Women will cry for the ‘essence’ of a man

Question: Where does it say in the Bible something about “women will cry for the ‘essence’ of a man?

Answer: I am not positive that this is the passage you are speaking of, but it is one of two possibilities that I can think of as far as Scripture is concerned. The passage I think you may be talking about is this one: “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach.” (Isaiah 4:1) To put it into simple terms, Judah (Southern Israel) was going to be so punished for her sins, and especially the sin of idolatry, that when God got finished with Judah, there would be a shortage of men to go around for the women. As a result seven women would gather around one man and say something to effect, “I will pay my own way, just give me children so I can have a family.”

“When women turn away from God as those in Judah did, the picture is tragic. Constantly flirting women show disrespect for the marriage vows. These flirtatious women who lightly esteemed their marriages will see their husbands killed in war. With a ratio of seven women for one man, women would be willing to provide their own food and… apparel in order to acquire the respectability of marriage.” (Spirit Filled Bible)

This is very troubling, because it sounds very much like what is happening in United States and other countries today. I think we want to worship material things, and nature, more than God today. There is also a lot of unfaithfulness of wives to husbands and vice versa. I didn’t watch the T.V. program, but you couldn’t help but hearing the advertisements for the program: Desperate House Wives. In Dr. Dobson’s Newsletter: That’s Entertainment of June of 2005, he says, “’Mainstream’ are sexually explicit…TV shows such as ABC’s ‘Desperate Housewives’…(..which consistently appear near the top of the ratings)…” (Dr. James Dobson)

We have a fascination; it seems, with disobeying God’s direct commands about not looking at a woman (or a man) to lust after them. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a (man) woman to lust for her (him) has committed adultery with her (him) in his (her) heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28) It seems that in many parts of the world we have made a game out of disobeying God’s Word. We have made it into a fun entertainment to watch people being unfaithful to each other. Well, we didn’t invent this sin; we are just perfecting it. It was a past time for the women of Israel, before God judged that nation, they were making a game of sinning. It would not surprise me if God thinks we fit into the same category as them. In the next paragraphs we have quite a description of what was going on, that resulted in a devastating loss of life, especially male life, leaving a shortage of men. It is hard for me to read this without thinking of so much of our “Entertainment Tonight” (I mean today) on television and in the movies.

“The fashionable society women of Jerusalem had given themselves over to flirtation and coquetry, to allure other women’s husbands. They had devoted themselves to the latest fads in jewelry, hair style, and dress. They were wholly taken up with self-adorn-ment, having no concern for God’s law or their holy mission in life. But all the tawdry baubles for which they had sold their souls were to be stripped away from them in the coming invasions (from Assyria and Babylon). Their nakedness would be uncovered when they were led away as miserable slaves by their conquerors (3:17). Or they would crouch in some wretched corner, filled with despair and covered with sackcloth and ashes. All their earthly passions would be destroyed or snatched away from them, and their men would be slain. (The Qumran Isaiah Scroll reads in 3:24: “…a girding of sackcloth; surely instead of beauty there shall be shame.”) So scarce would be the male population (4:1) after the slaughter of war, that each surviving man would be importuned by several unmarried women to marry them as self-supporting wives.” (The Wycliffe Bible Commentary)

What a description of what happens even today to so many that are in Hollywood. If you follow the lives of so many, they usually end up in disaster. They are so popular for a time, and it seems that they have everything. They will even tell you during this stage of their lives that they are “happy.” The only thing is this “happiness” does not last, unless it is satisfaction that comes from serving the Lord. Thank God for men like Mel Gibson and women like Chelsea Noble, who are actors but who found out before it was too late, that “true joy” can come only through the Lord Jesus Christ.

That leads us to the other reference you may be looking for, that I think might be what you are referring to is: “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:21-24) I don’t know if this is the verse you were looking for or if it was the first one, or maybe even something else, but it made for a good study.

These last verses show us what marriage is all about; we are to be faithful to each other. It is only the grace of God that can help us in our marriages these days. God knows how many temptations Satan is bringing into our lives every day. If we yield to these temptations our marriages can be destroyed, and when the marriage is destroyed the home is broken. The marriages and homes in a nation are the backbone of the nation. Today because of so many broken homes, which usually came about through lusting after another person other than the spouse, the nations are being weakened. It may seem like “fun” to lust after another than our spouse, but it can end in ruin.

To end on a positive note, God wants us to love our spouse and we can do this through drawing closer to the Lord. The closer we both draw to Him, the closer we will draw to each other. “So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the Church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Ephesians 5:28-31)

Thanks for the question, and I hope we found what you were looking for.
Gary T. Panell

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