Twice the Bible records the same miracle: all the animals line up in parade formation and march. How many paintings are there in Sunday schools and doctors’ offices showing animals streaming toward the S.S. Noah, beasts of every shape and size, calmly moving in neat lines, more well-behaved than shoppers on Black Friday?
But that was the SECOND animal parade. Remember the Garden of Eden?
“The Lord God formed every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it… The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal. But for the man, no helper was found as his complement” Genesis 2:19-20.
Why would God create mates for everyone EXCEPT the man?
Probably to emphasize the importance of a wife and teach us about the roles of a husband and a wife, and the power and precious-ness of a good marriage.
“So God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the Lord made the rib … into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said: ‘This one, AT LAST [Whew!] is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. [That’s MY PEOPLE!] This one will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from man.’ This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become ONE FLESH” 2:21-24.
Why ‘One Flesh’? Eve was made from Adam’s rib. She was literally part of his flesh. And when Sons of Adam have Biblical knowledge of the daughters of Eve, God makes those couples become one flesh as well. One flesh may not be so much about sex as it is about THE RIB. And the matter is sacred to God.
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