Verse 4
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
What verse 4 is saying is: “this is the account, this is the history that follows the week of creation. God, created the world and now this is what happened next. And Moses begins the history of humanity by taking us back to day 6 in which God created the first two humans.
One of the interesting things that happens in verse 4 is we are given a new name for God. The name we saw in chapter 1 (Elohim) appears again. But we are introduced to a new name here in verse 4: Lord God. The name Lord here comes from the Hebrew word for Yahweh which means “I am the one who is”
The name Yahweh was a significant name for Israel as it represented God’s covenant relationship with Israel. This is the name that represented the name of their God. Their God was Yahweh.
When God sent Moses to go to Israel and to lead them out of captivity. Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I tell them?” (Because Moses knew the name of your God is important) And God said, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” In others words, Yahweh has sent me.
And so when Moses begins the history of humanity (and remember Moses is writing this history to the Israelites) he connects Elohim (the supreme God, creator of all things) with the God who has a covenant relationship with Israel, Yahweh. And Moses is making the point that your God, Yahweh is the Supreme God. The God of Israel is the creator of heavens and earth.
It is a very personal way to begin to the history of humanity. This is not a generic history. Israel this is your history.
And so in verse 5, Moses takes us back to the creation of humanity.
Verses 5-6
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 a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground.
Genesis 1:11 says that God created vegetation on day 3. But then Genesis 2:5 says, “Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted…”
And we can read this and say, ‘Hey, I thought there was already vegetation on day 3 but now it seems that chapter 2 says there wasn’t vegetation before man was created.” I bring this up because some have used this point to say the Bible has contradictions—chapter 2 is saying something different then chapter 1.
Chapter 1 uses the generic word for vegetation. On day three God created plants that produced vegetation and trees that produced fruit. On day three we do have trees and plants. When we come to Chapter 2 and read verse 5, it is describing a specific kind of vegetation — the type of vegetation that is planted in a field and the type of vegetation that requires someone to work and tend the field.
God gave humanity the job of working the land to produce certain kinds of vegetation. This is why Genesis 2:15 says, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it, to cultivate it, to tend to it. And so Moses is saying here in chapter 2 before man was created, the fields were not producing vegetation because God had not created man to work the fields. There were trees at this point, there were plants. But no one was farming the land.
Verse 7
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
This is a significant verse. This is how God created the first man. The word “formed” here is the Hebrew word yetsar which means to fashion something, to turn something into a specific form. In other places in the Old Testament yetsar is translated as ‘Potter” – one who forms or fashions.
And so the picture we have here is not just God snapping his fingers and poof there is man – but rather it is the picture of a Potter at work, A potter working the clay to form a pot. We are given a picture of one who is involved in the creation process in a very personal and intimate and intentional way.
Verse 7 also says that God formed the man out of the “dust from the ground.” This word dust can also mean soil or clay or mud. Here we see the connection back to the potter forming a pot from clay.
Verse 7 could have simply said, “God formed man.” That would have been enough to know that we were personally and intimately created by God. But we are given two specific and intriguing pieces of information about the creation of man.
- God created him from the dust of the earth
- God breathed life into him.
We are going to look at these two aspects of the creation of man.
First, man was created from the dust of the earth.
One of the things that statement does is it reminds us that we are a part of God’s creation. And while God has set us a part from the rest of creation by creating us in His own image and giving us dominion over the world, we are still creation; we are still created beings.
And Scripture often speaks of this reality that when we die our human bodies return to dust of the ground. Job writes, “Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust?”
Solomon writes in Ecclesiates, “All are from the dust, and to dust all return.”
The Psalmist writes in Psalm 104, “when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.”
By using dust, soil, clay, it gives us the reminder that we are like clay pots.
Have you ever dropped a clay pot? They typically shatter. Break into pieces. A clay pot is fragile. In fact, Scripture uses the term clay pot to refer to the fragile nature of humanity. In 2 Corinthians 4:7, Paul is talking about the gift we have been given to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that this hope of salvation is not from us but from God. And so he writes “We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us.”
This image that humanity has been formed by clay not only reminds us that we are creation but it reminds us that we are people fully and completely dependent on God. We are not self-sufficient people. We are also not bullet-proof people. We are breakable. We can be physically hurt, we can be emotionally hurt. We are fragile. And we are finite.
This is not to diminish the value of human life. This is not to degrade human life. Scripture also says He crowns humility with glory and honor. But it is to help keep our lives before God in perspective. He is creator and we are His creation. This keeps us in a place of humility and dependence on God.
And so God formed our bodies from the dust, from the soil, from the clay. But then he does something extraordinary.
Verse 7 says, “the Lord breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
This is such a brief reference that we can lose the significant of what is being communicated. The living God breathes His own breathe into humanity to give us life. Sit with that for a moment. God could have created us in so many different ways and communicated it in so many different ways but He gives us that incredibly intimate and powerful picture of the living God bringing us to life by giving us His own breathe.
On Friday, I was picking up one of my kids from an after school class where they were learning CPR. And so I was sitting in there watching them. One of the aspects of CPR is that you use mouth to mouth resuscitation to revive someone and you do this by putting your mouth on the mouth of the unresponsive person and you are giving them your own breathe. In this moment of crisis, it is very personal.
God could have just said, “breathe” but he wants to demonstrates to us that he has given us His breathe so that we may have life. And He does it in a very personal and intimate way showing us the personal connection that He has with humanity.
When God breathes into Adam, He is not just filling his lungs so that He can physical breathe.
This word “being” literally means “soul”. Man has become a living soul. A soul that will live forever even when the physical body passes away. A soul that has the ability to be in a relationship with His creator and worship His creator. A soul that can reflect the moral character of his creator’s character, a soul that can choose right and wrong and discern good and evil.
I think it is interesting that humanity is composed of elements from the natural world – the soil and elements from the supernatural world – the very breathe of Elohim. We are body and soul, physical and spiritual. And they are both good. They are both designed by God to allow us to be in relationship with God and to accomplish the works of God.
Verses 8-9
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Here we see the continued care of God for man. He didn’t just create him and set him loose on this earth but he prepared a specific place on this earth for him to live. Verse 8 says that God planted a garden in Eden and then placed the man in the garden.
Verse 9 is an intriguing verse. God created trees that are pleasing to look at. God placed man in a garden that was beautiful. And He created humanity to enjoy and delight in the beauty of creation. If you have ever had one of those moments where the beauty of creation filled you up, that it was a satisfying experiencing – you are experiencing what you were created to do – to enjoy God’s creation.
But not only did He create trees that were visually delightful but they contained food that was good for body.
Verses 10-14
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Verses 10-14 give us great detail about these four rivers that flow through the garden. And it is not clear why Moses chooses to give us this detail. It is not for us to locate the garden again. But I think it is an additional detail to show us the care of God. He put Adam and Eve in a beautiful location that was specifically designed for their enjoyment and pleasure.
I think it is interesting that God knew that they would not be there long before they sinned and would be removed from the garden. And yet that did not keep him from creating a place of great beauty. I think this gives us a glimpse into the type of place God creates for his people.
When Jesus tells his disciples in John 14 that He is leaving to prepare a place for them in heaven, we get a glimpse here in chapter 2 of the type of home He creates for his creation. It is going to be a place of beauty that will bring us delight. While the garden was for a moment, heaven will be forever.
Verses 15-17
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
In verses 15-17, God is giving humanity the opportunity obey him or disobey him. What is significant about this is that our first response before God is a place of obedience before God.
Notice that the first opportunity to respond to God wasn’t to worship God or to love God but to obey God. This is why I believe our most important question before God in every situation is: what is your place of obedience before God?
If I am talking with someone and they are wrestling with an issue in their life, one of my first questions is: what is your place of obedience before God? How is it that God wants you to obey him in these circumstances.
Because it is through obedience that we worship him, it is through obedience that we love him. When the prophet Samuel rebuked King Saul for offering sacrifices to God it is because Saul chose the outward activity of worship rather than the inward act of obedience. Samuel tells Saul, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…” Obedience is greater because it reveals our willingness to surrender to the leadership and authority of God. Obedience is our worship.
Jesus told his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” If you love me, you will demonstrate that love through obedience.
The first thing we are called to before God is to obey. It is out of obedience we worship. It is out of obedience we love. It is out of obedience we have fellowship with God. And so Adam was given an opportunity to obey.
It is also interesting the manner that God gives Adam an opportunity to obey. He fully and completely meets his needs through the garden. He lacks nothing. The fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil does not add anything. God is not holding back on Adam.
That is often how we enter into sin. We think God is holding back. We think we lack something in our life and this something (that God has said no to) we believe is keeping us from truly being happy and satisfied.
God has given Adam everything he needs. For Adam, it is now an issue of trust. Do you believe that God knows what is good and that God can fully and completely satisfy you?
That really is the heart of obedience. Do we trust God to know what is good for us and do we trust God to fully and completely provide for us?
God tells Adam the consequence: if you eat of this tree, you will die. We don’t know what Adam understood that to be. But we will learn later that it will lead to both a physical and spiritual death. When Adam and Even do eat of the tree they do not instantly die. But there is a spiritual death that does occur as sin enters into the world and humans will now experience an eventual physical death.
That is what disobedience does – it breaks fellowship with God. We are choosing ourselves over Him.