GENESIS
Listen to this study TH3002
Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Genesis chapter 2 as we continue our study through the Word of God. We saw last time in our study of Genesis chapter 1 the story of creation. That God created the heavens and the earth and all life that is in it in six literal days and then, as we moved into chapter 2 we see the week of creation continue as God rested on the seventh day. It was not that God was tired, but He was setting up a pattern for man to follow, to work six days and rest on the seventh, giving it to the Lord, spending time with Him.
Now, as we move into the fourth verse in Genesis chapter 2 this evening, we are still looking at the creation story but from a different vantage point. Chapter 1 was more of a wide angle lens from which we looked at creation and chapter 2 zooms in for us and gives us more details of the land and the creation of man. With that said, lets begin reading in Genesis chapter 2, starting in verse 4 and see what the Lord has for us this evening!
This takes us back to Genesis 1:1, as God created the heavens and the earth. And then, before He created man on the sixth day, God created all the vegetation on the third day. It was a tropical environment all over the earth as we have evidence for this in the South Pole, where there is frozen vegetation, forests in the ice. Also, there was no rain before the flood, but a mist came up from the ground and watered the earth in the evening. It was like a giant terrarium and it was very beautiful.
Also, God “formed” man or YATSAR in the Hebrew from the dust of the ground. The idea here is that of a potter shaping an earthly vessel and that is exactly what God has done with us and He continues to mold and shape our lives. And then God breathed into man the breath of life and he became a living being. This is what separates man from the animal world, the spirit of God dwells in him or he has a spirit. Plants are not living in the sense that they don’t have a consciousness, animals do. The only difference, like I said, is that man has a spirit, animals don’t. Thus, man apart from God is like a wild animal and we do see that today. And so, when Adam was created his spirit was in fellowship with God, controlling his body. But, when sin entered the picture, Adam’s spirit died and he now was controlled by his bodily appetites! We will see that as we move on in our study.
One more point before we move on. In verse 7 we are told that the “LORD God” or YAHWEH ELOHIM formed man. When you see “LORD” in capitals it is speaking of God’s covenant relationship with man and the word “God” or ELOHIM speaks of the creator of all things. It is this God that formed man out of the dust of the earth!
God prepared a garden for Adam and Eve to live in that was filled with beauty and goodness. In it was the tree of life and also we see the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why did God put this tree of temptation in this beautiful garden? I believe it was to give them a choice, to obey the Lord or to follow after their own desires. You see, for there to be love there needs to be a choice. And think of all that was before them and God is warning them to stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, just the one tree, all the rest was theirs to partake of. Sounds very easy, but as we will see in a few minutes, it was not easy!
Now some like to say the events in Genesis chapter 1 is different than chapter 2. In Genesis chapter 2 we see the story of recreation. I disagree. In fact, Jesus tells us in Matthew 19:4-5, “And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”?’” In other words, these two chapters give to us a harmonious account of creation, they are not different stories, because Jesus is speaking of both of them and linking them together!
Here we have a description of the rivers that flowed from Eden, some of what filled the land – the gold and precious stones. Now we don’t know exactly where the Garden of Eden was located though some of the names of these rivers are in existence today. After the flood the landscape of the earth changed dramatically and so did these rivers. I tend to believe that Noah and his children were familiar with these rivers and thus, in the post flood world they named rivers in that area the same name. The best guess to where Eden was located is in the area of Mesopotamia as the Bible speaks of it being eastward and the focus point is usually Jerusalem. But again, we are not sure.
God placed Adam in this garden to tend and keep it, but don’t get the idea he had to weed and feed the garden. He probably just had to pick the fruit, which was spectacular, but the labor is not what is spoken of here. The toil we see comes after sin entered the picture!
Here we see God tell Adam that all this is for him to eat except for that one tree. You see, Adam had a free will, he had a choice to make, but if he disobeyed the Lord, God warned him of the consequences, “. . . for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17. This verse can be literally translated, “Dying, thou shalt die!” Here is what I believe the Lord is saying. The moment Adam disobeyed God, his spirit died and now his body appetites controlled him. He lost that fellowship with God that he once had because sin separates us from God.
But, there was also another aspect to keep in mind. You see, the moment he sinned the death process started in Adam or the second law of thermodynamics. This law speaks of things wearing down, moving from order to disorder. Prior to Adam’s sin he could live forever, but now, he would eventually go back to the dust of the earth from which he came from. Also, his sin would infect the whole human race that was to come and all of life on the planet, even the planet itself!
So God was very clear in His warning to Adam. He also told Adam of the consequences of his disobedience. Folks, God has also warned us today and told us of the consequences of our rebellion against Him. And today there are many trees of temptation out there, but we do not have to partake of them, we do have a choice. Paul put it like this in Galatians 5:16-18, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
We also see here the first use of the verb, “command” and it deals with life and death, good and evil. Again, God only has what is best for us so He commands us what we need to do, but He doesn’t force us to do it. But there are consequences to our actions. Who will you listen to, God who is life and there is no darkness in Him at all, or the Devil who is a liar, it is his natural tongue and he brings about death and destruction to our lives? It sounds so simple and yet we fall prey to his lies!
Now this is interesting to me. As you read of the creation story everything was very good, but here God says it is not good for man to be alone. So Adam joined a dating service that did not work out – there was no helpmate for him, not even one at this point. And God saw the situation and God will be the one to intervene with the solution. Folks, that works not only for marriage, but in all we do. God knows the situations we face and He will provide a way out, we need to trust in Him and obey Him!
Now when God speaks of a “helper” or “helpmate” He is not speaking of a slave or someone who was inferior to Adam, not at all. The idea here is one of completion, Adam was not complete yet and thus, God would create someone who was suitable, someone he could share his life with.
No, Adam was not a cave man but probably the most brilliant man that ever lived because the effects of sin were not upon him yet. Thus, he could give names to all the animals, birds and-so-on as God brought them before him. This was no big deal. For me, I have a hard time remembering the name of our new puppy! I like the way Mark Twain joked about this, about Adam naming all these animals. As Adam came home after he named all the animals Eve looked out the window and saw an elephant and asked Adam what he named this large creature. He told her, “I called it an elephant.” Eve was curious and asked him why he called this creature an elephant. He replied back, “Because it looked like an elephant!” Leave it to a man to give an answer like that!
Adam saw these creatures that God had created and how they all had partners, except for Adam. Why did God do this to Adam? Maybe to show Adam that nothing else will satisfy, will fill that need in your life like a partner, a helpmate. Creation is beautiful, but if there is no one to share that with, to share your life with, it will be lonely. Folks, don’t take for granted that gift that God has given to you. Cherish the one God has brought into your life, the gift He has given you!
Why did God put Adam to sleep? Some feel it was like an anesthetic effect so he would not feel it when He did this surgery. That may be, but I think it was to get Adam out of the way so He could work! How often do we get in the way of what God is trying to do, to help Him out? Adam did not say to God, “Now this woman, she needs to be so tall, weigh so much, have blonde hair, green eyes, good personality and-so-on.” No, he slept and God worked and what God was creating was exceedingly abundantly above all Adam could ask or think!
God created woman from the side of Adam, it could have been from his rib. But the idea here is that she was part of man and yet different. Men, hear me out on this one. His wife was taken from his side, not from his foot so he could step all over her. She was not taken from his head so she could lord over him. But she was taken from under his arm so he could protect her, close to his heart so he could love her! And the Lord brought her to Adam just as I believe God does today, brining our helpmate to us.
One more point here and that is related to another marriage and where this bride came from. You see, the Church or the Bride of Christ came from another wound that pierced the side of the second Adam, Jesus Christ! And it was the Lord that brought us together!
As Adam awakens and God presents Eve to him he says, “Shazamm!” Okay, maybe not shazamm but he was pretty pleased with what God had done. He saw the oneness they had with each other and yet the differences – they completed each other!
In marriage there is a union between a husband and a wife but there is also a separation. You become one and thus, there needs to be a separation from parents. Not that you disown them, but you have started a new family where your husband is the spiritual head of the family and you work and grow together, for you are one! Many problems can arise because there is no separation, be wise and listen to what God is saying.
How important is the marriage relationship? Jesus said in Matthew 19:4-6, “And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.’” Paul also quoted this verse out of Genesis back in Ephesians 5:31, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
God has glued two people together in a sense, and to pull them apart in divorce will cause splinters, rough areas, jagged edges and-so-on. If you are not committed, if you can live without the other person, then don’t get married in the first place! You see, God instituted the marriage relationship and He does take it very seriously. I like what Henry Morris said regarding marriage, “The institution of monogamous marriage, home, and family as the basic medium for the propagation of the race and the training of the young is so common to human history that people seldom pause to reflect on how or why such a custom came into being.” The reason is simple; God instituted the marriage relationship, one man to one woman!
When we think of nakedness, we think of a person not wearing any clothes. But I think here it goes beyond that. They were clothed in light but when sin entered the picture that light was gone and they were naked, they were totally open and exposed before each other and God. Nothing was hidden, nothing was held back. But prior to this, all was good, they loved each other just as they were, no facade, no trying to impress the other person. Oh, to live like that. They were one flesh and they were naked, and they were not ashamed!
When people sin they like to blame their parent, their environment for causing them to do it – WRONG! Here we see the perfect parent – GOD! They were in the perfect environment – THE GARDEN OF EDEN! And yet, we see sin come forth. Folks, before God can forgive you of your sins, you must first come to Him and admit that you are a sinner and you are responsible for your actions!
The Devil inhabited this serpent, not a snake at this time. And he used this serpent as an instrument to deceive Eve. We are told in II Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Now some like to say that this is an allegory, it is a story to illustrate a point, but it never really happened. I disagree, I believe this happened or how did sin enter this world? Why do we then need a Savior? You see, to start to doubt God’s Word the Devil gets us to doubt sin and if we are not sinners, then we do not need a Savior! But we are sinners and we do need a Savior. Also, the reason I said this is Satan is because we are told in Revelation 12:9, “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” And in Revelation 20:2 we are told, “He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” I think that is pretty clear, this serpent was Satan!
Notice that Satan attacks God’s Word first, “. . . ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’” Genesis 3:1. He has not changed his ways since he tempted Eve; it is the same old lies. He still tries to get people to doubt God’s Word, why? In John 8:31-32 we are told, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’” You see, in Christ, following His Word, which is truth, we have been set free from the bondage of sin and lies the Devil tries to ensnare us with. But when you begin to doubt God’s Word, don’t believe God’s Word, the Devil has you in his sites and he is ready to take you down with his lies as he is doing with Eve here!
VERSES
2-3
Here is Eve’s first mistake and ours many times – carrying on a discussion with the Devil, who is a liar! What we need to do is what Jude tells us, “. . . ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” Jude 9. End of conversation!
Eve also added to God’s Word, she could have touched the tree, but she said that God forbid them from doing that! That is a very dangerous thing to do, adding the doctrines of men to the Word of God! It is as Jesus said in Matthew 15:7-9, “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
VERSES
4-5
Satan not only attacked God’s Word, but got Eve to doubt the consequences of her rebellion against God, “ . . . ‘You will not surely die.’ . . .” Genesis 3:4. Satan loves to get us to see sin as good and not as evil and many times we buy into his lies and then find out when it is too late that we have been deceived! Also, since many don’t see the consequences of sin come quickly, for God is gracious, they negate the consequences for their actions, and that is a very dangerous thing to do.
And the third thing that Satan does is to get Eve to believe that God was some kind of kill joy, holding something good back from her, “ . . . For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4. This truly is the heart of the New Age movement, which is not new and is a lie of the Devil, you can be a god! This lie that is found in many non-Christian faiths has now crept into the Christian church. We see it in many health, wealth and prosperity churches and we are seeing it in the Emergent Church movement! And I will just tell you, it is a doctrine of demons and not of God. Now that may offend some of you. Maybe you think I am being judgmental. But folks, it is wrong; it is not of God, not because I have said it, but because God has said it. In Isaiah 44:6 we are told, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.’” There is no other God’s, and thus, this lie that is still around needs to be put to rest! It is not true!
VERSE
6
John describes what Eve was tempted with in I John 2:16, “For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world.” First, it was good for food – the lust of the flesh. Second, it was pleasant to the eyes – the lust of the eyes. And third, it was desirable to make one wise – the pride of life. Again, Satan has not changed his strategy, he doesn’t need to. May we be wise and not fall prey to his wicked schemes that are only there to bring us down, to destroy us!
And please understand that in her mind, Eve thought she was doing good, she was doing what was right. It was not that she knew she was wrong. Paul, in I Timothy 2:14 tells us, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” Then why was she wrong? Because she did not listen to the Words of God, she doubted what God said in regards to the consequences of her actions, and she thought God was holding good back from her. You see, just because she was deceived does not negate her responsibility, she had the information to do what was right, she just did not use it! Paul, in I Corinthians 10:13 tells us, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” In other words, she should have fled from the Devil and into the arms of God. She should have run from this conversation to hear the voice of God! God does provide a way of escape; it is through Him and in Him!
But Adam was responsible for the fall of man, he was the spiritual leader of the family and he did not do his job. And thus, because of Adam we see introduced into this world both spiritual and physical death. Paul, in Romans 5:12 tells us, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” And in I Corinthians 15:22 Paul tells us, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” Why did Adam do it? Maybe he didn’t want Eve to be alone in that condition but, as the spiritual head of the family, he should have been protecting her.
VERSE
7
Here is the first man-made religion – The First Church of the Fig Leaves! It did not catch on, a little to itchy, but the concept did. What they did was try to cover their sin, atone for their sin with fig leaves. I can’t imagine how they felt every time they tried to walk, it was not comfortable, but maybe they thought that was an added benefit, to suffer for their sin. We will see in a few minutes how God looked upon this.
VERSES
8-9
How sad this is. At one time they had enjoyed intimate fellowship with God, they walked with God in the Garden of Eden, and now sin broke that fellowship and they were afraid! And don’t think that God lost them. When God said, “ . . . ‘Where are you?’” it was the words of a heartbroken father as He called for them. He was not calling for them in anger, but in love and sadness over what they did and what He would have to do to restore that relationship!
VERSES
10-12
Again, it is not that God did not know the answer, but He wanted them to be aware of what he did, what caused him to be afraid. But instead of confessing his sin, he blamed his wife and he was really blaming God – “You gave her to me, this woman and now look at what she caused me to do?” I told you that the book of Genesis is the book of beginnings and here is the beginning of passing the buck, blaming others for what you do. What Adam needed to do was what David finally did when he sinned, “ . . . ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’” II Samuel 12:13.
VERSE
13
Talk about your dysfunctional family – she says what Flip Wilson said years ago, “The Devil made me do it!” God was looking for confession and repentance and all He got was excesses!
VERSES
14-15
Why didn’t God question Satan here like he did Adam and Eve? Because there was nothing to teach him, he rebelled against God and took 1/3 of the angels with him and thus, there is only the pronouncement of judgment for him. The first part of this judgment is against the serpent Satan used to deceive Eve; he will slither on the ground instead of walking on legs!
The second part of the curse is against Satan himself. And in this I see a hint of the coming Messiah, the seed of the woman. You see, it is the man that has the seed and thus, I see here the virgin birth. Also, Satan will bruise the heel of the Messiah, not a mortal wound. Yes, Jesus was crucified but He rose the third day from the grave conquering death! It is as Paul said in Galatians chapter 3, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ . . . What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.” Galatians 3:16, 19. And this seed is the Messiah, Jesus, who will bring a mortal wound upon Satan; he will ultimately be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity!
VERSE
16
God now brings a curse upon the woman – she will have pain in childbirth, pain with children, and the start of the battle of the sexes began here, it is part of the curse. You see, when it says, “ . . . Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” it is speaking of usurping the role of the husband. You see, that word “desire” is also seen in Genesis 4:7 where we are told, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” The Lord was warning Cain that sin wants to rule his life, don’t let it! Again, this is part of the curse, so it can’t be good and it is not.
Not only that, but the husband will now try to lord over his wife. You see, the battle of the sexes where each person tries to usurp the role that God has given to him or her. Susan T. Foh wrote, “As a result of the fall, man no longer rules easily; he must fight from his headship. Sin has corrupted both the willing submission of the wife and the loving headship of the husband. The woman’s desire is to control her husband (to usurp his divinely appointed headship), and he must master her, if he can. So the rule of love founded in paradise is replaced by struggle, tyranny and domination.” (Susan T. Foh, cited in Boice).
VERSES
17-19
Now God curses Adam. Instead of listening to God he listened to his wife and here are the consequences to his rebellion. The ground is cursed and we see that today in our gardens, how weeds grow even without rain! The labor we must do – no longer tending the garden but laboring! And the final curse is he will die, he will go back to the dust of the earth, as will all of creation. Yes, there is a point where there is no more toil, no more labor on the earth, it is called DEATH!
Guess what, all that Satan promised Eve did not come to pass – what a shocker! He is the father of lies, it is his natural language, his native tongue and he has come to kill, to destroy people’s lives! On the other end of the spectrum we have Jesus who has come to give us life and life more abundantly than we can ever imagine! Thus, listen to God and not the lies of the Devil!
VERSE
20
Eve was not a mother yet but Adam knew that she would be and not only that, God said that He would defeat Satan by the seed of the woman – it was a promise of God and Adam was trusting in that promise, thus, he named his wife Eve.
VERSE
21
What about those fig leaves, you know, the Tommy HillFig’s? God did not even acknowledge man’s attempt of salvation through his own works. Instead, God killed an animal, I believe it was a lamb, and made them lambskin clothes to wear. Thus, every time they saw this, every time they moved, it reminded them that there had to be the death of the innocent to cover the sins of the guilty! Thus, John the Baptist said of Jesus, “ . . . ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” John 1:29. And Peter tells us in I Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” You see, without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins! You can’t work your way into heaven because Jesus has completed the work on the cross of Calvary!
VERSES
22-24
I see God speaking of man’s awareness of evil here, and that is not a good thing. Innocence is good and look at how we have taken that away from our children today! But, in mercy God is protecting them and us for living forever in these bodies of flesh, of sin which would be horrible, thus, God removes them from the Garden of Eden and the tree of life.
God also placed Cherubum with a flaming sword at the east gate of the Garden, why? Yes, to keep Adam and Eve out but I also think to keep Satan from coming and destroying the way to the tree of life. You see, one Cherub would be enough to keep man out; he would not need a flaming sword to do that. I believe that sword was to keep Satan out!
Let me close with this. In the holy of holies we see two Cherubim, one on each side of the Ark of the Covenant, where the Law was kept. Above it, resting on the ark was the mercy seat and God sat upon the mercy seat. And as the high priest came in, once a year and poured the blood on the mercy seat, the sins of man were covered for a time. But now the blood of Christ flows upon the mercy seat and our sins have been cast as far as the east is from the west to be remembered no more. We can have fellowship with God through Jesus Christ and one day we will have access to the tree of life as we walk with the Lord in the New Jerusalem! From here on out, we will now see God preparing to pay in full the penalty for man’s sin, it is the love story of Jesus for sinful man and it ends with us being with Him in the book of Revelation! It truly is a happy ending!