Wives are like God? Part 2

I still remember when I did my first Hebrew word study on Genesis 2:18.  That was before I had blueletterbible.org, so I used Wilson’s Word Studies – sort of like a dictionary of Hebrew words in the Old Testament where you could find the definition of a Hebrew word, where else it was used and how it was used.

Can you imagine how stunned I was to find that the word most often translated helpmeet or helper suitable is the Hebrew word ezer and carries the further meaning as helper, as one helps or succours  the needy and destitute? Then came the biggest surprise: the word is primarily used of God, describing Him as the helper of Israel.  To say I was stunned is putting it mildly! I decided that if I really wanted to understand this word, I needed to think through the idea of God as a helper.

 I think this role of helper is based on some presumptions, especially when you think of God as a helper.  The helper had to be astute and perceptive enough to identify what the need really is.  It assumes also that the helper can and does meet the need – think of these usages of the word, Deut. 33:26 “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun who rideth upon the heaven in thy help   and in his excellency on the sky.” Or Psalm 121:2 “My help cometh from the LORD who made heaven and earth.” Or Psalm 146:5 “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help whose hope is in the LORD his God.”

Do you get the point?  Too often I think wives have the idea of help meet meaning picking up his socks, and cleaning the house, and making meals, and it may include all of those things.  But I think, especially when you consider it as a descriptor of God, that it means a whole lot more.  I think it means that she is to know her husband so well that she recognizes what he needs and is able to meet that need (because God made her to do so).  

So what does that look like in real life? It means that she takes the time to read his face and his body language and know when he needs her to encourage him, whether he needs encouragement through her physical touch, words of affirmation, or patient listening.  I think it means she recognizes when she needs to create a quiet space for him, when she needs to put aside her desire to vent, in light of the pain or fatigue he is experiencing.

It may mean that she does things to help him in his job or ministry – like looking out for helpful articles or books that might be useful to him.  It may mean that she entertains people because he needs to do that or those relationships.  It must mean that she gives him the respect that he needs to push on through hard times and the security that she will never leave him nor forsake him, no matter what.

To be a helper to her husband, she must think through how God would or has helped us, for we are certainly needy.  Then she must be alert to what her husband might need, and minister to him out of pure unconditional love, like God does. 

All of this turned an entirely new light on what it means to be a helper, at least for me it did.

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