Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
[2] And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
[3] And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
[4] 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,
[5] 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.
[6] But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
[7] And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
[8] And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
[9] And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
[10] And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
[11] The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
[12] And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
[13] And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
[14] And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
[15] And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
[16] And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
[17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
[18] And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
[19] And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
[20] And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
[21] And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
[22] And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
[23] 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.
[24] Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
[25] And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Commentary upon Genesis Chapter Two
Having given an overview of the six days of creation achievements in chapter one, The Holy Spirit of God now will visit anew those events and set forth many of these things in more depth. In this is to be found a principle which is to be applied throughout all of Scripture. That principle is called the rule of recurrence or recapitulation.
Generally understood this means that God will set forth a matter in a general overview and then pull from within that matter certain points which He desires to reveal in greater detail unto us at a later moment. We can see this clearly set out when we study this chapter. It is written.
” 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. But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.”
(Genesis 2:4)
In Genesis chapter two the things which are thus placed before us are those which deal primarily with mankind. It is to be noted that certain details concerning the stewardship of mankind over the earth are mentioned here. Look closely and you will discover that there was no rain yet upon earth but rather God watered His Garden through a gentle mist from the ground.
This seems to be such a small concern, yet it reveals the intricate and detailed concern of God for His creation, and for the task of stewardship which the man is about to be entrusted with.
All of this which is described in verse four is set in motion before the making of man who was to be placed into a fully functioning environment which he was to oversee. The principle of preparation of the environment before placing a man into it is one which will be found repeatedly throughout Scripture.
As we begin this second chapter, we are told that God set aside and sanctified the seventh day as a day of rest. This naturally presents a question for us regarding the nature and character of God. Does God grow tired? That is rhetorical in nature for the answer is of course He does not tire or grow weary. God does not need rest but rather He is setting an example for mankind to adhere unto. It is written.
“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
(Psalms 121:1-4)
[My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”
It is evident from the beginning of all things that God intends man to observe the Sabbath day as He did by His example. It is important to note three things concerning the Sabbath which I believe will assist one in being kept from a wrongful approach to this matter. First of all, one must observe that the Sabbath day was not given unto mankind as a day of worship. Look carefully at this text and you will discover that this was to be a day of rest from the labors which we enter into.
The second thing I would have you note is that the Sabbath Day was given through the example of God Himself before the Mosaic law was ever reveled. The very wording in the text before us concerning this indicates that God ceased His work of creation upon the sixth day. The wording for “rested ” denotes exactly this concept if one studies the Hebrew in which this is written.
God is not now continuing in the process of creation of His universe. That work is done, completed, ceased. There can be no evolution of things from a lower state to a higher state as some would have you believe because we are plainly told that there is no longer any action on the part of God to cause such an ongoing creation effort.
All of the animal and plant life, as well as the non-organic portions of His creation were now in place ready to have mankind introduced into the equation. It is for this reason that we are given the generations of the heavens and the earth.
A third thing I would have you recognize concerning the Sabbath Day observance is that when it is given through the law of Moses it was directly given as a day to cease working. It is written.
” Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
(Exodus 20:8-11)
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
Concerning this matter, I would consult one voice more. That voice is Jesus Christ Himself who stated the following.
” And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”
(Mark 2:23-28)
You may be wondering why we ought to take the time to examine this matter in some detail. It is in order to lay a solid and proper foundation from which we may move forward into the Scripture that this ought to be undertaken. There are many today who will be bound by a misunderstanding of this matter and will also attempt to bind others due to a misunderstanding of this issue.
In believing that the only proper day to worship The Lord is the Sabbath Day, they will place upon those who gather for worship on Sunday an undue burden of restriction. Do I believe in The Sabbath? Yes, I do. However, I hold that as we can plainly see through The Scriptures themselves that it is to be a day of observance of rest.
At this point I have introduced the person of Jesus Christ into the events connected with this second chapter of Genesis. I would invite you to follow along as we develop more fully His involvement with all of these matters.
In Chapter one we see the trinity of God introduced. There we encounter The Father and The Holy Spirit. Yet one cannot have a triune Godhead without the inclusion of all three personages of such a being. In addition to The Father and The Holy Spirit, we are about to see that the Son of God is also directly, and thoroughly, included in the events of creation.
The ministry of The Son of God as set out in Scripture is directly related to the interaction of God with mankind. It is directly stated that only through the Son of God can we approach God The Father. It is written.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
(John 1:1-5)
Again, we find written in John’s gospel account the following.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
(John 1:14-18)
We also are told in the epistle to the Colossians the following truths concerning Jesus Christ. There we find it written.
“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
(Colossians 1:12-17)
Clearly Jesus Christ is placed within the events of creation as God, fully equal to The Father, and The Holy Spirit. I hold that all interaction between man and God must involve Jesus Christ as The Son of God in some fashion. We are told that He was directly involved with creation but the question arises, “Where can He be found in the account of Genesis?”
Let us look to the creation of mankind itself for there we find the following.
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
(Genesis 2:7-9)
Here He is! Note the change in linguistics found in this passage from that employed in the earlier accounts of these things found in Chapter one. Note the phrase ” And The Lord God” found here. It is a subtle difference and yet the ramifications are staggering, for this is Jesus The Christ of The Living God who is about to form man from the dust of the earth. Take careful note of the intimate relationship between God, The Son, and humanity in the matter of creation which we are examining.
It is Jesus who breathes the breath of lives into humanity. It is Jesus who placed man in the garden of God. It is also Jesus who directly communicated unto Adam, the first man, the prohibitions against partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is written.
” And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
(Genesis 2:15-17)
Take note of the warning given concerning the one tree in the midst of the garden. This is a warning and not to be misconstrued as a threat, for such would be a misrepresentation of the character and nature of God as it is revealed in The Scriptures.
Did man die when he partook of the fruit? The Lord said he would die that day. Yet it is recorded that Adam lived for several hundred years after this, begetting sons and daughter upon the earth. To comprehend what happened when man disobeyed God it is necessary to properly understand the definition of death.
That term indicates separation from something. Physical death is the separation of the soul and spirit from the body. Spiritual death is separation from God. Man being a trinity made in the image of God is bound to die if sin is not dealt with somehow. The final death is to be cast into an eternal hell separated from God and all who have come into the family of God through the new birth.
Having placed man into the garden of God, with the prohibition in place as noted above, God brought each creature before him to allow him to name them. Among the entirety of the animal creations which God had paraded before the man we are told that there was not one found which would be a suitable helper. That term, “help meet” has been misconstrued over time to become one word rather than two as it originally was intended to be.
While the animals of the earth do find usefulness in man carrying out his stewardship the idea which is being addressed here is that not one of them is capable of coming alongside him fully to support his efforts in all ways. There was found to be a need for yet another creature which God was to provide. It is written.
” And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 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. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
(Genesis 2:20-25)
God, in creating woman, marked yet another distinct deviation from the methodology which was employed earlier. In doing as He did, He brought about a common bond between all of humanity for which no other can be substituted.
The nature and character of humanity are common traits shared between all women and men so that there can be a oneness which generates understanding and common effort between the man and His wife, for so is the clear indication found here that she is designed to fulfill that role.
God is not just providing man with yet another subservient creature here. God is ordaining the first of three great institutions which are for the continued thriving of society. In this passage is the clear and inescapable teaching that it is God who ordained marriage between one man and one woman.
There are not a number of options in this which God must be made to recognize as some would have you believe. This and this alone is God’s plan for the families of the earth. To refuse this and demand recognition of some alternative which rejects God’s established authority is to engage in perversion.
I would point out that marriage, as displayed here, is not merely a contractual arrangement between a man and his “partner” as some would have you believe. Note carefully that what we see here is a covenant relationship between man, woman, and God. That is the established design from the earliest existence of God’s creation of humanity upon this earth.
In the marriage ceremony, the custom of the father of the bride presenting her unto her groom and declaring that he is the one who gives her unto him is rooted directly in this example before us.
Take note as we conclude this chapter that the proper relationship between a man, his wife, and God as displayed within this context is one wherein there is no shame for any of the three. Existence upon this earth for mankind was originally designed to be one of fully intimate interaction between all three individuals without guilt or shame.