Genesis 2 is an overview of the creation from man’s perspective. It focuses on and zooms in on God’s greatest creation, man.
Genesis 2:1-3 is basically a summary of Genesis 1. Notice the words, ‘their vast array’, Genesis 2:1. This refers to the stars, the KJV reads ‘all the host of them’.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Moses probably meant everything that existed above the earth and on the earth when he wrote ‘their hosts.’ The ‘host’ of heaven usually refers to the stars in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 4:19, more than the angels, 1 Kings 22:19, so the sun, moon, and stars are probably in view here.’
Notice it’s not stated here that God rested from all activity, but that He rested from creation, ‘the work which he had been doing,’ which is an expression repeated twice, Genesis 2:2-3. Please note that this has no reference whatever to the Jewish sabbath.
This doesn’t refer to the days of the week, but the days of creation. This day of God’s rest is still going on, Hebrews 4:4-6 / Hebrews 4:11, and will obviously continue until Christ returns. There is no command here for man to rest, no revelation whatever to Adam or his posterity, suggesting or commanding the observance of any such thing as the Jewish sabbath.
The specific thing from which it’s stated is that God rested from the work of creation, Genesis 2:2-3, a fact which is obvious enough in the fact that the creation isn’t still going on.
There is also no mention here of ‘evening and morning,’ which tells us that the close of the seventh day is still in progress. We must remember that the sabbath that God blessed was the first day of Adam’s life, not the seventh, and there’s no indication whatever that Adam ever heard of a sabbath.
The sabbath was made known, not to Adam, but Moses, Nehemiah 9:13-14, and the reason for the Jewish observance of the sabbath given to them wasn’t because God rested on the creation sabbath, but ‘the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt,’ Deuteronomy 5:15.
The sabbath was never a sign between God and all men, but ‘a sign between me (God) and the children of Israel,’ Exodus 31:17. Christians are not under obligation to observe the Sabbath today, Colossians 2:16-17 / Galatians 4:9-11, because Jesus fulfilled the purpose and plan of the Sabbath for us and in us, Hebrews 4:9-11.
God created everything in six days, Genesis 1 / Exodus 20:11. At the end of the sixth day, God looked at everything He had made and said it was ‘very good’, Genesis 1:31. The next day, day seven, God rested from His work of creating because it was all finished, Genesis 2:2.
God then blessed this day by making it holy because it was the day that He chose to rest from His work, Genesis 2:3. Why did God rest? Was he tired from all the work of creating? Not at all! The Bible tells us that God doesn’t get tired or sleep, Psalm 121:3-4. He rested to establish a pattern for us to follow.
Brueggemann, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The destiny of the human creation is to live in God’s world, with God’s other creatures, on God’s terms.’
This is an account of the heavens and the earth when God created them. The word ‘account’, Genesis 2:4, in the context of Genesis, refers to that which is begotten or generated. In this book, it’s the accounts of people through whom the seed-line promise of redemption would come.
Since it’s the purpose of the writer to give an account of origins, the book is conveniently divided into sections by an introduction that alerts us to the beginning of a new section by mentioning the beginning of a new posterity.
Ten times the writer introduces a section with the statement, ‘This is the account’ Genesis 2:4 / Genesis 5:1 / Genesis 6:9 / Genesis 10:1 / Genesis 11:10 / Genesis 11:27 / Genesis 25:12 / Genesis 25:19 / Genesis 36:1 / Genesis 37:2.
Beginning with this section, man is the offspring who came from the creation of the heavens and the earth, since from the dust of the earth the body of man was formed, Genesis 2:7. Remember, Moses isn’t presenting a second account of creation but focuses on the created heavens and earth giving birth to the human race.
Note that some translations use the words, ‘in the day’ that the LORD God made them,’ Genesis 2:4. The word ‘day’ used here in Hebrew is the word ‘yom’, but it doesn’t always mean a literal twenty-four-hour day, Genesis 2:17 / 2 Corinthians 6:2.
The Bible Hub says the following.
‘The term ‘day’ here is understood as a period of time rather than a literal 24-hour day. In the context of Genesis, ‘day’ can refer to an era or a specific phase in God’s creative process. This usage is consistent with other parts of Scripture where ‘day’ signifies a longer period, such as in Psalm 90:4, and 2 Peter 3:8. The phrase emphasises the unity and completeness of God’s creative work, encapsulating the entire process in a singular divine act.’
Notice how we are introduced for the first time to God’s Name, which is LORD, Genesis 2:4. The name Jehovah means the self-Existent or Eternal One, Exodus 3:14. This word occurs about six thousand times in Scripture, and it’s obvious from its use that it is, so to speak, the proper name of God. When the words ‘Elohim’ and ‘Jehovah’ are together, it’s translated as LORD GOD, Genesis 2:4 / Exodus 34:5-6.
There was an ‘expanse’ created between the waters of the earth and the canopy of waters above the earth, Genesis 1:6, and there was no one to work the ground, Genesis 2:5. The canopy of waters above the earth produced a greenhouse effect that created a warm temperature throughout the world, Genesis 2:5, and thus lush vegetation grew over all the surface of the earth, Genesis 2:6.
Evidently, rain didn’t occur before the flood of Noah’s day, and thus, some had a difficult time believing the sermon of Noah that a great destruction by water was coming. In this context, we learn that vegetation throughout the world was watered by a mist that came up from the earth, Genesis 2:6. The lush global vegetation made it possible for animal life throughout the world to exist in great abundance.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It appears that God created everything, not only perfect as it respects its nature, but also in a state of maturity, so that every vegetable production appeared at once in full growth, and this was necessary that man, when he came into being, might find everything ready for his use.’
Adam was formed out of the dust of the earth, Genesis 2:7 / 1 Corinthians 15:47, and God imparted to him life and breath, Genesis 2:7 / Acts 17:25-26 / Acts 17:28. Man was created in the image of God, Genesis 1:26-27.
Boice, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The implication, readily seen by any Hebrew reader, (is) that man was specially created by God’s breathing some of His own breath into him.’
The average person weighs around 10.5 stone and is made up of the following chemicals: 92.4 lbs. Oxygen, 31.5 lbs. Carbon, 14.6 lbs. Hydrogen, 4.6 lbs. Nitrogen, 2.8 lbs. Phosphorous, 1.12 lbs. Chlorine, 1.02 lbs. Iron, 0.34 lbs, potassium, 0.24 lbs. Sulphur, 0.12 lbs sodium, 0.04 lbs magnesium, 0.02 lbs. Fluorine.
Now, if you accept that, that is all there is to a human being, then you’ve sadly missed the point; there’s a lot more to a human being than just a few chemicals. All human beings are triune beings. Let me explain.
The Godhead is made up of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Human beings are also triune beings because we have a body, soul, and spirit, 1 Thessalonians 5:23. But sadly, many people have forgotten the soul and spirit part; all they think about is the body. You see all these so-called supermodels who in the world’s eyes have great physical bodies, but sadly, the soul is dead.
The apostle Paul gives us a complete description of the nature of man in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. Here, the apostle clearly reveals that man is a triune being, consisting of spirit and soul and body.
And even though this is the only verse in the Bible in which the three-fold nature of man is mentioned, these three elements, body, soul, and spirit, are referred to in different combinations in other places, in both the Old and the New Testaments.
In the Old Testament, for example, in his God-given wisdom, Solomon refers to the body and the spirit, Ecclesiastes 12:7. Solomon says that at death, the body returns to the dust of the earth, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it.
So straight away, we can see a distinction between the body and the spirit. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus Himself speaks of those who are able to kill the body, but who are unable to kill the soul. This statement proves that the body and the soul are also different.
The Hebrew writer tells us that the Word of God is able to pierce, `to the dividing of soul and spirit’, Hebrews 4:12. Again, this shows us that there is a difference between the soul and the spirit. And remember the spirit to which the Hebrew writer makes reference here is not the Holy Spirit but the human spirit.
Paul makes this clearer in Romans 8:16, where he writes, “The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.” He also makes it clearer in 1 Corinthians 5:4.
And finally, in Hebrews 12:23, the writer, contrasting the assembly of the Israelites at Mount Sinai with the assembly of the Hebrew Christians at Mount Zion, the writer tells them, “You have come to the spirits of just men made perfect”.
And so, in Ecclesiastes 12:7, we see the distinction between the body and the spirit. In Matthew 10:28, we see the distinction between body and soul. And in Hebrews 4:12, we see the distinction between soul and spirit.
Now, please remember that in these verses where these three elements are mentioned, I’m not offering them as proof of man’s nature because we need to understand them in the context in which we find them. It’s in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, where we find a definite statement as to the nature of man.
We have to remember where we came from. Why? Because some people have forgotten their creator, Hosea 8:14 / Deuteronomy 32:18. That’s what happens when you forget where you came from: you become unmindful.
When you take God out of the picture, you’re left with a pointless existence. When you take God out of the picture, you’re left with being nothing special. Now, if we’re going to try to reach anyone, we ourselves first need to understand the nature of man. We too first need to understand where we came from.
We see in Genesis 2:7 that God formed or fashioned or moulded man’s body out of the ground, and we read that God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being”.
The word ‘being’ has been preferred by later translators, rather than the word ‘soul’, which is used in the King James Version, because the original word ‘nephesh’ does not mean ‘soul’ in the special New Testament sense.
Mickelson’s Hebrew Dictionary says this: nephesh (neh’-fesh)
1. (properly) a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality
2. used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental).
Mickelson’s Greek Dictionary says this: psuche (psoo-khay’).
1. soul, inner being or life
2. (literally) breath.
In fact, in the Old Testament, where the word ‘nephesh’ occurs seven hundred and forty-five times, the translators of the King James Version have rendered it by at least thirty different words or phrases.
So, the difference between the Hebrew ‘nephesh’ of the Old Testament and the Greek ‘psuche’ of the New Testament is easily recognisable. Something else we need to remember is that we’re not to suppose that man was a ‘dead soul’ until God breathed into him ‘the breath of lives.’
The word ‘life’, Genesis 2:7, is plural in the Hebrew text. In other words, there was nothing before, but it was the entrance of ‘the breath of lives’ which actually constituted him ‘Man’. Notice that the word ‘became’ is categorical. We should read the verse in this way, “God ‘breathed’ into his nostrils the breath of lives, and Man came into being – a living soul’.”
That phrase, ‘a living soul’, is adjectival and describes and defines man after God breathed life into the form which He had shaped. And it’s here we see the difference between man and the rest of Creation. Remembering that the Hebrew word ‘Adam’ means ‘man,’ Genesis 1:26.
‘Life’, like animal life, is something which Adam shared with every other living creature created by God. But the difference between the other creatures and man lies in the fact that God said, ‘Let us make Man after our own image, after our likeness,’ Genesis 1:26.
Only with reference to man is this said, and it is this ‘likeness to God’ which uniquely constituted man as a rational and moral being, possessing a conscience that enabled him to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, obedience and disobedience. It is in this sense that man is a soul, a self, having self-awareness and self-consciousness.
Genesis 1:26 shows us that man is not only superior to all other living creatures on Earth because he possesses this moral awareness. This also shows us that the gulf between man and the rest of creation was further emphasised and endorsed when God assigned dominion to him over all other living creatures.
So how do these three different parts of man relate to each other? I go into the local schools quite regularly, and every now and then they ask me to come in and have a question and answer session with the children about God, the Bible and religion as a whole.
And I remember one child asking me an amazing question. Does the body have a soul? Now that’s a great question, and yes, we can answer and say yes, the body has a soul, but maybe we should say, it’s the soul which has a body.
I say that our soul is ‘self-conscious’ in light of what we’ve just looked at, the ‘soul’ is man’s unique self. It is the part of his being that, because it is rational and moral, determines the actions performed by his body, and which, therefore, renders him personally accountable for what he does.
And so, it is man’s ‘soul’ which will ultimately be either saved or lost, depending on his response to the offer of salvation which was made first possible by the coming of Christ into the world, John 3:16.
So now let’s look at the body, as someone once said to me, ‘The Body is of the earth and for the earth’. We might describe the body as ‘Earth-conscious’, since it is the physical tool or instrument, by means of which a person’s ‘soul’ or ‘self’, by its very nature, is invisible and is able to function in a physical world.
If we think about Jesus Himself, when the Lord came into the world, John 1:1-2 / John 1:14, although the Son existed ‘in the beginning with God’, it was necessary that ‘the Word’ should ‘become flesh’ and ‘dwell’ or ‘tabernacle’ among us.
The Lord needed a physical body, and as Paul tells us, without the human form that He took on Himself, it would have been impossible for Him to fulfil the unique purpose for which He came, Philippians 2:6-8. Jesus needed a body. Why?
1. To be able to communicate with mankind in a personal, and unmistakable, and uncomplicated manner.
2. To present the ‘signs’ which were to be the authentication and endorsement of His Messiahship.
3. To set the human race as the perfect example of obedience to the will of the Father.
4. And above all, by means of that perfect life, to demonstrate His worthiness to become the perfect offering for the sin of the world.
And so, The Word must become flesh, John 1:1-2 / John 1:14. This was the divine plan, and it is why we find the writer of the letter to the Hebrews, in Hebrews 10:5, placing the words of the Psalmist from Psalm 40:6-8, into the Lord’s mouth, Hebrews 10:5. Notice that the ‘body’ was prepared for ‘me.’
Peter also talks about the body in 2 Peter 1:14, and he describes it as “putting off my tent.” In other words, man is more than just a bunch of chemicals. Man is not merely an animated construction of flesh and bones; he is a soul, a ‘self.’
Man is housed in a physical body, and since his body is designed for earthly life, at death, the body returns to the earth, Genesis 3:19. We’ve briefly looked at the soul and the body; now let’s briefly look at the spirit of man.
If we consider the body to be ‘Earth-conscious’, and the soul to be ‘Self-conscious’, we may think of the spirit as being ‘God-conscious’ as Job suggests, Job 32:8. In other words, it is that part of man’s nature which enables him to reach out to and communicate with God. It is the spiritual dimension in man’s character, and here again we see the difference between man and other creatures.
It’s only man who can say, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God”, Psalm 42:2. It’s only man who is encouraged to “seek after Him, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him,” Acts 17:27.
It’s only man who is given the assurance that “He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and have our being,” Acts 17:28. And as we saw earlier, according to Ecclesiastes 12:7, at death, “the spirit returns to God Who gave it”.
Someone recently shared with me an illustration to help me get this point, and I would like to share it with you because I think it’s helpful. When I am away from home, I use the telephone as a means of communication with my wife. But when I am at home, we talk face to face, and so I do not need the telephone.
Well, in a similar way, God has endowed us with the ability to contact and communicate with Him, whilst we are here on earth. And so, when we are ‘at home with the Lord’, 2 Corinthians 5:8, we will no longer need the telephone. And so, it will be with our spirit.
When God created Adam, He created a beautiful paradise for him to live in. The word ‘garden’, Genesis 2:8, means the pleasure of delight, and in the Septuagint, it means a paradise. This is the place where only a king could walk.
It’s also referred to as the garden of God, Ezekiel 28:13 / Ezekiel 31:8-9 / Isaiah 51:3. Notice the garden was in Eden, Genesis 2:8, not of Eden. It was in Eden, the paradise of God, Genesis 4:16 / 2 Kings 19:12 / Isaiah 37:12 / Ezekiel 27:23 / Amos 1:5.
Eden was more than the garden wherein God located man; the tree of life was there, Genesis 2:9, and eating from this tree would somehow give eternal life to man, Genesis 3:22-24. The appearance of the tree of life in Revelation 21-22, and the statement of God Himself in Genesis 3:22, compel us to see something more than mere symbolism.
All of the elements for immortality are in man’s body already. The tree of life, whatever it was, had the power to activate and continue life forever. This tree of life is available to all Christians who overcome and want to get to heaven, Revelation 2:7 / Revelation 22:2.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was also present, Genesis 2:9, and eating from this tree would bring the curse of death, both spiritually and physically, Genesis 2:17 / Romans 5:12 / 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.
It would be spiritual death in that man would be separated from his Creator, who only is eternal, Isaiah 59:2. It would be physical death in that man wouldn’t have an opportunity to eat of the tree of life, for man was driven from the garden after eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Genesis 3:24.
We are told that a river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters, Genesis 2:10. The first river is called the Pishon, and we are told that it was windy through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold, Genesis 2:11. This is the first mention of gold in the Bible.
In brackets, we are told that the gold of that land is good, aromatic resin and onyx are also there, Genesis 2:12. This is the first mention of aromatic resin and the precious stone of onyx in the Bible.
The name of the second river is the Gihon, and it was windy through the entire land of Cush, Genesis 2:13. The name of the third river is the Tigris, and we are told that it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates, Genesis 2:14.
The names of the rivers are given in order to identify the location of the part of Eden in which man lived, Genesis 2:11-14. We don’t know the location of the Pishon and Gihon, but according to our present understanding of where both the Tigris and Euphrates are located, we would assume that Moses wants us to understand that the area in which he is discussing is somewhere in the upper Mesopotamian area.
Why do you think God placed these trees in the middle of the garden? Genesis 2:9. He placed them there so that Adam and Eve could learn the value of moral exercise. He placed them there so that they could learn the value of accountability.
We can imagine Adam admiring all the different kinds of trees that were great to look at. We can imagine him walking to the middle of the garden and admiring the two other trees, Genesis 2:9, which may have looked different from all the others. We can imagine his taste buds when he bites into the juicy fruit that the trees produced for the first time.
We can imagine him sitting next to the rivers, Genesis 2:10, enjoying a cool drink from the river and enjoying the sound of the running water running through the land. We can imagine him listening and feeling the cool and gentle breeze, Genesis 2:11, on a hot day. We can imagine him smelling the beautiful aroma coming from the resin and onyx, Genesis 2:12. This was indeed paradise on earth.
When God created Adam, He put him to work in the garden and to take care of it, Genesis 2:15. Why? He wanted Adam to learn the value of physical exercise and learn to take responsibility for caring for his own physical needs.
We all know that physical exercise is good for us, but we also know the principle that if you don’t work, you won’t eat, 2 Thessalonians 3:10. That’s why Adam had to take care of the garden because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t reap any harvest from it, and he would end up starving.
In Proverbs 24:30-34, we get another picture of a garden. Imagine you were Solomon and walking by this vineyard. It’s a mess, it’s overgrown with thorns and nettles, and the stone wall which was built to protect the vineyard is in pieces; it’s not fit for purpose. Why is this garden in such a mess?
Because the owner refused to work in it or take care of it. They are too lazy to work, they are more interested in sleeping, relaxing and chilling out. Their vine isn’t going to produce any kind of grapes anytime soon, and as a result, poverty comes. Again, it’s the idea that if a person doesn’t work, then they won’t eat.
God created Adam to work in the garden and take care of it, and God still demands that we work today, 1 Thessalonians 3:10. Someone once said, ‘God gives the birds their food, but He doesn’t throw it into their nests.’ We must remember there were no benefit systems in Bible times, and so, if you didn’t work, then that meant you would starve.
It’s clear here that man was to work, but that work was to be a blessing. This was the first physical exercise, and as we know even today, with every opportunity for good, there comes an opportunity for sin. As we know, after Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed Adam with hard work, Genesis 3:17-19.
Since man was created as a free moral agent with the ability to choose, he could be truly free only if he was placed in an environment wherein he could make choices. Thus, the garden in Eden offered man the opportunity to choose between good and evil, Genesis 2:16-17. Sadly, as we know, they chose to disobey, Genesis 3:1-6.
Adam is told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because if he does, he will certainly die, Genesis 2:17. The Hebrew literally says, ‘dying you shall die.’ Adam must have shared this command with Eve because this verse is going to be misquoted by Eve later, Genesis 3:3. Both spiritual death and physical death are what is meant here, Romans 5:8-14 / 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.
Morris, in his commentary, says the following.
‘On the whole, it seems probable that we should understand ’death’ to mean a spiritual state, but a state aptly symbolised by physical death. When man sinned, he passed into a new state, one dominated by, and at the same time symbolised by death. It is likely that spiritual death and physical death are not being thought of as separate, so that the one involves the other.’
God tells Adam he is free to eat from any tree in the garden, Genesis 2:16, but why did God put this tree in the garden in the first place? Genesis 2:17. Simply because He wanted man to learn accountability, He wanted man to know he can exercise choice. In a sense, this was a religious exercise for man.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil had to exist within the environment of man in order for man to be identified as a true moral being with the ability to choose sin. As we shall see later, Adam and Eve already knew the difference between right and wrong; thus, they were already aware of moral distinctions.
God isn’t saying here that there were magical properties in a certain tree that would provide ‘knowledge’ of good and evil, but their eating of that forbidden tree would result in their experimental ‘knowledge’ of good and evil. Any tree that God might have prohibited would have done the same thing.
We all need relationships in our lives, we all need relationships with our families, our friends and neighbours, our country, our spiritual family, the world, and God. Some relationships are good and healthy for us, whilst other relationships do more harm than good. But we all need them and have them in our lives.
God said it wasn’t good for Adam to be on his own, Genesis 2:18. When God created Adam, He brought all the animals to him, Genesis 2:19 / Genesis 7:9 / Genesis 7:15. Why did God bring the animals to Adam? Because He wanted Adam to name the animals, Genesis 2:20, and learn the value of mental exercise.
If God wants Adam to name the animals, this tells us that Adam was able to communicate using language. God created Adam strong enough to work in the garden, and He created him with the ability to think for himself and communicate.
Imagine the scene, this large-looking creature with big ears and a long nose comes to Adam. He looks at it and studies it and decides to call it an elephant. Or maybe this tiny little creature with six legs crawls up his leg, he looks at it and studies it and decides to call it an ant. Giving a name to someone or something was understood in ancient times to be an exercise of authority.
The evolutionist comes along and tells us that we’re simply animals, and we evolved from the animals. But this text shows us that man is not only superior to all other living creatures, but it also shows us that the gulf between man and the rest of creation was further emphasised and endorsed when God assigned dominion to him over all other living creatures, Genesis 1:28.
When Adam gave names to the birds and animals, Genesis 2:20, he was exercising the authority that God gave him to rule over the living things, Genesis 1:26 / Genesis 1:28. And his naming of Eve, Genesis 2:23 / Genesis 3:20, indicates that Adam was to have headship in the marriage even before the fall, 1 Timothy 2:12-13.
Adam not only had to use his brain to think and speak, but he also needed to know just how special he was. God said it wasn’t good for Adam to be on his own, Genesis 2:18. Man isn’t like the animals; that’s why he didn’t find any true companionship among the animals.
And please note that Adam didn’t evolve from animals but was given dominion over all animals, Genesis 1:26 / Genesis 1:28. His superiority over animals was manifested in the fact that his spiritual and intellectual nature, after the image of God, Genesis 1:26, allowed him the ability to give names to the animals.
And so, after bringing all those animals which He formed out of the ground, Genesis 2:19, for Adam to name, Adam still didn’t have a suitable helper for him, Genesis 2:20. It’s here where the name ‘Adam’ is used for the first time, Genesis 2:20. His name means ‘man’, a name which is used five-hundred times in the Old Testament.
However, God isn’t just identifying him as a human. He is naming him with a purpose. The name Adam is also linked to ‘adamah,’ meaning ‘ground’ or ‘earth,’ highlighting the belief that man was created from the earth.
In other words, the name reflects his nature as one formed from the earth, yet filled with the breath of God, Genesis 2:7. This is further emphasised in Genesis 5:2, when God named both the male and female ‘Adam’. Adam now knows that he was completely different from the animals and was a special creation. God was teaching Adam that he was different from the animals.
God now proceeded with the world’s first anaesthesia and caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, Genesis 2:21. While he was sleeping, God took one of the man’s ribs, Genesis 2:21. The Hebrew word for ‘rib’ is ‘tsela’, and it can mean side, rib, board, or plank. After the operation, God closes up the place with flesh, Genesis 2:21.
The woman wasn’t taken from Adam’s foot that he might rule over her. Woman wasn’t from Adam’s head that she might dominate him, but from his side that she might be his true equal and companion.
The woman was to be a helper in answer to the loneliness of man, and thus a partner and companion in life. Man had a social need that couldn’t be satisfied by any animal, and so God created woman to fill his need for companionship.
When God created Adam, He created Eve from Adam and brought her to him, Genesis 2:22. Why? Because he wants Adam to learn the value of having emotions. Look at Adam’s reaction when he sees Eve. He says, ‘this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh’, Genesis 2:23.
This is a metaphorical phrase to denote that the woman is different from him, 1 Corinthians 11:8 / 1 Corinthians 11:12 / 1 Peter 3:7, and from all the animals, and is absolutely one with the man, Genesis 29:14 / Genesis 37:27 / Judges 9:2 / 2 Samuel 5:1 / 2 Samuel 19:12-13 / 1 Chronicles 11:1.
Adam calls her ‘woman’, in Hebrew that’s the word, ‘ishshah’, because she was taken out of man, that’s the Hebrew word, ‘iysh,’ Genesis 2:23. It signifies that their identities are intertwined. It’s Adam’s way of acknowledging her as his counterpart, Ephesians 5:28-29 / Matthew 19:4-5.
Imagine when Adam saw Eve for the first time. Imagine the joy in his heart as he finally has someone who not only can speak to him but looks like him. We can almost feel the emotion in Adam’s words; he more or less says, ‘wow, she’s beautiful’.
Just as nothing could wow Solomon like his wife did, Song of Songs 4:1-5, nothing could wow Adam like Eve did. She captured his attention and made him feel special. Oh, I’m sure he loved hanging out with the animals, but Eve made him feel emotionally complete and whole.
God never created anything without giving it a purpose. In the beginning, Adam’s purpose was to cultivate and care for the garden, and Eve’s was to help him. But they were now able to fulfil God’s ultimate purpose for them, 1 Corinthians 7:3.
Notice that ‘when a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh’, Genesis 2:24 / Matthew 19:5 / Mark 10:8 / Ephesians 5:31.
The Hebrew word for ‘one,’ in Deuteronomy 6:4, is ‘echad’, and it functions much like the English word in that it can refer to a solitary oneness or to a complex unity, as Genesis 2:24 shows us. They were now husband and wife, Genesis 2:24, and they were to go and have children and fill the earth with them, Genesis 1:28.
God created mankind in two phases. 1. Male. 2. Female. Both make up what man is, and in Genesis 5:2, the word ‘man’ is plural. He created man for unity to specify the unity we need with God. In John 17, Jesus makes a point about unity with the Godhead. In this unity, you can see the relationship between Christ and the church. Adam was asleep, and when he woke up, a woman was formed. Jesus dies, and when He rises from the dead, His church is formed.
This is the beginning of society, the beginning of marriage relationships. When two people come together in marriage, they become one flesh, husband and wife, Genesis 3:6 / Genesis 2:24 / Matthew 19:5 / Mark 10:8 / 1 Corinthians 5:15-16 / Ephesians 5:31, and it’s only within the marriage relationship that we find the greatest sexual relationship.
Before they sinned, Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame, Genesis 2:25. There was nothing sinful about being naked, and because they hadn’t at this point disobeyed God’s command to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Genesis 2:17, they felt no shame.
However, after they sinned, they would realise they were naked and covered themselves because they would feel ashamed, Genesis 3:7 / Genesis 3:10. This is one of the reasons Jesus died on the cross naked, as was the Roman practice of crucifixion at the time. He died to remove that shame, Hebrews 12:2, which tells us that shame is linked to sin and not nakedness.
Before they sinned, they couldn’t wait to spend time with God, but after they sinned, they would be found now hiding from God, Genesis 3:8. Before they sinned, they had no fear of God, but after they had sinned, they would be afraid of God, Genesis 3:9-10.
For this moment in time, everything is very good for both Adam and Eve. They have a great garden to live in, they have great companionship with each other and God and all the wildlife. This was truly paradise on Earth.
God created us to work, He created us to think and use our brains, and He created us with the ability to feel emotion. Why? Because our relationship with creation helps us understand our relationship with our Creator.
It was God who created the garden, and Adam worked in the garden and took care of the garden because he loved and trusted God and demonstrated that love and trust by being obedient to God.
It was God who created the animals and wanted Adam to name them, and Adam did so because he loved and trusted God and demonstrated that love and trust by being obedient to God.
It was God who created woman, and when He brought her to Adam, Genesis 2:22. Adam gave her, her name, Genesis 2:23 / Genesis 3:20, because he loved and trusted God and demonstrated that love and trust by being obedient to God. In other words, our relationship with God is one of trust and obedience.
God created the garden, the animals and Eve because God knew what Adam needed. But He also created all these things to teach Adam the importance of obedience. He wants Adam to learn that he can trust God to take care of his needs.
God knows what you need and wants to supply you with what you need, but we must trust and obey Him, Philippians 4:19. And we demonstrate that trust by putting God first in our lives, Matthew 6:33.