Genesis 2:15-25 Adam and Eve

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden

to work it and take care of it.

And the LORD God commanded the man,

'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;

but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,

for when you eat of it you will surely die.'

The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone.

I will make him a helper suitable for him.'

Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground

all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air.

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.

So the man gave names to all the livestock,

the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

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 closed up the place with flesh.

Then the LORD God made a woman

from the rib he had taken out of the man,

and he brought her to the man.

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.'

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother

and be united to his wife,

and they will become one flesh.

The man and his wife were both naked,

and they felt no shame."

Genesis 2:15-25 (NIV)

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I just realized that I got ahead of myself in that last post in the telling of the story of Adam and Eve and their sin in eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  I had been trying to distinguish between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and ended up giving away most of the information of the story before its time.  For at that point, all we had was a man and the Garden of Eden, where God had placed him.  Let me continue:

God had placed the man in the Garden of Eden to work in the garden and take care of it.  He had given Adam permission to eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  God warned Adam that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would die.

God brought all the beasts of the field and the birds of the air to Adam and allowed him to name them.  Naming these animals was an act which demonstrated Adam's position of authority.  However, none of these creatures was a suitable helper for Adam.  So God made him one.

Putting Adam into a deep sleep, God removed one of his ribs and made a woman from it.  Then He brought her to the man.  The man realized that she had been fashioned from part of his own body.  The word 'woman' in Hebrew sounds like the word for 'man', which seems to have been Adam's intent in naming her.  She was separate from him, but also intimately a part of him -- "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh".

The text goes on to assert that this is why a man and wife leave their parents and establish their own family unit.  It also indicates that monogamy is God's intention -- that a man and woman would be so united -- so 'one flesh' -- that as long as they live they would be only for each other.  Sexual union is a God-given, physical expression of that oneness.  In the context of a marriage between a man and a woman, there is nothing shameful about it.  However, outside of such a marriage, sexual union would be a perversion of that God-given intent of indicating the 'one flesh' and lifelong commitment which exists between the husband and wife.

Another aspect which should be considered is that a Christian believer is considered part of Christ's body.  In the New Testament, some people were claiming that it didn't really matter what they did with their bodies -- that it didn't affect their inner spiritual life.  However, in I Corinthians 6:12-20, the apostle Paul says that this is not so:

"...The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the LORD,

and the LORD for the body.

By his power God raised the LORD from the dead,

and he will raise us also.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?

Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!

Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body?

For it is said, "The two shall become one flesh."

But he who unites himself with the LORD is one with him in spirit.

Flee from sexual immorality.

All other sins a man commits are outside his body,

but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,

who is in you, whom you have received from God?

You are not your own;

you were bought with a price.

Therefore honor God with your body."

I Corinthians 6:12-20 (NIV)

There are some quotes from the NIV Study Bible on these verses (I Corinthians 6) which I found helpful:

"Paul here declares the dignity of the human body:  It is intended for the LORD...a body destined for resurrection should not be used for immorality...It is not merely one's spirit that is a member of Christ's body; it is the whole person, consisting of spirit and body...There is a higher union than the marriage bond:  the believer's spiritual union with Christ, which is the perfect model for the kind of unity which should mark the marriage relationship...Christians should also realize that by the Spirit's presence and power they can be helped against such sins as sexual immorality."

OK, I kind of went off on a tangent there.  However, it does relate very much to our passage.  It also helped me to be able to explain why sexual immorality, in whatever form it takes, is so serious.  Despite what our culture may tell us, God says that sex is not just a physical thing, a temporary pleasure, a meaningless pastime.

Meanwhile, back at the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve felt no shame in their nakedness.  As of yet (Genesis 2:15-25), they had not disobeyed God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:8-14 The Garden of Eden

"Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden,

and there he put the man he had formed.

And 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.

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden;

from there it was separated into four headwaters.

The name of the first is the Pishon;

it winds through the entire land of Havilah,

where there is gold.

(The gold of that land is good;

aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)

The name of the second river is the Gihon;

it winds through the entire land of Cush.

The name of the third river is the Tigris;

it runs along the east side of Asshur.

And the fourth river is the Euphrates."

Genesis 2:8-14 (NIV)

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God planted a garden in the east as a home for the man he had created.  What does "in the east" mean? East of where?  Well, in the Bible, Jerusalem is considered the center of the world.  Check out these verses:

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations,

with countries all around her."

Ezekiel 5:5 (NIV)

The NIV Study Bible note on this verse says in part: "God had chosen for his people Israel and for his earthly temple a place at the crossroads of the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe so that Israel and what he does for them might be a strong witness to the nations that he is the one and only God with whom all peoples have to do and from whom alone come life and blessing."

Another verse in the Bible says this:

"I will plunder and loot

and turn my hand against the resettled ruins

and the people gathered from the nations,

rich in livestock and goods,

living at the center of the land."

Ezekiel 38:12 (NIV)

This verse is predicting the thoughts which will be coming from Israel's enemies in the last days as they consider invading Israel's land.  A mighty army will advance against Israel, yet God plans to show himself  as being holy and great in the sight of many nations when He delivers Israel from these forces. (Ezekiel 38:16,20,23 and Ezekiel 39:6-7,21-23,27-28)  From that day forward, Israel would know that He is the LORD their God. (Ezekiel 39:22)  An account of these matters is written in Ezekiel chapters 38-39.

When Jerusalem is spoken of as being at the center of the world, it is not just some ethnocentric statement or nationalistic cheerleading.  Israel has been set by God at the center of the world stage so that they can be a witness to all nations of the power and holiness of God.

God made a garden paradise in Eden.  No doubt there were many beautiful things in this garden, but in  our passage, Genesis 2:8-14, it is the trees which are singled out.  There are trees which provide beauty.  Located at the middle of the garden are particular trees which are mentioned:  the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

First, we will take a look at the tree of life.  Of course, only God can impart life.  However, apparently the fruit from this tree would enable that God-given life to continue indefinitely.  Why do I say this?  Well, later, when Adam and Eve sin by partaking of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis chapter 3), God decides to remove them from the garden, because otherwise, if they also decided to take some of the fruit from the tree of life, they would live forever, while still remaining in their sinful, rebellious state.  We can only begin to imagine what kind of  ever-increasing sin and wickedness would result.

The fact that this tree of life was even in the garden at all indicates that God intended to allow them to eat of its fruit.  He had never forbidden Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of life -- it was only the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which they were to avoid. They were meant to live forever with God.  However, by sinning against God, they were now in a state where such everlasting life would only bring increasing sin and misery to them and to the rest of God's creation.

It is not that God was afraid of what they might accomplish with an unlimited lifespan.  After all, He is God and could wipe them out at any time if He ever wanted to do so.  Perhaps God was limiting mankind's lifespan so that a person might be drawn back to Himself.  If mankind had a source of unlimited life, why would they care if God didn't like how they were living?  But if they were subject to death eventually, they would be more inclined to be careful about how they were living, and to consider what might be beyond this life...and to seek God, who can give eternal life.

There are more verses about this tree of life in the Bible:

Genesis 2:9   "And 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." (NIV)

Genesis 3:22-24  "And the LORD God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.  He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.'  So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from
which he had been taken.  After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." (NIV)

Revelation 2:7  "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God." (NIV)


Revelation 22:14  "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city..." (NIV)
 
Revelation 2:19  "And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book." (NIV)


I don't think we read any more about the other tree -- the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Most of the verses about knowledge in general which I saw in a concordance were indicating that God has perfect knowledge and is the source of our knowledge about Him and about other matters.  The Bible says that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7 NIV)

II Peter 3:18 (NIV) says:  "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  To him be glory both now and forever!  Amen."

One other thing which I read somewhere regarding these matters was that in choosing to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were trying to assert their independence from God by taking hold of another source (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) to determine what was good for themselves, instead of relying upon God's continued guidance.  Even before they ate from that tree they already knew the difference between good and evil -- at least enough to know that it was good for them to listen to God's command to avoid eating from that tree and bad for them to insist upon doing so.  Apparently they wanted the ability to know about such things without reference to God.  That is a rather familiar theme, isn't it?  At times we all have thought that we know best, instead of listening to our Creator.


Location, Location, Location:

The passage in Genesis 2:8-14 tells us some things about the location of the Garden of Eden:

• It was to the east, in Eden.
• A river which watered the garden flowed from Eden and separated into four headwaters.

These headwaters were:

• 1)  the Pishon, which wound through the entire land of Havilah, where there was gold, aromatic resin and onyx.
• 2)  the Gihon, which winds through the entire land of Cush.
• 3)  the Tigris, which runs along the east side of Asshur (at one time a capital city of Assyria)
• 4)  the Euphrates.

Of course we would love to figure out just where this Garden of Eden was, but we only know the general area.  No doubt great changes occurred later during the Flood, so the current physical geography is probably quite different from the original.  We are familiar with the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, but the other two rivers are not definitely known, which gives us some idea of the great geographical changes which may have occurred.  This is just as well, for one has to wonder if the cherubim which had been stationed with his flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24) has ever been relieved of his duty!

Fortunately we have access to this tree of life through Jesus' death on the cross in our behalf.  I will be having much more to say on this matter, but for now this verse sums things up nicely:  "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (I Corinthians 5:21 NIV)  Jesus, who had no sin, atoned for our sins by his death on the cross.

Jesus' resurrection indicated that God had accepted this sacrifice.  When we acknowledge and repent of our sins and accept that Jesus is God and has made this atonement on our behalf, it is as though Jesus' righteousness has been deposited in our account.

Of course we have to accept this gracious gift on an individual basis.  When we do, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us and begins His work of sanctification in us.  By the Spirit's power we can overcome sin which used to hold us in bondage.  This work will not be completely finished until we go to heaven, but out of gratefulness to our Savior we will have a new desire to obey and live for Him.  Then one day, as Revelation 22:7 (see above) indicates, we will have the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.

Genesis 2:4-7 Zeroing In, Not Doing Over

"This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens --

and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth

and no plant of the field had yet sprung up,

for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth

and there was no man to work the ground,

but streams came up from the earth

and watered the whole surface of the ground --

the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,

and the man became a living being."

Genesis 2:4-7  (NIV)
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Our first reaction to this part of Genesis may be to wonder why it seems that the book is starting over again.  After all, didn't we just get through Genesis 1:1-Genesis 2:3, which dealt with the six days of creation, and the creation of mankind?  Why now does it seem that the author is beginning to repeat himself?

Critics are quick to point this out with the attitude of  "Aha...see, Genesis is just an assemblage of myths about creation."  Others see this as an indication of  what I will call a "do-over" -- that is, that God created mankind and then there was some kind of gap of time between the two accounts, in which there was a second creation of mankind.  Some have thought that perhaps this allows for evolution and accounts for the supposed branches of mankind (i.e., Neanderthal, etc.).

I don't believe that they have that correct.  There is a much simpler explanation of what appears to be two accounts.  This can be summed up in two words:  literary device.  Instead of Genesis being just a collection of several accounts of man's history, it seems instead that God is just a very skillful Author.  [Which makes sense, because if Someone is God, you would think that He would be quite skilled at, well, everything.]

In this case, the first section of Genesis (1:1- 2:3) covers an account of the story of creation in general (which obviously includes the creation of mankind).  What appears to be a "different" account of  the creation of mankind (Genesis 2:4 and following) is simply a zeroing in upon the history of mankind specifically.  In others of the ten 'accounts' which we find in Genesis, this "zeroing in" continues.  We read accounts of Adam, Noah, Shem, Terah, and Abraham, with whom God made a covenant.  Further Scriptures in other books of the Bible will continue to point ever more specifically to the One who had been promised to Adam and Eve after they had fallen into sin -- the Redeemer who would deliver them, the Messiah.  We will read of Abraham's son Isaac, Isaac's son Jacob, and Jacob's twelve sons who form the nation of Israel.  Judah, one of these sons, has further descendants which lead to King David.  As you probably already know, the Messiah is prophesied to come through the line of David.  Eventually, Jesus Christ comes from this very line.  I will discuss these things in far greater detail eventually, but here I am just trying to give you a quick overview.

It may seem that I have spoiled the story by going all the way to the end where Jesus is revealed to be the Messiah. However, there are countless beautiful and intricate things and events which God has built into His Word which will lead to that conclusion, and I want you to see them.

Just as one example, there are Old Testament scriptures which point to the coming of the Messiah to the temple in Jerusalem.  Remember that account in the Bible [Matthew 21] where Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, and people are waving palm branches and shouting "Hosanna!"?  Well, other OT Scriptures had predicted in greater detail both the precise time period and the way that this event was to take place.  For this was no ordinary ride into Jerusalem.  This was the Messiah coming unto His own people.  [Which is also why, when the authorities told Jesus to silence the crowds and the children who were proclaiming him as Messiah, He replied that if they were silenced, the very stones would cry out. (Luke 19:28-44)]

Some might say, that Jesus just purposely 'fulfilled' this prophecy by choosing to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, as prophesied.  However, there is more background to this story.  Do you know about the prophecy in Daniel which indicates that the Messiah would come prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple?  If Daniel was a true prophet, then the Messiah would have had to come by the time the destruction took place -- in 70 AD.  There is no other person who both fulfilled the Messianic requirements and arrived before that time, besides Jesus of Nazareth.  I will write a post about these things in greater detail.  Yet I want us to remember that Daniel is respected as a prophet, and that the succession of four major world powers was revealed to him way back in his own time when Babylon was the superpower.

It was revealed to Daniel that Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and then Rome would fill that position of dominance -- which is exactly what happened.  The test of a true prophet was that their predictions always came to pass.  Daniel had a flawless track record in this regard.  Imagine yourself trying to figure out which nation will be the next superpower.  Then think of how Daniel was able to predict four such superpowers.  Not to mention that he included such detailed descriptions of certain events that critics automatically assumed that the predictions had to have been written after the events, for otherwise they could not understand how such knowledge could be possible.

I believe that Jesus is the only One who could have fulfilled that prophecy about the Messiah coming before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  I know of no one else whose name has been submitted instead for that position and who perfectly fulfilled all the prophecies about himself, including ones which a person could not fake, like those about their ancestry [It's pretty difficult to arrange one's own ancestors!], the time and place of one's own birth and the precise manner and details of one's death.  As I wrote before, other posts will be needed to flesh out these prophecies and the way Jesus fulfilled them, but if one is willing to look, the evidence is graciously, wonderfully, and quite specifically there. 

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OK, now back to the passage (Genesis 2:4-7).  Some observations:

• Man was made by God, who formed man's body from the dust and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
• At that point, it seems that rain had not yet occurred.  Instead, the plants and trees were watered by streams which watered the surface of the ground.

Genesis 2:1-3: The Seventh Day: Master of the Universe

"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed

in all their vast array.

By the seventh day

God had finished the work he had been doing;

so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,

because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."

Genesis 2:1-3 (NIV)

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One phrase which sticks out for me in this passage is "in all their vast array".  I am sure that you have probably seen pictures of the Milky Way Galaxy, which show it as just one of a countless number of other galaxies, stretching out seemingly into infinity.

God made all that.

Not only that, but I do not believe that God needed to take a week to complete all His work of creation.  He could have spoken and it would have appeared in an instant.  However, I think He set up this week as a pattern for us.  On the seventh day He rested, but not because He was tired.  The word rested can also mean "ceased".  His work was complete.  Sin had not yet entered the world, so there was nothing to be fixed -- as we previously saw in Genesis 1:31, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."

Genesis 2:3 says that God did set this day apart, though.  He blessed it and made it holy, because on that day He had completed all His work of creation.  By doing so, He created a pattern for us, that we might set aside a day out of our week to just stop and acknowledge Him.

Why is that so important?  Well, I think that we are each prone to get very caught up in our own little worlds, as it were.  We all have things which we love to do, or feel we need to do.  It would be extremely easy to forget about our need for God.

We also are prone to think that we are where we are,

                     and have what we have,

                     and have accomplished what we have accomplished,

                     because of our own doing. 

And that, my friend, is a very dangerous place to be.

Believe it or not, thankfulness is a very important part of our relationship with God.  It is not just something that your daddy or mama taught you so that you could get along with others in this world.  The clearest example of how important an attitude of thankfulness to God is, is found in the Bible in the first chapter of the book of Romans.  I am thinking especially of verses 18-32 of that chapter.  Let me give a summary:

People suppress the truth about God,

 even though creation itself gives everyone ample evidence that there is a God.

Since people willfully choose to ignore that God exists,

instead of being thankful for all that He has done for them,

even though in their hearts they know that He does exist,

their thinking process becomes futile and darkened.

They believe they are so wise, yet they end up worshiping other things,

effectively exchanging the true God for an idol of some type,

thus worshiping only a created thing rather than their Creator.

Such idolatry and the willful exchange of truth for a lie leads next to other sins,

specifically various forms of perverse sexual immorality,

which is degrading to them.

Not only that, but their minds also become given over
to other forms of wickedness and depravity.

Some of the things which they become full of are:
  envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip,
slander, hatred of God, insolence, arrogance, boasting.

They invent ways of doing evil and disobey their parents.

They become senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Finally, although they know that God sees such things as worthy of death,

they not only continue to practice these things,

but also give their approval to others who are doing the same sinful things.

That was so long a summary that I should have just quoted the passage itself.  (Romans 1:18-32)  In fact I will, because God's Word, not my summary of it, should be the main focus here: 

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven

against all the godlessness and wickedness of men
who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

since what may be known about God is plain to them,

because God has made it plain to them.

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities --

his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen,

being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

For although they knew God,

they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,

but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God

 for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts

to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie,

and worshiped and served created things

rather than the Creator -- who is forever praised.  Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.

Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.

In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women

and were inflamed with lust for one another.

Men committed indecent acts with other men,

and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the 

knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind,

to do what ought not to be done.

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.

They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.

They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful;

they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;

they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Although they know God's righteous decree
that those who do such things deserve death,

they not only continue to do these very things

but also approve of those who practice them."

Romans 1:18-31 (NIV)

I thought it was interesting that several of the sins that are mentioned are ones which we typically don't think are so bad:  gossip, arrogance, boasting, disobeying parents.  Yet there they are, right next to murder and hatred of God, because all sin is equally wrong and has serious consequences.

All this to say that it is a good idea that God set aside a day for us to acknowledge Him and thank Him.  We all need to step off the hamster wheel of our daily activities and recognize that we are not Master of our Universe, but creatures of His Universe.   

Genesis 1:28-31 Blessed, Directed and Fed

"God blessed them and said to them,

'Be fruitful and increase in number;

fill the earth and subdue it.

Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air

and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'

Then God said,

'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth

and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.

They will be yours for food.

And to all the beasts of the earth

and all the birds of the air

and all the creatures that move on the ground --

everything that has the breath of life in it --

I give every green plant for food.'

And it was so.

God saw all that he had made,

and it was very good.

And there was evening and there was morning --

the sixth day."

Genesis 1:28-31 (NIV)

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As we've already covered in the previous section, God created man and woman on the sixth day of creation.  Both are created in the image of God, and both receive the blessing which occurs in this section.

God directs Adam and Eve to be fruitful and increase in number.  They are to fill the earth and exercise dominion over it.  As God's representatives in this earthly realm, this implies that they are not to exploit the resources given to them, or the creatures over which they rule, but to manage them effectively for the good of creature and mankind alike, for the glory of God.

Apparently mankind was originally vegetarian, for God gives Adam and Eve every seed-bearing plant and every tree that has fruit with seed in it for their food.  The other creatures are given every green plant for food. 

I found it interesting, but don't know if it is significant, that God specified the seed-bearing aspect of the plants and fruit which were to be food for humans.  In contrast, the beasts, birds and creatures which move on the ground seemed to have been given every green plant for food, with no mention of whether these had seeds or not.

[After all the effort to grow seedless watermelons and other fruit, wouldn't it be ironic if there was something in the seeds which was actually especially good for us?!]

Several times during the discussion of God's work of creation on specific days, God declares His work "good". (Genesis 1:10; 1:12; 1:18; 1:21; 1:25)   At the end of this passage, though, "...God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."  Just sayin'.  [This is probably partly why I get a little testy when people say that men and women are just another form of animal, instead of acknowledging that humans are made in God's image.]

Genesis 1:26-27 Day Six: God Creates Mankind

"Then God said,

 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,

and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air,

over the livestock, over all the earth,

and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV)

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We are still looking at the sixth day of creation.  We already briefly examined how God created the land animals on the sixth day.  Now we are going to look at God's creation of mankind on the sixth day as well.

First, the obvious question:  Who is God speaking to when He says "Let us..."?  Well, some people think that this is only what is sometimes called 'the plural of majesty'.  That is when a royal personage says something like "We are not pleased." -- when he/she really means "I am not pleased."  It is as if the person were speaking in behalf of the office which he/she holds.  However, that to me is just side-stepping the issue here, for God seems to be speaking to someone, and He includes that person in both the creative act itself ("Let us make...") and in the goal/purpose of that creative act ("...Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." )   So it doesn't seem to fit that this is just a 'plural of majesty' type of situation.  [Besides, such plural of majesty conversations always reminds me of something out of a Monty Python film, where a royal dowager frostily asserts, "We are not amused."]

What about the angels?  They seem to have been created before mankind, and are most likely present in God's throne room, as it were, when this conversation is taking place. We don't have too many details about the creation of angels, but they seem to have been rejoicing and praising God as He created the earth and its inhabitants:

"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?

Tell me if you understand.

Who marked off its dimensions?

Surely you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it?

On what were its footings set,

or who laid its cornerstone --

while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels shouted for joy?"

Job 38:4-7 (NIV)

However, God wasn't speaking to the angels, for He says, "Let us make man..." -- if He had been speaking to the angels, that would mean that they took part in our creation, which they didn't.

He also says, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." -- so if He were talking to angels, we would have been made in their image as well as God's image...which we aren't.  Angels are created beings, not creators.  So who is He speaking to?

Himself.  No, He is not crazy.  The Bible indicates that there are three persons in the Godhead.

• There are verses in the Bible where each person -- God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, either address each other or are addressed as individual persons.
• There are other verses where each person of the Godhead is acting as a separate person.  
• There are other verses where each seems to have the quality of deity, of being God.
• As if that weren't puzzling enough, there are also places in the Bible where it says that they are 'one' with each other.   Or that God is 'One'.

Yikes.

Here's my take on it.  First, I think it is not unusual that there are things about God that we do not fully understand with our finite minds.  That is not surprising.  He is God, after all.  We can only relate things to our own experiences, or to the extent of our rather limited knowledge or imagination.  It would be pretty arrogant of us to think that only the things that we can understand are real or true.

The Bible never uses the word 'trinity'.  We use that word to try to give a name to that concept where three-are-one, where there is a tri-unity.  It seems strange to us.  We are not used to that kind of one-yet-three concept.

Or are we?  What about the way we can readily understand that water is three-in-one?

The idea that really helps me relate to that concept of three-yet-one is water.  Yep, good old H2O.  See, water can come in three forms:  solid, liquid and gas.  As water, it can be in the solid form, like ice cubes.  It can be in the liquid form, like water that you can drink out of a glass.  Or it can be in the form of gas, like the steam which you might see rising from your tea kettle.

These three forms can seem very different, and even function very differently.  (Ever try pouring yourself a glass of steam?!)  Yet they are one in the sense that each form (the water, the ice, the steam) is still H2O in its elemental state.  And nothing else is H2O, besides H2O.

I think the same is true about God.  He is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, with different, sometimes concurrent jobs to do.  [Like ice in a glass of water.]  Each person of the Godhead is fully God [like the ice, the water, and the steam are each fully H20].  And nothing else is God, besides God. 

That example does not answer every question we might have about the tri-unity of God.  However, these ideas help me to think that there quite reasonably could be a God who is three-in-one. 

There is much more to be said about this issue, but this was just a brief overview of it.

Oh, one other thing which I found which was interesting:  The NIV Study Bible notes on Genesis 1:26 states in part:

 "...(In the ancient Near East, kings marked their conquest of lands by setting up images of themselves in the conquered territories as a sign of their authority and ruling presence.  An especially noteworthy example is the life-size statue of the ninth-century B.C. Hadad-Yithi, ruler of Gozan, found at Tell Fekheriyeh in northeastern Syria in 1979.  An Aramaic inscription on the statue identifies it as the "image" and "likeness" of the ruler, using the Aramaic cognates of the Hebrew words.)"

I think it is interesting because in our passage we have God creating mankind in His image and likeness, and bestowing upon them the rulership over the earth He had created.  In the rest of Genesis 1:26, mankind is given rulership over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.  No wonder, then, that Satan [in Genesis chapter 3] came to tempt Adam and Eve [as opposed to, say, a giraffe or a fish or some other creature] -- Adam and Eve were the living representatives of the authority and rule of God over the earth.

God created mankind (both male and female) in His own image and likeness, according to Genesis 1: 27.  [In the next post we will see that both shared in the blessing which follows in Genesis 1:28-30.]  Genesis 1:27 is the first example of poetry in the Old Testament, according to the NIV Study Bible.  It also notes that the verb 'created' is used three times in this verse, as if to emphasize that this creation of mankind is the central divine act of the sixth day.  Although it is written at the beginning of this post, I think I will will repeat it here:

"So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them."

Genesis 1:27 (NIV)  

A beautiful Psalm which celebrates God's creation -- and mankind's role in it -- is Psalm 8.  Part of it reads:

"When I consider the heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

the son of man that you care for him?

 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands;

you put everything under his feet:

all flocks and herds,

and the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air,

and the fish of the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

Psalm 8:3-9 (NIV)

Genesis 1:24-25 Day Six: God creates land creatures

"And God said,

'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds:

livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals,

each according to its kind.

And it was so.

God made the wild animals according to their kinds,

the livestock according to their kinds,

and all the creatures which move along the ground according to their kinds.

And God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:24-25 (NIV)
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On the sixth day, God created the land creatures and mankind.  These verses in Genesis 1:24-25 first deal with the land creatures.  It seems that there are several distinct categories of land creatures:  livestock, wild animals, and a catch-all category of other 'creatures that move along the ground'.

Again there is quite an emphasis upon each category of animal being made "according to their kinds."  There is no mention of one type evolving from another.  Instead, this emphasis of the various kinds of animals seems to point toward an Artist carefully creating all of the creatures which He formed to live in the garden of Eden.

 

In fact if God did make a place for these creatures, and these various types were all present in the Garden of Eden, that would rule out a gradual evolution over millions of years.  Soon we will read of Adam naming these animals, and thus these various types of land animals would have to be contemporaries, and not steps in a process.

I know that all this will sound like nonsense to you if you do not believe in the Bible as the Word of God, infallible and inerrant.  I will get to that matter soon, those reasons why I believe that the Bible is true and trustworthy.  It is important, and I do not mind that you need to take your time and examine this matter carefully.  Spoiler alert:  There are good reasons to believe it is true.

Of course, the fact that God saw that all that He had created as 'good' is repeated.