This prophetic word is titled Counterpart. Since it is the Valentine’s Day weekend I thought this was a perfect time to talk about the law of first mention on how relationships between a man and a woman are formed.
Who is this for? Everyone. Especially if you are interested in learning how to find the person God has for you. I’m also going to explain to you what it means to be fruitful and multiply.
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At some point you are going to get offended if you are reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation because there is no person that is 100% doing it or living it exactly as the word says.
What we don’t want to do is skip over the portions that point out our flaws and shortcomings, otherwise how will we learn?
So when you read something that makes you feel bad, it is at these moments we need to pray “Lord Jesus, help me! And provide a way for my life to reflect this”
Always remember this,
John 1:1-2,14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is the Word. Jesus is the Bible in written form. If you want to spend time with Jesus, read your bible. If you want to have an encounter with Jesus, read your bible. If you want God to talk to you, read your bible.
When you read something that you don’t understand or it bothers you, don’t just brush it off and run to the next verse. No! Stop and ask HIM, Lord, what exactly does this mean? Can you explain this to me because I don’t get it?
And don’t let it leave your mind. That thing needs to be at the forefront of your mind and you need to keep talking to Him about it. Believe me when I tell you, He’s going to answer you. Because you are interacting with Him, as the Word.
It is quite normal for 5 different people to read the same scripture and see something completely different. It is an interactive word (living and active), He can be saying 5 different things. We are not the same, we don’t come from the same background, we do not have the same experiences, God may minister it to me in one way and you may be at a different point in your life where you see it another way.
I am always going to encourage you to read the Bible, cover to cover. If you read it before, read it again because I promise you SOMETHING ELSE is going to jump out at you from the same scriptures because you’ve had more experiences and so now you see it differently.
This is my 4th time reading the Bible through from cover to cover and I thought surely I would be able to follow my church’s bible reading plan to do it. NOPE!!! LOL. We started Genesis 1 on the first week of January and they are already on Exodus and James. I am still only on Genesis 4!!! LOL
God has me on a different plan! I cannot rush it. He is highlighting to me different things than what He is showing my pastor, and that is ok. I’m following the Lord and pulling out the lessons He’s teaching me this go around.
Now let’s talk about the counterpart…
Genesis 2:20-25
20 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. 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. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
The word suitable in this text means counterpart.
Genesis 2:18 introduces Eve as “a helper suitable for him.” Here נֶגֶד conveys correspondence rather than opposition: the woman is crafted to stand face-to-face with the man, equal in worth, distinct in role. The concept supports a theology of marriage built on mutual partnership under divine oversight.
She is not less than. She’s only known as the “weaker vessel” because of physical strength. That’s why men’s sports and women’s sports can’t be the same. You are not physically the same.
The word helper is for a specific purpose.
עֵזֶר denotes assistance rendered at a point of real need, whether by God or by a fellow human being. It emphasizes effective strength supplied from outside oneself, meeting exigent circumstances rather than merely offering sympathy.
She supports him in his time of need. He needs something and it is your job to fulfill that.
God puts the man into a deep sleep. This is also a trance. In other words, he doesn’t have the opportunity to object or choose for himself! The decision has already been made God just uses this to REVEAL His choice to him.
תַּרְדֵּמָה portrays a sleep deeper than ordinary rest, strategically employed by God to create, covenant, reveal, protect, warn, or judge. It reminds believers that the Almighty rules the thresholds of consciousness, calling His people either to peaceful trust or sober awakening.
He didn’t choose her, she was already selected for him. Because how else would you know who your counterpart is? How else are you going to find your counterpart if God has not already chosen for you?
You have to remember too that you are made up of parts – mind, body, soul and spirit. You are getting a counterpart that can match you in all these areas! They will be able to help you in all these areas.
Why do you think people have emotional affairs? It’s not just what you can see with your eyes, your soul (the emotions) has needs too, your mind, your spirit man has needs and the counterpart will be able to address all of this. It is more than what you can see with your physical eyes and Elohim creates the person that is a suitable helper for you. Or He makes the woman the suitable helper for a specific man. This is not a random thing. You can pick multiple people that may turn out to be acceptable but this is when you get the good, pleasing, perfect will of God. Only ONE of them was created to help you fulfill your destiny and purpose.
The rib supports and protects.
צֵלָע (tzelāʿ) appears about forty-one times, always describing a “side,” whether of a person, an article of furniture, or a building. The contexts fall into four main groups: (1) the human body, (2) the Tabernacle and its furnishings, (3) Solomon’s Temple, and (4) Ezekiel’s visionary temple. In every setting the word points to something that comes alongside and supports, protects, or complements what it adjoins.Then the LORD God fashioned from the rib He had taken from the man a woman, and He brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21-22). The woman is neither from Adam’s head to rule over him nor from his foot to be trampled by him, but from his side—signifying fellowship, equality of essence, and complementarity in function.
I am fascinated by the fact that God opened up a human being, takes out a piece of that human being, closes up the area (NOBODY ELSE CAN ACCESS HIM) and creates the one who is the counterpart. Genius!
That means you cannot “make somebody fit” they are either the counterpart or they are not! This is the one that God hath join together and no man shall put asunder. I am sure you can see that there are many marriages that have happened that God didn’t put it together. We did it ourselves. And, this doesn’t mean those marriages can’t work too, they can! but I think it makes it so much harder.
Then Adam says “you are bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. This means we are of the same substance, we are like minded, our structure is the same. There is a oneness and a unity to how the husband and wife operate and function.
To me one of the best lines was this one “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”
Wow! Nakedness means that they are both exposed. They saw each other for who they were and it was OK. They are not embarrassed by that person. They were not ashamed in each other’s presence because of who they were. Their flaws are exposed. All the things that would make them uncomfortable with someone else they feel comfortable around each other, in spite of it.
There is no pretending. There’s no putting on another face. Mirroring the other person to fool them into thinking you just alike when you are not. You don’t need to hide. They see you for who you are and it is OK. Accepting you for who you are.
If you cannot accept someone for who they are before you marry them, then don’t marry them! Otherwise, you are living in the hope of change, and what if they never change? Also, your house will never be a home if when you go there you don’t feel accepted for who you are. This has to be one of the worse feeling.
They were both naked and felt no shame. I know who you are, warts and all and I’m OK with it.
For me the next part is quite funny….
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Then it says a man….not a woman….leaves his mother and father and is joined to his wife. You see, he came out of the womb of his mother, but his wife was formed from him and so she is his counterpart and not his mother.
Funny that God is talking about leaving the mother and father when Adam didn’t have parents. This just shows you that God used this law of first mention to teach us how this should be because it didn’t exist before this.
LOL
Recapping:
You are looking for your counterpart
This is someone God has already selected for you
It would be very difficult to find the person when you don’t even know your purpose, and where you’re going in life because how would you be able to tell if they are your counterpart or not? How will you know if they are aligned if you don’t know your purpose.
God is the one who will reveal it to you; therefore, the only way you would know is if you are in a covenant relationship with the Lord.
Now, there is one thing that happens before you find your counterpart, your purpose.
Before, the counterpart were introduced to each other God created your purpose.
The purpose of MANKIND:
Genesis 1:27-28
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Please take this into prayer with the Lord.
Here goes….
In Genesis 1:27-28 God is addressing the fact that He created mankind. He was addressing male and female. INDIVIDUALLY and TOGETHER. He doesn’t say anything about marriage.
I wondered to myself why was it that He talks about creating humans twice??? First the creation of mankind at the end of Chapter 1 and then in Chapter 2 He talks about how men and women were created. Two times He’s talking about creating people.
This is what I believe, Genesis 1 addresses male and female. The creation of the mankind. Genesis 2 addresses man and woman….do you see the difference??? The first one is the mandate to mankind and the second is the mandate to husband and wife.
Because, not everyone will be married. Not everyone will have children. But everyone has a purpose.
The purpose for the creation of MANKIND was to be fruitful and increase in numbers, fill the earth and subdue it and rule over all the living creatures on the earth. It was an individual mandate as well as a mandate together.
Yes, at the foundations of the earth the mandate was to fill the earth with other humans since they were the first but what I want you to know is that this scripture goes beyond just having children.
Some will be single for life. Some will never have children. That is why you have nuns and priests, are they not fruitful a multiplying and filling the earth, subduing it? Yes they are! And so as you if you are single and you don’t have children.
Let me explain it like this…
The church where I was saved the pastor and his wife were in ministry for 40 years, they planted 280 churches, they’ve seen thousands come to Christ, the daughter churches and grand daughter churches are very well known churches that are large in numbers and have planted many more themselves. Is this fruitfulness? Did they increase in numbers? ABSOLUTELY. That man of God has gone home to be with the Lord and everything that he built with his wife and the Lord is still standing and multiplying. That couple never had any physical children.
Does this mean that they were not fruitful? No! We’ve been telling ourselves for years that this scripture has to do with just physical children, and I am saying if you read it again you will see that it has to do with more than just that. The physical children would be just one way of looking at it.
This pastor and his wife were fruitful and they did increase in numbers, filling the earth and subduing the kingdom of darkness in the territories where they planted churches and brought people into the kingdom of God. THEY DID IT!!! With no natural children of their own. They were made for each other. They didn’t have children to hand their ministry over to when they got older and he needed to retire, the succession plan came from someone outside of their bloodline. They fulfilled the mandate, it just didn’t look like what we thought.
Fruitful – to bear fruit, to increase
פָּרָה (parah) expresses the idea of bringing forth, branching out, or yielding increase. In Scripture it is consistently tied to the life-giving power of God and functions as a barometer of covenant blessing. Whether applied to people, animals, or land, it highlights the Creator’s intent that His works overflow with abundance (Genesis 1:22, 28).
Multiply – to become many, to grow
רָבָה threads through roughly 230 Old Testament verses, describing the growth or enlargement of people, animals, produce, wealth, wisdom, joy, sin, and even divine wrath. The verb embraces both transitive and intransitive senses, portraying either God’s active multiplication or the observable increase itself. Because the subject matter ranges from the very first blessing of creation to the closing hopes of the prophets, רָבָה is a vital key to understanding how Scripture presents blessing, prosperity, and also the tragic spread of wickedness.
Subdue it – bring into subjection
Strong’s Hebrew 3533 כָּבַשׁ portrays the act of bringing something or someone under control. In Scripture it ranges from God-given dominion over creation, to Israel’s military victories, to the darker reality of human oppression, and finally to the triumphant subjugation of sin and hostile nations by the Lord Himself. The word therefore travels a theological arc that begins with stewardship in Eden, passes through conquest and captivity in Israel’s history, and climaxes in redemptive hope.
Rule – to have dominion
The verb רָדָה carries the central idea of exercising authority or dominion. In the Tanakh its range runs from benevolent oversight to harsh subjugation. Context therefore determines whether the rule is righteous (as when delegated by God) or oppressive (as when corrupted by sinners). The term appears some twenty-seven times, revealing a broad, coherent theology of authority in Scripture.
In other words, He gave the mandate to mankind that we are to take over the earth. Bring it under subjection of Christ. Spread the GOSPEL, take over the world and subject it to Christ.
Being fruitful and multiplying was not just about physical children, it is a part of it because it was how the earth became populated, but there is more to it than just that, it was a mandate to mankind. All of us. He said this to both the male and the female when He said it. It was for all of us. Individually and also together as a couple when you locate your counterpart.
When you look up the definition of female it is just about your sex. Male it is about your sex. When you look at the definition in chapter 2 of woman, this says female, woman, wife. So Chapter 2 when Eve was created it was pointed to the fact that Adam here she is and then ADAM says “this is my wife”.
Woman then has nothing to do with being a mother. Woman, female, wife. Whether you have children or not that does not define you as a woman according to the Bible. And you have the SAME mandate because you are a male or a female. Same thing with Adam, man is male doesn’t say father.
The mandate was given to the male and the female, not the husband and the wife…even though that can be it too. I hope I am making this as clear as possible for you.
Why am I making such a big deal about something like this? I meet so many people who feel like they have no purpose because they are not married or they have no children. I’m tired of seeing the church treat single people like they are 2nd class citizens because they are not married as if once you get married, you will be accepted. Once you have a baby, you will be accepted. No!
I just want you to know that the mandate was given to the male and the female regardless of the fact that you are a husband, a wife, a mother or a father! That’s all!
You have purpose!
Same if you are a widow or a widower. When your spouse is gone you still have purpose. The mandate was always given to you as an individual. You pick yourself up and you continue on in purpose.
And, what we see the next time the Bible references this “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 9:1) was when Noah and his family exited the ark. Because, the land was overrun with wickedness God brought a flood! So the evil was multiplying and increasing, subduing and having dominion so God had to wipe them out and start with Noah and his family again.
If it was just about filling the earth with people, God wouldn’t need to wipe them out.
In Jeremiah 23:1-6 , we see that the Lord again references “being fruitful and multiplying” but this time it had to do with unrighteous leaders who caused the flock to scatter and so He was bringing in new leaders so that they could once again multiply and take dominion under Righteous leaders. This had nothing to do with having children, it was SPIRITUAL this time.
So, I will close with this, if you are waiting for your counterpart, you are going to have a much better chance of identifying the person if you are already walking in purpose. Because you will be able to identify that they are aligned with who God called you to be. Many marriages fail because people find out after they are married who they really are in Christ. I don’t want to see that happen to anyone.
Matthew 20:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Praying that this has blessed you and that it gave you some perspective on the topic. Be fruitful. Fill the earth. Multiply. Subdue. Take Dominion. Rule.
Blessings!
This is more of a question- the bible talks of how God knew us even before we were formed in our mother’s womb. Could Genesis 1 be the account of the creation of the spirit man- our inner spirit who were formed even before we were born?
It’s the creation of the physical man, the flesh. Your spirit lived with God before you came to the earth. This is why He knew us before we were even in our mother’s womb. Your scroll in heaven contains all the details of your life before you even lived a single day. That means He knows us better than we know ourselves. When you’re born you get the physical body. Much like how Jesus was in heaven and then He came to earth born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit and also given a physical body. This is why we are made in His image. Blessings
Thanks Nicole for clarifying this
Woman of God, you better TEEEAAACH!! This is so deep, I have to read it again! So many morsels that I have to unpack and eat slowly! 🙂
I love how you talked about the importance of knowing purpose/mandate/mission. The spouse/ordained partner will fit that mission. I love how you also talked about DOMINION. My pastor recently preached about we have dominion and referenced the same scripture mentioned! I love how God confirms HIS word!!
This word is exciting because it changes our perspective and longstanding traditional thinking of what it means to be married/choose a spouse.
God, for those who want to be married, draw mates together by your holy Spirit (Isaiah 34) and let them be suitable and complementary for the mandate/mission!
Blessings!
I think then this has really to be taught in churches and communities because am a gynae and I see women who come and say this is my fourth marriage because of infertility men left me. Am always helpless to see a woman going from one man to another just looking for children and end up alone because she can’t have children. I had the same experience, 18 years in marriage but no child and we were the topic in the society. People could go to funerals just to talk about us. But I thank God that he gave me a girl after I adopted a boy my niece’s son. She passed away when her son was 3 months. God should really help us in this area. Marriage is not child first but wife and husband as you have rightly put it.
Amen
I love your patience and strength. Am sure you went through A LOT helping other women give birth plus on your own home front – how do you explain yourself after 18 years of no fruit!
But your Faith – and LOVE opened up God’s blessings to you;
Like Mordecai’s adopting orphaned Esther essentially opened up his whole skies. You’ve encouraged me through 1Patience and 2) Continuing to serve others; being a blessing however and whenever bcs just as society watches to find fault, same also get to See when God reveals Himself through our story!
Thank you. And To God be all glory honor and praise
Wow, thank you so much for this word Nicole. Many of us shy away from marriage because of childhood wounds and the absence of father figures in our lives. Without that example, it can be difficult to understand how to love and trust a man in a healthy way. This word spoke directly to those fears.
There were so many meaningful insights and moments of clarity in what you shared. They brought comfort and helped ease the fear of being hurt in marriage.
May God bless and protect you, your family, and your ministry always. May you continue to be strengthened and guided as you pour into the lives of others.
One question, Nicole: Does God take our personal preferences, such as physical characteristics, into consideration when choosing our spouse, or is that irrelevant?
Blessings
I think He does, have you read of anyone in the Bible not liking the way their spouse looked? I don’t think He would do that. If you came out of that man’s rib, he already has an affinity towards you, there’s something different and special to you for him. We also have to take personal responsibility for our appearance. You could be a good looking person but you just don’t take care of yourself, therefore when that person comes along they find you unattractive. Something to consider. Leah was another story, Jacob never picked her, he was tricked into marrying her. You can’t force someone to love you and the misery of her marriage was evidence of that. Blessings
That’s good to know. I was afraid I had lost my chance to get married because I dismissed someone who didn’t match what I consider attractive. And maybe that person could have been my spouse.
Now I feel more at ease.
God bless you, Nicole!