4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Here we have the water above the earth, and the underground streams keeping everything at a perfect temperature. Just as the Lord has planned at this point in time. Interesting how He talks about the possibility of work right away. God loves good work opportunities. Also, here He is continuing to be creative after resting. Remember back in Day 6 when he comes up with the concept for making humans. Now here He is carrying it out. It’s also interesting how the creative process for making man is different from making a woman. At least, you will see that it is different soon enough if you don’t know already. I’m still learning new things too.
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Aside from that one day where God rested, His creativity never stops.
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
What’s not to like about rivers?
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
There was work from the very beginning. The work gets noticeably harder later on as you will see. Work was never meant to be seen as a negative thing. Also, being able to eat from all the trees except the one specific tree of the knowledge of good and evil that the Lord is reserving for Himself, as He is certainly allowed to, still seems like a good deal to me now as when I first heard of it.
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Again with the term helper, which we know is not a belittling assignment in the slightest.
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
God increases Adam’s responsibilities and he gladly completes them. This is remarkable, because it doesn’t always work out this way later on. Don’t worry, none of this is catching God off guard.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
Adam was made by God from the dust of the ground. The woman who is not yet named in the story, but would eventually be named Eve is created by God from a rib. He can do anything. It doesn’t have to all make sense to us.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
God must have filled him in after. There’s no way he could have known this was all happening while he was in the deep sleep. God is too good at His many jobs for that. There is frustrated mention of “They stole my kidney!” in scripture.
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
These events were written by Moses a long time after they happened. Adam and Eve wouldn’t have had a concept of what a father and mother would have been to them, except for their Heavenly Father, God.
25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
There was no truer time in the history of the whole world than this when what you don’t know can’t hurt you. God was pleased with them all the time. They had everything they could possibly need. It was the perfect situation. It didn’t even have to end. However…
Scriptures Discussed: Genesis 2:4-25
IIWAC: Creation: Man And Woman
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Here we have the water above the earth, and the underground streams keeping everything at a perfect temperature. Just as the Lord has planned at this point in time. Interesting how He talks about the possibility of work right away. God loves good work opportunities. Also, here He is continuing to be creative after resting. Remember back in Day 6 when he comes up with the concept for making humans. Now here He is carrying it out. It’s also interesting how the creative process for making man is different from making a woman. At least, you will see that it is different soon enough if you don’t know already. I’m still learning new things too.
8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Aside from that one day where God rested, His creativity never stops.
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
What’s not to like about rivers?
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
There was work from the very beginning. The work gets noticeably harder later on as you will see. Work was never meant to be seen as a negative thing. Also, being able to eat from all the trees except the one specific tree of the knowledge of good and evil that the Lord is reserving for Himself, as He is certainly allowed to, still seems like a good deal to me now as when I first heard of it.
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Again with the term helper, which we know is not a belittling assignment in the slightest.
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
God increases Adam’s responsibilities and he gladly completes them. This is remarkable, because it doesn’t always work out this way later on. Don’t worry, none of this is catching God off guard.
But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
Adam was made by God from the dust of the ground. The woman who is not yet named in the story, but would eventually be named Eve is created by God from a rib. He can do anything. It doesn’t have to all make sense to us.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
God must have filled him in after. There’s no way he could have known this was all happening while he was in the deep sleep. God is too good at His many jobs for that. There is frustrated mention of “They stole my kidney!” in scripture.
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
These events were written by Moses a long time after they happened. Adam and Eve wouldn’t have had a concept of what a father and mother would have been to them, except for their Heavenly Father, God.
25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
There was no truer time in the history of the whole world than this when what you don’t know can’t hurt you. God was pleased with them all the time. They had everything they could possibly need. It was the perfect situation. It didn’t even have to end. However…
Scriptures Discussed: Genesis 2:4-25