[And He Walks With Me] Genesis 2
Author’s Note: Below are some thoughts and comments resulting from my personal Bible study in Genesis 2. The primary objective of this study is to help myself grow in my relationship with the Lord, but I am sharing them here in the hopes that someone else may benefit as well. The notes were taken while reading from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) as it appears on BibleGateway.com.
1-3 There is an important lesson here in the relationship between work and rest. The word here translated “rest” more accurately means “to cease.” God worked until he reached a point of completion, and then he ceased. This does not mean that God did nothing on the seventh day. There was still much to do. The world was still a long way from what he intended it to be, but the creative work was finished, and so he ceased created things. The building blocks were in place, and he now shifted his focus from creating to sustaining what was and molding it into what he intended it to be. This is the nature of biblical rest: shifting gears and doing something different, at least for a time. We must work hard until we reach a point of completion, and then we should change gears for a time before we go back to work.
4-24 There has been much debate over the relationship between 1:1-2:3 and 2:4-25. Some have suggested that they record two separate creation accounts, but it is more likely that 2:4-25 zooms in on the events of the sixth day and, specifically, the creation of humanity. The fact that there was more to the story of mankind’s creation than was recorded in 1:26-31 would suggest that the rest of the creation account is also recorded from a sort of 100,000-foot view and there are other things that happened on each of the first six days. This would seem to lend support to the notion that each “day” of the chapter 1 account represented an age in the history of the universe.
4-6 Walton writes, “The point made by these verses, then, is that there is no food growing in uncultivated areas, and there is no cultivation for the arable land.”[5] The reason for this is givenin vs 6. The implication is that anything which is going to be created at this point is going to rely wholly upon the Lord for sustenance.
7 formed. The word used here to describe the manner in which God created mankind is not used of anything else in the creation account. It carries the idea of actually forming or fashioning. In fact, Strong’s defines it as “to mould into a form; especially as a potter.” This presents an interesting contrast in that, while God merely spoke the rest of creation into existence, with humanity, he actually knelt into the dust and got his hands dirty. He then breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. The word rendered “breath” could also be translated “spirit,” suggesting that the essence of life is in some small way a reflection of the third Person of God, the Holy Spirit.
8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden. The establishment of the garden conveys the image of a landowner erecting a wall around a plot of land and beginning to cultivate it as a vineyard or field. The garden, then, is a place under God’s control and supervision, and the idea here would seem to be that this is where the cultivation of the earth into what God ultimately intends for it to be will begin. And he placed the man he had formed right in the middle of it, to be instrumental in the process.
10 The geography recorded here is puzzling. However, the point seems to be that God was the source of sustenance for everything. Indeed, the significance of a river in a rather arid climate cannot be understated. Everything depended on the availability of fresh water, and rivers were the ultimate source. The rivers, however, came from Eden, which found its source in the Lord.
16-17 It is tempting to focus on the prohibition of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and to think God unfair or unreasonable. After all, this tree was located at the very center of the garden (9). Why, then, would God prohibit his people from eating from it. However, notice the contrast with verse 9, where this tree is listed last. The emphasis of the verse is on the fact that God provided every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food. That is, God provided all of the beauty and sustenance that they needed. And he provided the tree of life. They were free to eat from all of these magnificent things. It would seem that, even at this early stage, God wanted to provide them with an option. That is, he would not compel them to obey him. That would not be love but slavery. Instead, he made clear what he desired and expected of them – you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – but offered them a choice.
18 Remember, throughout chapter 1, God regularly assessed his creation and deemed it good. Yet, on the afternoon of Day Six, he saw something was not quite right. Indeed, it was not good for the man to be alone. Humans are not designed to be solitary creatures. Even the most introverted among us needs people. Conversely, the most extroverted must be careful to not surround themselves with myriad superficial acquaintances and so find themselves alone in the midst of a whole forest of people. We must intentionally forge relationships and cultivate intimacy with people, much as God enjoys between the Persons of the trinity.
Helper should be handled with care. It is tempting to think of a helper as an assistant or aide and therefore assign the woman who eventually filled this role to a lower status. However, the term used here is used elsewhere in the OT almost exclusively of God and the help he affords. The helper, then, is less of a secretary or aide than a savior or rescuer. At the very least, the woman is the embodiment of God’s first redemptive act. Something was not right – man was alone – and she was the solution. More than that, though, after she was included, creaction was raised from good to very good! Therefore, do not disparage women or think of them as second-class citizens of God’s kingdom!
19-20 The search for a suitable helper for Adam begins with a survey of every wild animal and every bird of the sky that God had already created. The Lord brought each to the man to see what he would call it, and in so doing, gave the man the opportunity to thoroughly examine every creature’s nature and characteristics. In fact, this examination was key to the process of naming the creature because ancients believed that a creature’s name contained its essential character. It was, then, no cursory examination that Adam performed on these creatures, and the conclusion reached at the end of it was not flippant. After a systematic, exhaustive search of creation, no helper was found corresponding to him.
21 Now that everyone agreed that there was nothing among the existing creation that was suitable to become Adam’s helper, God took it upon himself to fashion the perfect solution.
Many commentators have commented on the significance of the rib. It probably should not be understood as a literal rib because the term used is better translated merely “flesh,” but the point is not lost. By using the man’s flesh as the basis for the woman, God did not intend to show that the woman was made in the man’s image and less in God’s. No, he intended to show that woman was made of the same stuff as the man and therefore is, in fact, his equal and partner. That is, God did not use the crown of man’s head to symbolize that she would lord over him, the bottom of his foot to symbolize that he would lord over her. He used a hunk taken from his side, putting her on even footing with him. Moreover, the rib is close to and protects the vital organs, suggesting that men and women are to watch out for each other and have a degree of relational intimacy between them.
23 Adam’s reaction when he first beheld Eve is classic. One can hardly read it without experiencing the breathless awe and wonder Adam must have felt in that moment. He had just examined every creature on earth with disappointing results, but now, here was one with immediately recognizeable promise! She was made of the same stuff as him, but still distinct. Therefore, he called her woman in recognition that she was forever a part of him. The irony is that he was not the first to realize how alone he was, or what a problem that loneliness would be. Now, however, he could not escape it. Thus, he could no longer imagine living and working away from her.
24 The man’s realization that Eve was his perfect helper, his person, forms the basis of the marital bond. Every other affiliation, including father and mother, is secondary when set against the bond of husband and wfie. We must be willing to leave them behind for our spouses.
They become one flesh is less about the sexual act than it is about the merging of two lives into one. Moses here uses one in the same way Jesus did in John 17. The one-ness of husband and wife does not erase their distinctiveness, but it merges their essence and intentions. They may disagree for a time, but eventually, they must resolve to agree and move together into the future. This notion may be imagined as two boards which the carpenter glues together. Yes, there are distinctions between them, but once they are glued, their molecular structures are bonded together so that they are now one. And just as tearing apart two boards which are so bonded results in pieces being pulled away from both boards, there is no way you can put a man and a woman together in matrimony, break them apart, and expect either of them to emerge completely whole.
25 Again, naked here is less about the sexual act than it is about intimacy. To be naked was to be completely exposed before the other person. They are allowed to see your likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, successes, failures, hopes, and fears. This sort of intimacy is only possible if both parties intentionally cultivate it by protecting the other so that, within the bonds of that marriage, there is no shame.
[5] Walton 2001, Genesis 2:4-7