In our previous study in Genesis, we discussed the seven days of creation. God created the entire univers e in six literal days, and then rested on the seventh day. He then blessed the seventh day and set it apart for a day of rest for mankind. Again, we see a great picture of the Gospel as the author of Hebrews points out: Just as man would rest from his labor one day a week, we cease from our works and take our Sabbath rest in Jesus Christ for salvation. We talked about how we can trust the word of God, especially when it comes to its plain teachings. Yes, there are some issues with different translations for which we will talk about one of them in a minute, but most of the legitimate translations agree on the major parts of doctrine. In chapter 2, we get a close-up view of day six of creation.
Verses 4 and 5 of chapter 2 of Genesis are a summary or recap of the creation account in chapters 1:1-2:3. It states, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.” So, it is the account of when the Lord made the heavens and the earth, as well as vegetation before it grew. In other words, it is stating that God created plants and vegetation from nothing because it had not rained, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. Remember vegetation was formed on day three, but man was not created until day six. In some of your newer translations such as the New American Standard Bible (NASB) and New International Version (NIV), the word “and” at the beginning of verse 5 is replaced with “now.” This makes it a separate thought from verse 4 rather than a continuation of it, and it becomes more logical to connect verse 5 with day six of creation. If interpreted this way, it creates a contradiction between Genesis 1:11-13 and 2:5. God had already created plant life on day three, but in some newer translations verse 5 of chapter two states that they had not grown yet on day six. It is the older translations like the King James Version (KJV), New King James (NKJV), and the Wycliffe Bible that make it more logical that verses 4 and 5 are simply restating what took place up until day six.
In verse 4, we see the first time the word “LORD” appears in the Bible, and when we see it in all caps, it is referring to the name of God that the Jews revered so much that they would only write the consonants “JHVH.” We don’t know the vowels that were there, but the general consensus is that it was pronounced "Yahweh." The alternative rendering of the name is Jehovah. This is the same name used for the Lord in Exodus 3 at the burning bush when He said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” It is that name of God that communicates He is everything we need Him to be. In Genesis 2, it is used in connection with “God” (Elohim), meaning the Great I Am (Yahweh) is existent in three persons. This is why Jesus told the Pharisees, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (Jn 8:58)
In verse 6 of Genesis 2 it states that a mist or stream went up from the earth that watered the face of the ground. Prior to the flood, the water cycle was subterranean rather than atmospheric, meaning that there was no evaporation and subsequent rainfall, but there were pressurized reservoirs that were probably energized by the earth’s heat that were the source of the mist. This would have also fed the rivers mentioned a bit later. These underground reservoirs are what the Scriptures call the fountains of the deep, and will play an important role in the world-wide flood discussed later in Genesis.
The Scriptures then state the Lord formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. It states at this point that man became a living soul. The word ‘formed’ means to mold or shape much like a potter fashioning clay, and bears the marks of intelligent design. How true this is: The more we find out about the human body, the more amazed we are at its complexity and design. The Psalmist wrote, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalms 139:14) If we are tempted to glory in our own physical stature or appearance, we should remember we are only dust. If we marvel in its complexity and design, we should praise and give glory to God as David did.
The Lord then breathed His own breath into Adam’s nostrils, and he became a living soul. He became a living, rational, and spiritual being, which distinguished him from the rest of creation. This gives us some insight as to what the Lord said when He stated His desire to make mankind in His own image. The Lord did not have a physical body as we do, so being made in His image could not be referring to a physical body. The soul of man however, consists of our mind, will and emotions. The Scriptures also refer to the Lord in numerous places as having a mind, will, and emotions. We also have a spirit that allows us to communicate with God who is a spirit. Man in his perfect state had a spirit that was in continuous fellowship with the Lord, and this spirit was in control over his soul, which in turn had control over his physical body. After the fall of man into sin, this would become inverted, but this was and still is the Lord’s design for mankind.
The Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden, and placed the man there to dwell. The exact location of the Garden of Eden is unknown, since the landscape changed drastically after the flood. He caused every tree to grow there that was pleasant to the sight and that was good for food. We are told that the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were also there in the midst of the garden, facts that will be relevant in a bit.
The Genesis account mentions a river that flowed out of Eden, and then parted into four heads. Two of these we recognize today: One was the Hiddekel (Tigris), and the other is the Euphrates. Again, we do not know if the Tigris and Euphrates rivers today are the same as they were prior to the flood, but these four rivers flowed around or through vast amounts of land. In the land of Havilah there was fine gold, bdellium, and the onyx stone. In a perfect world, commodities were not a bad thing. In fact, in Heaven, we will be walking on streets of gold (Rev 21:21). These things would only become a problem when man would become greedy after the Fall.
The Lord put man (Adam) into the garden to tend and keep it. Notice the Lord’s intention for man was to work, even before sin entered the picture. A principle found throughout the entire Scriptures is that the Lord created man to work. The Lord stated in Exodus, “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work.” (Exodus 20:9) He wants us to work hard for His glory: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24) He also wants us to enjoy the fruits of our labor: “Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19) The commandment to work is for man to glorify God and to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
He then told Adam that he could freely eat of any of the trees in the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Lord told him that in the day he eats of it, he would surely die, or dying, you shall die. This implies an innocence on their part: they had all of creation that God said was very good with only one restriction. There were no other thou shalt nots, either because they had no knowledge of them, or it just didn’t occur to them to do otherwise. At the very least, they did not have an experiential knowledge of evil accompanied by a consciousness of moral guilt.
The one restriction was necessary. The Lord wants us to serve Him, but He wants us to choose to do so. If there were no tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then man would have had no choice. God created mankind with the free will to choose between right and wrong, but at this point sin was not inherit in their nature.
In verse 18 we see that God said that it was not good for man to be alone, and that He would make a helpmate for him. There are religions (even certain sects of Christendom) that in order to be more spiritual you must be celibate, but here we see in the first book of the Bible that God says this is not so. God’s intent from the beginning is that man should have a companion to help him navigate through life, and as we will see, this would be a woman that man would take to be his wife. God brought all the land animals to Adam so that he would name them, but there was not found a suitable help mate for him. So, the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and then He took out one of his ribs and made a woman. Then the Lord brought her to Adam, and Adam 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 is here that the Lord presided over the first wedding ceremony when He said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Jesus quoted from this passage in His conversation with the Pharisees: “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” (Matthew 19:4-6)
If you remember from chapter 1, we discussed the principle of first mention: Whenever something is mentioned for the first time in the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is often highlighting something important for us. The principle usually carries a higher significance, and is a key to understanding that truth throughout the rest of the Bible. Most of this will be a review from our study in Ephesians, so we will cover them briefly.
First, it is the Lord who ordained marriage, not man. If the Lord created it, then man cannot redefine it. Second, we see that marriage is between one man (singular) and one woman (singular) that enter into a covenant before God. Third, it is to be a public ceremony. Marriage has never been a private event where a couple go out into the woods and make a commitment to each other. The Lord was literally present at the first marriage between Adam and his wife, and throughout the rest of the Bible marriage was a public event in which the bride and groom were accompanied by their family and friends who were witnesses to the union taking place. There is accountability when a couple stand before God and the rest of the Church to make their marriage vows. Fourth, the man and woman are to leave and cleave to each other, and are to become one flesh. Finally, marriage is to be for life. Jesus said that what God has joined together, man was not to put asunder.
Lastly, Genesis states that the man and his wife were naked and were not ashamed. At this point there was no reason to be ashamed, for there was no sin or sin nature to distort the beauty of what God had created, nor was there any consciousness of moral guilt. They were free to fellowship with and enjoy God, as well as free to fellowship with and enjoy one another. There would have been complete peace and unity between them. How great it would have been to live in this state of innocence that God had made in the beginning.
In application, are we enjoying fellowship with the Lord? That fellowship that Adam and Eve had with the Lord has been made possible again through faith in Jesus. As we covered in Ephesians, God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, has made us alive together with Christ. We get the privilege of talking directly to Him through prayer, and He speaks back to us through His word and His Holy Spirit. For those of us who are married, are we enjoying fellowship with our spouses? Yes, sin can make things difficult at times, but this fellowship too is possible because of what the Lord has done for us. Again, as we covered in Ephesians, when we husbands sacrificially love our wives, and wives willingly submit to and reverence their husbands, we can enjoy this fellowship as God intended. We can also enjoy physical intimacy to the fullest without guilt or shame (Heb 13:4). Due to the lack of good teaching in the Church on this topic, many couples struggle in this area, but if we read the Song of Solomon, we can easily see that God designed sex in marriage to be enjoyed.
In summary, we have discussed a close-up view of day six of creation and the creation of mankind. The Lord formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, and then breathed into him the breath of life. The Lord then formed his wife out of a rib He had taken from him. They were naked and unashamed in the garden, but in the next chapter we will see how this was all about to change.
Additional Resources
New defender's Study Bible Notes
Genesis 2 - Smith's Bible Commentary
No comments:
Post a Comment