What does the Bible say about men (as husbands and fathers) specifically being the financial provider of the home?
In Genesis 2:18-25, we recognize that God establishes roles for both the male and female in the context of stewarding the work of the garden and partnering together under the instructions of God. In the ending verses of Genesis 2:23-25 we see the oneness of man and woman in the sense of leaving, cleaving and weaving together. Adam responds to the handiwork of God and says, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Furthermore, scripture shows us that the first establishment of marriage was initiated, defined, and established by God for His Glory and for the flourishment of humanity.
Another question that stems from this reality is what biblical marriage looks like, practically, today. Now, let us remember, before God even institutes marriage, He begins by giving man (Adam) several things:
1. A Work and Responsibility (Gen.2:15, 19-20)
GEN. 2:15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it.
GEN. 2:19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
GEN. 2:20 The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for [q]Adam there was not found a helper [r]suitable for him.
2. A Word of Instruction and Warning (Gen.2:16-17)
GEN. 2:16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat;
GEN. 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.”
3. A Helper Suitable (Gen 2:20-25)
GEN. 2:20 The man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
GEN. 2:21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
GEN. 2:22 And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
GEN. 2:23 Then the man said,
“At last this is bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called ‘woman,’
Because she was taken out of man.”
GEN. 2:24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
GEN. 2:25 And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.
These three things are the very foundation of where a biblical marriage begins; with God being the center of it. As we see in Genesis, biblical marriage must be led by a submitted biblical man. Notice whom God first gives these primary responsibilities to – the man. It is the husband’s role to work and provide for his family as a divine mandate from God to cultivate what God has provided (scripture shows the woman works and provides as well). Moreover, the man is given a responsibility of leading with divine instruction (scripture) for benefit and blessing, and is also given warning from destruction (judgement). Biblical men must be men that are aware of the scriptures and God’s instructions, so that they may diligently lead their families in truth for if the men don’t, disaster follows:
GEN.3:9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
GEN.3:10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”
EPH. 5:22 Wives, subject yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
EPH. 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
EPH. 5:24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
EPH. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
EPH. 5:26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
EPH. 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church [q]in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
EPH. 5:28 So husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;
EPH. 5:29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,
EPH. 5:30 because we are parts of His body.
EPH. 5:31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
EPH. 5:32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
EPH. 5:33 Nevertheless, as for you individually, each husband is to love his own wife the same as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
Finally, we see that God provides Adam with a “helper suitable”. This suitable helper (woman) has a responsibility as well to serve and work alongside her husband. This marriage constitution in Genesis is the supreme truth for what and how a marriage can glorify God.
