The Mother of the Living

“Eve’s Tomb” the sign read in Arabic script. I hadn’t even known that this place existed until that day, but my friends wanted to visit so I was curious what it would be like. Not that I was convinced that Eve, the Mother of all the living was buried there, but I hoped to find out why they thought this was true and how they revered this mother in such a male-dominated culture. 

We walked up to the massive wooden gates opening the way through the towering walls surrounding the sacred area. Our group consisted of two men and three women. As we confidently strode through the entrance into the cool shade of the covered area inside, three security guards rushed up to us yelling at us to stop. They weren’t violent but they were very adamant that we could not come a step further. Turns out that our co-ed group had broken a law that exists across the land - no women (of any faith) are allowed in cemeteries or burial sites. The guards went on to tell us that the men were welcome to come in and walk through the cemetery but we women, including my friend’s 80yr old mother, had to wait outside. My friend who is fluent in the language here protested - “This is Eve’s tomb - surely she would want women to be able to come in! If women are buried here, why cannot Eve’s own daughters come in while they are yet living?” The guards had no answer. They simply continued to reiterate that it is the law of the land. The two men ended up going in by themselves and video calling us women while we waited outside at the gate so we could get a virtual view of the cemetery. 

Why is it illegal for women to enter a cemetery in this country? I’ve asked several local men and women and the only reason I’ve discovered is that women are too emotional. Apparently, out of fear or mistrust of how women will respond in their grief, the men have simply ban any women from attending the funeral ceremonies or laying the bodies to rest in the ground or even coming later to visit the graves. I feel for the women here who are caught in this cycle of shame - it has nothing to do with what the do but simply who they are as a woman. I could not set foot in that place simply because of my gender as a woman. It didn’t matter how much I restrained all emotion, even if I could keep my whole self in perfect check - I wouldn’t have access. It is as though a woman walks around with this label on her forehead here - “I am an emotional being therefore I cannot be trusted.” 

In Genesis 3:16 the Lord says to woman, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” I have thought about this verse a lot in the last couple weeks. Why does God give this curse only to womankind? Why is the curse over Adam for all mankind but over Eve only for women? Why is 50% of the curse revolving around a woman’s desire for man? If this is so specific to women, how has Jesus specifically redeemed us as women? What does redemption look like for women here who know all too well the shame of simply being a woman?

First, I realized that the Lord spoke the curse with a promise. To the serpent He said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head and you will strike His heel.” So, there we see that the fact that women can bear children is a blessing because from their wombs comes life and it is this life that conquers the enemy. 

Second, the Father continued to show me that even in the curse given to woman, He was having mercy - the woman still is able to to give birth to life, though now it comes through pain. It is only with man that she can conceive life, so the fact that woman desires man is good. The fall twisted this innately pure desire so that now woman wants to be like or have control of man. 

Thirdly, I was struck by the fact that the verse following the fall of mankind is where Adam names his wife, “Eve” - “because she would be the mother of all the living.” So, she was not named Eve beforehand when all was good and right in the world, but after death had entered the world. In naming her Eve, Adam declared that life would come from her and, though in pain and hardship, she would bear a son that would crush the offspring of the serpent. What a beautiful sign of redemption. 

I began to look in the Gospels and Epistles to see what Jesus had to say about this. What is the new and living way that He opened up through His blood shed on the cross? “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galations 4:4) So, first, the promised offspring came through a woman who allowed the Holy Spirit to overshadow her. 

Second, Jesus redeemed marriage by declaring it as a symbol of what His relationship with His bride, the Church looks like: “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Ephesians 5:22-23) So, in Jesus, we have restored trust and wholeness in marriage. 

But it’s not just married women! Peter speaks to all womankind when he says in 1 Peter 3, “You are [Sarah’s] daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear… For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves…” So, we see that through Jesus we are set free from the shameful cycle of trying to please or control mankind. Rather, His power in us gives us the freedom to walk in love and hope towards all mankind, fully convinced that we are daughters of the most High King. 

This is the HOPE that Jesus is offering this nation - to men and women alike. He is giving mankind access to this living HOPE. Through His blood there is no shame for being a woman, no restricted access because of who I am, no fear of never being enough. And to this day the words of Christ ring true - “For if by the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17) Amen! Come Lord Jesus!