FRAMEWORKS:
Genesis 2: Creation – focused on Eden, Adam & Eve
v.1-3
The Seventh Day
v.1
Thus
the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
v.2
By
the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so
on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
v.3
Then
God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he
rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
[Note:
‘rested' in v.2 simply means ceased because the work
was finished (& God does not get tired – see, for example,
Isa 40:29, Psa 121:2,4). ‘Holy' in v.3 means utterly different
(He's not working!), special and distinct.]
v.4-8
Adam
v.4
This
is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
when the Lord
God
made the earth and the heavens.
v.5,6
Now
no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung
up, for the Lord
God
had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the
ground, but
streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of
the ground.
v.7
Then
the Lord
God
formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
v.8
Now
the Lord
God
had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the
man he had formed.
(Note:
this second perspective, not seeking to repeat the detail
of chapter 1 of how the earth came into being, now emphasizes:
i)
the earth was no accident but designed and created by God (v.4),
yet
ii)
it conforms it was brought into being in phases (as chapter 1
and as evolution also suggests) - v.5,6 no plant life, then rain,
then plant life [inferred] then mankind.
iii)
evolution postulates that man is the end result of a long chain
that starts out as chemicals [dust] of the early earth, so the
shorthand of v.7 fits that hypothesis.
iv)
the area known as Eden, which will shortly be revealed as ‘the
cradle of civilisation' or Mesopotamia was a flourishing area
for man to develop. The apparent history of homo-sapiens does
not conflict with this account if, at some point, God intervened
by creating a soul and spirit into the existing beings.
v)
The history of Genesis while clearly not seeking to dot every
‘I' or cross every ‘T' focuses on a particular flow of mankind
that eventually sub-divides and focuses on the Hebrews out of
whom come Abram and the chosen line for Israel.]
v.9-14
The Garden of Eden
v.9
The
Lord
God
made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were
pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden
were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil.
v.10
A
river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was
separated into four headwaters.
v.11
The
name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land
of Havilah, where there is gold.
v.12
(The
gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)
v.13
The
name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire
land of Cush.
v.14
The name of the third
river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And
the fourth river is the Euphrates.
[Notes:
Trees grow and fruit produced. Of the four rivers mentioned,
the Tigris and the Euphrates are clearly known as Mesopotamia.
The two trees specifically referred to in v.9b are designated
not by tree nomenclature but by role or function in what follows.]
v.15-17
God's Instructions to Adam
v.15
The
Lord
God
took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and
take care of it.
v.16
And
the Lord
God
commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
v.17
but
you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
[Notes:
We should note the following instructions given to Adam:
•
to work and take care of the
garden i.e. a specific trainee role v.15
•
free to eat from any of the
many trees in the garden v.16
•
EXCEPT from the one tree designated
(v.17) the tree that would bring the knowledge of good and evil.
As it was forbidden, obviously if he took from it he would know
what evil meant – disobedience and guilt – and death.
•
the meaning of ‘death' is
not spelled out but it would certainly mean death to the trusting
relationship with God. The implication might also be that as
long as they did not eat from it and stayed in close contact
with God, they would experience eternal life, and that would
be lost in disobedience and would result eventually in physical
death, i.e. an end of the enjoyment of the wonderful world provided
for them.]
v.18-20
Seeking for a Helper for Adam
v.18
The
Lord
God
said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper
suitable for him.”
v.19
Now
the Lord
God
had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the
birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would
name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that
was its name.
v.20
So
the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky
and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was
found.
[Notes:
In retrospect it seems a bit pointless in lining up
all the other creatures to see of they would be able to help Adam
in the garden, but it clearly makes the point, animals cannot
be controllers (rulers) of the earth. There is also the implication
that Adam was not up to the task on his own. He needed the woman.
He Adam had the role of gardener-caretaker but Eve would have
the task of enabling him to achieve that task. The so-called ‘creation
mandate of 1:28 was God
blessed them and said to them , “Be fruitful and
increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
It was something they were to do together, a partnership. Only
together could they ‘fill the earth', and only together could
they ‘subdue it'.]
v.21-25
Eve
v.21
So
the Lord
God
caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping,
he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with
flesh.
v.22
Then
the Lord
God
made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he
brought her to the man.
v.23
The
man said, “This is now bone of my bones
and
flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,'
for
she was taken out of man.”
v.24
That
is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his
wife, and they become one flesh.
v.25
Adam
and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
[Notes
1: Origins: In prophecy and biblical teaching, picture
language is often used to portray a truth. Whatever the truth
behind v.21,22, the point is that they were together from one
source – Adam from the basic building blocks of life and Eve following
him, part of him. if there is any tendency towards pride, these
origins are humbling: “You're from dust.” “Yes, but you're just
part of me.” Both special creations with a purpose, together to
populate the earth and together to rule over it.
Notes
2: One flesh:
If we have a main problem with evolution it is sex. It is impossible
to imagine how one creature, however far back in the evolutionary
flow could formulate opposite means of procreating, that necessitated
the two of them coming together to each produce the opposite part
of what was needed to create an embryo.
Notes
3: Naked and shameless:
Up until the point of their disobedience they had no self-awareness
that was negative. It was only when they sinned and felt guilty
that that was accompanied by self-awareness and a need to cover
up. Prior to their disobedience they were totally at ease with
each other, with the world and with God. Disobedience changed
all three things.]
Lessons
or Challenges to Ponder from Genesis Chapter 2
1.
God ‘resting' on the seventh ‘day' suggests a completed work that
complements the description of 1:31 that al He had made was ‘very
good'. God's provision is never less than ‘very good'. We may
fail to appreciate it, but that is our lack, not the reality.
2.
The focus on Adam and Eve shows a God who provides freedom and
a wonderful environment in which they could live and enjoy life,
a God who provides complementary gender.
Continue to Chapter 3