But He Will Rule Over You
finding symbolism in the curse
A Super-Power Analogy
Let’s pretend that when God made people, He gave man the superpower of making fire, and He gave woman the superpower of making water. Firepower could be used to torch enemies or warm friends. Waterpower could hydrate friends or freeze enemies.
Firepower symbolizes man’s greater physical strength and the unique ability to divide things in their brains. Waterpower symbolizes the woman’s unique ability to relate things in her interconnected brain. Women also can incubate and nurse babies. These are not men and women’s spiritual gifts in the Pauline sense, although these things might be related to someone’s spiritual gifts. It’s just how God made men's and women’s physical bodies and how I think He communicates certain realities to us about Himself.
If you wish to read more on this topic, click this link.
After the fall, God told the woman that she would desire her husband, but he would rule over her.
Does this mean that the wife no longer has her waterpower? No. Does this mean firepower is more powerful than waterpower? No. Does this mean that the husband doesn’t want the wife’s waterpower? No. Does this mean that the husband is doomed to abuse his power? No. Does this mean the wife never freezes the husband? No. Does this mean that the husband gets what he wants more than the wife gets what she wants? No.
What on earth did God mean then?
Intro & Recap
This is the third blog about how the curse in Genesis may mean more than what meets the eye. Could the curse be talking about more than just stereotypical male and female sin tendencies? Could the curse be understood poetically? I think it might be, especially because a literal reading doesn’t really explain the entire problem between men and women.
In case you didn’t read the blogs before this one, here are the links.
In this blog, I will plug in various Biblical symbols for men, women, and ruling in the part of the curse that goes: “Your desire will be for your husband, but he will rule over you.”
I think we’re ready! Put on your lab coats and let’s begin!
A Wife’s Limited Desire
When we read, “Your desire will be for your husband, but he will rule over you,” don’t we assume it means that women desire to rule over men, but instead men will rule over women?
Note: the original Hebrew doesn’t say that the woman will desire to rule. It just says that the woman will desire. And it doesn’t say she will desire all men; it just says the woman will desire her husband.
I like the ambiguity and specificity of this. It includes a whole slew of things that happen in marriage that Adam, Eve, and Israel might relate to when they heard these words from God.
Yes, wives do indeed desire their husbands, but this isn’t necessarily bad. Our desires are a strange mixture of good and evil. Sometimes wives desire their husbands in a healthy way; sometimes wives desire their husbands in an unhealthy way.
Note: Remember, the first part of the curse foretells how sin, death, and chaos will be earthbound and how Jesus is going to conquer sin, death, and chaos. These are not bad things. Maybe this wife’s desire for her husband isn’t bad either.
“Your desire will be for your husband,” also doesn’t imply that this is a wife’s greatest desire. I think if we were to ask any person on the street, what do wives want most, we’d get all sorts of answers: “love, power, security, babies, a cruise, a retirement plan…” A wife may try to get these things through her husband, but that’s not what the verse says. It doesn’t say the wife will desire to get things through her husband. It just says that her desire will be for her husband. The specificity and vagueness of this verse should strike us as odd. Why not say a wife will desire children? Why not say a wife will desire to be taken care of?
Let’s keep going.
Husband’s Limited Rulership
What do we usually think the next part of this verse means: “…but he will rule over you”? Don’t we usually assume this means that men rule women?
Note: Remember, this verse isn’t talking about all men and women. It’s just talking about husbands and wives.
If you take a look at any social pyramid from any time and any civilization, husbands are not at the top and wives are not at the bottom. Wives are not even mentioned because they go hand-in-hand with their husbands. Queens go with kings. Noblewomen go with noblemen. Ladies-in-Waiting go with Knights, and peasant women go with their husbands. Social pyramids are only talking about a hierarchy of firepower, not waterpower. Firepower could include whoever is the richest, has the biggest army, or has the greatest government presence. So this verse can’t mean that all men rule all women. That’s just not true.
“He will rule over you,” also doesn’t imply that a husband rules his wife more than other things. Husbands rule lots of things: land, armies, countries, peasants, animals, cars, the stock market, etc. If you were to ask someone on the street, what do husbands rule most of all, I don’t think anyone would say, “Oh, their wives of course.” That’s ridiculous! In fact, the opposite is frequently true.
A husband, generally speaking, only “rules” his wife by having greater physical strength. This doesn’t mean that a husband will use his strength against his wife in a dominant or abusive way, although he could. A husband could also use his greater strength and unique brain to combat enemies or kill rats living under the house. If I use our firepower analogy, we could say a husband has firepower over his wife.
Conclusion: this verse doesn’t mean that all men rule all women. It also doesn’t mean that the husbands rule their wives most of all. Lastly, it doesn’t mean that the husband’s rulership is bad. All the verse is saying is that a husband will rule (have firepower over) his wife.
Why Emphasize This?
So why does the curse only highlight the wife’s desire for her husband and the husband’s firepower over his wife?
Cue the poet.
Might it be because the Bible is using “wife” and “husband” to symbolize something else? Doesn’t it seem like God is talking about more than just marital issues here?
In English poetry, words can have multiple meanings. Poets use words to help us make connections that we wouldn’t otherwise notice. A poet may say “Listen to the wind” when she means the wind and the people whispering around her.
As mentioned in the last blog, the other parts of the curse seem to symbolize a message to the Church about the difficulties of becoming part of God’s family. I demonstrated how the Bible uses woman to symbolize God’s people, i.e. Israel and the Church. Man could mean either all mankind or human strength. The fact that the verse is talking about a husband and not just a man seems to imply an intimate relationship. Finally, by rule, I mean the forceful exercise of power characteristic of having greater strength, armies, smarts, influence, or money. This is not a kind of rulership that only men do, but one that is characteristic of all mankind. The Bible refers to this kind of strength when it tells us not to trust the strength of men.
So here are some possible metaphorical meanings to “your desire will be for your husband, but he will rule over you.”
Israel will desire human strength, but instead, all mankind will forcefully rule Israel.
Israel will desire an intimate relationship with mankind, but instead, mankind will forcefully rule Israel.
God’s people will desire an intimate relationship with all of mankind, but instead, all mankind will forcefully rule God’s people.
God’s people will desire to be people of human strength, but instead, God’s people will be forcefully ruled by human strength. (I like this one the most)
God’s people will desire powers of the flesh, but instead, they will be forcefully ruled by the flesh.
Put it All Together
Let me put it all together in the context of Genesis 3:14-21 and the metaphorical meaning I explained in the last blog. I’m going to plug in the #4 option above.
Chaos, Satan, and sin will be earthbound. God’s people will be in a battle against Satan, chaos, and sin. Jesus will crush the authority of chaos/sin/death. But by crushing chaos/sin/death, Jesus will suffer chaos/sin/death on His way out of this world.
However, the work to be born again into God’s kingdom will be painful. God’s people will desire to be people of earthly power, but instead earthly powers will forcefully rule God’s people.
Thus, the world, churches, families, and our own hearts are difficult places to work and grow. If mankind lives by the flesh, they produce works of the flesh. If we live by the spirit, we produce works of the spirit. Eventually, through this suffering to grow, we will take into ourselves Christ body. Eventually, what is fleshly will have a physical death. The works of the flesh will die because fleshly bodies and sinful natures are earthbound.
Over time, humans will discover God’s people have the source of eternal life. (Still not sure about this bit). This time of being on earth—cast out of God’s presence—is the time when God clothes us in His righteousness. Christ being manifested in us covers our shame and makes us fit for God’s presence once more.
Implications
Do you realize the implications of this? They’re huge! They’re so big that they needed their own blog. Click the link below to read after next Friday. I hope this experiment hasn’t made you nauseous.