Gen. 2:18 and having a suitable helper

by Matt Slick

Genesis 2:18, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

One argument raised by homosexuals concerning this verse is to focus on what is "suitable" for someone.  Where a woman is a suitable "partner" for most men, that is not the case for "gay" men.  For them, another man would be a suitable "partner."

The problem with this argument is that it inserts an improper idea into the text; namely, that "suitable helper" means "what is suitable for any particular individual."  There is nothing in the context to warrant this.  On the contrary, the argument ignores the fact that God’s design was for the male and female to produce offspring and obey His divine command to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth,” (Gen. 1:28).  He created us for a reason, and the "suitable helper" is just that, a suitable helper to carry out the commission that God stated.  Homosexuality cannot fulfill that command and is a violation of the created order of God.

Furthermore, Adam's sexual orientation is never an issue in the text.  But that doesn't stop people from inserting it into the text so as to dismiss the obvious teaching about male and female purpose in God's created order.  Remember, homosexuality arose in the context of the Fall of man, and Gen. 2:18 is before the Fall.  Homosexuality exists in the context of a sinful world and is not the way that God created us.  Therefore, Gen. 2:18 cannot be dismissed as a text by inserting "sexual orientation" into it through a false focus on "suitable helper."