God’s Word for You
Genesis 2:20 No helper was found
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, August 28, 2026
20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky and to all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no helper who was a suitable partner for him was found.
In the first chapter of Genesis, God said, “Let us make man.” Moses helps us see that God carried out this making during the sixth day of the creation week in a much different way from the animals, fish and birds. He had given the man a soul by breathing the spirit into him. He gave the man faith in him the same way he gives faith to all believers, through his word—although in the first man’s case, the word was spoken directly, and accompanied by remarkable miraculous signs; most especially what was about to take place, which was the creation of the woman.
God gave the man a way to worship him through the commandment, and a role that was supreme over nature and over all of the animals. Man was different. Man was unlike. Man was above. And while the animals all around him had mates, no mate for the man was there. No helper; no suitable partner. This lack in the man’s life was to be changed soon, very soon. It would change in the very next verse. But there is something to be noticed here that we want to turn just a little attention to.
The animals did not come from man, nor did man come from any of the animals. And man and animal do not have any common ancestor. Why can we make such an outrageous assertion? Because the text of the Scripture tells us that God made the birds and fish on the fifth day of creation, and all of the land animals on the sixth day, and later on the same day, the first human beings, the man and then the woman.
There are those who deny that the Triune God is the creator of all things. Ancient pagans made up their own gods and their own creation stories, which were either perversions of Moses’ account or outright myths. It is strange that the more (seemingly) scientifically and philosophically advanced peoples such as the Minoans, the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans had the more childish creation stories. It is as if they gave up on what they could not figure out and abandoned any real attempt to explain where the world came from and other riddles.
Let us return to our passage. The sentence is clear: “But for Adam no helper who was a suitable partner for him was found.” The making of his mate was not an accident.
As God brought the animals to the man to be seen by him and named by him, he saw their nature and their characteristics. He named them, probably summarizing his observations in clear, concise words and names. But he did not see a mate. “He noted how in many ways God had made them all for his benefit,” Professor Lawrenz writes, “but he also perceived that none of them was a real counterpart for him with whom he could share his thoughts and feelings and jointly serve and praise his gracious God.”
But the man’s heart had begun to stir; he was now longing for such a helper. He desired to have a mate. Do we see some of this longing in the words he later spoke when, on awakening, he saw her for the first time?
When Luther was preaching on this text, he noted that Adam found no marriageable partner for himself, but as soon as God had created Eve and brought her to him, he felt a real married love toward her, and recognized that she was his wife. Those who want to marry should learn from this that they should earnestly pray to God for a spouse.
Solomon says that parents provide goods and houses for their children, but a wife is given by God alone (Proverbs 19:14), everyone according to his need, just as Eve was given to Adam by God alone. Marriage is a serious matter in the sight of God, as it should be for us.
Luther writes: “There is no such thing as marriage among animals. In the case of Adam, God creates for him a unique, special kind of wife out of his own flesh. He brings her to him, he gives her to him, and Adam agrees to accept her. Therefore, that is what marriage is.”
The purposes of marriage are first of all, Godly companionship, so that men and women will not live out their lives in loneliness. Note that Paul even counsels younger widows “to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy (that is, the devil) no opportunity for slander” (1 Timothy 5:14). The second purpose and blessing of marriage is fidelity, that is, sexual faithfulness to God and to one’s spouse. By marrying one another, the couple binds themselves together and the way is barred to the body of anybody else, and they content themselves in the marriage bed with their one companion. And it is not shameful to ask one’s parents to help with this desire. Abraham helped his son find a good wife (Genesis 24:3-4). Luther once again says: “You are not ashamed, are you, to ask your parents for a coat? Why be foolish then, and not ask for what is far greater, a partner in marriage?”
Thirdly, God’s purpose and blessing in marriage is the fulfillment of God’s command to be fruitful and to have children. And following this, that the children should be raised knowing the Word of God, instructed about God’s commands, knowing their Catechism, and the comfort of the forgiveness of sins. “Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).
This passage uncovers our sins in imagining that we know better than God does about who would make the right spouse for us. Attraction apart from faith is a fast track to disaster in a relationship. Esau made this error, taking wives from among his pagan neighbors (Genesis 36:2-3) and displeasing his parents by doing so (Genesis 28:8). A spouse who does not share one’s faith can turn the heart of a believer away from God and into sins of idolatry and unbelief, which is evil in the eyes of the Lord (1 Kings 11:4-6). It is possible for a spouse to turn their mate to the true faith, but this is not a path we would recommend that our children take, especially if they wait until after they are married. But for any sins we have committed, the prayer remains: “Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways” (Psalm 25:7). “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” And God is merciful; his mercy is eternal. And so we pray that he will bless us and bless our marriages, and the marriages of our children. Pray for each other. Pray that God will bless us.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.