We are told in Genesis1 God created the universe. What happened to it? What happened to His good creation? Genesis 2:4 begins with These are the generations of the heavens and the earth…. This transitional phrase will recur 10 times in the book of Genesis. It is the author’s way of saying, This is what happened to the heavens and the earth. This section of Genesis begins in 2:4 and stretches to 4:26.
In 2:4 (c.f. 1:1) the writer inverts the order of heavens and earth to earth and heavens. This lets us know the topic is narrowing from everything in general, the universe, to something specific, the earth. Particularly, the writer takes up the topic of the creation of man. Genesis 2 is an expansion of Genesis 1:26-28.
There we are told that God created mankind in His image, and He created them male and female. Both, equally, are image bearers. Genesis 2 expands 1:26-28 by telling us that God formed the man from the dust and breathed the breath of life into him and took a rib from the man and made for him a wife. Genesis 2 leaves us with God the man and the woman in the Garden of Eden, living in unhindered, untarnished community. Eden is a community of blessing.
Why would the writer tell us this story of the perfect God, the perfect man, the perfect woman, living in community in a perfect world? No doubt, it sets the stage for chapters 3 and 4 to show us how far we have fallen, but he must have for more in mind because that’s not very helpful. That would be like leaving your GPS on the seat of your car and somebody breaking your window to steal it and then your friend telling you, “You shouldn’t leave your GPS on the seat.” That’s just not helpful. It is not helpful to tell a man who has just fallen off a cliff, “Look from where you fell.”
The writer’s purpose is to communicate to those living in a fallen world something about God and something about what God intended life to be. Living in a fallen world tends to twist our thoughts of God, ourselves, others, and what life should be like. Are fallen humans left to measure life by other fallen humans? The writer of the Pentateuch is at pains to communicate to us that the God who created the universe is the God of the covenant who has a purpose of blessing for all peoples.
Obviously, Genesis 1 and 2 were written from the perspective of a fallen world. Thus, there are allusions to the fall and ominous warnings in the text. It is important for those living in a fallen world to know God’s purpose of blessing will not by thwarted by our own sin, death, or the devil. These chapters are not merely a description of a perfect world, but a description of God’s blessing on mankind, and what He through covenant will restore.
Oddly enough Genesis 1:1-3 and 2:4-7 are parallel texts and anticipate the fall, giving a description of life apart from God’s blessing. Both passages start with a summary—In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; These are the generations…. (1:1; 2:4), then moves to 2 negative clauses (1:2 Now the earth was without from and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; 2:5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land, and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground) and one positive clause (And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters 1:2; and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground 2:6), and then to God’s creative activity that leads to blessing (1:3; 2:7).
Jeremiah picks up on Genesis 1:2, without form and void (tohu wabohu), in warning the Southern Kingdom of Judgment. I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light (Jer 4:23). Obviously, this is a reference to Genesis 1:2-3 and is the only other place in Scripture where these two terms, without form and void, are used consecutively. So, Genesis 1:2 anticipates Israel’s exile from the land.
This helps us understand 2:4-6. This is one of the writer’s ways of showing us the consequence of the fall. This text points not to the vegetation of 1:11-12 but to the vegetation (bush of the field/plant of the field) that comes because of the fall in 3:17b-18. Adam’s expulsion from the garden anticipates Israel’s exile. The land becomes uninhabitable because of sin.
It is possible that we could read over 1:2 and 2:5-6 and miss the allusions to the fall. Two trees are in the midst of the garden are mentioned (9). The Tree of Life is not surprising, but the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil is a shocker. There is danger in the garden that God made. This is not to imply that the tree was inherently evil. It was harmless as long as God’s word was obeyed.
It then is a warning of the danger of sin. How so? The Tree of Life we think we understand, but what is the other tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The most likely interpretation is that the tree represents divine wisdom. Wisdom is God’s sole possession. He know not only knows good from evil, whatever is good is a reflection of His divine nature, and whatever is evil is contrary to His nature. When men seek wisdom apart from God, they are asserting human autonomy and putting themselves in the place of God, determining by their own nature what is good and bad.
Every human is under God-upheld and God-imposed natural law. This law is no different than that revealed in the 10 commandments. Humans, in the assertion of their own autonomy, suppress this law by accusing others and excusing their own sin. Human autonomy is death! We can see this at work in the world ranging from the holocaust, to genocide, to abortion, to drive-by shootings, to sexual promiscuity, to a small child reaching for what is forbidden. There is no end to the expressions of humans seeking to be wise apart from God.
Why these allusions to the fall and this warning of the danger of sin in the narrative account of a perfect world? The writer desires to show us that sin, death, and the devil cannot thwart the determination of God to bless His people. You say, “But, pastor, I asserted moral autonomy last night. I’m ready to give up and go with my sin. I don’t even know if I believe any more.” Nothing can thwart God’s intent to bless His people. We believe in redemption! The text is yet filled with pointers to the covenant whereby God deals with man’s sin and brings him back to blessing.
The writer’s purpose in giving us the Pentateuch is to show us that the God who created all things is the God who intends to bless all peoples through covenant. While the word “covenant” is not used until chapter 6, covenantal language and allusions are permeate the text.
Here we have the covenant name of God. 35 times the writer refers to God (Elohim) in Genesis chapter 1. In chapters 2-3, he uses the designation LORD God (YHWH Elohim) 20 times, with the notable exception of 3:1-5. The only other place in the Pentateuch the designation LORD God is used is Exodus 9:30. God (Elohim) is the appropriate name for the sovereign creator of all things. Here the writer puts together the covenant name for God and the sovereign creator name to show that the God who created all things is the personal, covenant Lord.
Notice the personal care God took in the creation of the man. He carefully formed the man from dust, like a potter forms a vessel. He breathed life into the dusty form He had made. There is a normal word for breath in the OT (ruah used 400x) and a less used word (nesama used 20x). The special word is used here and it is only used of YHWH and man (with the exception of an oblique usage in 7:20).
Then God built the woman from the rib of the man. Carefully, gingerly, God showed man his need for community. Like a master builder he took part of the man and built the woman. This is not the way the text describes God’s making of everything else. The woman and the man are of a kind, a special kind. They are made in the image of God, and they complementary, needing community with each other. They are set apart from all the other living creatures as God’s vice-regents on earth.
As personal, God is covenantal. He planted a garden in Eden and placed the man there. The tabernacle and later the temple and even the New Jerusalem are patterned after the Garden of Eden. Eden means “delight.” Eden seems to be a place or a region, and it is difficult to know if the meaning is the garden was east of Eden or all of it was east of the writer (8-9). A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and, in the garden, it divided and became 4 rivers. The rivers are listed from the least known the reader to the most known.
Where was the Garden of Eden? Two things we can say for sure, one, the readers did not know, thus the description, and, second, no one but Adam, Eve, and God have ever experienced a place like Eden. The point of the writer is not to tell us where it was, although I think a good argument could be made for the land promised to Abraham (15:18).
His point is to show the garden with its beauty and bounty (8-9), water sources and gold and jewels (10-14) reflects the beauty and attendant blessings of the presence of God. That this garden foreshadows the tabernacle and temple and the New Jerusalem is to give fallen sinners hope that we may yet know the glory of the presence of God in a world of pure delight.
The biggest, most unfounded lie in the history of the world was satan’s lie to Eve, telling her God had held something back. This is the lie sinners believe today.
Serving and Guarding
God put man in the garden. The idea of “put” is “rest.” This is different than the word in verse 8, “to place.” It was the word used to describe Israel possessing the Promised Land when God gave them rest on every side from their enemies (Josh 21:44). The man is safe in the garden with God. This is the rest we anticipate.
God put the man in the garden to work it and keep it. This work is different than what man was assigned to do after the fall (3:23). While work and keep can mean labor and care, the terms are also used of the ministry of the Levites in Numbers 18:7. You and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift, and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.
If Eden foreshadows the sanctuary, Adam foreshadows the priesthood. Obviously, we need a better priest than Adam. These words work and keep are also translated serve and guard. Work is not a result of the fall. Futility and fatigue in our work is a consequence of the fall. We learn here something of what Genesis 1:28 means. Adam was to expand the garden to encompass the world. He was to guard it and not let snakes in it!
Trusting the Word of God
The very first words that God spoke to the man he created were covenantal (16-17). Adam is given the widest latitude and one prohibition related to 1 single tree. The negative command is the exact form of the 10 commandments.
Adam was created under natural law. The law was written in his heart. He knew there was right and wrong, good and bad, good and evil. Now, he has the spoken Word of God. It resonated with what he already knew in his heart. We should not think of Adam as some naïve child who had no moral compunction.
Don’t miss in Genesis 1 and 2 how huge a theme the Word of God is. 10 times God speaks in Genesis 1. Here he speaks. Of all the questions we can ask of these two chapters, the most important question is, Will you simply trust the Word of God? Will you allow your life to be shaped by it? To disobey is death.
God restores His people to a state of blessing through covenant.
God is a community of Persons. Why do humans need community? God made them to need community. Adam and Eve each were image bearers, and they also imaged God together in terms community. Adam and Eve and God anticipate God and His people Israel, Christ and the church, and the consummation of things in the Kingdom of God.
A striking feature of the creation story is that man has no idea what he needs. This does not mean Adam was naïve and ignorant. Knowing our own needs is not a matter of intellectual capacity. We are not the Creator of the world. We did not design ourselves and our environment. We cannot define our own needs. God defines our needs.
God created man with all of his needs, and God met all of his needs. Adam before his creation did not know he needed a garden to live in. He did not know he needed food to eat. He did not know that he needed community outside of God. God did. God created Adam with those needs.
This is why human, moral autonomy is always a bad idea. We know we have needs. In our attempt at autonomy, we define our own needs—sexually, relationally, in terms of community. We invent our needs in our own wisdom. We think in our own wisdom we don’t need what God has said we need. This is the knowledge of good and evil at work in us.
After the sevenfold declaration of the goodness of creation, it is almost shocking to hear God say something is not good. It is not good for man to be alone. Is he not with God in the garden? Isn’t God enough? God made man to need human community. Yes, man is made in the image of God, but he is not of the same essence as God. God does not correspond to and is not opposite man. God is other than man. God made us to need human community. We need the help of a community to know God and walk with God.
Here we get to see God create community. God set out to make a helper fit for Adam. The man needed a certain kind of helper. He needed a helper corresponding, opposite of him, yet of the same kind as him. God prepared Adam to have his need met by bringing all the animals before Adam to name them. This was an exercise of dominion, but also an exercise of learning his own need. The words of verse 20 show Adam’s realization that he was lacking something. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. God took one of Adam’s ribs and built a woman and brought her to the man (22).
Because marriage is the first human community, the home is the most basic building block of human civilization. As goes the home, so goes the society. But there is more here than that. Marriage has the high honor of reflecting God’s relationship with His people. Adam’s exclamation upon seeing his bride is more than just a stargazed lover waxing poetic. It is that, but more than that. Bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh is a Hebrew metaphor to express kinship. Literally, Eve was bone of Adam’s bones. They were one flesh. The first human kinship bond is marriage. Before there was mommies and daddies and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins, there was husband and wife.
The writer will flesh this out some in his commentary in verse 24, one of the most misused verses in the Bible. It has nothing to do with where you live. Because you move to another state or country does not mean that leaving and cleaving has taken place. In fact, Hebrew wives came to their husband’s family to live.
Obviously, Adam and Eve did not have in-laws. So why is the writer drawing this conclusion from their relationship? Verse 24 and 25 were head-turners in Hebrew society. The command said, Honor you father and mother. This text says leave and cleave. The Scripture is saying that marriage creates a bone/bone, flesh/flesh kinship that has priority over all other family ties and is expressed in physical intimacy that other family relationships must not know. Your first priority is not to your mother or father or children, but to your husband or wife.
In this husband/wife relationship, there is no shame! (25). Our society may not recognize this kinship bond, but without this bond no other kinship would exist. It has priority!
Marriage points beyond itself. It points to something greater that it is. It points to Christ and the church. In Ephesians 5:31, Paul quoted verse 24. In the next verse in Ephesian 5, he said that he was speaking in reference to Christ and the church.
Leaving and cleaving and kinship bonds reference Christ and the church. The first human community, marriage, points to the primary human community, the church. Unlike all other kinship bonds, including marriage, our covenant community bond in Christ is eternal. The church has priority over all other kinship bonds. This helps us see the radical nature of the teachings of Jesus when He said, Who is my mother and my brothers and my sisters? Or No man has left houses or lands or brothers or sisters or fathers or mothers or children for my sake and the gospel….
As a church, we are a covenant community. As those who have believed and been baptized and come regularly to the Lord’s Table, we have covenanted together in this body to live out the faith, upholding the gospel to one another and to the world. We are a community in covenant with God and each other.
The story of the creation of the man and woman shows us that covenant community is the way to the restoration of blessing.
It makes since that if the home is a picture of Christ and the church, we should take our cues on order in church and home from this creative account. Adam is clearly the head under God and Eve is his helper. The husband is to lead like Christ and the wife is to submit like the church. Let the Word of God shape your home. You are not free to determine the shape of the church and home. To depart from the Word of God in this is to do exactly what Adam and Eve did—exercise moral autonomy. If this is you, let me ask you, Are you happy? Is it working? Do you find your wisdom failing in something as simple as living as husband and wife?