Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
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.
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. 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.
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.”
18The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 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. 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.
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.”
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Genesis 2: MY NAME IS MUD
God finished creating the world. The seventh day was a resting day because he was feeling week. Ok, I will stop punning. Why do you think the seventh day was specifically set aside when, in theory, every day after that was a non-creation day? Maybe He had other projects lined up. But I think part of it was to give us an example. He wanted a day of rest for us. In American, we are like, “Hey a day of rest was enough for God, but we are not as good as He is, we better take two days of rest.” I do not think God minds the bonus day. This made me wonder if all countries do the same. They all have a day of rest (I will attach the link). Some are Friday, most are Sundays. Most have two days off. I guess we follow God's example on this one! So far, so good on the obedience thing.
We next get a more detailed account of creation. The repetition really bugs some people. The repetition of ideas with more or less detail is common in the Bible. Here we get more detail. We get more about the whole water issue from the last chapter. There was no rain at first. Instead, mist came up from the ground and watered the plants. We still get some of that in Florida. The air is heavy with moisture.
Here is how God made man: God took mud and gave it CPR. That is right, we are mud bubbles! God spoke most things into existence, but we are God's breath. When his breath leaves the mud, it turns back to dust. I think that is why our souls tell us something inside is eternal. Fun fact: Eve's name comes from the word “breathe” and Adam comes from the word “earth.” That is us in a nutshell – breath and mud.
We get more description of Eden next in V8. God put the man in the garden he made in the east. In the garden is a choice. I always hate that God put us right next to temptation. Why add the knowledge tree? But a garden without this tree leaves us with no real choice, real relationship or real faith. Our choice in the beginning was simple because all we had to do was follow God's single direct instruction. Ever ask God, why don't You just tell me what You want done? Yeah, He has tried that.
There is a tree of life. There is a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There is also a river running through it. We are given names that mean little to me. The land of Cush. Are the people called Cushions? I am going to call them that since man is given the job of naming things. You are welcome. Some of the river names are familiar – I wonder if they are the same rivers or if modern rivers are just named after the rivers in the Bible. Looked it up. Bibleheads think the rivers, if the same, have shifted location (maybe due to the flood). I do not think God wants us to go back to Eden, so He would not give exact directions to follow. Maybe, in the next world, it will be a place we like to go for fruit brunch with the animals. I hope so, as long as clothing is allowed.
Nothing here about the tree of life being prohibited– come on people, if you are going to cheat on the ol diet, go for the other tree! Maybe eating daily from that tree kept them from aging.
Adam does a good job of naming things, but he does not find anyone to really help him. God fixes this by creating Eve. She is not created from mud – but is taken from Adam's body during the first highly successful surgical procedure in history. Note that God takes her from the side of Adam, not his head so that Eve rules over him and not from his foot so that she is beneath him. The fact that women come from men means they feel complete when we join back together.
Want to take a weird turn with me? Great! There is a lot of lore from this section of the Bible related to Lilith. The theory here, and it is a stretch, is that God created a woman back in chapter one. Lore says she was named Lilith and that she was a rebel that Adam could not handle. She is taken out and a better version is introduced in chapter 2. All of this because creating man and woman was mentioned twice (yes, ignore that the chapter talks about rain and plants in more detail here as well). Lots of bad literature finds its basis here.
Our couple ends chapter 2 naked and ok with it.
Chat:
TJ: I want to include some famous paintings of Eden. I love to think about people throughout history reading the same verse I am reading and imagining with me. It makes me feel like a part of something bigger than myself.
