Last time we looked primarily at the first six days of creation. Now beginning in chapter 2 and vs 4 we see a recapitulation of creation, which I believe is an expanded account of what happened in the six days of creation but also includes what happens in the next week or weeks to come. Moses begins this section by saying in vs 4 “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.”
A more literal translation might read, “these are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created….” This is the first of ten such designations in Genesis. It’s a formula used often by Moses to add detail that might not yet have been fully presented. Oddly, it seems God says through Moses that these are the offspring of the heavens and the earth.
There is also a different term used for the name of God. In chapter one, it was Elohim, which is in plural form, meaning the Supreme God. Beginning in chapter 2 vs 4 though, He is called Jehovah God, translated, Lord God. In Chapter 1 we are dealing with the making of things, and God is presented to us under the name of Elohim, as the Creator. But when man appears on the scene God is spoken of in a different character. He now appears under His personal name of Jehovah, which means essentially the covenant-making God, the God who keeps a promise. Jehovah is God’s personal name, which indicates His relationship with man.
He also says “in the day” God made the heavens and the earth. I think the usage of that word in this case is not speaking of a single day, but figuratively speaking of the time period when God made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. I believe there were six literal days as described in chapter 1, and now he speaks of that time period in which God made all that is in the earth.
However, I think that the logical understanding of the sequence indicates some of the events described here take place after the first week. Notice vs 5 “Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Some Bible scholars say that this reference to “no shrub on the field was yet in the earth because there was no rain, and there was no man to cultivate the ground” is not a reference to the general plant life of the earth. We know that the plants were created on day three. But what the shrub of the field speaks of is cultivated plants which were specifically for food, such as what God planted in the Garden of Eden.
Last week we looked briefly at the creation of man on day six, and what we have in this account is an expansion of how that occurred. And not only how, but I think this account answers the question “why.” Why was man created? Every thing that God created He spoke into existence. But when God made man, we see something different. God formed man from the dust of the earth. In other acts of creation, God spoke something into existence where there was nothing. But in this case, God forms man out of the dust. Some commentators have pointed out that this word translated as “formed” is used in Jeremiah 18:2 as well as in other places, to describe a potter who would make a jar or vessel from a lump of clay. In the NT, In Eph. 2:10, Paul says we are His workmanship, poema, which speaks of a work of art.
The point I would emphasize is that man was created differently and for a different purpose than all the other creatures that God made. We see God crafting, forming man with His hands, shaping him into His own likeness, in His own image, and then breathing the breath of life into His nostrils. One of the commentators says this has the intimacy of a kiss. And so God crafted man, He breathed into him the breath of life. It’s very much reminiscent of the Lord Jesus Christ’s word to the disciples after the resurrection. He breathed upon them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. And so here we see the distinguishing feature of man. He has
[nešāmâ], the breath that has come from God. And this word nesama is always used in reference to God’s Spirit.
And the text says that man became a living soul. He breathed the breath, the spirit of God into man, and man became a living soul. God made man in His image, in His likeness. And man was made spirit, soul and body. Notice the order in which God made man. The spirit is the part of man that has communion with God, fellowship with God. It is to rule over the soul. The soul of man is made up of his intellect, his emotions and his will. So the spirit is to rule over the soul. And the soul is to rule over the body. The body is to be subject to the soul which is subject to the spirit.
Now that’s the order of God’s creation. But when man sinned, and fell, the order was reversed. God said in the day you eat of it you shall die. What died that day when Adam sinned was his spirit. And so the order of creation was overturned. Man was then ruled by his body, his fleshly lusts, and they ruled over his soul, his intellect, emotions and will. So man became enslaved to his baser passions. At regeneration, at conversion, God reestablishes the divine order of creation by giving life to our spirit, and as we walk by the Spirit, and no longer by the flesh, we renew our minds according to the design of God.
But at creation, man was given the spirit of God, made a living soul, and he was made for fellowship, for life with God. Then next we see what I think is one of the most mysterious things in the creation story. The tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life which God planted in the garden along with other trees and shrubs that were good for food.
First of all though notice that God planted a garden. This would seem to be a separate act of creation. This seems to have occurred after the six days of creation. God planted a garden that would produce food for man, and He gave man the job of cultivating, or tending the garden. The whole earth was not the garden, nor was the garden necessarily the place where God lives. But it was planted by God and given to man.
But the mysterious thing is that God also planted there the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I think these are literal trees with real fruit. But they are also symbolic. The tree of knowledge of good and evil is mentioned only here and in vs 17. But the tree of life is referred to many times in scripture, not the least of which is in Revelation chapters 2 and 22. This tree seems to have had the power to convey immortality to man, and as such is used in Scripture as a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Revelation the tree of life appears as a symbol of the person of Christ. Paul wrote in 2 Tim.1:10 and said of Christ that he "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
But in regards to the other tree, It’s not a tree of good and evil, but the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of the tree was not inherently sinful. Everything God made was good. I’m sure it was just a normal fruit tree that had good tasting fruit upon it. But the point was that in disobeying God and deciding to eat of that fruit, then the knowledge of evil, the knowledge of sin entered man. There are many theories as to what this means, but the best view I believe is that it indicates moral autonomy. What is forbidden is that man has the power to decide for himself what is good and what is evil. This is a decision that God has not delegated to man, and when man usurps that authority, then he has made himself the arbiter of good and evil, and has put himself in God’s place of authority. It also indicates that sin starts in the mind. It’s the knowledge of good and evil.
Now we read that there wasn’t rain on the earth in those days. Last week we mentioned the firmament or the expanse and the waters being separated above and below so that it would have made a greenhouse effect on the earth. Not only would this canopy of water have blocked out harmful ultraviolet radiation, but it would have likely caused a mist to cover the earth in the morning, and dew on the ground, which would have watered the earth and provided a moderate temperature.
But the Garden of Eden was also placed at the mouth of three rivers, which watered the Garden. You can locate the likely location of the Garden by a map which shows the Tigris and Euphrates River, though the names of the other river have been changed. And perhaps the rivers themselves have been altered in their locations due to the flood. But you can get a general idea from a map that the Garden of Eden would have been in modern day Turkey. And that also gives us assurance of the reality of these events, that they happened as described, and they were in an actual place. This isn’t a fairy tale.
Vs 15 “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
First of all, God put man in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. This was Adam’s job. I don’t know that it was a very difficult job, because God planted it, and there were not thorns and thistles at that time. But he was given a job to tend the Garden which provided him food. It also seems that man was a vegetarian at that time. After the flood, God said that man could, or perhaps should eat meat. We aren’t told why, but it may have to do with the canopy of water that had shielded man from harmful ultraviolet radiation was no longer provided, and so man needed the extra nutrients that can come from eating meat. But that is not directly stated in the text.
The first commandment given to man was that he could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the punishment for breaking that command was that he would die. It’s interesting that Adam isn’t told that he can’t eat from the tree of life. There seems to be no prohibition in that. In fact, I can’t help but wonder if God wasn’t presenting a choice to man, to eat of the tree of life, which symbolized the immortal life given by Christ, or eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was to chose to live life according to one’s own standards, which is rebellion against God, which is sin, resulting in death. Seems like an obvious choice, but unfortunately, as we know man was deceived into thinking that he could have a better life if he chose his own version of morality. Man is still confronted with that choice today. To submit to the Lord and have eternal life, or to chose to live according to your version of right and wrong, to live according to the desires of the flesh.
Vs. Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” I believe that the sequence of these events indicates this happened at some time after man was created. I believe when it speaks in chapter one of man being created, male and female He created them, it is referring to Adam being created, in whom was the blueprint for male and female, the male and female chromosomes. God always intended to bring a woman from Adam, but in day six of creation, God made all the hormones and chromosomes of male and female in Adam, but had not yet brought forth Eve from Adam.
But one thing should be clear from this passage, and that is that woman was made to be man’s companion. A helper suitable for him. Like him, corresponding to him. It’s also obvious that for some time, we don’t know how long, man was alone. I find it very hard to imagine all of this happening on day six. I think God wanted Adam to realize that he was alone. And to bring that into focus, God did something interesting before creating woman.
Vs19 “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast 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. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”
We know that Moses isn’t saying that after Adam was created, God then formed the beasts and cattle and birds. Those were created before Adam was created, according to chapter one. But I think he is just referring to that act of God creating the animals and the birds and so forth in the past, and then bringing them at some point to Adam to name them all. I mentioned last week that scientists say that there are at least 18000 species of birds. Scientists have observed and classified around 1.2 million species of animals, but they estimate that there are approximately 8.7 million living animal species on earth. There are 86400 seconds in a day. So if Adam named one animal per second, then it would take about a hundred days for Adam to name all the animals. That’s if he worked really fast and never stopped to eat or sleep.
The end result though was that Adam did not find any animal or creature that would be suitable for him. I would think he felt more alone after naming all the animals. Now I surmised last time that I believe this was symbolic of something that was a similar experience for God. God looked at all the worlds and creatures that He had created since the beginning, before the earth was formed, and did not find a helper suitable for Himself. And so wanting to have a companion, a helper, God made man. That correlates to the description of the creation of man we looked at earlier when God crafted and formed man out of the dust of the earth with his hands like a potter would shape a vessel, and breathed the breath of His Spirit into his nostrils so that man became a living soul, made in His likeness, in His image.
In Isaiah 54:5 it says "For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.” Man was made to be the bride of Christ. Your husband is your Creator.
So because man could find none among the animal kingdom to be a suitable helper for him, vs. 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. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
It seems that some pastors in the past have concluded that because of this act of creation man has one less ribs than women. Of course that’s not true, and the Bible doesn’t teach that. That’s akin to God making a man with 10 fingers and if he lost one in an accident, then his child would be born with 9 fingers.
But irregardless, God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, took a rib from him and closed up the flesh. Then the Lord fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man. All the raw material for woman was already made in Adam, God just used part of Adam to make woman. That still is a miracle of creation that we cannot really comprehend. I’m not sure Adam could comprehend it any better. But his first words recorded in scripture are “this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Adam recognized that she was a part of him. And I think that to this day man feels like something is missing in his life until he finds that woman who completes him. I remember my own dad telling me when I was single, that when I found a wife she would complete me. And I think that’s true.
Some have suggested that bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh is a covenantal statement similar to the marriage vow, “in weakness and in strength.” Saying that circumstances will not alter the loyalty and commitment to one another. And just as Adam named all the animals and creatures, so he names her Woman, for she came out of man. The word for woman in Hebrew is Issa, which also means wife. So from the Biblical rendering of the word wife it can only be used for a woman.
And in Vs24 we see that marriage commitment further delineated. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” Marriage is what is being spoken of here, a man and his wife form the marriage bond. Marriage is the joining together so that they are one. Woman was made to be the companion, helper to man, and thus be his wife. And together they become one flesh. There is solidarity in this relationship as they are joined together as man and wife.
Jesus quotes from this verse in order to confirm the sanctity of marriage. In Matt. 19:4 Jesus said, "Have you not read that He who created [them] from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
Ephesians 6 tells us that the husband and wife relationship speaks to the relationship of Christ and the church. The church of course not being an institution, but a people, conformed to the image of Christ, made in HIs likeness. These people are the bride of Christ, taken from the wound from His side. Eph 5:28-33 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also [does] the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must [see to it] that she respects her husband.”
Finally, Moses tells us in vs25 “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” In the marriage relationship there is no sin. That is what I think is being indicated here. Outside of marriage sexual relations are sinful. But in a marriage relationship there is no sin. And in our relationship with Christ there is no sin. Our sin is not counted against us when we are in Christ. But outside of Christ we remain in our sins.
I trust that you are in Christ today. That you have accepted Him as your Savior and Lord, believing in Him, submitting to Him as your Lord and Master. Forsaking all others, clinging only to Him.
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