HEADSHIP Bible: Genesis 2 and 3

You know the HEADSHIP (Husbandly & Ecclesiastical Authoritative Dominance, Subverting Her Into her Place) Bible? John Piper and Gavin Peacock just gave us another peek into their Bibles. This time, it is from Genesis 2 and 3.

Genesis 2

…9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of increased authority over another human…

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of increased authority over another human, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”…

Genesis 3

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, having authority over Adam.”

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining authority, she took some and ate it. She kept it away from her husband because she wanted to usurp his authority, but he grabbed and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized the power balance between them was disturbed…

I simply cannot understand how these men say: “Eve was a queen who tried to become a king and lost true womanhood” (Peacock). I do not see how Piper could think the serpent’s aim was to upset God’s divine plan by tempting Eve to seize power over Adam by eating the fruit; how the temptation to “become like God” is (according to Piper) actually a temptation to decide who gets to lead and who must submit, upsetting God’s natural order of male headship. Unless, of course, their Bible really has a tree of authority and not a tree of knowledge of good and evil.