For many evangelical women, the sin of Eve is a stigma, a sign of weakness, evidence of their inferiority to men, and a dark cloud under which they lead their Christian lives. Eve’s sin can define their identity and determine their day-to-day lives of faith. 

Eve gave her husband fruit from the tree of death. A defining moment in the relationship. 

But was it meant to be programmatic of every woman’s future?

We might ask the same about Adam? Does Adam’s silence in the moment and his reception of the fruit from Eve, determine the future of every Christian man? Is Adam’s failure the life blueprint for Christian men? 

When we examine the Bible through a canonical lens, a different picture of women comes into clear focus. We are able to observe women, both Hebrew and Gentile, who are become a better Eve.

Rather than giving fruit from a tree of death, we discover multiple accounts of women providing trees of life to men, women, and babies in trouble and people at risk. By providing a tree of life, women save lives, rescue those in danger of death. 

These accounts show that women are not defined by the past, by Eve’s sin, nor are their lives determined by her failure. They do not live their lives under a dark cloud, but under the blue skies of God’s redemptive grace. 

Both Old and New Testaments provide encouragement and incentive in many stories that unveil how women acted as better than Eve. Better Eves provide trees of life to those at risk.  

This coming Sunday morning, with God’s help, I will unpack two Old Testament accounts where both a team of women, young and old, and a Canaanite prostitute provided trees of life to males at risk and in danger of death. By their active intervention on behalf of those in need, these women of faith each became a better Eve.

Eve’s past sin did not hamstring their actions or define their identity. You, too, can become a better Eve. 

If you are unable to join us in-person on Sunday morning (10:30 am), you can find the recording online Sunday evening.

Thank you for reading.