From the Home Place

April 3, 2026

The wind is howling outside, no snow here yet. The temperature reads 37 degrees, but the weather man is saying that the “real feel” is 18 degrees, that will sure enough chill a baby cow. Sounds like the winds will roar at 53 mph, an inch or two of snow and a high of 30 degrees less than yesterday. On the bright side, the radar shows some good moisture over the Nebraska fire lands!

Last night was a very interesting evening for our young men’s group. The question was asked, “Why don’t today’s males want to be men?”” We then spent the next 90 minutes looking at Scriptures and discussing that question. Perhaps a quick look at a couple of those Scriptures will be beneficial for our morning’s reading? (Okay, I lied, this is going to be a long discussion.)

In Genesis 3 we find the person the Bible calls “the first Adam.” He lived in a sinless culture, had a beautiful wife, didn’t have to work extremely hard because God had provided for his every need. The Bible even tells us that Adam and his bride enjoyed evening walks through their garden, walking and talking with God. This first man had been given specific instructions that he could enjoy all of the garden in which he lived, except he was to stay away from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen. 2:16-17)

Oops, let’s back up just a few verses: May we start our journey in Genesis 2:15, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” So, here we see that God want’s man to work for his living – no free meals even in the very beginning; man was to work for his living.

Now go to Genesis 1:27 where you will read that God created humans, “male and female He created them.” One thing we have to understand is that God created everything with, and in, order. By God’s amazing wisdom, He created everything that Adam and Eve would need and then He gave them their marching orders, if you will, in verse 28, “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.”

Now things get a little tricky but let me suggest there are three key words in Genesis 1:28: 1) the word “multiply” tells us that God never planned for Adam and Eve to be the only humans on His newly created earth. In fact, God expected Adam and Eve to “fill” the earth with humanity, poor Eve. 2) The next key word is “subdue.” This word literally means to “subjugate; violate” God had just instructed Adam and Eve to bring all life under control, by force if necessary. That sounds to me a lot like God knew that His first children would face conflict. 3) The third word is “rule over.” I know, that’s actually two words, but the original language requires them to be read a one, meaning to “have authority over, to have jurisdiction over.”

In the very beginning of time, before the introduction of sin, God introduced conflict and authority as realities of life. The first Adam was born into conflict, and was expected to use force if necessary to bring order into God’s creation, not worship it.

Enter Satan. Conflict is escalated to a level that Adam had never seen before! The Bible tells us that Eve was enticed to sin, she ate of the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:6) and then “she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” The term “with her” in the Hebrew means that Adam was right there with Eve. Most likely Adam was present to hear the whole discussion between Satan and his wife Eve (vv. 1-6). And just like that, our first Adam didn’t enter into the conflict, nor did he “rule over” it. He just ate.

Now we begin to understand why males do not want to be men. We would rather eat and have sex like our father Adam, than to “subdue” and “rule over.” I.E. King David – 2 Samuel 11:1, “Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.” All of that is to say that instead of going to war as he was supposed to do, David stayed in the comfort of his home.

As you know, now David sees Bathsheba, has sex with her, she gets pregnant, and because of his ability to “rule over” the army, David has Bathsheba’s husband killed and everything falls apart because David did not do his part as king – he didn’t go to war, instead he stayed home. David, didn’t “subdue” as he was supposed to, instead he ate and had sex and then had to “rule over.”

Now let’s jump into the New Testament where we read of another Adam. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15 and read verses 45-49. The first Adam is the guy we just studied about in Genesis, the “last Adam” is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, by the way, today is Good Friday, the day we recognize as the day that Jesus Christ was crucified – you don’t get any more conflict than that! Read any of the Gospel accounts of the life of Jesus and you quickly realize that Jesus was born into a world of conflict, and He subdued it as He hung on the Cross of Calvary. When Jesus uttered the words “it is finished,” He proclaimed to every “earthy” man (1 Cor. 15:47) that Jesus reestablished man’s ability to fulfill God’s command to the first Adam, to “subdue” and “rule over.”

Today, every male gets to decide if he will participate in that which Jesus made possible, will he be a man of God, or just a male? Will he do the hard work of providing and protecting, or will he just eat and have sex?

I would suggest that there is nothing new in the struggle of manhood. From the first Adam to today, all men would like to avoid that which they were created to do, fight the good fight and “subdue” and “rule over.” Instead, it appears that most males of today prefer to follow King David’s model instead of fulfilling their God-given responsibilities.

Summation, Unless the men of God rise up and show the males of our culture what it looks like to be a man of God, the kind of man Jesus died upon the cross for, Americal will soon lose her freedom because there will be no men to “go off to war” for the family or the nation, they will just eat and have sex!

Going to battle to subdue a lost culture, Neal

P.S. – By the way, the words “rule over” do not give men permission to be tyrants. Jesus lived His life before humanity as one who was able to “rule over” sin. Jesus lived His life as a servant and died as the Savior. Seems like this is a model all males would do well to follow???

If the Lord allows, tomorrow I hope to bring the “Paul Harvey” segment – I think there is great hope – when things seem the darkest, God’s light shines the brightest!