April 22, 2009
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Godly Relationships...
The other day a female friend of mine brought up to me Genesis 24 and how Rebekah went to Isaac. She also shared with me how Adam's eyes were closed when Eve was given to him (in other words, Eve also came to Adam).
I thought it was random how she felt led to share that with me and I thought about other Biblical relationships. Abigail and Ruth are other examples of upright women going to the men. For all four relationships, they seemed from the Lord. The women had to risk rejection and were quite vulnerable. The Godly men embraced them. Esther is more of a stretch. Her pursuit of the king resulted in the deliverance of the Jews, but i don't think that was a particularly beautiful relationship.
I then thought about relationships in the Bible where the man pursued the woman. Jacob and Rachel. David and Michal/Bathsheba. Hosea and his adulteress wife. The Levite and his concubine (end of Judges). Samson and Delillah (and other women). I really don't like how Jacob approached Rachel (sobbing and such), but he did serve her and sacrificed 14 years of his life for her. David, the Levite, and Samson are bad examples. Hosea was able to redeem his wife, but the whole relationship was meant more as a prophecy than a "Godly relationship." Compared to the girls going to the guys, these relationships aren't nearly as good.
Off the top of my head I can't think of any other relationships in the Bible where one went to the other. Am I missing one? The other relationships all seemed either arranged or we just don't know how they came together. For almost all the "Godly relationships" (even Jacob and Rachel) the woman is found working/serving. For the un-Godly relationships the women are either purchased, hiding, or seducing. Let me know if there are any exceptions that come to mind.
I don't have a conclusion to give you all, but I thought I'd go ahead and post this and see what type of responses it gets. Oh, and I love this Misty Edwards song. Take a listen.
God bless!
Comments (7)
hahaha JM i got your gchat "hello" a little while ago
and this is... interesting.......
hrmmm.. interesting never thought about it that way.
she "randomly" shared with you? just like ruth "randomly" approached boaz??? hahaha! hello~!!! i think someone's indirectly hitting on you!
just kidding just kidding... don't kill me.
BUT...
i hope this biblical observation doesn't become an excuse for guys to not have to take initiative...!!
haha hmm interesting...ahem...but just so any ladies who read this DON'T get the wrong idea, the women didn't come up with the idea to "pursue" the guys. SOMEONE brought them/directed them to the man (God, Abraham's servant, Naomi,) and for Abigail, David was bascially coming to take out her husband who was a stubborn shmuck - later, after her glorious display of wisdom (and beauty) he CAME BACK for her.
Hmmm.. Perhaps it's not so much about the "guy initiating vs. the girl initiating" as it is about God initiating?
There's an angel of the Lord who led the servant of Abraham to find a wife (Rebekah) for Isaac. And God created and brought Eve to Adam.
And there's Matthew 19:6: Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate... where we can gather that God is at work in joining, i.e. bringing together and making one, a man and his wife.
Although Ruth went to Boaz at one point, I think it's possible that he initiated somewhat by expressing interest in her beforehand. Boaz took notice of her in the field, inquired about her, initiated the first conversation, and gave her special attention/treatment. In the end though, the LORD is praised for Naomi's blessing of a kinsman-redeemer. As an interesting side-note, their son's name Obed means "servant," which I think reflects the character of both of his parents.
And the best love story ever: Christ and His Church.
God definitely initiated that one.
keep in mind that.. that intial pursuit will always be remembered in that relationship, which i think will lay a foundation of who the "leader" is in that partnership. in other words, you and she will have in the back of your heads somewhere 5, 10 years down the road or when story time comes up with the grandkids... you both will know and will tell others who went after who. and so there'll be that tendency to look at that initiator (the guy or girl) to make the call for the decisions thereafter... if that makes any sense.
so the man (i dunno if its in you in the case or not) should take initative as he bibically should, otherwise he'll lose that first foothold to the woman. .. just to name a reason, sorry not a bibical example answer. in any case, it has to be intentional and addressed by both parties to be "more than friends" sooner or later. communicate and state your initiations... at the right time.
dont be lazy jm....hahaha
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