.

And even if you read this and think, Joel, I’m unconvinced. I think this is actually about hierarchy and rule, and submission. I would just ask you to consider this. It seems like the rest of Scripture points to Gen 1:27 and 2:23-24 as normative in gender relationships, NOT 3:16. Jesus affirms this in Mt 19:4, Mk 10:6 - so we return to the gender relationship being about functional one-ness, NOT a hierarchy two-ness.

You may be wondering, “But what about Paul and the whole silence of women?” I’ve written about that also. Check it out.

Popular pornography sites are seeing continual upticks in viewership. Pornhub had over 42 billion visits in 2019 according to a Forbes article. With the increase in viewership creates immense opportunity to commercialize around pornography. NBC news reports that Pornography has a global revenue in the area of $97 billion, with anywhere between $10-12 billion coming from the U.S. It’s no wonder that our modern culture has gravitated and clung onto pornography.

Additionally, the impact of pornography has traditionally been associated with consumption by men. However, the data as early as 2009 show ⅓ of consumers of porn are women. At least 70% of those women kept their porn watching secret. In 2003 a study that included Christian women presented 1 in 6, “acknowledged a problem at some level or another with pornography.” The data in front of us affirms and reinforces the term “porndemic” as no exageration, but a serious problem in our society and culture at large.

As a result of the industrial revolution and the rise of humanist philosophy, an ideology that places the individual’s needs first, porn is increasingly viewed by secular culture as normative. But It’s not just secular culture, even those who attend church are very much included in all of these figures.

If you are being impacted or possibly even traumatized by a loved ones participation in pornography this paper is for you.

If you are currently caught in the addictive cycle of pornography this paper is for you.

And even if you just occasionally view pornography and think it’s no big deal and everyone is doing this, this paper is for you.

Because this paper is written from a Biblical standpoint, the difference between the church and the culture is the place we will start our discussion. At first glance this may seem like something new in our history but a closer look at Biblical times in the Ancient Near East (ANE) and the Greco Roman World at the time of Jesus show us a different story. Pornography or at least a sexualized environment was very much part of the social fabric of society simply packaged in a different way. Our aim is to first discuss sexuality in the ancient world (ANE and Greco-Roman). Second, to discover how Biblical ethics intersected and attempted to transform and change the culture in the ancient world, specifically with the first century church. Third, how the church today should respond to the pornography pandemic that is no longer hidden in girly magazines or in XXX stores or the adults only at the local video store. Instead of a person having to look for pornography, it’s now hunting us down within our very own homes and electronic devices. And it’s not just going after the seedy individual, porn preys on both the very young and vulnerable to the adult men and women regardless of their religious affiliation or morals.

Porn is no longer outside our neighborhood, it’s within our houses and according to recent data, in our very own pockets. Mobile devices accounted for 83.7% of Pornhub’s viewership in 2019 globally. The mobility of pornography and ease of access in our society are all reasons for Christians to not simply be aware of the various issues surrounding porn, but also be equipped biblically, theologically, and therepuetically to provide and present the light of Christ in the dark chambers where pornography roams.

Pornography is a modern renovation of an ancient sexual sin.

As Christian’s our new life in Christ changes our desires.

This theological truth is affirmed through the chemical responses of our body as it engages porn. The neuro-chemical release of “feel good chemicals” such as dopamine show us what the heart loves it will continue to long for. This is the case with pornography. The heart bent towards these sexual images and videos will continue to long for it.

Sexuality in the Ancient World: Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) and Greco-Roman

The evolution of what we now have at our fingertips and mobile device screens we’ve labeled as “pornography” was much different in the ancient world. In the cultural setting of the Bible pornography had to do with an environment that was sexualized. The Bible clearly shows a contrast between the sexual exploits and values of the Ancient Near Eastern and Greco Roman world versus the Biblical vision of sexuality the Bible portrays. First we will start with sexuality in the ANE and then move on to the Greco-Roman context.

Ancient Near Eastern (ANE)

It’s interesting that in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) we don’t find an explicit story (positioned in a positive way) of sexual manipulation through the use of “erotic attraction” as a weapon to control, manipulate, or overcome men. The stories that comes close (such as Tamar in Genesis 38) present sex and sexuality in almost a neutral context that deals primarily with the benefit of sexual intimacy such as having children and the establishment of a family. Therefore the value of the Bible, especially in the OT is a, “a respect for the power of sexual attraction.” How is it respected? By containing the power and bliss of sexual intimacy and erotic relationships within the context of covenant marriage. The Old Testament gives us examples of sexual environments that promote lust as destroying the order of society.

The Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament) give us two categories to place sexuality within in order to preserve the ideal and goodness of sexuality as God intended through His creation as well as warning us of the misuse and abuse of sexuality. First, sex/sexuality is a divine blessing given to us from God. Second, sex/sexuality serves as a symbol of what is clean and unclean.

Sex/Sexuality As a Divine Blessing:

It’s important for us to first acknowledge that God created humanity in the context of all that is good. In other words, the very first picture we have of human sexuality (and implied sexual union) is good. There is no negative connection to it until after the fall. In fact, God’s decision to create Eve with sexual distinction is in reponse to the Adam’s loneliness. So the presence of sexual distinction was in response to alleviate any potential bad. Therefore, sexuality and therefore sex must first be seen as good. It is not something to be hidden or run away from. However, it is something to be understood in the context of God’s will and His vision. It seems the distinction of gender and procreation was connected to the fulfillment of the covenant promise and responsibility of Adam and Eve to spread the image of God and thus the glory of God out and into the world (Gen 1:28). Interestingly, Adam alone is unable to fulfill the divine commandment and thus is in need of Eve.

Eve’s name in Hebrew, “ḥawwâ” is connected to the idea of “life” or “living” and the author of Genesis explicitly states that she is the “mother of all living things/ kî hı̄ʾ hāyĕtâ ʾēm kol-ḥay.” It is only through the “help” of Eve that Adam is able to accomplish the divine mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” and thus God gives Adam a divine blessing in Eve which is made manifest in the presence of two genders that are co-equal in value and worth and yet distinct in function and role. The return to “oneness” for man and women takes place within the context of marriage when they, “become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). The gift of gender and sex are given by God for a purpose to be realized in the context of marriage. Kleinig summarizes this well saying, “So both [man and women] their sexual status and their gender are aspects of their creation in God’s image.

Men and women were designed to reflect God’s character, his qualities, and his activity, each seperately in their devotion to Jesus and together in their conjugal sexual union with each other.” Gender, sexuality, and sex are all good gifts given by a good God for very specific good reasons. However, as with all things in creation after the fall there is the possibility of good things to turn into sinful things and sex/sexuality are not exempt from this tragedy.

Sex/Sexuality As a Symbol of Sin/Uncleanness:

The last sentence of Genesis chapter 2, verse 25 reads, “Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.” This was the intended vision of marriage and male to female relationships. However, sadly Genesis 3, what is often referenced as “the Fall” broke both humanity and creation. Sprinkle says, “There was an unholy exchange from a relationship that was honest and open to hidden and filled with shame. The ideal of love was broken by the presence of pain. The intimacy of controlled and holy sexual “lust/desire” was overwhelmed with domination.” After the Fall God’s vision of honset, holy, and mutually beneficial sexual unity within the context of marriage is horribly shattered. Controlled and bridled love and desire is overwhelmed by unhindered and overwhelming passion that drives humanity towards sexual, emotional, and phsycial self destruction. In the Old Testament, sexuality takes on a new symbolic role of showing what is clean and unclean. Clean referencing what is holy, controlled, and submitted to God. Unclean referencing the uncontrolled, domineering, and unholy desires. If in Eve the context of sexual union with Adam was to produce life, the imagery of the Old Testament after the fall connected to sexuality is often connected to a loss of life. Examples found in Leviticus 15 with a women’s period or abnormal bleeding may symbolize a loss of potential life. The discharge of men (exhaustion after sexual intimacy) can be seen as a movement towards death. God’s vision of sexuality and marital union is intimate bliss confined and controlled in holy union that produces life. However, the undoing of creation by sin inverts sexuality and turns it in on itself bringing about destruction.

Stay Tuned For Part 2

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We gather, we sing, we say the words — *He is risen, He is risen indeed* — and then we go home and eat ham (or Chicken Biryani) and wonder if we actually believe what we just said. Not because we’re bad people. But because the resurrection is an audacious claim. A man died. A man rose. And somehow, that changes everything about everything.

I was once asked on a podcast if there was anything that could shake my faith and cause me to move from belief to disbelief.

I responded simply - Yes, show me the body.

So let’s slow down and actually deal with it.

The Cross Was Not a Defeat

Before we get to the empty tomb, we have to understand the cross rightly. Because most people, even many Christians; read the cross as a tragedy that God turned into a triumph. Like Jesus lost round one and won round two.

But that’s not what happened.

Jesus on the cross was victorious, not defeated. Here’s why that matters: the cross was understood in the anc…

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In a world consumed with “what can I get” and “how does this benefit me” — in a culture that designs mobile devices to make taking selfies easier and almost automatic, we find ourselves in great danger.

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And before we think this is a new or novel idea, we would be wise to remember that there is nothing new under the sun. The people who celebrated Jesus as he entered Jerusalem had their own motives and agendas. They had their own terms, their own conditions, for accepting the kingship of Jesus. Those terms were communicated through the symbols they held and the words they shouted.

John 12:12–15 (CSB): The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him.

It would be easy to gloss over the symbol of pal…

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The other day, walking into a church in Lubbock, TX to speak at a college ministry, I had a panic attack. In the moment, I didn’t realize what was happening to me. In my mind I was totally fine, but my body had finally had enough. It triggered a response to help my mind catch up to the constant state of panic, anxiety, and chaos I had been feeling for the last four weeks since my book, The Unseen Battle, released.

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I sat in the green room and found myself on my knees in prayer, earnestly asking the Lord to calm my nerves, bring healing to my body, and meet me in my weakness. He did just that — through His Word. I picked up my Bible and flipped to Psalm 46, a passage I’ve come to truly treasure. When everything feels like it’s falling apart, Psalm 46 reminds us:

I suspect many…

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And fittingly, launch week was… a battle.

Not just the kind you see, but the kind you feel.

On the very day the book was released, I had to fly to Dallas. We found out my dad had to undergo triple bypass heart surgery. What was supposed to be one surgery became more complicated: a valve replacement was added, and the procedure was delayed because of how complex everything became.

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Flights were canceled. Then delayed.
Plans unraveled. Charlotte was hit with a massive snow storm that we haven’t had in almost 10 years which created more travel delays.
Organizational hiccups surfaced with a live stream we had planned to launch the book.
Complications piled up with relational dynamics, some I can’t even talk about.

And yet, here’s what is still true today:

Christ is victorious.
The dark powers have been stripped of their ability to blind the nations.
The gospel is still the best news anyone could ev…

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In Homer’s telling of the fall of Troy, the war is fought over Helen. Every battle is always fought over something. In Troy’s case, it wasn’t ultimately brute strength that brought the city down, but deception that was made possible because obsession.

The Trojan Horse wasn’t a military failure.
It was a failure of discernment.

The Trojans, and King Priam interpreted the horse as a sign of divine favor.

In reality, it was a beautifully packaged act of vanity, designed to deceive from the inside out.

Troy didn’t fall because of what attacked it from the outside, but because of what it willingly welcomed in.

Troy fell because of what it let inside.

There is nothing new under the sun.

Today, spiritual warfare rarely looks like open confrontation. It looks like deception. It looks like the slow sleight of hand that convinces us we’re experiencing “divine favor,” while quietly forming habits, loves, and allegiances t…

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In The Unseen Battle, I trace how warfare language slowly moved from daily vigilance to occasional explanation.

“Spiritual warfare became abstract not because Christians stopped believing in it, but because it no longer shaped how they interpreted ordinary life.”

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We still use the language, but we apply it only when things become extreme or unexplainable.

The biblical pattern is the opposite.

Scripture locates spiritual conflict in:

– allegiance

– loyalty

– attention

– habit

“The enemy is not primarily interested in dramatic moral collapse. He is interested in shaping the conditions under which collapse becomes i…

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The modern Christian imagination has been quietly reshaped.

Not simply by heresy.

Not solely by disbelief.

But by specifically through disconnection.

We still affirm spiritual realities. We still conceptually believe in angels, demons, resurrection, and heaven. But somewhere along the way, we stopped organizing our lives around what Scripture assumes is real - a cosmic worldview.

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As I argue in The Unseen Battle, the Bible never stops to defend the unseen realm. It simply presupposes it.

“Scripture does not argue for the existence of an unseen realm. It assumes it. The biblical authors write as though heaven and earth are overlapping spheres of the same reality.”

This is why the language of the Bible feels so foreign to us.

It was written from within a worldview we no longer inhabit.

The problem isn’t that modern Christians reject the supernatural.

It’s that we’ve been discipled to treat it as background noise.

The biblic…

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“Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Matthew 12:25–28, NIV)

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This poses some difficult questions.

• How is it possible that evil forces could have any kind of “authority?”

• What does all of this mean in light of Jesus and the …

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I actually wrote a section in a PhD paper some years ago identifying how God views “multi-ethnicity” and what his “ideal” is for humanity. Check it out, and let the Biblical text drive your theology, not political ideology or philosophy.

(Source: Horne, Charles, and Julius Bewer. The Bible and Its Story: The Law, Levi…

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“Should people listen to their favorite social media theologians over the personal pastors who lead them?”

Now, obviously this is much more complex. But it gets to the heart of the issue I’ve been struggling with.

Sometimes—actually, lately it’s been often—I’ve found myself wanting to quit my presence on social media. I love teaching theology. I love commenting on cultural issues from a biblical worldview rooted in the text. I want to always start from the biblical text, not from human philosophical ideologies.

So here’s the rub: I think we’ve lost (or neglected) the spiritual practice of discernment and applying discernment to theological triage. Gavin Ortlund has an amazing book on theological triage that’s been so helpful for me. There are primary…

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One of the things I love doing is partnering with local churches to teach a course called “How To Study The Bible.” I usually come in on a Friday or Saturday to teach this course and then stick around to preach on Sunday. (If you’re interested in this, I’d love to hear from you!)

Now, I’m bringing parts of that teaching directly to you.

I’ve created an exclusive video series for my paid Humble Theology Substack subscribers. This is the kind of content I usually only deliver in person at churches, but I wanted to make it available to everyone who supports this work.

Watch the trailer below:

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This is the first teaching in a new series that will equip you to study God’s Word with confidence and clarity. Let’s get started.

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It could be a “me” thing or it could be a “journal” thing. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s both. You may be like me. The thought of a journal excites you. You get started, but then fall off. The same is true for a Read the Bible in a Year plan. The idea of it is exciting. The possibility of learning and growing in the Word is a true value. But then you get into it, and like around 94% of the people who say they will read the entire Bible in a year—you bounce.

You’re not alone. I’m right there with you.

Over the last few years, I’ve found myself doing my very best to get into a Read the Bible in a Year plan and have it stick. I finally realized that I’ve got things in so many different places I wasn’t able to finish and stay consistent. So I thought, “What if we create…

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If you’ve ever felt like the Bible has hidden layers you’re not seeing, you’re right. And good news. You’re in the right place.

I’ve never seen this done before. A Bible reading plan that is specifically focused on the theme of the spiritual realm. Angels, demons, nephilim, leviathan, supernatural encounters and miracles - all of it. Ever wonder why we get so stuck in Leviticus? What is the point of all of this clean vs. unclean policy and procedures? Why the various sacrifices and feasts? What if the reason God cares so deeply about our “holiness” is because of what took place in Genesis 6 with the unholy (unclean) alliance between the Sons of God and the daughters of man? What the Nephilim actually give us is a backdrop that brings a bit of clarity to why God wants us to be a people who are set apart and holy?

This year, it’s time to break the cycle of skipping the weird parts of the Bible. It’s time to join the 6% who actually finish reading the Bible in a Year. And good news - the…

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If you’ve watched (or read) the story of the Wizard of Oz you know that the wizard is working behind a curtain. It’s not until the very end until the curtain is exposed and we all get to see what is really happening. Well, sometimes it can feel like that with theologians and scholars. They are writing, and researching, and teaching and it feels like they have access to some secret resources.

Well, you’re right. They do. And I really think it’s important for the everyday reader of the Bible…

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I’ve been writing Humble Theology for years now, and I’m consistently amazed by the community that’s formed around these explorations of Scripture, theology, how to respond to the cultural moment with a Biblical perspective, and the supernatural worldview of the Bible. Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or just stumbled upon my work recently, thank you for being part of this conversation.

Today, I want to extend a special invitation to go deeper.

For a limited time (next 48hrs), I’m offering 30% off an annual subscription to Humble Theology.

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What You Get as a Paid Subscriber

First, you’ll unlock the complete backlog of all my theology essays. Years of work on how to read and understand the Bible, Old Testament Theology, New Testament Theology, Angels and Demons and much more. These aren’t just blog posts; they’re carefully researched pieces that connect the ancient worldview of the Biblical text to our modern context.

Second, you’ll get exclusive posts that onl…

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