Listening to Wives: Lessons from Genesis
By Elizabeth Prata
In Genesis 3:17, we read that Adam listened to the voice of his wife.
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
The entire human race fell into sin with Adam’s disobedience- having listened tot he voice of his wife.
In Genesis 16:2 we read that Abraham listened to the voice of his wife.
So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. (Genesis 16:2).
The entire Arab world is forever fighting because of Ishmael, the result of Sarah’s scheme to get a boy child, who ended up being a wild donkey of a man who raised up his fist against everyone. (Genesis 16:12)
In Genesis 12:7 God told Abraham he would have offspring. In Genesis 15:5 God told Abraham he would have numerous descendants, and specifically that Eliezar would not be the heir. And yet Abraham disobeyed and listened to Sarah who connived a better plan, or so she thought.
The results of both men whom God Himself charged with listening to the voice of his wife, reverberates throughout history.
Now let’s get one thing clear. Women/wives are created to be a helpmeet. (Genesis 2:18). One of the ways they help husbands is that they give wise advice and have good opinions. Proverbs 31:26-27 is a verse admiring the wife precisely because “She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
The difference between Eve/Adam and Sarah/Abraham is that their counsel directly contradicted God’s. It was unwise and unkind, the opposite of the Proverbs wife. And the men listened.
I mean, in Genesis 15:5 Abraham heard that he’d have offspring, and in Genesis 15:6, the next verse it was counted to him as righteousness that he believed and trusted God. But Abraham succumbed to…something. Impatience? Sarah’s beauty? Masculine weakness? Who knows. But Abraham was charged by God as having listened to the voice of his wife, and not in a good way. Adam too.
Wives, please make sure you are not pressuring your husband to do things that arise from your own carnal desire, as Eve’s was. Nor should we create schemes and machinations to further our own personal agenda, as Sarah did. Be a Hannah, who loved her husband and waited on God and appealed to God (not her husband as Rebekah did) to open her womb. A Lois or Eunice, teaching the young John-Mark as they raised the boy to a man. Most importantly, be a Mary, who soaked up Jesus’ teaching every chance she got.
This is what makes a wise wife. A wife whose voice will help her husband and please God. When you open your mouth, is it in wisdom or folly?
