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. 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed
every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam
to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living
creature, that was the name thereof. 20
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to
every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for
him.
The
word meet means worthy or useful in
this context. Here it does not mean to run into someone by accident or design
nor is there such a word in the Bible as, “helpmeet.” A help is a person who helps. The following verses reveal one way the
Bible defines itself, that is by word substitution. Notice the two words I have
put in bold print.
Matthew
3:7 ¶ But when he saw many of the
Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of
vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We
have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these
stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Luke
3:7 Then said he to the multitude that
came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you
to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring
forth therefore fruits worthy of
repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our
father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up
children unto Abraham.
The
power to name represents the power to have dominion over just as the power to
tax represents the power to govern. God gives Adam the power to name, not just
a label, but recognition of what the beast is in relation to man. God therefore
defines animals in the Bible in reference to their relation to agricultural man
and military man, as in beast of the
forest and beast of the field and function
as in a fowl flying, which includes a bat in Leviticus 11, or a fish swimming
in the sea which includes a whale comparing Jonah 1:17 and Matthew 12:40. Modern taxonomic classifications
having to do with species, family, order, etc. are post-Bible terms that man
uses to categorize animals in certain ways that are different from the Bible’s
categories. In the Bible, as in modern day reality a beast of the forest is not going to pull your plow as a matter of
rule. Here is a reference by God Himself to what we would call a rhinoceros
today, which had a much larger range of existence in early days as shown by the
Lascaux Cave paintings in France.
Job
39:9 Will the unicorn be willing to
serve thee, or abide by thy crib? 10
Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he
harrow the valleys after thee? 11 Wilt
thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to
him? 12 Wilt thou believe him, that he
will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?
Although
Adam did give names to everything there was not found one creature that was
useful or worthy to be his co-administrator over God’s creation as the stewards
of God’s earth.
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