Adam’s Rib

THE DIVINE DESIGN

People today are constantly seeking happiness in such things as wealth, status symbols or materialistic things, in social life, relaxation or privacy, in security or success. At one time or another, everyone has wished for the “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow. Yet ultimately, with the exception of a spiritual relationship with the Lord, having your right man or your right woman’ is the quintessence of human happiness. God has designed this fantastic happiness on earth for both believers and unbelievers. Some have experienced this happiness, while others, perhaps, have missed it.

Many of you still have some illusions about life, but you’re also beginning to see many things which are disillusioning. Now the Word of God is designed to correct all that, and it is on the basis of the Word that I’m going to set forth certain principles which may or may not mean much to the younger people at this time. Perhaps you do not know as yet what it’s like to be with your right man or your right woman-that you an have a fantastic relationship spiritually, soulishly and physically, with a person designed for you in eternity past-even though everything else in the world may be going wrong.

Now I realize that this may be a delicate subject to some of you, but I will begin with GOD. This is always a good place to start, because it will help to mitigate many of the problems. When you understand something of God’s viewpoint, obviously it can’t be wrong! God is perfect His plan, His design, and His provision are perfect! Apart from salvation and spiritual provision, both of which are grace gifts, God has even provided some other things that are absolutely perfect. There’s one woman in the world perfectly suited for every man; there is one man perfectly suited for every woman-just one-not two, not three, not a dozen. You may have tried a dozen and already reached this conclusion. However, in arriving at this conclusion, you have also done great damage to yourself with regard to the possibility of fulfilling the divine design. Like the other grace gifts, sex must be understood within the framework of divine design. God, who designed this for our happiness, also set up some laws and boundaries.

In the nature of an animal, there is such thing as “right stud” “right bitch.” A male animal seeks the company of ANY female animal. Like the animal nature, the old sin nature” in the human species is frequently not particular. Therefore, due to the distortions of the s nature, it is difficult to determine, apart from Scripture, what God has ordained and what man has corrupted. But that’s exactly what we will see in this study.

Now God set up a decree, and it is a pronouncement that will always exist:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after on, likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and r the cattle, and over all the earth, and over very creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth (Gen. 1:26).

The significance of the phrase “God said” is this: RIGHT MAN RIGHT WOMAN was PROVIDED HISTORICALLY BEFORE SALVATION. Originally man did not need salvation; so the greatest thing God ever did for the human race, apart from salvation, was to make provision for Right Man — Right Woman. God provided for the male and female in every realm of their relationship — their soul relationship, their physical relationship and their relationship with God. The first man and woman had a great spiritual life, for Jesus Christ personally taught their “Bible class” every day in the Garden (Gen. 3:8).

Old So. Nature vs. Holy Sprit, by R. B. Thieme, Jr. tails a related study. Asterisk, throughout refer to book titles.

“God,” in Genesis 1:26, is a plural word in the Hebrew ELOHIM and always refers to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit! The Word “said” indicates that the Members of the Trinity are holding a conference, and what they decided at that conference is a part of the doctrine of Divine Decrees. The subject on the agenda here is “man,” but specifically, the principle of Right Man — Right Woman. This has been a much discussed topic in time, but more so in heaven. At the time that the Father, the Son and the Spirit decided to create man, they also decided to provide for the male of the species a right woman; and, apart from a few exceptions, every person who has ever lived has by divine design and by God’s grace a right counterpart.

THE CREATION VERBS

“And God said, Let us make man . . . .” There are four Hebrew verbs which are used in placing man and woman on this earth in their physical bodies and with souls inside their bodies:

(1) ASAH — to manufacture something out of existing materials (Gen. 1:26; Isa. 43:7; 57:16).

(2) BARA — to make something out of nothing; the creation of the invisible essence (Gen. 1:27; 5:1, 2; Isa. 43:7).

(3) JATSAR — used for the creation of the male body only (Gen. 2:7).

(4) BANAH — used for the creation of the female body only (Gen. 2:22).

BARA refers to one aspect of the soul essence indicated by the word “image,” while ASAH emphasizes another aspect of the soul personality. ASAH is not used for the physical part of man, but is used in connection with BARA for the creation of the soul and the human spirit. Although ASAH means “to manufacture something out of something,” it actually has to do with human personality. You see, your personality is a manifestation of your soul. BARA is the invisible essence of your soul and consists of self-consciousness, mentality, volition, emotion and conscience. All of these together make up a distinct personality.

Everyone — male and female — has the same characteristics of the soul. All of you have mentality — a left and right lobe. You have a conscience in your right lobe; with your volition you have the ability to make decisions; and you have emotions with which to appreciate things in life and with which to respond. The old sin nature, which actually is part of the body, was not created and therefore is not an issue at this point. God has manufactured out of the essence of your soul a distinct personality which belongs only to you. So we have two words used for the creation of the human soul, because there are two parts to the soul of man — essence and personality. ASAH is mentioned first since man is going to be a personality.

“And ELOHIM said, Let us ASAH (manufacture) man . . .:’Now we have an interesting thing: the word “man” is ADAM in the Hebrew. Here is another distinction which you should learn. The word ADAM, by itself, always refers to male and female — that is, to the human race. It is the same concept as Homo sapiens, o mankind. There is another word for “ – HA ADAM. This Hebrew form includes the definite article. HA ADAM is not the human race in general but refers to the first man and the original creation by God. This distinction always occurs in the original Hebrew. So the literal translation here, “ELOHIM said, Let us manufacture out of the essence of the soul, the HUMAN RACE.”

ELOHIM is the key to understanding the words “image” and “likeness.” Although Jesus Christ is the actual Creator (,John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:10), He is not mentioned here (that will come up later under “Jehovah Elohim”) since this is still the planning stage. The plural ELOHIM is used to indicate the identical essences of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There is a pattern here: just as ELOHIM is one in essence, so man — male or female — has the same essence of soul. But there is also a difference, and the difference comes from the fact that there are three separate and distinct Persons in the Godhead — therefore, three Personalities. Just so, there are many, many separate and distinct individuals in the human race and as many bona fide personalities.

“Image” and “likeness” refer to invisible essence. “Image,” TSELEM in the Hebrew, is “shadow image” or “essence.” Should someone open your head and look inside, he would not find self-consciousness or thoughts; he could not see volition, emotion, norms and standards or the conscience. These things are TSELEM — they are real but invisible, just as God is real but invisible. Actually the word TSELEM has a first person plural suffix, which indicates all three Members of the Godhead. All three have essence, but their essence is invisible (John 1:18a) you cannot see it with the eye and it is intangible you cannot handle it.

The same thing is true of man. God made an invisible part of man which is the REAL MAN. The REAL YOU is the SOUL! Just as God has invisible but real essence, so man, though in a different way and in a limited sense, has invisible and intangible but real essence.

The second word, “likeness,” or DEMUTH, is a model or pattern. This means that just as all three Members of the Godhead have the same essence and are three separate and distinct Persons, so every member of the human race has the same essence, but we all have different personalities — we are separate persons.

So ELOHIM created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them (Gen. 1:27).

“Created” here is BARA — to create something out of nothing. Now I want you to notice what it says: He created HA ADAM (Adam with the definite article) — THE man, one specific person! Verse 26 refers to the human race in general, and verse 27 refers to Adam in particular. And then again we have the fact that he was created in the image of God. This is, of course, TSELEM. The first Adam had essence.”

Now something a little different is added: “MALE AND FEMALE created he THEM.” First, this indicates that the male and female became living creatures at separate times. “Male” — ZAKAR — refers to the male soul of Adam, which created on the sixth day and activated according to Genesis 2:7. Activation involved the provision of a body to house the soul. You see, the soul of every human being must have a “house”; and God actually provided on D-plus-6, the day He created man, a house for the male only. It was some time afterward before He provided a house for the female soul and she actually became a living person.

“Female” — NEQEBAH — refers to the woman with regard to her soul, which was designed to respond to man under the concept of right man right woman. We discover the details in Genesis 2. After Adam was created, he was alone for some time. In fact, in Genesis 2:19, he went to work still without woman. Since D-plus-6 man had a soul, a body, and a spirit; but woman did not exist as a person until sometime later, as we shall see in a rather dramatic way. Thus, there was a period on the earth when there was only one male of the species — in fact, that will become a issue very shortly. So, “male and female created he them” indicates that although both souls were created at the same time, only one body, only one person was truly alive. The woman’s soul was still in incubation the original “sleeping beauty”!

The same principle is brought out in Genesis 5:1:

This is the book of the generations of Adam [the human race]. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him [HA ADAM, the first man].

“In the day” refers to D-plus-6. “Created” is a qal infinitive construct of BARA, the word used for the essence of the soul. On the sixth day, man’s body, soul and spirit were created; the woman’s soul was “bara’d” but not activated. “In the likeness” (DEMUTH a model or pattern) refers to their personalities. Again we have a reference to the entire human race, but the emphasis is on the creation of man with different kinds of personalities. “Made” (ASAH) mans to manufacture personalities out of invisible essence. The last word “him;” OTHO, refers to the souls of both the man and the woman. Both of their souls were created on D-plus-6, but one was activated and one was not.

Male and female created (BARA) he them; and blessed them and called their name Adam (human race), in the day when they were created (Gen. 5:2 ).

Although the word “male” here indicates the male sex, it is used for man’s soul, which was designed to satisfy the soul of the female under the concept of right man—right woman. “Female” is used for the soul of right woman, which was designed to respond to the right man. Category Two loves starts in the soul and overflows to the bony. The souls of right man—right woman, as well as their bodies, are designed to be a perfect match for each other; but it is the discovery in the soul that leads to the eventual intimacy of the bodies.

Now this verse adds something else: “and blessed them.” I would like to remind all of you misogynists that the design of one male soul and one female soul under Category Two love is the first and greatest blessing that man ever received apart from salvation! The piel stem here is intensive, indicating tremendous happiness the ultimate of human happiness. In Ecclesiastes 9:9 we have a beautiful illustration of this principle.

MAN’S PORTION IN LIFE

See (enjoy) lives with the right woman whom thou hast loved all the days of your life of emptiness, whom he has given you under the sun — all the days of emptiness; for this (right woman) is your portion in life, and in you work (occupation) in which you are working under the sun (Corrected translation of Eccl. 9:9).

“Live joyfully,” as translated in the English is a little weak. What it actually says is intriguing and just as good! First of all, there is no verb here for “live”; the word is command and means “to see and enjoy.” See and enjoy what? SEE LIVES! ENJOY LIVES! “Lives” refers to all the capacities of the soul and body. The rest of the verse explains what connection this command is to be fulfilled. First of all, it is referring to a male unbeliever, and he is to see and enjoy the soul and body of his right woman whom he loves. “Hast loved” is the qal perfect of AHAB and means that you experience that love in time, although it was designed in eternity past. It is the strongest word in the Hebrew language for love.

“All the days” refers to the remainder of their lives after the right woman is brought to the right man. Every time a right man is with his right woman, it’s an entire lifetime of blessing! And this is true even though his life is otherwise filled with “vanity” (emptiness or misery) — a technical term denoting the life of the unbeliever. Right woman is a gift of grace, for the believer and unbeliever alike, during the time in which they are alive on this earth. God did not intend for man to be miserable with a life of emptiness, He intended each man to have a RIGHT WOMAN! For the unbeliever, this is the only true or lasting happiness he can ever have. You see how this knocks out every type of perversion — homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, masturbation and adultery (Eccl. 7:29; Rom, 1:26; Lev. 18:23; 20:15, 16; Dent. 27:21). People who are inclined toward any form of sexual perversion inevitably deprive themselves completely and totally of this one type of happiness in life that neither requires being saved nor depends on spirituality.

Now, if God designed this gift so that even an unbeliever with an empty life can have happiness, just imagine how it will add up for the believer with doctrine who gets hold of the same thing! A believer will not only have salvation and happiness with God forever, but he also has two other gifts from God which provide happiness in time — doctrine and right woman. Of course, adverse spiritual conditions, such as scar tissue, emotional revolt, reversionism, and reverse process reversionism destroy the capacity for true happiness.

“For this is YOUR PORTION in life” refers to the fact that God has given to everyone a portion of happiness. There isn’t a homosexual walking the streets tonight for whom God did not provide a right woman. There’s not a lesbian in town for whom God didn’t design a right man. But some have missed the boat through perversion, just as some have missed the boat in salvation. Depending on you volition, you can miss all of God’s grace provisions or you can have them.

The phrase “and in your occupation in which you are working under the sun [in life],” is a reference to an additional source of enjoyment in life which God has provided your occupation or profession. So, according to Ecclesiastes 9:9, man has two portions in life: God give work — by the sweat of his brow — and a right woman. This is an awe some thought. For every male and for every female there is by DIVINE DESIGN a right counterpart. Every person on the face of the earth, now or at any time in history, who is any kind of perversion — sexual or spiritual — has missed or purposely bypassed God’s portion for happiness.

This ought to begin to add up to something — you can’t lose with doctrine! Doctrine provides the capacity with which to recognize and appreciate right man right woman, and God knows just the right time to bring along your right man or right woman. He provides everything; but doctrine is the avenue of appreciation, the avenue for understanding, and the avenue for a relationship with God which leads to this wonderful principle of right man right woman.

THE CREATION OF THE MAN’S BODY

And Jehovah Elohim (Jesus Christ) designed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils (body) the soul life of lives, and the Adam became unto a sout of life (Corrected translation of Genesis 2:7).

We have a change from ELOHIM in Genesis 1:26, 27, to JEHOVAH ELOHIM. The doctrine of Divine Decrees, in which the Members of the Godhead are all involved, is not it view here. Jehovah is a name and is sometimes used for the Father, sometimes for the Son and sometimes for the Holy Spirit. But it is always a reference to a specific Member of the Trinity, which is determined by the context. Essence is found in ELOHIM; Personality is found in JEHOVAH. Jehovah here refers to Jesus Christ. He is separate and distinct from the other Members of the Godhead, as they are from Him. But, since His essence is exactly the same as the Father’s and the Holy Spirit’s, He is called JEHOVAH ELOHIM.

So now Jesus Christ forms — JATSAR — man. We finally get to the mechanics of the creation of man’s body on D-plus-6. The creation of man’s soul and personality, remember was BARA and ASAH, Now man gets a body. The verb JATSAR (to fashion or to devise) is used for the creation of man’s body in contrast to the creation of the woman’s body, coming later under the word BANAH (to build). “Man” here, as you might guess, is HA ADAM, but he will shortly receive another name. He will also be known as ISH. However, there can be no ISH yet because there is no ISHAH. He is going to be lonely, but when he gets his ISHAH he will change. HA ADAM will become ISH because ISH has his ISHAH! After all, a man can watch birds and animals only so long before he begins to get lonely for another of his kind. That’s the whole point coming up in verses 18 and following.

So “JEHOVAH ELOHIM formed HA ADAM (specific man) out of the dust of the ground.” “Dust” is EPHER; but notice, the ground is called ADAMAH. ADAM (the human race), HA ADAM (the first man) and ADAMAH (ground) all have the same general relationship. The dust of the ground can be the chemicals in the soil o any other construction material existing at that time in the ground which God used to form the body of man. It was a fantastic body, but it still wasn’t “cranked up.” So let’s see the mechanics.

“He breathed (or panted, literally — the same idea as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation) into his nostrils the breath of lives ....” “Breath” is NE’SHAMAH — the spark of life. In other words, Adam’s soul was placed inside and the light was turned on! “Life” for Adam was literally “lives,” indicating he received both the soul and the spirit (Isa.57:16). Then “HA ADAM kept on being a living soul (NEPHESH).” NEPHESH refers to the soul which is created in the image and likeness of God, having essence and personality.

THE NEED FOR A COUNTERPART

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 (Gen. 2:19).

And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field . . . (Gen. 2:20).

Maybe Adam spent a hundred years at the zoo maybe only ten or twenty; but as he watched each of these animals, he would come up with a name. The last name he would give was ISHAH. He would watch her and give her a name, too. But he first had a job to do. He had to “catalog” creation that is, he had to give a name to all that God had created. Now here’s the problem: “but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.” “Help meet” is literally “a help over against” him — a counterpart, or a help responding to him.

Grace is always cognizant of man’s needs. Man in innocence needed woman. Man needed woman before he needed salvation! Since man is not complete without woman, nor the woman without the man, Jesus Christ designed a category of love for the period of innocence. Look back at verse 18:

And the Lord God [JEHOVAH ELOHIM] said, Not good the man to be alone. I will manufacture for him a help over against him (responding to him) (Corrected translation).

I want you to notice what did NOT exist in the state of innocence — Category Three love! Only Category One and Category Two love existed before the Fall. Between right man and right woman, there is only Category Two love. It is the only love in which physical contact is bona fide. Category Three is NON-TOUCHING! That ought to tell everyone who ever had a tendency toward any perversion of God’s design that when things were absolutely perfect no on ever thought of anything but Categories One and Two love. When JEHOVAH ELOHIM spoke in this verse, it is actually Jesus Christ who is speaking. He said, “Not good” (there is no verb here, which gives great emphasis). This statement is part of the Divine Decrees and refers to man without his right woman. Note that this is the observation of a perfect Person, Jesus Christ. It also helps us to understand the principle of the relationship between Christ and the Church, which we will bring in at a later time.

Everything man had seen in lower creation had a counterpart — an opposite number. There was a male and a female every species, no matter what it was. This undoubtedly used Adam to become increasingly aware that he was the only male alone! So Jesus Christ says, “I will make [ASAH manufacture] for him an help meet [a help responding to him].”

ADAM’S RIB

And the Lord God (JEHOVAH ELOHIM) 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 (Gen. 2:21).

The deep sleep would be equivalent, of course, to a general anesthetic so that Adam would not feel any pain. The Lord Jesus Christ actually performed the operation. The man’s soul, remember, had already been manufactured. It is the body of the woman that requires the operation. Although there are other verbs which could have been used for “took,” it is very interesting that the verb LAQACH is used here. This generally means in the Hebrew “to seize violently.” The woman was pulled violently out of Adam, and violently she returns to him! It’s almost as if the pulling apart and the coming together demonstrates a fantastic passion. It indicates something of the magnetism and the violent passion which exists between right man and right woman!

So, “he took out one of his ribs” or “one from among his ribs.” The word for “ribs” is very interesting. It’s the feminine noun TSELAH; but it has a third masculine singular suffix indicating that, although the rib actually belonged to Adam, it was a feminine rib inside him all that time. TSELAH is not the usual word for rib. TSELAH is ordinarily the word for a beam or a joist of a building. It is used this way in 1 Kings 6:15, 16 and 7:3 — but we will see shortly that in connection with the woman, this usage is very apropos. Next, Jesus Christ closed up the hole with flesh.

And the rib, which JEHOVAH ELOHIM had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man (Gen. 2:22).

Now we have in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ a rib, and that significant act, which occurred many thousands of years ago, still has and always will have both good and bad repercussions. It was a very dramatic moment, because when Jesus Christ was holding that rib, He was actually holding something that would bring either great happiness or great unhappiness to the human race. As we have seen, a man may have an otherwise miserable or horrible life; but if he has his right woman, he has great happiness with her. That in itself is significant.

This grace gift is for the entire human race, yet the entire human race does not benefit. There are unbelievers and believers who never have their right man or right woman. There are also members of the human race who do not benefit from the second grace gift — salvation. God provides perfectly, but both gifts require human volition.

Part of Adam is now missing, and out of the missing part Jesus Christ made (BANAH) a woman. The Hebrew word BANAH is very interesting; it actually means TO BUILD. The woman’s body was BUILT! The man’s body was fashioned — JATSAR. There’s a difference. The woman has a body that is different from anything else in creation. It is fantastic! A house was constructed for the woman’s soul, and God put that soul into it. But I want you to notice something: God continued to follow the same procedure of allowing Adam to identify and name all of the species. The word for woman here is actually the name which Adam will give her —ISHAH. _ISHAH is one of the Hebrew words that applies to her body.

Then God “brought her unto the man,” or literally, He “caused to bring her to HA ADAM.” Right here is the beginning of the principle of right man—right woman. God designed the woman perfectly for the man. He seized violently the rib out of Adam, and left a gap which is only fulfilled by that which He BUILT. Then He caused her to be brought to HA ADAM. That’s the way it still is! If people will wait and observe the laws of divine establishment, God will provide. And this is a provision for unbelievers as well. That’s why the laws of divine establishment forbid certain things such as fornication, homosexuality, autoerotism, and bestiality. If practiced, any or all of these things get man off the track, and thereby cause him to lose his capacity for the greatest happiness in life — apart from salvation and Bible doctrine.

THE RIB RETURNS

And Adam said, this one (she) now bone from my bones, flesh from my flesh, this one [she] shall be called woman [ISHAH), because this one, [she] was taken from man [ISH) (Corrected translation of Gen. 2:23).

Jesus Christ has a great sense of humor. He brought the woman for Adam to name in much the se way as He had brought the animals. Jesus Christ may have said, “What are you going to call this one, Adam?” Now Adam was a genius. It took him only a couple of seconds to realize that he had his counterpart. And what do you suppose he called her? (SHAH! Woman! And ISHAH she was, and ISHAH she is. One ISHAH issued to one ISH — no more, no less. Perfect Issue — “P.I.” instead of “G.I.”

There is a woman whose soul and body are perfectly designed for you, and no one else will quite do — ever. Now that ought to scare you! A lot of you think that God said, “Thou shah not commit adultery,” because He didn’t want you to have any fun. To the contrary, God said it because he WANTED you to have fun FOR LIFE! If you’re an unbeliever, the greatest fun you’ll ever have is here on earth with a woman — your right woman — because you’re going to spend eternity in hell (John 3:36). But just think of BELIEVERS who find their right woman and, whether they’re spiritual or carnal, have all of this and heaven, too! God designed woman to be the quintessence of happiness for man. But He didn’t design EVERY woman to be the quintessence of your happiness — just one! Polygamy is prohibited by God (Lev. 18:18; Deut. 17:14-17).

Now before Adam named the woman, he did some explaining. He said, “This now,” or literally, “this one, she.” There is no verb here. You don’t need verbs at a time like this! Remember, Jesus Christ is bringing to him the most perfect woman ever formed. She doesn’t have a thing on and neither does Adam. It just took his breath away when he saw her! Now for the record — he hasn’t touched her yet. Do you know why that’s important? The identification was made IN HIS SOUL! But the identification was very, very physical, even though as yet he has had no physical experience. Does that tell you something? It should tell you that when you find the one who is absolutely right for you, the physical aspect of your relationship presents no problem at all.

“This one, she, bone from my bones” — Adam knew that something was missing in his life and that this woman would complete him. What w sing would come back with GRACE INTEREST! So he adds, “flesh from my flesh, this one, she, shall be called ISHAH.” Why? Because she was taken out of ISH! And he uses the same word for violence, LAQACH, to describe the operation. He hadn’t felt a thing when she w seized violently from him; but now that he sees what God has made from his rib, he expresses himself in intensive language — he uses the puel stem — which tells us that Adam had what we call the “grand passion.”

We have an interesting switch here: the word for “man” no longer HA ADAM; now we have ISH. Why? Up until this time, man has been alone. He was created incomplete and can be completed only by the woman. Once the woman is brought in, they become ISH and ISHAH. When ISHAH is taken from ISH, ISHAH becomes one with ISH; he fulfills her and she completes him. We now have right man and right woman with the most perfect sex relationship that ever existed.

THE PROTECTION OF RIGHT MAN RIGHT WOMAN

For this cause a man shall forsake his father and mother, and he shall be intimately united to his right woman (wife), and they shall become one flesh (Corrected translation of Gen. 2:24).

Adam doesn’t have a mother and a father, but the principle must be set up now. Outside of volition (Gen. 2:16, 17), there is only one other principle of establishment in the Garden at this time — right man—right woman. The framework for this is marriage — monogamy — Divine Institution Number Two. Now that right man and right woman are here, something must be designed to protect their relationship. What is going to keep man, who is the authority in this relationship, from eventually turning into a tyrant?

God protects the woman from the tyranny of the man, who has the authority over her, by adding a third divine institution to the laws of establishment — the family or parents — to accompany the principle of right man—right woman. Divine Institution Number Three was designed to protect Divine Institution Number Two. While marriage is the protection of Category Two love and man is the authority, man learns love and respect for the woman from his parents. This has never been true in the animal kingdom, or in the angelic creation — only in the human race. Both the father and the mother have a contribution to make to teach a boy to have respect for womanhood, so that when his own woman comes into his life, their relationship will be the ultimate in happiness.

The boy first learns the principles of authority and respect for womanhood from his mother; he learns by example from his father. The father also provides security, protection, discipline, and some training; but the first teacher n the human realm is the mother. both the father and mother are mentioned, but the father is mentioned first because he’s the authority in the home. It is the responsibility of parents to teach the boy to become a gentleman, so that when he is a man, he will not be an “animal.”

A boy’s attitude toward his mother often determines what he will be like with his right woman. If his father treats his mother well, the boy usually follows his example. The sad thing today is that so many children are not learning authority and respect from their mothers, and fathers are setting an example of brutality. As a result, the children never see the gentleness and the tenderness that can exist between a man and a woman. A boy reacts to this, and his reaction is always an animal reaction; he often becomes promiscuous, brutal, or even a rapist.

There is love for womankind first when a young boy loves and respects his mother. This gives him both the perspective and the training to fulfill his right woman without abusing his God-given authority under Divine Institution Number Two. However, a man’s respect for his mother must never be a hindrance when it’s time for him to leave his mother and father to enter into a new relationship. This greatest relationship of his life is described in the next phrase, “and shall cleave (be intimately united) unto his ISHAH” There is no word for “wife” in the Hebrew language. The trouble with the word “wife” is that today we tend to connect it with a big wedding ceremony and all of its folderol — yet it’s just as simple as this: HIS ISHAH! His woman!

Now for the word translated “cleave.” Most lexicons will give you a few meanings, such as “coalesce, adhere, to be glued to”; but in this context it means “sexual relationship”! That’s exactly what it is. Here is the new relationship. When as an adult you leave the influence of the home, you move into a relationship which is first of all of the soul, but it is also of the body. The male and female bodies were designed for that. And isn’t it amazing — after all these thousands of years, the design hasn’t changed! The woman is still a woman, and the man is still a man — thank God!

When this verse was quoted in the New Testament, the word “cleave” was translated “join.” “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh” (Eph. 5:31). But the Greek word PROSKOLLAO isn’t joined — it’s something no animal could ever do. It’s face-to-face sex! The man and the woman shall be intimately united in sex, and they are one flesh. God has violently pulled a rib out of Adam, built something fantastic, and then brought her back to passionate Adam! Now here’s the point: they began their physical relationship as an expression of right man—right woman love.

And they were both naked, the man and his wife (right woman), and were not ashamed (confused or disappointed) (Gen. 2:25).

ISH and ISHAH didn’t have any clothes. The first time they ever put on clothes, they were the wrong clothes (fig leaves). Later God made for them coats of skins, but they went perhaps for many years without wearing anything. Why were they not ashamed, confused or disappointed? Because they didn’t have any hang-ups about their physical relationship. There is no such thing as perversion where right man and right woman are concerned. Anything to which right man and right woman BOTH agree is NOT perversion!

THREE GRACE GIFTS FROM JESUS CHRIST

Now I want to move to 1 Corinthians, Chapter 11, where we find further information on the subject of “’Adam’s Rib” or right man right woman. In 1 Corinthians 11, two of the greatest grace principles in history are brought together in one chapter. There are three basic grace gifts from Jesus Christ to the human race: (1) RIGHT WOMAN (He built it); (2) SALVATION (He did it); (3) DOCTRINE (He thought it).

Under the first principle — one right man for one right woman — man neither earns nor deserves this grace provision. The greatest genius who ever lived could never have thought of such a thing. Even when Adam was categorizing the various creatures, before woman had appeared on the scene, he could not have conceived of or devised, in his wildest imagination, a creature who would completely satisfy the longings of his soul and the desires of his body. Although the Cross is God’s greatest demonstration of grace, the woman is God’s walking illustration of grace! She can satisfy everything for which man’s soul longs, everything his body desires. She is his completion, fulfillment and glory.

The second grace principle is illustrated in this passage by the Communion Table, which commemorates the Cross. Both of these principles were being abused through legalisms All grace gifts are attacked vigorously by Satan, and legalism is one of his methods. The legalists had said that the women had to wear veils in the church. While women did not have hats in the ancient world, they did have veils, and no lady went outside without se sort of a veil covering her head. However, there were two kinds of women who were not permitted to wear veils the prostitutes and the slaves. Of course, slaves and even prostitutes were coming to church in Corinth (which was the center of prostitution in the Roman Empire). Remember, positive volition toward Bible doctrine resides in many kinds of people. Now, when these women walked in with their hair uncovered, the legalists immediately became critical. They wanted to throw these women out simply because they were not following the general custom of the day. Their bullying was causing a lot of trouble for those who were positive toward doctrine.

The last half of the chapter (verses 17-34) is concerned with believers coming to the Lord’s Table in a state of inebriation. This is an abuse of the other grace principle, the Cross, but is not pertinent to our subject. Some of you wear a cross, which is a symbol of grace. But you ladies who are wearing long hair are also wearing a sign of grace. Long hair on the woman and the Cross are both emblems of God’s grace. In the first grace package, Jesus Christ gave woman to man; in the second, Jesus Christ gave Himself to mankind!

THREE PRINCIPLES OF AUTHORITY

But I intend to have you know, that the head of every nobleman (believer) is the Christ; and the head of the woman, the man; the head of Christ, the God (1 Cor. 11:3).

Authority of Christ: Paul begins, not by setting the church straight on the subject of a hat or a veil on the head of the woman, but by teaching three basic principles of authority. The first of these is the authority of Jesus Christ. The word for “head,” KEPHALE, is used quite extensively in the next two verses, and it means “the head on the shoulders of the human body” — i.e., the residence of the soul and the spirit. But it also means “superior rank or authority.” The head contains the brain and other factors which control and dictate the functions of the human body. “Man” — ANER — is man in the noble sense — hence, a believer, either male or female. The superior rank over every believer is Christ, who is the Head of the Church (Col. 1:18).

Authority of Right Man: Authority in the church leads to authority in the field of right man right woman relation ship. While this relationship applies to both believers and unbelievers, we will cover it from the standpoint of believers only, according to this passage, and apply Bible doctrine to the situation. In the phrase, “and the superior rank over the woman, the man,” there is no verb, which places great emphasis on this principle. From the point of the creation of Homo sapiens, the man is recognized as the head of the body called the “woman”; was recognized as we shall see, the short hair on the man is the badge of his authority over the woman.

The Authority of the Father: “And the head of the Christ, the God,” is God the Father. The authority of the Father over the Son refers to Jesus Christ in hypostatic union (the God-Man) during His incarnation. “God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son . . .” (John 3:16). God the Father had the authority and the rank during the incarnation of Christ. That is why Jesus said, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless NOT MY WILL [the will of Jesus Christ IN HIS HUMANITY], but THINE [the sovereignty of God the Father] be done” (Luke 22:42). Now the application is brought into the function of the early church, where two illustrations are used praying and prophesying.

MAN’S BADGE OF AUTHORITY

Every nobleman praying or prophesying, having something down over his head, dishonors his head (1 Cor. 11:4).

Here “every man” is used for a male believer only, in contrast to the female believer in the next verse. “Praying and prophesying” are both part of the worship service, although prophesying today is only bona fide through the teaching of the Word of God in eschatological passages. Up to now, the word “head” has been used for superior rank; but it now changes to mean the literal head, by the addition of a prepositional phrase in the Greek, KATA plus KEPHALES. The man has something down over (KATA) his literal head (KEPHALES). Now what does this mean? It means LONG HAIR.

A man wears short hair if he’s a man in his thinking. Hair style on a man is strictly a matter of what he THINKS ..THINKS… THINKS! It all comes from the soul. If he’s something other than a man, then of course, what comes out of the top of his head manifests what goes on inside the head. A man who has his hair long because some doll told him he looked good that way, obviously is a responder. He has all the male accouterments, but he’s a “woman” in his soul. A man is to be the authority over the woman, and the badge is his SHORT HAIR! The woman’s badge of submission is her longer hair.

People often ask, “What are the signs of the times?” And they expect a dissertation on the Jews going back into the Land or something on the Communist conspiracy. But the signs of the times today are reflected in the male’s long hair. Long hair reflects confusion, rebellion and rejection of the laws of divine establishment. How long is long hair on a male? “Down over the head” is the standard for a man’s hair, according to this verse. A good rule of thumb would be that if you can comb your hair so that it comes down over your eyes or nose, it’s too long! It’s a veil! And that’s exactly the way “veil” s used here, though you can’t find the word “veil” in the English — only in the Greek. Long hair, or even a hat on a man’s head in a church service, covers up his authority as man.

If a man’s wife has hair shorter than her husband’s, it indicates that she dominates — she is the aggressor, and this principle has been violated. Hair is the sign. You may have thought that hair was designed only for beauty, and this is partly true for the woman. The most beautiful thing God ever built was the woman, and her hair is her visible glory. However, it is also designed to be her badge of submission to her right man.

Now, when a male believer prays or prophesies having “something down over his head,” he dishonors his head. I love the humor here. “Something down over his head,” KATA KEPHALES, is something over his LITERAL head; but he dishonors his KEPHALE — his head or authority! This is what is called a “thought paronomasia,” and it is very humorous in the Greek. The same word is used, but it means two different things: a physical head and superior rank. KATA KEPHALES indicates that a man is growing his own veil, and it’s a disgrace. He disgraces grace! It’s actually not a question of how it looks; the problem is the condition in the soul, and the condition in the soul is wrong. More often than not, long hair is an outward sign of rebellion against God and God’s design.

Long hair dishonors the man’s authority over the woman ; but more than that, it dishonors Jesus Christ. Who designed the woman? Jesus Christ, the SAME ONE who went to the Cross and bore your sins! And He gave the woman first. Down through the ages man has rejected the principle of right man—right woman — through fornication, adultery, homosexuality, autoerotism, and other perversions. Now, let’s see this from the standpoint of the woman.

THE WOMAN’S BADGE OF SUBMISSION

But every woman praying and prophesying with the head unveiled dishonors her head; for it is one and the same as if she had been shaved (1 Cor. 11:5).

We have a word in this verse that we must examine AKATAKALUPTOS. We’ll see this word without the “A” later on. This is a very rare Greek word in the New Testament.

“A” indicates a negative; KATA means “down,” KALUPTOS, “hidden” (something hidden and down). “Hidden and down” a veil. KATAKALUPTOS is the veil that goes over the feminine head and face. The addition of “A” means literally, with the head UNVEILED.” Paul is using a clever piece of sarcasm here. The legalists don’t realize that he is not talking about hats or veils, but about hair. He has already set up the thought paronomasia in relation to the man’s hair, and when he gets all the legalists nodding, he will lower the boom!

So far, the legalists have been agreeing with everything Paul has said in principle. Now Paul goes on: “But every woman praying and prophesying with the head unveiled disgraces her head . . . .” The legalists are still nodding: “Amen brother, if a woman isn’t veiled, she disgraces her head!” But what they fail to recognize, because Paul hasn’t actually said it yet, is that the veil is her hair!

The woman’s head is covered with hair. God designed her hair, as well as her body, to be different from the man’s. Her hair is a sign of submission both to God and to her right man. Therefore, the veil is the woman’s hair a veil which nature has provided. But the woman’s hair must be long, just as the m ‘s hair must be short. In this way, both recognize not only God’s grace provision in Category Two love but the principle of establishment as well. A prostitute is a woman who has rejected the authority of one man and sold her body to any or all; therefore, Paul makes the analogy to the prostitutes of that day who had been branded or punished by the shaving of their heads. It was a sign of disgrace, and it is still the custom today. During World War II women who fraternized with the enemy were subjected to having their heads shaved. Paul is simply in the process of clarifying the criticism and also adding some principles of doctrine with regard to right man—right woman.

For if a woman does not veil herself [be not covered], shave her; but if it be indecent for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved, keep on veiling her (1 Cor. 11:6).

Paul is saying in effect that if a woman does not have long hair so that is hangs down over her face like a veil, then shave it off! Here is his sanctified sarcasm. While the legalists are nodding their heads because they’re thinking of literal veils, Paul is getting ready to shock them by saying that the veil is actually the woman’s hair! This is a debater’s technique well a sarcasm. It is, of course, a bad moment for the women without veils who are listening to the reading of Paul’s dissertation; but he is making a great stand against legalism. The legalists say that a woman is uncovered if she doesn’t wear a veil (today it would be a hat). Paul says that the only way a woman can come to church and be uncovered is to have her hair shaved off!

The sarcasm is completed but reversed at the end of verse 6. Paul uses two different words for “shave” in this verse. The first, KEIRO, means to take some kind of a knife cutting tool and shave off the hair right down to the scalp. The other, ZURAO, means to use the knife edge to cut it down close. So he says, “If it’s indecent for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved, keep on veiling her.” To the legalists, this still means that she must wear a veil or hat. But Paul is still working up to his coup de grace: the woman’s hair is her veil, and it is the sign of her submission to her right man. The issue is not hats — but doctrine!

MAN, THE GLORY OF GOD

For indeed, a man (nobleman, believer) ought not to veil his head, existing as the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man (1 Cor. 11:7).

Here is the application: OPHEILO plus OUK plus KATAKALUPTO — “that which hides the face when it’s down” — comes to mean “veil,” but it is used for anything falling over the head. It is saying, in effect, that a man ought not to have hair long enough to cover his face. We know this from Paul’s conclusion in verses 14 and 15. But first he gives the reasons: man exists as the image and glory of God! Now, even though man is fallen, even though he is a sinner and has a sin nature, man still exists; and in a regenerate state he can glorify God under the principle of spirituality. “Image” has to do with the essence of his soul as it came from the hand of God, while “glory” refers to the edification complex of the soul” and to the supergrace life,” both of which a to the believer through a maximum intake of Bible doctrine. The soul of man is designed to respond to God. When he does so, he glorifies God.

WOMAN, THE GLORY OF MAN

“Exist” is not used in connection with the woman. Man exists as her authority; but she “keeps on being” (EIMI — absolute status quo) under the authority of her right man, and as such, she is the glory of the man. The woman has a soul and a body which are the glory of the man, and the sign of this is her hair. “Glory” here indicates the right woman both as a responder to her right man and as an illustration of God’s grace. It is God’s grace when any believer has an edification complex. It is also God’s grace when a right woman responds to her right man. We have two reasons now for the man to have short hair and the woman long hair recognition of the authority of God, and recognition that God has placed man in authority over the woman.

The concept of verse 7 will be continued in verse 13. Verses 812 are parenthetical, and in this section we will learn some new things about the doctrine of right man right woman.

For man is not out from the source of woman, but woman out from the source of man (1 Cor. 11:8).

“For” (GAR — an epexegetical explanation) is used to begin a parenthesis and to amplify what has just been said. This verse not only states the order of creation, but the order of right man right woman at the point of origin. There was an elapse of time before woman came along. Man existed first, and that is the point of his having short hair and the woman’s having long hair the recognition of his authority and of the first great grace gift from Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ violently pulled the rib out from the man, and in all her glory ISHAH came violently and passionately back to ISH!

For also man was not created because of the woman; but woman because of man (1 Cor. 11:9).

The woman was created for the man. Whatever man lacks in shortness of hair, she makes up for it, and although man is the authority, he is incomplete. A general may be in command, but he is incomplete without a army. So man, “wearing his rank on his head,” is incomplete without ISHAH. God did a very humorous thing: He put long hair on the woman to remind man that, while he has authority over her, he is nothing without her. He is a little short on hair to remind him that he’s a little short without woman — God’s right woman for him — God’s grace package in flesh form! The greatest form of human happiness for a woman is to be fulfilled by her right man, and the greatest in human happiness for a man is to be completed by his right woman. There is nothing to compare with this happiness outside of the spiritual realm.

HAIR: THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

Because of this the woman ought to have authority (of her right man) upon the head because of the angels (1 Cor. 11:10).

EXZOUSIA, mistranslated “power,” is always “authority,” and it is always used in grace principle. It is used here for right man right woman. It is used in John 1:12 for salvation:

But as many a received him, to them gave he AUTHORITY (EXZOUSIA] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

“Because of this” — because the woman was designed for right man . . . because of Category Two love . . . because the man has authority over the woman . . . because the woman is an empty vessel designed to respond to the right man — the woman ought to wear the badge of her design on her head! God designed her head to be covered with the sign that the man is her authority. Her head is veiled with long hair; his head has short hair to show that he is HEAD over the woman!

Extreme shortness of hair on the woman is often a sign of soul kink, some hang-up. It represents mental attitude sins, reversionism or reverse process reversionism, which are the great enemies of the right man—right woman relationship. In the practice of reverse process reversionism, the woman fornicates with inconsequential persons. She responds to the wrong man — “operation nymphomania”; she goes for women” — operation lesbianism”; with animals” — operation bestiality,” or she responds to herself” — operation masturbation.” These are all manifestations of reversionism and are perversions of Category Two love. This is why a woman condemned under these conditions had her hair publicly shaved in the ancient world.

There’s a time in a girl’s life when almost anything that wears trousers looks good. Theoretically she gets over that; but all of her life she’s going to see men that are attractive to her for one reason or another. That isn’t why a woman wears long hair a she is not at the disposal of any man who is attractive to her. There is only one man who is her right man, and that’s it — period! A doctrinally oriented woman with long hair is saying, “I recognize the grace of God. He has given me a man. I am an empty vessel without this man. There is only one man that can fulfill me. There is only one man who can turn me on (the ‘burning’ of 1 Cor. 7:9) or who

can turn me into a true woman only one — not a dog, not another woman, not the wrong man, and not even an angel!” These are pseudo-lovers!

A woman should wear her hair long as a reminder to angelic creation as well as to the human race. Women are designed for men of the human race only — not for angels. Why? Our first clue is found in Genesis 6:19. The angels had been observing the woman and “clipped” over her. Finally, when there was an excess of women during the period before the flood, the angels decided to get into the picture. At that time the angels had the capability of cohabitation and e able to produce children by means of angelic infiltration into the human race. These children became the great super heroes of the ancient world, the heroes of Greek and Roman mythology. These supermen — such as Castor and Pollox, Achilles, Hercules, etc. — all had human mothers and “gods” for fathers.

The fact that the women submitted to the angels indicates that these women were “wearing their hair too short”; they failed to recognize what God had provided! Of course, the time before the flood was one of the greatest periods of apostasy in human history. God put a stop to the cohabitation of angels after Genesis 6 so that Satan would never be able to use that strategy again; however, the principle remains because of the angelic conflict. Before the flood, the tong hair on the woman was to remind angels that women were off limits to them. After the flood, it’s to remind angels of God’s grace in the woman’s function in this stage of the angelic conflict.

THE FULFILLMENT OF RIGHT MAN RIGHT WOMAN

Besides, neither woman apart from man, nor man apart from woman, by the Lord (1 Cor. 11:11).

This is a very interesting verse. There are no verbs; hence, there is great emphasis on this point of doctrine. “Besides” is an adverb designed to qualify man’s authority over the woman. What is the qualificaton? Man’s authority over his right woman was never designed to be a tyranny, but a mutual fulfillment. When two become one — right man—right woman — they are totally dependent upon each other. They will never be anything without the other again. Each sex is incomplete without the other. But notice, this is not just a hit-or-miss thing, because one more point is added: “by means of the Lord.” It is the Lord’s design! The only exception to this is the gift or the consecration of celibacy under the principle of supreme sacrifice, as in the case of the Apostle Paul.

For just as the woman out from the source of man, even so also the man through the woman. But the all things out from the source of God (1 Cor. 11:12).

Just as before the Fall man was incomplete without his right woman, so after the Fall man cannot exist without the woman. Since the Fall, man owes his origin, his existence and his fulfillment to womankind. First there is his mother — Divine Institution Number Three. Then the time comes when the man leaves his father and mother to go to his right woman. Man’s fulfillment from the source of his right woman is part of Divine Institution Number Two. One of the greatest problems in marriage is NOT the woman who “goes home to mother,” but the “boy” who never cuts the umbilical cord!

The “all things out from the source of God” here are parents and right man—right woman, but the emphasis is on the “all things” in the life of a man — his mother and his right woman. This is something which is absolutely fantastic – a grace gift from God to the human race. The only thing that keeps a man from becoming an animal in his life — his mother and his right woman! With few exceptions, to all of history no man was ever a man without the training of his mother and the fulfillment of his right woman.

This ends the parenthesis, and verse 13 takes us back to the subject of the short hair of the man and the long hair of the woman.

THE DISCERNMENT OF DOCTRINE

Discern by means of yourselves, is it proper for a woman unveiled to pray to God? (1 Cor. 11:13).

Here we n appeal to common sense. Common sense is not common to the human race. It is actually the bridge between God’s revelation and knowledge of doctrine which we have assimilated through the grace apparatus for perception. “Discernment” is the application of Biblical common sense to the situation.

Now women like to be proper. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God unveiled? And here’s that rare word again — AKATAKALUPTOS — something that hangs down so that it hides the face. In other words, is it proper to pray without long hair? If a woman has her hair cut above her ears, it is usually a sign that she has already rejected God’s order and design. Therefore, if she is in rebellion toward God, common sense tells you that her prayers not be answered!

Both common sense and propriety demand longer hair on a woman, n matters what she is doing. Her long hair, as we have seen in verse 7, is her glory; it is her recognition of divine provision. This is her submission to God while she waits for Him to bring her to the man of His design at the right time under the right conditions. If the woman does not recognize God’s authority, she will never recognize the authority of her right man. Here is where her relationship to God and her relationship to her right man meet. The woman who has scar tissue, emotional revolt, reversionism and negative volition toward doctrine does not have the capacity for either Category One love (illustrated here by prayer) or Category Two love. Some men are intolerant of their wives’ attending Bible class. But by bucking the tiger in this respect, they are destroying her capacities and their own authority. So Bible doctrine becomes important as the means of recognizing the principle of right man—right woman. Because of this danger, the next verse switches to the male. In effect, there are two witnesses against a man’s having long hair — Bible doctrine and nature.

THE DEMONSTRATION OF NATURE

Does not even nature (in addition to doctrine) communicate to all of you that if a man wears long hair, it is a dishonor to him? (1 Cor. 11:14).

“Nature” means God’s laws in the natural realm. Just as God has laws of establishment in the human realm, so God has laws with regard to nature. The term “nature” is really a misnomer. The Greek word PHUSIS refers to the laws of the function of nature within a species, which also vary within the species. Here we are talking about Homo sapien — mankind. The fact that a woman with long hair naturally looks like a woman and a man with short hair looks like a man is the principle which is being taught here.

But there is also another principle: in the animal kingdom, the male has the beauty; he has the mane or the ruff or the bright feathers. In Homo sapiens it is the antithesis. The man was never designed to be beautiful He can be attractive or even handsome, but it is the female who has the beauty. A lot of you men are fat-headed about the way you look, but how you look doesn’t mean a thing. It’s how the woman looks that counts. Why? It’s the woman who completes you, and her beauty is a part of it. I have never seen a male who thought he was handsome who had the capacity to love or to satisfy his right woman. He’s too busy primping and strutting like a peacock!

Both nature and doctrine coincide in the area of right man and right woman. The differences in the male and the female body are nature’s demonstration of this principle. Desires of soul and body are another testimony of nature. Nowhere is a third: long hair is out of place on the head of the man. Only under certain extreme circumstances, such as prolonged battlefield conditions, is long hair not a dishonor to the man. If a man wears long hair regardless of fashion, regardless of the period of history it is always a dishonor to him. It is dishonorable because the man is wearing the woman’s badge of submission! Long hair on a man is a result of the condition of his soul — scar tissue, emotional revolt and reversionism — just as extremely short hair is on a woman. Furthermore, it is a sign of a feminine soul in the man, as well as rebellion against God’s design—against God’s perfect divine law—and against the first grace gift ever given to the human race.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF WOMAN’S LONG HAIR

But if a woman wears long hair, it is a glory to her, because her hair has been given to her instead of a veil (covering) (1 Cor. 11:15).

We now have a contrast between the short hair of the man and the long hair of the woman. When a man wears long hair, it’s a disgrace; but when a woman wears long hair, it’s a veil of honor a sign of her recognition of God’s provision of a right man. “If,” in both verses 14 and 15, is a third class condition and recognizes the volition of both male and female. A woman can cut her hair just as a man can let his grow long.

“But if a woman wears long hair, it is a glory to her.”

The next phrase is very important as it stands in the Greek text. The veil or covering is a literal veil, a hat, a bonnet, or anything that a woman might put on her head. “To her” is the dative of advantage. It is to her advantage to receive her right man, to complete him. She fulfills him as he fulfills her; and her long hair is not only beautiful, but it represents her positive volition toward her right man, her capacity to love, her freedom from mental attitude sins, scar tissue, emotional revolt, reversionism, and the perversions of reverse process reversionism.

“Her hair has been given” again emphasizes the first gift of Jesus Christ to the human race; and it is in the perfect tense, indicating the permanence of this principle. From the Garden to the end of the Millennium, the principle of the woman’s long hair is always the same. It is the sign, just as the rainbow in the sky is a sign. The rainbow means that God will never again destroy the earth by flood, while the long hair of the woman demonstrates that God has provided in every generation a right man for a right woman.

However, it is not “FOR a covering” but, “INSTEAD OF a covering [or a veil].” And this is where the legalists have had it! her HAIR has been given to her instead of a covering! God has never laid down any rules for women to wear hats! This has merely become a custom. Obviously there was a time when the wearing of veils was a good thing in many ways; but it was still unnecessary, according to God’s standards. Every an has been given glory by God, and even nature demonstrates the point!

But if anyone presumes to be contentious (rejecting authority), we have not this kind of a custom — neither the churches of God (1 Cor. 11:16).

Of course, there are always rebels, as in verse 16, and they can be male or female. Those who have scar tissue or are in emotional revolt or reversionism and who reject authority, become contentious or quarrelsome. Paul puts them down by stating flatly that there is no such custom as wearing some kind of headgear in church. Thank God we have such a passage because of the erroneous idea that women must wear hats or veils in church! This bas come from a misinterpretation of this passage or imply because ladies have been taught that a “proper lady” wears a hat in church. Hats are not desirable in church for several reasons — visibility, concentration, and even the danger of mental attitude sins of competition with other women. The church is no place for anything but the glory of the Lord, and the glory of the Lord is overtly demonstrated in two ways in this passage: by man’s short hair, in contrast to the woman’s long hair, and by the Communion Table which 1 Corinthians 11 goes on to explain.

But our study switches to a negative aspect, as found in Proverbs 5, where we see the problem of pseudo-love.

DOCTRINE, GUARDIAN OF THE SOUL AND BODY

In my opinion, the man who translated Proverbs 5 was so sheltered he never saw a woman! You will see why when we get into the translation. I am sure that for some of you the literal translation of this passage will be a shock; but I have to tell you what’s really here, and I’m not going to pull any punches! It’s the Word of God — and it’s life; so we might as well face reality and learn what God has for us here. It may save some of you greater shock later on!

My son, concentrate on doctrine; extend your ear to my understanding (Prov. 5:1).

“My son” indicates that Solomon has recorded the doctrine which his father, David, taught him. David made a few mistakes himself, and of course he didn’t want Solomon to repeat them although Solomon did repeat David’s mistakes a thousand times. Now, how are you going to learn? The ear is an organ of learning. To “extend the ear” means “to accept my (David’s) authority as a teacher.” The mother teaches the son up to a certain age; then the father must begin to teach things to the young m as David did to Solomon. The word for “understanding” refers to the application of doctrine to the life — so LEARN and then APPLY!

To guard against divisiveness; as for knowledge, that your lips may guard it (Prov. 5:2).

“Divisiveness” is in the feminine gender; therefore, we know this is a warning to guard against the divisiveness of a reversionistic woman — the wrong woman, who can lure the man into fornication and min him for his right woman. The thought is broken in the second half of the verse, and he goes back to doctrine. There are two different words for “guard” in this verse: SHAMAR, the first word, m “to guard your soul.” The second word, NATSAR, is “to guard physically, to guard your body.” Every man must guard his soul and his body and therefore preserve them for his right woman. When you put the first two verses together, they tell us that every

n must guard his soul and his body through BIBLE DOCTRINE. Taking in doctrine and learning its application is the greatest way to wait for the right woman or the right

THE DEVISIVE WOMAN

For distilled honey (intoxicating sweetness) drips from the lips of her that is loathsome [reversionistic] and smoother (more flattering) than oil is the inside of her mouth (Prov. 5:3).

Here is the description of the devisive or wrong woman. This kind of woman knows how to lead a man on. Her words are as the sweetness of honey dripping from the lips. She has a way with words that sets him on fire. This is why he has to be alert in his soul. His soul has to be protected from this doll. There is one part of the woman’s body that is always visible to the man under circumstances of intimacy, and that’s her mouth. But the Hebrew word means “the inside of the mouth.” Today we would call such intimacy the “French kiss.” In other words, she hadn’t talked very long before they were French kissing! Her kisses were nice, but deceitful!

But the latter end of her becomes bitter like wormwood — sharp as a two-edged sword (Prov. 5:4).

We’re not filled in on all the details, but we understand that the intimacy ended in fornication. This is saying that the consequence of sex with her is the bitter curse of wormwood. Why is it bitter when it started out to be so much fun? She is not his right woman! He is not her right man! Wormwood is a poisonous plant found in Palestine. Although it has a bitter taste, it was used as a drug because it apparently had some kind of exhilarating effect. The users chewed it to get “high.” Of course it was fun while it was being chewed, but it always left a terrible hangover. It poisoned the body!

The plant represents bitterness, sorrow and calamity (Cf. Lam. 3:15, 19; Amos 5:7). It was used in connection with reversionism in the practice of the phallic cult” in Deuteronomy 29:18; Jeremiah 9:15; and 23:15. In other words, the affair has a bitter ending. David is saying to Solomon, “Wait, wait, wait, boy!” Solomon says, “Sure, sure, Dad!” And he goes right out and gets involved with many wrong women reversionistic women (1 Kgs. 11:18).

This type of woman is an inconsequential person to a man. He should be waiting for someone wonderful. And to the extent that he fools around this way, it will be bitter, bitter, bitter! It may destroy his capacity for right woman and vice versa. Let’s remember, this is always a two-way street. When the wrong woman or the wrong man gets his hooks into you whether you are male or female, it’s like being stabbed with a very short sword; it’s like being poisoned!

PATHWAY TO DESTRUCTION

Her seductive feet are going down to death; her sexy, mincing steps embrace the grave (Pro, 5:5).

This woman has just wrecked a man; now we follow her down the pathway to destruction. The ladies in the ancient world did not display as much of the body as do ladies in our day. Their heads and their feet were about all that were visible. I dare say that few men today are turned on by a woman’s feet. But in those days a woman’s feet were one of her methods of seduction, and her feet used for seduction were going down to death, MAWETH. MAWETH is derived from a Hebrew verb which means “to stretch like a corpse.” This is a description of the sin unto death. She isn’t going to hell, as it says in the English. “My son” a believer; the

woman is a believer. This will head off at the pass those of you who think that promiscuity is practiced only by unbelievers.

“Her steps” connotes a sexy walk as a “come-on.” These women usually wore ornamental ankle chains and tiny bells to call attention to their sexy steps. But get this: her sexy walk EMBRACES THE GRAVE. Every time she embraces a man who is not her right man, every time she fornicates, she s taking another step toward getting in bed with the grave.

That’s actually what it is saying. It’s very humorous! She prides herself on how great she is on her back, so she is going to wind upon her back in wooden box! No woman can afford promiscuity, nor can a man. God has designed something wonderful for those who wait. Those who don’t wait lose something wonderful. Even if they find their right man or right woman, they have a difficult time. Their reputation breeds suspicion and it produces mental attitude sins.

This passage is particularly applicable to you single people who are still waiting. Just keep on waiting! No one ever gains by fornicating around. After all, you re waiting for something that’s the quintessence of human happiness.

You’re waiting for something that God provided for you in eternity past.

WARNING AND ADVICE

Perhaps you should consider her manner of lives (instability and unfaithfulness); her manner of life avers back and forth you do not know her (Prov. 5:6).

“Perhaps,” David continues to warn Solomon, “you should take so academic advice while you still have a chance — you should consider her manner of lives. Before you get taken in by this beautiful, attractive, seductive doll, you’d better remember that she has had many lovers, many acts of social, mental and sexual unfaithfulness. She’s gone to bed with fifty men, and you’re fifty-one! What makes you think you’re so special? You’re not her right man; you’re just another victim, another sucker. You’re another ‘wormwood’ in the making, and she’s another step closer to an affair with the grave. You just help her along!”

“Her manner of life is a dead end. She’s full of scar tissue. She has no capacity to love you. She’ll say all the right words to turn you n; but she has you so fooled and faked out that you think you’re the greatest thing in the world. But you don’t understand her. She’s already looking past you to the next conquest.” Now you se where the father’s teaching becomes necessary. The mother brings in respect for womanhood. Then the father tempers it with his wisdom.

Listen to me now sons, and do not depart (deviate) from the words of my mouth (Prov. 5:7).

Although David is speaking to his sons, it is also the Holy Spirit speaking through David to all believers (2 Sam. 23:2). And I want you to remember that as we get into this next section. God the Holy Spirit has seen fit to enlighten us with regard to the first great grace gift, and He has done so in very plain and lucid language. If you tend toward prudishness or asceticism and think this is too personal, YOU are out of line! Every jot and tittle of the Word of God is the THINKING OF JESUS CHRIST — and don’t you forget it!

Sex between right man and right woman is a grace gift from Jesus Christ. There’s nothing bad about it; it’s good! It’s great! There was never a grace gift that was wrong or bad or that must be treated in a hush-hush manner. The first grace gift had to come in order for a greater grace gift to come. The incarnation of Jesus Christ could not occur until we have woman, who gives birth to children and has all the accouterments for it! I want you to understand that we are dealing with the Word of God; we are dealing with doctrine and with grace principles. There’s just as much grace in sex as there is in the food on your table.

AVOID TEMPTATION

Get you way of life far away from over above her, and do not come near the door of her house (Prov. 5:8).

“From over above her” is one of the ways of describing the sex act. In other words, remove your sex life from her vicinity! Don’t even approach the door of her house. Why not?

Lest you give your glory [sex] to the pseudos, and your years [of sexual vigor] to the cruel or vindictive [reversionistic woman] (Prov. 5:9).

David is anxious for his sons to wait for their right women. Each will face temptations which will cause them to deviate from this principle. It’s important that they stay on the main track. Otherwise, sex becomes an idol, as we will see in verses 21 and 22, and every affair is a chain or a cord binding them to this idol. Verse 9 begins with the word “lest” to head you off at the pass a warning to avoid an affair with the wrong woman while it is still only a temptation. Whenever you find “glory” in Scripture, it is something that belongs to God and that God shares only through grace.

You never earn it. “Glory” here is man’s ability to fulfill a woman sexually. But watch it — ONE WOMAN! The glory of the man is his RIGHT WOMAN. When he provides sex for his right woman, she becomes gloriously animated. She is glorious! The right woman is designed to be insatiable, and her right man is the only person who has the key to her lock; he is the only person who has the ability to satisfy and fulfill her — soul and body. Every time a man gets in bed with a wrong woman, he has given his glory to someone else — not to his right woman. Now you may think that you’re a sex athlete and God’s gift to women, and that you have enough glory to pass around to every woman in the world! If you do, God’s Word says you’ve had it! Now listen, men, your glory, your sex all of it belongs to one woman not to several, not to a boy, not to an animal, and not to yourself! One woman!

Time is usually measured in days, but time wasted in fornication is called “years.” When you give your glory to a reversionistic woman, this type of woman is vindictive and will take the glory and turn it to bitterness. This is known as “operation boomerang.” But when you give your glory to the right woman, she REFLECTS your glory. Her long hair is the sign that she’s designed to do so.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF PROMISCUITY

Lest promiscuous women become satiated with you vigor, and your earthen vessel shattered in a whorehouse (Prov. 5:10).

And you groan in distress at your end, when your flesh (body) and your phallus are ruined (Prov. 5:11).

The word translated “strangers” in your English Bible is the word we are going to see frequently throughout the rest of the passage. The stranger here is the woman who is promiscuous, who is a chippie or a whore, who is just “free and easy.” Remember, the woman is insatiable; and when an insatiable woman latches on to the wrong man, he is squandering his wealth or vigor by satiating a promiscuous woman. This has to do with sexual performance. It can be translated academically, “Lest adulteresses be satiated with your sex performance.”

This section is emphasizing the male, but the “vessel” can refer to either the male or female body. The man who gives his body to a whore has shattered it for his right woman, and vice versa. He kept taking his earthen vessel — his human body — to a whorehouse or its equivalent, until finally one day it had wasted away. And what does he do? He groans in distress when his body functions fail. For the male, the end result of fornication is frustration, unhappiness and finally, impotence. The female either becomes a nymphomaniac and is totally indiscriminate, or she becomes completely and totally frustrated to the point that she is regarded as sexless. Both the general health and the genital system are adversely affected by sex with the wrong man or wrong woman.

And say [groan], Eck, I have hated disciplinary warning, and my right lobe despised and ridiculed corrective punishment (Prov. 5:12).

Now we get to the death cry of the roe. He cries, “Eeeek!” That’s the screeching of the brakes as the whole gear box falls apart. It’s like the final wailing trumpet of the bull elephant as he leaves the herd and goes off alone to die. Now the roue had a warning or two, but he refused to listen. He rejected discipline and authority under the principle of the laws of divine establishment. And here is a young man whose parental and pastoral warnings not only went unheeded but were ridiculed.

And I have not listened and obeyed the voice of my instructors, nor concentrated on the message of those who have taught me (Prov. 5:13).

Connecting this with the foregoing verses, the point he is making is that if people would use the organ of perception, they would use the organ of sex to better advantage. But Solomon, who wrote this after it had been fulfilled, admittedly failed.

Shortly I was in all evil in both the worship assembly and in the function of the nation (Prov. 5:14).

“In all evil” refers to his reversionism plus the practice of reverse process reversionism in Category Two love — hence, Solomon’s promiscuity. Why was he in this situation? Because he had refused to listen to his pastor and his teachers in the worship assembly, as well as to the instruction of his n father. Negative volition toward doctrine led to scar tissue, emotional revolt and reversionism. This, in turn, led to the rejection of the principle and doctrine of right man right woman. The inevitable result was fornication and promiscuity. As far as the function of the nation was concerned, Solomon was the king, and it is difficult for a people to rise above the failure and apostasy of its leadership.

The rest of this chapter is vitally important to the doctrine of right man—right woman; yet it is so poorly translated and so obscured by anachronism that it’s almost impossible for anyone to derive the intended blessing from this passage as it stands in the Authorized Version. It is intended not only to emphasize the first of the three great gifts from God the Son — right man—right woman — but also to ward off its many dangers and enemies. The fact that God has designed one right man for one right woman does not guarantee automatic happiness or that everyone will find his right woman or right man. Therefore, in verse 15 we have an analogy which is always used in connection with grace gifts.

THE PROHIBITION OF ADULTERY

Drink waters of pleasure from your own cistern, and flowing waters from your own well (Prov. 5:15).

First of all, there is a command to drink water. Water, as an analogy of grace, is used three ways in the Word of God. Here, water is the RIGHT WOMAN. Water in Isaiah 55:1 is SALVATION. Water in Ephesians 5:26 is DOCTRINE. And once again we have the three great grace gifts from God to man. The command to drink indicates that all grace gifts must be received. However, this word literally means “to drink and enjoy it” or “to drink and have your thirst quenched.” It has a meaning of living it up in a good sense. In this context, it is used for the man who is sexually thirsty for his right woman. His thirst is quenched, and he is gratified in his relationship with her. This is one of the greatest happinesses of life. All of the great happinesses of life are related to the gifts of grace.

“Waters of pleasure” is plural because there are many acts of sexual relationship between right man and right woman. But please notice: “from your OWN WELL.” There are many acts of “drinking,” but one well — one right woman. A cistern, in Hebrew phraseology, refers to a covered well (cf. 2 Kgs. 18:31). The right woman is covered to everyone else. Who pulls the cover off the well? Only the right man. She is designed to be appreciated by on man only. Therefore, the right woman should be discreet in her dress. You can always tell a woman who isn’t a right woman — she’s advertising! A right woman who is satisfied isn’t concerned with displaying herself; and while she dresses as tastefully as possible, obviously she does not try to attract other men with her dress. A woman who is flirty, who wears her clothing a little too short or cut a little too low, is obviously not a “cistern.” She is on the prowl, and she is easily detected by those with doctrine or discernment.

The second phrase, “flowing waters,” repeats the same principle. However, this time, since the water running, the well is not covered. So we have a different Hebrew word. The first word indicates the outside — the well is covered. But where the right man is, the well is NOT COVERED. The “flowing waters” describe the sex response of a woman to her right man. “Flowing” has another beautiful connotation. When you are in the water, it always accommodates itself perfectly to your body. That’s the key here. In divine design there is a perfect physical coalescence. Divine design programmed the right woman fox the right man only. Therefore, ADULTERY IS PROHIBITED. If either man or woman fornicates under reverse process reversionism, they destroy their programming.

A third analogy from this verse is that as the waters flow to slake the thirst of man, so the sexual response of the woman gives complete satisfaction. Nothing really quenches the thirst like plain, cool water; and no matter how plain a woman may appear overtly, she was designed by God to satisfy the thirst of one man. Once again, David is trying to teach Solomon: wait for your right woman; she is the only one who can slake your thirst!

A fourth analogy is that when anyone swallows cool or cold water, the body heat immediately takes care of it. By the time it reaches the stomach, it is warmer than it was before; it adjusts itself to the body temperature. Just so, in the relationship between right man and right woman, the woman also satisfied; however, the danger is that if she enters into fornication or adultery, she becomes dissatisfied and frustrated. In her frustration, she is willing to give herself to anyone in the hope that just around the corner there will be some man who will satisfy her physically. She is trying to find divine design, but she’s going about it in the wrong way. It’s like the water jumping out of the well and splashing itself on every stranger who walks by. A well is not designed to do that. The water waits in the well for the one who has a right to drink there. If the water is all splashed out through fornication, by the time the right one comes along, there is nothing in the well but sand; and I have never seen anyone yet who was satisfied with a bucket of sand when he wanted water!

There is a further analogy of this principle in Song of Solomon 4:12: “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.” The “fountain sealed” is a virgin. Here is a woman who is holding all of her water for the quenching of the thirst of her right man. In these days of apostasy, we have the new sex movement in which you are supposed to experiment or shop around until you find what you want. But the Word of God teaches that this destroys the programming for right man—right woman, and that the greatest relationship between right m and right woman when both of them have waited. This eliminates hang-ups and problems, and their relationship becomes a very beautiful thing.

Another verse, which is closely related to the analogy in Proverbs 5:15, is found in Proverbs 23:27: “For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.” It is impossible to get water out of a deep ditch; therefore, the person who goes to the deep ditch or the narrow pit for the alleviation of thirst never succeeds. In other words, a person who goes to a whore to satisfy his libido is not going to have his soul thirst satisfied. The water cannot be reached.

It was also dangerous to drink from open ditches. The water was polluted. Therefore, not only does one not receive the quenching of thirst from the deep ditch, but one might pick up disease. By analogy, of course, this would be venereal disease. It was safe to drink only from your cistern, which was a covered storage for rainwater, or to drink running water, which was pure. Even though a man and a woman thrown together under the circumstances of prostitution might have been programmed for each other, reverse process renders them incapable of knowing this. The whore has made what water she had for her right man unavailable to him, and he has spent so much time exploiting sex, they simply become “ships that pass in the night.” Both of them have destroyed that wonderful thing which is one of the greatest happinesses in life. When God forbids adultery, He’s not being unkind. He’s trying to save something that is really great for every one of you!

“Thine own well” means the right woman that God has designed for you only. Every time you go to another well, you are trying to make it your own. You are trying to program that well to you — to manufacture your right woman out of everyone with whom you fornicate. You will never slake your thirst at anyone else’s well. Many a man goes through life being totally frustrated because he’s drinking at everyone else’s well (Prov. 9:17, 18). Remember, like the other grace gifts, sex must be understood within the framework of divine design. The One who designed these things for our happiness also set up some laws and boundaries. The laws of divine establishment contain laws for sex. This is what is being brought out.

The “well of water” which belongs to you must be regarded as one of the highest things on you scale of values. In the Biblical scale of values, number one is salvation, then Bible doctrine, and third, right man or right woman. Anyone who finds his right woman must consider himself extremely wealthy (Prov. 31:10). There are possessions more important than money, and this is one of them. While people in the tent world knew very little about money or attached little importance to it, one thing was valued above all else, and that as the well (John 4:12). When moving or traveling, the Jews always stopped by a well. They lived by a well. There is a sense in which a right man must live by the well his right woman. She should be more important to him than anything anyone else in the world, with the exception of salvation and doctrine.

THE MAN’S AGGRESSIVENESS

Your fountains shall not overflow (to other women), in the streets a dividing of the waters (Prov. 5:16).

I want you to notice a change from the previous verse. There the water referred to the wan. But in this verse the fountains are gushing waters and are a picture of the male sex drive. In the well and in the cistern the water lies placid, but what does it do in a fountain? It bubbles up and down, up and down. The water becomes very turbulent, and this indicates the right woman’s extreme, beautiful, glorious passion. What stirs it up? A fountain — the force of water. It is the man who is thirsty; it is the woman who is stirred up. How does the man relieve his thirst? By drinking from the well. That means the woman satisfies the man. How is she satisfied?

By the sexual ability of the male to elicit response from his right woman. In other words, no woman is placid when her right man is making love to her. She s a storm of passion!

“Your fountain (sex with your right woman) shall not overflow” — that is, to others. This is a prohibition of adultery or fornication, or in homosexuality. When a man’s fountain, designed for his right woman, overflows to others and the male sex aggressiveness goes into fornication, then it divides into streets. “Streets” refer to social life. Any group organization is destroyed when there is a sharing of one well. There is social confusion. The higher the adultery index in a national entity, the m confusion there is. A nation of fornicators is a nation divided. They will never be able to get together to defend their nation or anything else.

Let them [yours acts) be for your one and only, and not for a reversionistic, promiscuous woman (Prov. 5:17).

Every time a man fornicates, he sells his birthright of wonderful happiness with his right woman for a mess of pottage. What’s moll, he has tampered with God’s design. No one-night stand with some attractive female is ever going to do anything but destroy (Prov. 6:32). Only her right man is programmed to satisfy her physically and to quench the thirst of her soul at the same time, resulting in a happiness so beautiful that only those who have been there can really understand it.

THE BLESSING OF RIGHT MAN RIGHT WOMAN RELATIONSHIP

Your fountain shall be permanently blessed; therefore, take pleasure in the woman of your vigor (Prov. 5:18).

“Fountain” refers again to the sexual aggresses of the right man toward his right woman. The next two verbs form a periphrastic to emphasize the permanence of happiness in the relationship of right man—right woman, even under adverse circumstances. This verse must be regarded in the light of the previous verse. Your sex life will be blessed only when you take pleasure in the RIGHT WOMAN of your sexual vigor. The right woman is described in the next verse. An amorous, sexy doe (symmetry conforms perfectly to right man’s body), a wild she-goat of grace. Her breasts shall intoxicate you at all times; you shall always wander (up and down her body) in the area of her love (Prov. 5:19).

The doe was known in Palestine for its symmetry and beauty. Therefore, the doe represents the symmetry and the beauty of the right woman as the right man sees her. As he observes her beauty and symmetry, he is aroused to many acts of love. The next description, “a pleasant roe,” a female goat or ibex – “a wild she-goat.” This does not sound romantic to us. But the ancients observed that the wild she-goat was very expressive during the sex act and therefore was apparently quite satisfied. The word for “pleasant” is literally “grace” — wild she-goat of grace. This indicates her magnificent wild passion in response to her right man sexually. What is even more interesting is that the word for she-goat, JAALAH, has as its root a verb JAEL, which means “to help, to profit, to benefit.” This is the same concept we saw in Genesis 2. The right woman is a help, benefit and profit to the right man. Therefore, the wild she-goat of grace connotes the benefit of grace. Again this emphasizes the three grace gifts from Jesus Christ.

We now come to her breasts. This is one of those rather strange words in the Hebrew — a double D — that’s all. To pronounce it, you have to put in a vowel, so you have “DAD.” So this letter “D” in the dual form, plus the vowel, means the woman’s breasts. The word translated “satisfy” is RAWAH, which has several meanings; but it is in the piel stem here and means “to be intoxicated with.” “Her breasts shall intoxicate you at all times.” The woman’s breasts represent her sexual response.

The last phrase, “you will always wander up and down her body in the area of her love,” brings out the principle that anything to which both right man and right woman agree is permissible. There is no such thing as perversion in anything that they do in their sex life together and to which both agree. But make sure it’s your right woman!

And why, my son, should you wander up and down the body of a promiscuous woman, and embrace the genitals of a nymphomaniac? (Prov. 5:20).

Now the question in verse 20 indicates that David knew Solomon had a wandering, roving spirit; and although at a much later time, Solomon recorded it under the ministry of the Holy Spirit, he did not heed these words. He really blew it. The end of this verse is a prophecy about what happened to Solomon, as is the last phrase in the chapter, “the greatness of his folly.” Solomon’s failure reached a magnitude the like of which very few people have ever had the opportunity to experience. Solomon had one thousand affairs — seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Out of all of these, not one of them was his right woman!

THE PERFECT BALANCE

For before the eyes of the Lord the ways of man; he weighs all man’s tracks (Prov. 5:21).

“The ways of man” refers to the pattern and function of life, described by the context as sex with the wrong woman. This is a man who has violated the laws of divine establishment and rejected the principle of right man—right woman. In his own way, by means of his sexual prowess, he seeks to remold and to remake the laws of establishment. Such a man is blasphemous! He is saying in effect, “God designed one woman for me, but I don’t accept that. I can take any woman and reprogram her to respond to me.”

Now the Lord knew everything about every m and He knew it billions of years ago. The word translated “ponder” in the English actually means “to weigh in a balance scale.” The Lord weighs all of man’s tracks — every act of fornication with the wrong man or wrong woman. God designed right man and right woman to be a perfect balance. When that balance is achieved, each provides great human happiness for the other. The man fulfills the woman, and the woman completes the man. However, when one or the other fornicates, the scales are tipped. The man who has spent his adult life experimenting with the female of the species or practicing any form of perversion does not bring to his right woman all of himself, so they don’t balance. Her mental attitude sins plus his experience keep them off balance, and they do not derive the pleasure they otherwise would. In fact, that’s on way right man and right woman can blow out their great capacity. God puts them on an even scale, but when they do things that upset the balance, they must reap what they sow. God doesn’t actually discipline them right then and there. His judgment is simply allowing the inevitable consequences to take effect — unhappiness and self-induced misery.

THE SLAVERY OF PROMISCUITY

His own perversions will trap him with a reversionistic woman, and he shall be seized and bound with the chains (ropes) of his own feminine idol (Prov. 5:22).

Anything that rejects the grace gift is a deviation from the norm and therefore perversion. The norm is the principle of right man—right woman. The perversion of this principle as we have seen, is fourfold; adultery or fornication, homosexuality or lesbianism, autoerotism and bestiality. A man’s own perversions become a trap. Here is the balancing of the scale of divine judgment. When a reversionistic male fornicates with a reversionistic female, the scales of judgment are balanced instead of the scales of happiness. These two make each other miserable. They frustrate each other with their sex.

He is not only trapped, but notice, “he shall be bound with the chains of his own feminine idol.” The reversionistic male is binding himself to an idol which he has created with his phallus. The idol of man’s adulterous creation is not the right woman created by God! Why is sex said to be an idol? Man, in fornication, has intruded upon God’s grace and upon God’s design. Man can create neither God nor God’s design. What can man make and call it “God”? An idol. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 8:4, “We know that an idol is nothing.” Proverbs 5 says that promiscuous or adulterous man ends up with nothing. You can make love to an idol, but an idol will never satisfy you. Every sexual conquest is one more chain binding you to the idol of sex. Even if you find and marry your right woman, every time you get in bed with her, there are actually three people in bed — your idol, yourself and your right woman!

There is another danger. The man who has been prom us often winds up marrying the wrong person. He is tied, bound, chained — and that’s it. Along comes right woman but he’s had it! Now, maybe you are thinking, “I can cut the rope “ But the Word of God says you CANNOT cut the ropes. The fact that you are chained to the wrong one does not give you the right to jump out of marriage. So, if you thought you saw daylight, the door has just been slammed in your face! There are other doctrinal principles which can counteract your sins and failures — taking in doctrine under the daily function of “GAP,” erecting an edification complex and moving into supergrace.

He shall die without doctrine, and in the magnitude of his folly, he shall go astray (Pro,. 5:23).

“Death” here is physical death. It means that the promiscuous man dies without doctrine. The believer who misses both doctrine and right man or right woman because of reversionism is a “one-third believer.” He has lost two of the grace gifts. The only grace gift he can’t lose, of course, is salvation and eternal life. The “abundance [or magnitude] of his folly” refers to the whole realm of failure in reversion negative volition toward doctrine, scar tissue of the soul, emotional revolt and the practice of reverse process reversionism. These destroy the capacity for love, because capacity is n the soul. This man shall go astray — literally, “he shall wander up and clown.” This time it does not mean to wander up and down the woman’s body, but to wander up and down in life and never find the right woman — an Adam without his rib!

For you who are still in single bliss, the state of being single has a serious responsibility. Don’t make a mistake! Get the right one the FIRST time. Now, although right woman was the initial gift, the other two, salvation and doctrine, give wisdom, assurance and stability in finding and maintaining the first gift. While you are waiting, therefore, I cannot stress too often — KEEP TAKING IN DOCTRINE! Doctrine will protect you from disappointments and mistakes. Then at the right time God will bring along the right woman, and you will know her!

THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

When Jesus Christ looked at Adam before the woman was “built,” He said, “LO TOBH” — not good that man should be alone.” So Jesus Christ provided a right woman a partner for the first Adam. Grace takes care of aloneness, and a gracious gift was provided. The right woman canceled out “LO TOBH.”

Now it was not good that Jesus Christ should be alone on the Cross; but just as man had to be alone after he was created so that the grace gifts could come, so the Last Adam had to be alone so that the gift of salvation could come to mankind. While bearing our sins on the Cross, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit forsook Jesus Christ (Matt. 27:46). When Christ came out from the grave, He was alone in resurrection body. Today Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father ALONE. He is waiting for a Bride. As Christ gave Adam a right woman, so the Father gave the Son a “right woman,” the Church. The Bride, which is being prepared during the Church Age, is called a “Body” because it is being BUILT (Eph. 4:16).

The rib is comparable to positional truth: believers are IN CHRIST as the rib was in Adam. The rib was violently pulled out to be made into a bride for Adam. At the Rapture, the Church will be caught up from the earth (1 Thess. 4:16, 17), and the Body will become the Bride of Christ. The Father will present to the Son the Last Adam the Bride, the Body of Christ, just as Jesus Christ brought the woman to the first Adam. The Rapture is the presentation of the Bride in perfect resurrection body, without the old sin nature and without human good (Eph. 5:27).

Everything we have as believers is based on our relationship with the Lord, and many illustrations of our relationship with Him are taken from the principle of Category Two love. This is brought out every time the Church is described as the Bride with Jesus Christ as the Groom. In our relationship with the Lord, He is our Right Man, and we as believers are His “right woman” (Eph. 5:22-23). We have walked into a permanent love relationship with the Godhead. There never was a time when they did not love each other, when they did not have perfect capacity for each other. Jesus Christ took on the form of man so that we could have that perfect relationship with the Godhead. He provided eternal salvation, capacity to love Him, and every other benefit and blessing in life. But the realization of these blessings comes only through the knowledge of doctrine! Jesus Christ as your Right Man initiates and expresses His love for you in His Word. Do you respond to Him (Job 23:12)?

APPENDIX

DOCTRINE OF POLYGAMY

1. Polygamy was never authorized by the Word of God (Lev.

18: IS; Deut.. 17:17).

a. Polygamy is never the will of God.

b. Only man in reversionism or human viewpoint rationalism condones polygamy.

2. Polygamy is related to reversionism and is an expression of reversionism.

a. Found in line of Lamech because of reversionism (Gen. 4:19).

b. Jacob’s polygamy (Gen. 29) set a precedent for the Jews, but was not approved by God.

3. Polygamy violates the doctrine of right man-right woman.

a. By an act of volition a man can destroy his right woman.

b. Man is not designed for an intimate relationship with more than one woman.

4. Polygamy is a form of self-induced misery and unhappiness for man.

5. Monogamy is God’s order under the laws of divine establishment. It weakens a man to violate the laws of establishment .

6. Many great believers had one wife, therefore, understood the doctrine of right man right woman; e.g., Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, etc.

7. Trouble related to polygamy.

a. Concentration of jealousy of wives under o roof illustrated by Jacob’s wives (Gen. 2930) and Elkanah’s wives (1 Sam. 1:6, ff.).

b. Gideon’s polygamy caused trouble among his children (Judg. 9).

c. David’s polygamy compounded the problems in the children, and the discipline carried to the second generation (1 Chron. 3:19).

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

1. RIGHT MAN—RIGHT WOMAN: The concept that God has designed one specific man for one specific woman. Each member of the human race has a right opposite number, except in special cases where a person has the gift of celibacy.

2. OLD SIN NATURE: The “old man” of Ephesians 4:22; the Adamic nature or “flesh” of Romans 8:3, 4; the principle of “sin” of Romans 7:820. The OSN has a a of weakness which produces personal sins; an area of strength which produces human good; a lust pattern; and trends toward asceticism and lasciviousness.

3. DIVINE DECREES: The sum total of God the Father’s plan for the human race; making certain all things, including man’s freedom; designed in eternity past and centered to the Person of Jesus Christ as Savior (Eph. 1:46; 1 Pet. 1:20); based on the principle of grace (Eph. 2:8, 9).

4. RIGHT LOBE: The dominant lobe of the mentality of the soul, designated by the Greek word KARDIA (heart). The right lobe has four areas: frame of reference with memory center (final storage place for all knowledge and basis for learning new knowledge); conscience (norms and standards); vocabulary, in which categories are formed; viewpoint (use of vocabulary, conscience, frame of reference, leading to viewpoint of life on any give subject). The LEFT LOBE is called the “mind” (NOUS in the Greek), which is the perceptive lobe and a staging area.

5. DIVINE ESSENCE: The characteristics of deity; Sovereignty, Righteousness, justice, Love, Eternal Life, Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Immutability and Veracity.

6. LOVE, CATEGORIES OF: Category One toward God; Category Two toward right man or right woman; Category Three toward friends.

7. SCAR TISSUE: The concept of “hardening of the heart.” Negative volition toward God or Bible doctrine puts scar tissue on the soul; i.e., the heart becomes “hardened” toward God and doctrine. Promiscuity, drug addiction, alcoholism, o any other frantic search for happiness puts scar tissue on the soul; i. o capacity for soul activity with other people or with God.

8. EMOTIONAL REVOLT OF THE SOUL: Emotions dominating the mentality instead of responding to it. Contrary to the divine order whereby the heart or right lobe should control the soul.

9. REVERSIONISM: The loss of all or part of the Edification Complex of the soul through negative volition toward doctrine, scar tissue of the soul, emotional revolt and apostasy. In other words moving in reverse to God’s plan.

10. REVERSE PROCESS REVERSIONISM: The function of the reversionistic believer in which he rejects true objects of love and enters into pseudo-love fanaticism toward false inconsequential objects of love.

11. DIVINE ESTABLISHMENT, LAWS OF: Laws set up by God for the protection, orderly function and survival of the human race during the angelic conflict.

12. DIVINE INSTITUTIONS: Principles set up by God under the divine laws of establishment for the perpetuation of the human race; viz., volition, marriage, family, nationalism.

13. LEGALISM: Man’s futile attempts to gain salvation, spirituality, or the approbation of God through human good.

14. EDIFICATION COMPLEX OF THE SOUL: Immaterial “structure” In the soul of a mature believer; the foundation is doctrine stored in the human spirit. Composed of five “flours”: grace orientation; reed mental attitude; mastery of the details of life; capacity to love God, right r right woman and friends; inner happiness

15. SUPERGRACE: The final stage of spiritual growth beyond the Edification Complex of the soul; the normal Christian life and function of the priesthood. The place of maximum happiness and utilization of grace to either adversity or prosperity.

16. ANGELIC CONFLICT: Unseen conflict in which the forces of Satan are warring against the forces of God.

17. GRACE APPARATUS FOR PERCEPTION (GAP): The provision of God whereby EVERY believer can understand EVERY doctrine, regardless of education or human IQ.

18. MILLENNIUM: The last one thousand year of human history in which the Lord Jesus Christ will reign and produce perfect environment on the earth.

19. PHALLIC CULT: A system of religion, practiced in the groves, which involved idolatry and fornication in the worship of Baal and the other members of the Canaanisish pantheon (Ex. 34:12I6; Lev. 18; I Kgs. 14:15; 2 Chron. 33:3; Jet. 17:2, et al.).

20. SIN UNTO DEATH: Maximum discipline to the reversionistic believer whereby he is removed, before his time, from Phase Two without benefit of dying grace.