The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming

The “speaking” simply stated as such in Ephesians 5:19a involves two practical actions, “teaching and admonishing.” All believers filled with the Spirit are to teach one another the truths found in the psalms, in hymns and spiritual songs. Every believer is to inform or remind every other believer in the Body of Christ. On the other hand, and where necessary, believers are to admonish, or correct, one another.This is the first way believers are to experience the Spirit-filled life. Believers of all ages are to teach and correct one another. Is this understanding of the meaning of 5:18b contrary to what many people say it is? Yes. Teaching that being Spirit-filled is ALL about speaking in tongues or ALL about seeking to heal the sick and so on, is not what Paul tells us here using his four-point pattern. And there are other ideas that people mistakenly inject here and there in this long passage.GO DEEPER  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

This Episode is the first in our Beyond Eden series on Ephesians 5:15-6:9. We begin with this overview and we look at common traps that lead to misinterpretation of important passages in Ephesians. Then, in the coming Episodes we’ll go more in depth.GO DEEPER  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

In the Garden the man listens to the words of the serpent tempter. And the man makes the intent and actions of Satan his own. He too rebels against God.Step by step he moves away from God and toward Satan! Has Satan just thrown God’s words into question in 3:1? Apparently the man does too.Does the man look with respect on the woman’s defense of God’s words reported in 3:2? We don’t read that he joins her in correcting the word of the serpent tempter.Does he respect God’s warning against eating resulting in punishment? He apparently believes the serpent enough who lies and says “You will not surely die” according to 3:4.Doesn’t he already know about good? God had named the Tree the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Does he want extra knowledge, to know evil?And so, he eats the forbidden fruit.When God judges the three at the Tree, God groups the man together with Satan in his words of judgment. God treats the woman apart from these two rebels because she doesn’t rebel on purpose. She disobeys only after being deceived.God makes six points in addressing the serpent. And then God uses those same six points and exact wording, even to the repetition of sounds when he addresses the man. The way this passage is written out in Hebrew adds to the meaning of the words that are used. This repeated pattern of six common elements ties the two of them together in God’s evaluation of their intent and acts.GO DEEPER  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

To understand Genesis 3:16 we must recognize that in God’s first words to the woman in Line 1 God didn’t even touch on the subject of childbirth. (1) God spoke to her about shared sorrowful-toil (the Hebrew word is ‘itsebon) in field work and (2) God spoke to her about conception or pregnancy (the Hebrew word is heron) and especially of the offspring who would bruise Satan’s head.The way the words are put together in a chiasm in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 carries meaning. And the way verses 15-17 are linked together in a linchpin construction by the two key words in Line 1 of Genesis 3:16 brings meaning. But the meaning of each word itself is also important.In the two words of the linchpin construction that link God’s words to her with God’s words to the man and to the serpent the woman learns two things. Neither of them is a curse on her. One thing is about bad news. One thing is about good news.The bad news she learns is that when God curses the ground because of the man it will affect her too. They both will experience ‘itsebon or “sorrowful toil” as they do field work to raise food from the cursed ground outside of Eden. God knows they will be going there and what life there will be like. So God describes to her what her experience will be like with the cursed ground. She will have ‘itsebon. She will have sorrowful-toil. That is bad news.But God immediately moves on to tell her of good news. How can the words of 3:16 be taken as good news right after God’s stern judgment on the serpent tempter? Three of the four words in Line 1 ring of good news!GO DEEPER  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

God did NOT curse the woman in Genesis 3:16  IN ANY WAY! But modern translations make it look like God did. So it is necessary to think again about the word patterns in 3:15-17, and the larger context of Genesis 2-3, to see what God really said. Genesis 2-3, in Hebrew, is a  meaningful seven-part pattern that is a chiasm. A chiasm can be pictured as a rainbow or as a bell curve.Line 1 of 3:16 is the center of a linchpin pattern that links verse 15-17. The first linking Hebrew word is ‘itsebon which means “sorrowful-toil” and points down to the same word used in verse 17. There God tells the man that the curse on the ground made because of him will result in ‘itsebon or “sorrowful-toil.” In working the ground with their hands each one, the woman and the man, would have ‘itsebon or “sorrowful-toil.”In Line 1 of 3:16 the second linking Hebrew word heron which means “pregnancy” or “conception” points back to the Hebrew word zera‘ which means “seed” or “offspring” which is used in verse 15. A literal translation of the four Hebrew words of Line 1 of Genesis 3:16 in English would be as follows: (1) Multiplying (2) I-will-multiply (3) your-sorrowful-toil (4) and-your-conception.GO DEEPER  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

God spells out the ultimate doom of the woman's enemy which will come through her. Even though he will persist in his attacks and even though figuratively he will bruise the heel of her offspring, who we know ultimately to be Jesus, her offspring will bruise Satan on the head.In Genesis 3:15, in God’s last words to the serpent, God prophesies that the woman’s “seed” or “offspring” (the Hebrew word is zera‘) will defeat the Tempter. Bad news for the Tempter, but good news for the woman and all humanity!God's words of Good News, called the protevangelium, carry over into God's first words to the woman in Genesis 3:16. God will certainly give her conception of the Offspring who will vanquish Satan!Sadly, most modern translations of Genesis 3:16 cover over this promise and make 3:16 sound like a virtual curse. These mistranslations must be corrected! We need a true 316.Go Deeper!  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

Many blame Eve as the Temptress. This medieval idea is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says the Tempter in the Garden was the serpent. That is why God cursed the serpent Tempter. And that is one of the reasons why, when we look for a curse on the woman in the Hebrew text, we find none.Satan tempted both the woman and the man. The Hebrew text in Genesis 3:1-5 shows him using plural pronouns each time he says “you.” In other words, he wasn’t aiming his words at just the woman. He was saying you-two, y’all, you-both. And the man was right there listening to all he said. Neither the woman nor the man had ever heard a lie before.The woman became a second-degree offender when she ate of the forbidden fruit. She did not sin on purpose. She ate only after being deceived. However, the man became a first-degree offender. He sinned on purpose.There is a clear distinction drawn between first- and second-degree sinning in the Bible. God makes that distinction in the judgement of the three that comes next in the Garden of Eden.GO DEEPER  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

This first marriage, and the description of marriages to come, was the ideal pattern for all men and women to follow, a pattern with four points:Each member of the union to be, separately, first knows God personally.The man (not the woman) leaves his birth family and together with his wife they establish a new family unit. His primary allegiance is no longer to his parents but to her.When the man leaves his parents to join his wife, his parents and all society is put on notice that here is a new family unit.Because they are joined together in the presence of God, the church, the body of believers, recognizes their new family unit.This is God's ideal for us. Genesis 2:25 is the high point of the passage of Genesis 2-3. They were naked before each other and unashamed before God.GO DEEPER  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

Cook's helper or Partner? In Genesis 2, when God creates the woman, she is described in relation to the man. In two Hebrew words packed full of meaning, ‘ezer kenegdo, God describes how the two are designed to go together. They are made for each other, just hours apart. Once together, they are to be a resourceful and satisfied pair, at home together in Eden.Modern language versions of the Bible translate these two Hebrew words in confusing and contradictory ways. But there really is no cause for confusion. The two words in Genesis 2:18 are not that hard to translate.An ‘ezer kenegdo is someone who is equal, a counterpart, one who works together with another as they help each other through sharing their strengths.GO DEEPER!  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

It turns out that there’s been a lot of pollution dumped into Genesis 3:16 by translations into the modern languages we use today. They mix new ideas into the verse and cover over the ideas God put there in the original Hebrew words of the verse. Translations make it look like God cursed the woman when God cursed neither the woman nor the man. The translation of that verse has been incorrect. So, why aren’t our translations doing better? And, why would there be a problem translating this verse? What’s going on?Did God blame Eve? Take the Mini Course. Here's the link: https://bit.ly/3fFC8j4GO DEEPER!  The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner