One of my favorite theologians once said, “God has a real sense of humor,” and he chuckled.
I was not happy with that. I mean, God, having a sense of humor? It sounded to me as if he made God equal to himself, a mere human being. I was a bit upset with him but since I love his books and most of his messages, I quickly forgave him and moved to his next points.
Then one day, while I was reading the Bible, I said, “Hmm! That is funny,” and I laughed!
Guess which chapter of the Bible made me laugh? If you’ve been following me for sometimes, you know that I’m talking about Genesis chapter two.
Yes, my favorite chapters of the Bible are Genesis 1, 2 & 3.
Well, read and study these three chapters referring to many commentaries and books and enjoy the humor there. I think there are many funny stories there.
But for now, let me share with you the funny story that made me laugh hard.
So, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18)
Whenever I share a message from this verse with many people, I tend to ask this question: “So, without looking to your Bible, tell me, what do you think God did next?”
Guess what? (Many people, let me dare to throw a number here because I saw it a number of times.) Close to 98% of people say something like, “God put Adam to sleep” or “God created Eve.”
But guess what the Bible says? “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.” (Genesis 2:19)
Really?
Yes! God created animals right after He said, “I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Adam knew what was going on. He knew that God was up to finding or making him a helper. (How did I know that? Well, remember, this story was before the fall. So, Adam was with his 100% brain potential). So, he must have known what was going on and been excited when all of a sudden he saw all these animals covering the earth.
This is what I think Adam said in his heart (make note here: this is my imagination, not written in the Bible):
“My! My! My! I have a lot to choose from! Hooray!” ? This is too funny for me. Indeed, God has a real sense of humor.
And guess what verse 20 says (this is “out of this world” kind of funny for me):
“So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. BUT FOR ADAM NO SUITABLE HELPER WAS FOUND.” – Found from where? Among the animals.
Phew! The Bible didn’t tell us how long it took Adam to name all the animals, birds and all the wild animals. The only thing we know is that Adam named each one of them.
Then, here is my imagination: Adam turned to God and said, with frustration, “I don’t like any of these animals. I mean, they are nice and everything but I don’t want anyone of them to be my suitable helper.”
If you ask me what the meaning of the names Adam gave to each animals, I will say, may he call them giraffe or dinoceros or rhinoceros or cats, I think the meaning of their names, collectively, is: “Not suitable helpers for Adam.”
I love it!
Then, God must have said to Adam, “Are you sure there is none? Okay, then! I promise I will find you one.”
Adam must have said, “Not from among these animals! I mean, they all are amazing and beautiful but for me, nah! But, You are God. Everything is possible with You. Go ahead and surprise me,” with a tone that says, “I saw enough and I don’t think I can be surprised by any.”
And verse 21, “So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.”
While Adam was sleeping, God sneaked into Adam’s body and took out one rib. Then verse 22 says, “Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”
Wow! Talk about excitement, this is the climax of it! I am sure God must be smiling at Adam knowing that Adam’s heart would skip a beat or two.
Eve didn’t look any of the other animals Adam saw and named. She is completely different.
“My love, you are as beautiful as Jerusalem, as lovely as the city of Tirzah, as breathtaking as these great cities. . . Let the king have sixty queens, eighty concubines, young women without number! But I LOVE ONLY ONE, and she is as lovely as a dove.” (Song of Solomon 6:4, 8-9a) Beautiful!
When Adam saw Eve, he immediately broke into poetry, the very first poetry ever uttered by a man:
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.” (Genesis 2:23)
He was blown away by the sight of her (he is still in that state by the way, ?). He was about to lose his consciousness but managed to keep his cool before he embarrassed himself in front of all the animals he rejected. Then he pulled himself together and opened his mouth and uttered this first two word: “At last!” (some versions of the Bible translate “This is now” as “At last!” – the original word has some exclamation tone to it according to Tim Keller, author of The Meaning of Marriage.)
I looooove this!
Are you still wondering if God has ever sounded humorous to you or not? Well, start from Genesis and enjoy your ride through Revelation. I am telling you, God has a real sense of humor.
You may wonder what my message is in the middle of all these funny stories. Many; but here is one:
If you are a married man, know this: God didn’t take multiple ribs out of you but one. As God made a covenant with you to take you as His Child when you receive Jesus Christ into your heart, in the same way, the woman you married became your rib the moment you said, “I do take her as my wife!” – making covenant with her and God (Malachi 2:14). Yes! “The rib” that came out of you is the one that you tied the knot with. Don’t divorce her! She is your only one! The same is true for a married woman. Don’t divorce him because he is the “tree,” through covenant, that you came from.
If you are a single man, still searching for your lost rib, take as long time as you can with the word of God so that He, the Word of God Himself, Jesus Christ, lead you to your lost rib. Of course, when you find her, make a loud voice and say, “At last!” so we, the rest of us, who are not your “suitable helpers,” will hear the good news! ///
P. S. Please make sure you read Genesis 2 carefully so that you won’t be taken by my imagination. I am not trying to add or take away from the word of God. For those of you who are sensitive with this kind of thing, I understand your concern and I share your concern because it is a very dangers territory to navigate! “Do not go beyond what is written.” (1 Cor. 4:6)