Redemption, Phase 1

But first, a pun: "In democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism it's your count that votes."
or this one: "Acupuncture is a jab well done." Hee hee.
(taken from this Pun Page)

Now, on phase 1 of redemption. . .

In our small group last night, we continued in "The Christ of the Covenants," by O. Palmer Robertson. After a chapter discussing God's covenant with Adam at creation, he moves on to God's covenant with Adam after the Fall. Of particular interest is his interpretation of the curse on the woman. I have always heard God's words to Eve ("Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.") interpreted as meaning that woman has a physical and emotional dependence on man, and man is the leader of the two. (After reading Robertson's interpretation, it did occur to me that the second half of that, at least, does not make sense. . .since Adam was already the leader in their relationship, by virtue of God creating Eve as a "helpmate".) Robertson, however, compares the words to those spoken to Cain in Genesis 4 (Sin's desire is for you, but you must master it."). He says the similar syntactical structure denotes a parallelism in meaning as well. Thus, as sin's desire is not a physical or emotional dependence on man, but rather a desire to control man, woman's curse is a desire to control and possess the man. This seems a meet punishment, given Eve's first mistake is usurping Adam's role as leader by acting without his presence or knowledge when she takes the fruit. It also creates a clear antithesis with the last part of the sentence; although woman will desire control, she will be under man's rule. We discussed how clearly such an interpretation is reflected in our present society and the possibility that a study of feminism through the ages would show a similar discontent among women with their submissive lot in society. Thus, the curse essentially amounts to marital strife (because the two did not act as one?).
Robertson also goes into great detail about the curse on the serpent and its cosmic implications. He takes the serpent as a symbol of Satan, of course, and "the woman" as a symbol of all future women. Thus, Satan will attack the heel of mankind while man attacks his head. Robertson comments on the subtleness and ultimate futility of attacking the heel of a person contrasted with the directness and potential fatality of head wounds. The seed of woman, he says, are all those descended from Eve who are recipients of God's grace (thus, the Elect), while the seed of the serpent are those physically descended from Eve who do not receive God's grace and are destined for damnation. He supports this interpretation with John the Baptist's use of the metaphor "You brood of vipers" and Jesus' later comments to the pharisees about "your father, the devil." The symbolism, he says, then returns to the singular and refers specifically to Christ: "He will crush. . . ." Thus we have the first Messianic prophecy immediately after the Fall, signifying the continuity of God's plan and the continuity of God's covenants. There you have it: predestination and salvation, from Genesis 1-4.

In conclusion, I made a graham cracker bundt cake this weekend that is really very good. It has coconut and pecans and graham cracker crumbs in place of flour. It does take 5 eggs, though, and they must be separated with the whites beat into stiff peaks. I think that makes for a moister, denser cake.

I'm going to get ready for bed now. G'night.