So what did Adam call his wife? After God created Adam, He allowed him to name that animal (Genesis 2:19). Ox, goat, cow, badger, mule, crow, hippopotamus - all names Adam gave the animals (and not good names for your spouse by the way). A suitable helper was not found for Adam and God took the initiative to create a woman out of Adam's side (Genesis 2:21). God brought the woman to Adam - the first time a dad walked his daughter down the wedding aisle to give her away. This was the first marriage and it was a covenant relationship.
This covenant is evidenced by Adam's words. Genesis 2:23 says, "This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." And then that sacred yet familiar verse that is quoted in thousands of weddings seals the covenant relationship – “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). This is the marriage scripture and the text of the first marriage.
Adam names her “woman” which means “out of man” or literally “mine”. Parade hundreds of animals in front of him and Adam names them cow, ox, goat, etc. Parade a naked woman in front of him (Genesis 2:25) and he says, “She’s mine!” Adam named her a covenant name. The name “woman” symbolized union, oneness, and covenant. It screamed togetherness and devotion. Marriage was good. The honeymoon had just begun and they both were walking with the Lord in the garden in relationship with Him and as the image of God.
Like all marriages, all is bliss – at least until sin enters the picture. When the crafty serpent (Satan) entered the scene and tempted them to destroy their oneness with God and each other (Genesis 3) they quickly lost sight of their covenant with God and each other on their marriage day. They had messed up and sin now separated them from each other and God (Romans 6:23). While they used to be naked and unashamed (Genesis 2:25), now their perfect union had been tainted by sin and nakedness and sex had been perverted (Genesis 3:7). They tried to make this sin right and cover it up instead of dealing rightly with it by making fig leaf coverings for their nakedness. Their nakedness before sin represented their purity. Their nakedness after sin represented their shame and sin.
Like Adam and the woman, we too have tried to cover our sin in our own power and methods to no avail. God stepped in and did what He does best – healed their sinful state and covered their sin. He made a covering out of animal skin (Genesis 3:21). Just before God did this, Adam renames his wife from “Woman” (mine, covenant partner) to “Eve” (mother of my children). Sin will make you distant from your mate and where you used to be one and together, now you are separate and she is just the mother of your kids.
If sin has separated you and your spouse from covenant partners to parental figures you need God to heal and restore your marriage. If your wife used to be “woman” (mine, partner, covenant) but now she is just “Eve” (mother of your kids), you need God to step in and cover your sin. I think the animal God killed (the first instance of something being killed in the Bible or history) was a lamb. God sacrificed an animal for their sin and covered them to make them unashamed, restored, and righteous once again. This foreshadowed Jesus, the Lamb of God, being slain for our sins. He can restore your marriage and turn her from just the mother of your kids back to the woman you adore.
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