INTIMACY

 

Genesis 2:18 “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”

not good” tob = not a good thing

man” adam = man

alone” bad = separation or apart

make” asah = to make; fit; finish

help” ezer = grant; assist; surround; aid; protect; succour

meet” neged = mate; part opposite; counterpart; other side

 

As Genesis 2:20 states, it was after Adam had named all the living creatures, that God said, “But for Adam there was not found an help (ezer) meet (neged) for him.” God spoke these words in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man when Adam and God already experienced intimate fellowship described in Genesis 3:8 as “...they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day...”. Ultimately, fellowship must first be found and experienced with God. Once this is establish, one can then have fellowship with others and have intimate relationship as husband and wife.

According to Genesis 2:21-25 “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.”

At last Adam had a “help meet for him”, for he exclaims in Genesis 2:23, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

The account continues, “Therefore shall a man leave (azab = to leave; to loosen; commit self to) his father and his mother, and shall cleave (dabaq = to adhere; joined together; to be fast together; stick together) unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh (echad = one; united together). And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (bush = ashamed, disappointed).

There are three Hebrew words that best express intimacy and they are as follows:
 

  1. Hebrew yada speaks of a deep sense of knowing; desiring to know the hearts of others.

This word is illustrated in Job 22:21, “Acquaint ( yada ) now thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.”

And again in Job 42:11 “Then came there unto him(Job)all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance ( yada ) before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earing of gold.”

In Proverbs 3:6 it states, “In all thy ways acknowledge ( yada ) Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

Also the same word is used in Isaiah 53:3 , “He(Jesus)is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted ( yada ) with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”(John 1:14 “And the Word of God was made flesh, and dwelt among us...”)

  1. Hebrew sod speaks of self-disclosure or making one's self known; to share of one's self; to reveal, to disclose as in Psalm25:14 “The secret ( sod ) of the Lord is with them that fear him; and He will shew them His covenant.”

Also we read in Proverbs 3:32 “For the froward is abomination to the Lord: but His secret ( sod ) is with the righteous.”

And in Amos 3:7 we see, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing but, He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.”

  1. Hebrew sakan speaks to the motivation behind why one would do yada and sod; to sakan means to be caringly involved; beneficial; to be familiar with; serve; treasure as in Psalm 139:3 “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted ( sakan ) with all my ways.”

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