Welcome back, my friends. You are cordially invited to attend the wedding of Adam and the woman*. The wedding and reception will be held in the Garden of Eden at the beginning of time. We hope you’ll join us as we celebrate this joyous occasion.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said:
“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Genesis 2:21-25 (NRSV)
I like the way the ERV version of the Bible describes Adam’s reaction to the woman in verse 23:
“Finally! One like me, with bones from my bones and a body from my body. She was taken out of a man, so I will call her ‘woman’.”
I am sure that Adam was completely beside himself when God presented woman to him. Remember, in verse 20, Adam had just finished naming every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, however there was no helper found fit for him.
After Adam got over the shock of seeing literally the most beautiful woman on earth, what did he say? Did he say to God, “Thank you, Lord, for this woman. We will live together for a while until we get to know one other and make sure we are right for each other. Maybe we’ll even buy a house together and then we’ll think about getting married”?
No! He said to the woman: Will you marry me? In Genesis 2:24 we find a verse that is repeated during thousands of weddings
every year. “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (NRSV)
The first wedding and married couple on earth, and I’m sure God performed the ceremony. Do you imagine that Adam was dressed in his best tux and the woman was wearing a gown made by the angels? That wasn’t the case, as we learn in verse 25 — “And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.”
Why weren’t they ashamed as they walked naked through the garden? Their focus was on God, their creator, and not themselves. Adam and the woman were created perfectly and without sin so they didn’t experience shame like you and me. Unfortunately, that mindset would prove to be short-lived.
*Adam did not name his wife Eve until chapter 3, verse 20.
