Genesis 3:1-5

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1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 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 3:1-5

Today, we transition into Genesis 3. In Genesis 1-2 the focus was on God's creation. In Genesis 3-11 we will learn of man's degeneration. In order for the fall of Genesis 3 to make sense, we need to understand from what we fell. We better understand the horrors of sin when we understand the beauty of God's creation which is a reflection of His person. 

The degeneration of man was caused by the serpent whom we have not been introduced to quite yet. He seemingly appeared suddenly from out of nowhere; up to this point in history there was not even a hint to his existence. But, those who know their Bible know who he is and from where he came. According to Revelation 12, we find that he is none other than the dragon who was cast out of heaven. He was cast out of heaven because pride was found in him. And, when he was cast out of heaven by God, he convinced a third of his angel friends to follow him. This is where demons came from; demons are fallen angels.

In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'"

When we ignore the teachings of Genesis 1-3 the story of humanity becomes impossible to understand and to explain. The serpent or the devil as he is called in Revelation 12, we are told, was more cunning than any beast of the field. That means the devil or Satan is most crafty at convincing others to believe that God is not good. This is why the devil entered into that snake in the Garden because the snake was already known to be crafty. As is made clear throughout the Bible, the devil always comes in a crafty disguise. He never appears announcing that he is the evil one. If he came that way, everyone would reject him. No, he always appears in disguise as he does here, as an angel of light, appearing not to be bad but good and trustworthy.

The first words from the devil was a question that misguided Eve. The serpent tempted Eve to doubt God's goodness by misquoting God. As a result, he made sin enticing and at the root of all sin is his idea that God is not good. To Eve, he said, "Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" But that was not at all what God said. What God said was, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat." The word "freely" gets at the root cause of sin which is to try to make a life for oneself apart from God. This is always a losing proposition.

The first couple were naked before each other. The need for clothing never crossed their minds. They suffered not from an inward pull of selfishness or shame. Before they rebelled against God, they had an outward look on life. They did not possess an inward look on life before they chose to disregard the word of the LORD. When Adam and Eve broke God’s command, a cancerous corruption filled their hearts and instantly spread throughout the whole world. This is why everything and everyone we know, including ourselves, is dysfunctional, hurting, and broken. Original sin explains why we pursue self-destructive behavior even though God has placed eternity within our souls.

In v.2-3 of today's passage we read, "2 And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'"

The devil was so good at deception that he led Eve to misquote God. God had not said, "nor shall you touch it." In addition, it was the tree of life, according to Genesis 2 that was in the middle of the garden not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan always uses the same tactic when he tries to get us to think that God is more strict than He really is. Also, Satan will always tempt us to seek out the lust of our hearts. The problem here is that we entertain lust which is not a skill we want to give safe haven to in our souls. 

In v.4-5 of today's passage we read, "4 Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. 5 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.'"

These words of the devil were a bald faced lie and they brought the integrity of the Lord into question and was a direct challenge to His authority. The serpent denied that there is any danger in disobeying God. In fact, he denied that Adam and Eve would die. So, the first doctrine to come under attack by Satan was the doctrine of divine judgment. He knows that if he can get us to believe that there’s no judgment, then we’ll live however we want. No judgment means that we don’t have to live with reference to God. But, if there’s a judgment, then everything changes. The reality of judgment reveals our need for a Savior, for someone to take our place because we know that we don’t have what it takes to survive God’s judgment. I find it instructive that in Genesis 1-2 God spoke and the result was life and order. In Genesis 3 Satan speaks and the result was death and chaos. 

The devil also said something that was true when he said, "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." The problem with this was Adam and Eve had not been told this by God yet. The devil made it sound like it was therefore something God held back for His own purposes. This appeal from the devil was an invitation to Eve to be worshipped and served. By his cunning craftiness, the devil undermined God's word by misquoting Him and therefore causing Eve to doubt God. The devil has always called God’s word and His goodness into question and sadly most people believe his lies.

Finally, you will remember that back in Genesis 2 there was an emphasis on the name of the LORD God. Over and over we read, "LORD God." The word LORD puts the emphasis on God's sovereignty and this gets to the heart of the waywardness of sin. The devil readily refers to God as Elohim which is a more generic word for God. He will not use the word LORD, because he somewhere along the way made the decision to be his own God. This is his tactic with us. He does not try to get us to follow him directly. No, he gets us to follow him indirectly by getting us to follow ourselves. This is why he sought to overthrow God's sovereignty in his rebellion. It is the sovereignty of God that got him thrown out of heaven, along with the rest of his fallen angels. We must always be most wary of anyone who values us more than God.

Genesis 2:24-25

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24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. ~ Genesis 2:24-25

Today, we conclude our study of Genesis 2 where God has completed His work of creation by forming the first family now that He has brought Eve to Adam. The foundation to any good and operative society is found in the solidity of the nuclear family. The solidity of such is measured by the walk of each family member with the Lord. A family that is godly is a family that is defined by God. Largely, as the marriage goes, so goes the family, and, as the family goes so goes society.

In v.24 of today's passage we read, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."

The first verse of today's passage sets the stage for the bonds of marriage which have followed man down throughout the ages. The word "joined" means "stick together like glue." This word is also used to describe the Old Testament woman Ruth the Moabitess who joined herself to her mother-in-law, refusing to leave her after the death of her husband, Mahlon. 

When we read, "a man shall be joined to his wife," it is the man who is responsible to join his wife like glue. God has given the husband the responsibility to hold tightly to his wife. And if he demonstrates the kind of loving power reflected in this verse, she will naturally want to be held by him. The relationship must begin by severing one relationship so as to solidify another relationship.

The idea behind marriage is permanence. The idea is two people come together and make a commitment and a determination to be together permanently is at its root. It could be translated welded together or bound inextricably together. God's idea of a marriage relationship is that it is an ongoing, permanent bond resulting in the weaving of the two into one. This is much more than physical, however when a man and woman come together physically, it is a physical expression of the spiritual and soul oneness that should be happening. The phrase, "they shall become one flesh," indicates that this is a two-way union where both partners work at achieving oneness with the other. The best way oneness is achieved is through selflessness. The Hebrew word for "joined" indicates that the responsibility is on the husband. 

When God breathed life into man, there was the intimate connection of God to man. That was lost through sin, but when God regenerated us with His Holy Spirit, that intimate connection was reestablished. It is the same with man and woman. A connection is lost between the two and a void exists until the two are joined in marriage. What man lost in the rib, he regains in the wife. 

In v.25 of today's passage we read, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

When God created man and woman, they were naked and there was no shame. God created them in a state of beauty and perfection and there was nothing to cause them to hide from either God or each other. Nakedness implies more than just the possibility of shame though. It also implies that there was nothing that could harm them. The temperature would have been perfect, none of the animals were a threat. They were naked, secure, and they were also unashamed.

Nakedness and not being ashamed is the product of true intimacy. Adam and Eve trusted because they were naked and not ashamed. And it's more than just physical; there was a psychological vulnerability, a trust, where they could completely be themselves and hide nothing and there was no fear of reprisal. The disease of self had not yet raised its ugly head. As a result, they enjoyed that intimacy until sin enters the relationship and then they sought to hide from one another and from God. Adam and Eve weren’t ashamed because evil had not invaded their space; they didn’t even know any evil. They didn’t know that sexual desire could be perverted and twisted. They didn't know that it could be used for wicked purposes. They didn’t have any wicked thoughts running around in their imaginations. They had no capacity to feel shame, because they didn’t know evil existed.

Before sin entered the realm of the Garden, Adam and Eve had nothing to hide. That all changed when sin gave birth to shame which is produced by the consciousness of selfishness. We feel shame in our lives as sinners because we have evil thoughts caused by selfishness. Before their evil selves were awakened, there was an unmatched beauty in the shameless wonder of that original marriage. And Adam and Eve enjoyed to the fullest their shameless oneness. God had given them the perfect environment, and, they experienced perfect love and trust. 

Recently, I heard an atheist ask how could God create a world where children get bone cancer. God did not create a world like that. Evil has no existence of its own; it is really the absence of good. Evil is like darkness which really does not exist; it is the absence of light. Evil is the absence of good. Evil is the absence of God. God did not create evil, He allowed the possibility of evil. Free will is what made evil possible. And love cannot exist in an environment where there is no free will. 

I close this study with a quote from C.S. Lewis, "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened."

Genesis 2:21-23

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"21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'" ~ Genesis 2:21-23

Today, we return to our study of Genesis 2 where God has created all things and pronounced them good, and He has created man and pronounced him very good. This concept of good has been quite prominent thus far in the creation story. The first time God said it was not good was when it became evident that man was alone. So, in order to address this issue, God decided to create Eve, the companion of Adam.

In v.21 of today's passage we read, "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place."

God is the original anesthesiologist and surgeon who caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, so that He could make Eve from Adam. This is the first of seven occurrences of the phrase "deep sleep" in the Old Testament. In each case it refers to a special state induced by the Lord Himself in order to convey an important revelation to, or through, the person experiencing it. 

Interestingly, the pioneer of anesthesia, Sir James Young Simpson, was inspired by God's actions in Genesis 2. Simpson took seriously God's Word, and he discovered that the chemical compound chloroform would put people to sleep and prevent them from feeling pain. He then used chloroform to help women in childbirth beginning in the mid 1800s AD. I find it most instructive that when asked of his greatest discovery, Simpson responded that his greatest discovery was that he had a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We are not sure if Adam and Eve would have felt any kind of pain while in the Garden of Eden, but even if they didn't, it would probably have been a horrifying experience had Adam watched the operation performed upon him by God. So, it makes sense that God would put him into a "deep sleep" first before performing the procedure.

Throughout the Scriptures, when God put anyone into "deep sleep" which happened seven times in the Old Testament, a new relationship was initiated. While Adam slept, God created a new relationship for him with Eve. In like manner, according to Genesis 15:12, when God initiated a new relationship with Abraham, He put him into a divinely induced, "deep sleep." According to Genesis 28:11, the same thing happened to Jacob when God initiated a new relationship with him.

Earlier, in God's making of Adam, God used the "dust of the ground" to form his body and "He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." But, in the making of Eve, God did not go back to the dust; He used one of Adam’s ribs to form and fashion her. It is significant that God made Eve from Adam because earlier God had paraded the animals before Adam knowing Adam would not find a helper suitable for him. Unlike Adam's naming of the animals, the name Adam chose for Eve shows she was of his very nature. The animals were not of his very nature. And that is why God took them out of the ground and took Eve out of Adam. 

In v.22 of today's passage we read, "Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man."

The word "rib" are used about thirty-five times in the Old Testament. This is the only time it is ever translate rib. Thirty-four times it’s not translated rib. Twenty of those thirty-five times its translated "side." God literally put Adam to sleep and then slit open his side and took tissue from Adam to show that Adam and Eve were of the same substance. Interestingly, our ribs have amazing regenerative powers. Portions of rib bone and cartilage removed in bone graft surgery will regrow in a few months’ time, as long as the rib perichondrium is left intact. This means that Adam’s loss of a rib was only temporary; he did not have to go through the rest of his life with an incomplete skeletal system.

When God brought Eve to Adam, they were united in marriage: the "woman" in v.22 is called Adam’s "wife" in v.24. The pattern for marriage, the first social institution, was thus established by God in Eden. The manner of Eve’s creation is "why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh." The unity of a married couple and the "one flesh" principle are based on the fact that God used one of Adam’s ribs to make the woman. A successful marriage is not merely that two people live together compatibly. It involves a third Person. It is most difficult to develop a satisfying love relationship apart from God because love is an exotic, something which comes from outside of us, produced by the activity of God in our lives. We are best positioned to develop an adequate love relationship with our partner when we are cultivating our love relationship with Jesus Christ. 

In v.23 of today's passage we read, "And Adam said: 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'"

The woman was made from the man and she was made for the man. God created man and woman and determined every detail that would perfectly fill every void in each other. What one lacked, the other filled. Every need finds its fulfillment. This was a marriage where the blending of their two psyches merged. It is for this reason that divorce is such a terrible thing, especially after years of marriage. Divorce is literally the tearing apart of a person. It is the dividing up of a single life, much as you would take an ax and split a body in two. No wonder it is so terribly painful. 

God's institution of the home is the most important human institution. It is significant that cultures of all times and sorts have acknowledged the superiority of monogamy, even though they have not always practiced it. Such an awareness could not be a product of evolution, since it does not characterize most animals, and thus can only be explained in terms of God's creation and revelation. 

Furthermore, the fact that the very first wedding took place at the very "beginning of creation," rather than billions of years after the beginning, was confirmed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself  in Mark 10:6-9 which reads, "6 But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.' 7 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.'"

The one word above all that makes marriage successful is the word "ours." When God brought Eve to Adam, he had a new pronoun, the word "us." Magnifying Adam's understanding of this is revealed in his words: "Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." Thus, as the New Testament so wisely points out, the man who hurts his wife hurts himself. He may not feel it directly, but down the line the result of it will show in his life, because she shares one life with him. They had become one flesh. More on this magnificent concept of oneness in tomorrow's study.

Genesis 2:18-20

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18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. ~ Genesis 2:18-20

Today, we continue our study of Genesis 2 where God has spoken everything into existence and He has now created a pristine environment for the first man, Adam. In the Garden of Eden, God provided for Adam all that he would ever need.

In v.18 of today's passage we read, "And the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.'"

Again, in this verse God "said." This small, seemingly insignificant word highlights the fact that the word of God is far more important to us than we realize. There is a power to the word of God that most know nothing of. In Proverbs 30:5 we read, "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him." The word of God imparts wisdom to the hungry soul. Wisdom is the ability to look at life and its difficulties from God's point of view. As we learn more of the Word of God and begin to get a grasp of its practical principles, we will also gain the ability to look at life from a heavenly and eternal viewpoint. When the word of God dwells within us richly, we will see the world through the eyes of someone who is infinitely wise, entirely good, and whose agenda includes the well-being of all people. Consequently, we will begin to see our circumstances as opportunities He has designed to train us according to His culture. 

If there were no other reason to disbelieve in the theory of evolution, the creation of women would be enough. No amount of random chance, no amount of adapting and changing, nothing in the evolutionary equation could ever be able to produce the genius of God as seen in the woman. Only an infinitely intelligent mind could give man such a wonderful gift. Only God could have created a woman and He did it from Adam's rib.

God created woman for man. The two fit together much better than one does all alone. In Genesis 1, we read at the end of the sixth day that "God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day." But, in today's passage God concluded it was "not good" that Adam was alone on the sixth day. This underscores the literal interpretation of the six day creation narrative. God had to have created everything in six literal days because of the precise nature of the narrative.

God interjected the first negative in the story of His creation when He said, "It is not good for man to be alone." Up to this point in the creation story, everything had been pronounced "good" and on the sixth day of creation God said that everything He had done was "very good." But now we read that it was "not good for man to be alone," indicating that it never was God's intention for man to be alone. From the very beginning God intended to make two genders in the making of man, especially in light of the fact that this was the case in the rest of His creation.

Toxic to the human condition is loneliness which is now reckoned to be the single greatest cause of suicide, and it is undoubtedly the most widespread source of human misery in the world today. Yet, it is a perfectly human experience. Each of us has felt at times the need for human companionship. There is nothing wrong with that; God made us that way. Loneliness is not a product of the Fall. We need one another. We were not made to exist in loneliness.

The phrase "I will make him a helper comparable to him" literally means the woman was prepared by God to share man’s responsibilities, respond to him with love and understanding, as he should to her. The man and woman were meant to work together. As a result much oneness and intimacy is created when a man and woman work on tasks together. The blending of the three loves, companionship love, commitment love and physical love produces the intimacy each couple desires. Intimacy with our spouse really is about who we are together, not simply what we do. In the context of everyday life, we are offered opportunities to develop trust between us and this is a large piece wherein our intimacy grows.

In v.19 of today's passage we read, "Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name."

It was out of the ground that the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air. God created the woman from Adam. Then God gave to Adam the task of studying the animals. He gave him a project to work out before he was ready for marriage. Doubtless it was in order to show him that his wife was to be quite different than the animals. Many men have not learned this yet, but it is clear that this was the intent of God in setting man upon this research.

Adam could not possibly have given names to the animals without knowing the character of each, because a name always reflects a characteristic. In the giving of a name to each of the animals Adam had to understand, whether by a revelation from God or by searching and examining on his own, something of the character of each animal. As a result Adam learned that woman was not to be like an animal as so often she has become in the history of mankind. There are societies where women are treated exactly like animals, where the price of a woman is approximately the price of a cow, and where women are sometimes traded for cows. But this is a violation of what Adam learned in the beginning, that woman is not like the animals. She is precious having been taken from so near to Adam's heart.

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him."

Very quickly Adam learned that the wife was to be a helper fit for him, corresponding to him. The philosophy of the pornography industry reflects the idea that women are nothing more than something to be used. God's way is to use things and to love people. A wife is not to be treated as some mere disposable thing. It is very instructive that the word "helper" in this passage is the same word God used to describe Himself in Psalm 46:1 which reads, "The Lord is our refuge and our strength, a present help in times of trouble." The very same exact Hebrew word used there for God is used for the wife here in today's passage.

Marriage is a pre-fall institution and our definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman comes from the very beginning of God’s created order. The marriage relationship is rooted in our understanding of how and who God created us to be. God created us with the need for relationship and this is a reflection of His image and character. God Himself exists in relationship; it is clear even in the biblical names used to describe God: God the "Father," and God the "Son." The whole idea of the Trinity is an idea of relationship, of "one God eternally existing in three persons," of needing one another, and yet being equal with one another. Our very understanding of God is an understanding of relationship, and we reflect that in how we were created in God’s image.

Genesis 2:15-17

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15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 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." ~ Genesis 2:15-17

Today, we return to our study of Genesis 2 where God has provided for Adam who is His highest and most complex creation in every way possible. But for the deception of the enemy, as we will see in Genesis 3, there was no way man would rebel against God because God had provided everything Adam could have wanted in the Garden of Eden.

In v.15 of today's passage we read, "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it."

In this verse work is being proposed for the Garden of Eden, but when we consider the purpose of the Garden at that point, this makes no sense. Earlier, in v.5, we read that man was to "till the ground." However, this was before God planted the Garden of Eden. Man was formed outside of Eden and then placed there. In fact, Adam was  originally "put" into the Garden where he could "rest" and enjoy "God’s presence." Originally, the Garden of Eden was meant to be a place where Adam would have intimate fellowship with God.

The word translated "put" here in today's passage is a completely different word than what was used earlier in v.8. This word gives us the idea that God caused Adam to rest in the garden. If that was so, and it was, then why would man need to tend and keep the garden? And, to add to our difficulty understanding this, the word "garden" is written in the masculine in the Hebrew, eliminating the garden from being the object of the verbs. The only conclusion that we can make is that the verbs should be taken as abstract in meaning and that the significance of man resting in the garden was to provide a setting for the story to demonstrate man’s relationship and responsibility to God.

With this abstract meaning in mind, we instead should translate the words "tend and keep" as "worship and serve," as both of these words are translated elsewhere in the Bible. This just highlights the fact that man can not in any way supply for our needs on our own. From the very beginning, man, like all of the rest of creation, needed God desperately. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the One who supplies our every need. It wasn’t the garden to which Adam was responsible. No! Adam was and man is responsible to worship and to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. In the way, God didn't create man to meet some need He had in Himself. God created man to worship and to enjoy God forever. Real freedom is when we are operated according to the specs with which God made us.

In v.16-17 of today's passage we read, "16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 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.'"

This verse contains the very first words that God spoke directly to man. The word "may" clearly indicates that Adam had the ability to choose right from wrong. This is why God created multiple trees in the garden and they were graciously granted by God for Adam's benefit. Adam was given the freedom to choose to partake of any of those trees except one. 

The words "shall not" clearly indicates God's desire for Adam to not choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was given free will and his free will was given and exercised in a state of innocence. If he hadn’t yet eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil then Adam would not have had the knowledge of evil. Adam's free will was the product of his ability to love or to not love. He had never died and he had never experienced death around him. When he was told that death would result from disobedience, Adam had no way of understanding the implications of his decision to ignore God's instructions. 

Many say of the Bible that it is just a book of do’s and don’ts. I beg to disagree. It is really a book of choices. The do’s and the don’ts are involved in many of those choices, but in this context the choices are set out for our good. If there is a "do," it is there to keep us following the right path. If there is a "don’t," it is there to keep us from getting onto the wrong path. God's do’s and don’ts are the expressions of His love and wisdom. When we operate according to His word and are defined by Him, we will have demonstrated that we have acquired God's wisdom. 

As you already know, Adam didn't choose wisely. As a result he was graciously cast out of the Garden of Eden after he chose to rebel against God. If he had accessed the Tree of Life, well, Adam would have been unredeemable because in his state of sin he would have been galvanized in his sinfulness. After this account in Genesis 2, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil disappears from Scripture. We do not find it specifically mentioned after Genesis 3, largely because its effects have become commonplace. But the tree of life reappears again in the book of the Revelation. In the Garden, there was one command in the negative and that command was based on faith. In Christ there is one request and it is in the positive. And it, likewise, is based on faith. That request says to us today, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Genesis 2:10-14

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10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. ~ Genesis 2:10-14

Today, we return to our study of the book of Genesis. The theme of the Water of Life begins here in the book of Genesis and goes all the way through the book of Revelation. You will remember that Eden means "delight." In today's passage is mentioned areas that were named before the Flood occurred. All who lived before the Flood knew these areas. They no longer exist as they did before the Flood, but at one point they did and they were known throughout the inhabited world at that time. The rivers names are Pishon, meaning "increase" or "to spring up;" Gihon, meaning "bursting forth;" Hiddekel, meaning "rapid or purpose;" and Perath, meaning "fruitfulness."

The proof that this account is no myth is that two of the rivers mentioned can still be identified. We have certain geographical landmarks given to us. Remember this account describes something that existed before the Flood had undoubtedly widely changed the surface of the earth. Yet, certain of these rivers can be identified. The Hiddekel River is the Tigris today. And the last river was the Euphrates, of course, still bears the same name. The other two rivers are perhaps identical with certain streams which still flow.

In v.10-12 of today's passage we read, "10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there."

Coming out of the Garden of Eden was a river that watered the garden. The first river that flowed out of the garden was full-flowing, and it makes sense that God wants us to experience a full-flow of His Presence and power in our lives. Once it left the garden it split into 4 branches. Here we have the mention of the first of these four rivers that flowed out of Eden and it was named by God the Pishon River. This river’s name means "to spring up." As was the case with all four rivers, the Pishon River came from one source. Combined with the other three rivers, together they wound their way around the world speaking to all of the God who made them. 

Sadly, many today dismiss the Garden of Eden as a legend or a myth, thinking they are not a real historical account. Nevertheless, today's account itself is highly detailed, giving the sense of a historical narrative, not a myth or legend. Moreover, we do have geographical evidence, as two of the four rivers identified are still in existence today. 

In v.13 of today's passage we read, "The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush."

The second mentioned river was the Gihon River. This river’s name is based on a verb meaning "to burst forth." The previously mentioned land of Havilah is unknown regarding its whereabouts, but it is mentioned four more times in the book of Genesis. As mentioned previously, Havilah had gold and precious stones. The land of Cush may refer to a region of modern-day Ethiopia, so that this river would have gone further to the west. One goes to the south and one goes toward the west, and the Gihon flows west of the Mesopotamian Valley toward modern Ethiopia.

If there had only been one full-flowing river coming out of the garden, we might have concluded that all God was concerned about was us experiencing fullness on a personal level.  However, if we move beyond "fullness" and are "bursting forth," then the nature and character of God coming out of us is bound to influence and impact others as well.

In John 4:14 we read, "Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst, not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."

It would seem that the message of the Gihon, bursting forth or gushing is that God doesn’t want us merely living lives of survival or of just success, but to move beyond that and truly live lives of significance, not merely focusing on what we need or want for ourselves, but on what we can contribute to others.

In v.14 of today's passage we read, "The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates."

The name of the third river was Hiddekel which meant "swift" or "darting." The idea it gives is that of purpose. For the believer in Christ we get our purpose from being defined by God Himself. Hiddekel was the name some Assyrian monuments had given to the Tigris River which flowed east of Assyria. The two other rivers went south and southwest. Of course the Mediterranean Sea went to the west. And, then there was the Euphrates River. Euphrates means "sweet" or "fruitful." Metaphorically, when we have the first three rivers flowing in our lives with fullness, overflow, and purpose, the result is us experiencing His sweetness and fruitfulness for ourselves.

The Garden of Eden was a massive garden that God provided for man in His original creation. It had rivers flowing out of it. God had been gracious and kind to Adam. This gave Adam no reason to rebel against God but he did. Adam rebelled because he has the freedom to choose God or to choose his way. And, out of that choice, as we know, Adam chose very unwisely. Adam's unwise choice has rendered the chaos, distrust and violence that we see throughout our world today. 

Thank God that the Lord Jesus made the way to reverse these evil effects in our lives for eternity by going to the cross and bearing the payment for our sin which had separated us from God. I trust you have invited Him into your life. These four rivers remind believers in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are God’s garden today, and the message in the names of those original four rivers communicate what God wants operative in our lives today. God wants us to know Him intimately and to go forth and to bear His fruit before a lost and dying world!

Genesis 2:8-9

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8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ~ Genesis 2:8-9

Today, we return to our study of Genesis where we have learned of God's creation of the heavens, the oceans, the land, the animals, and man. And, after God created everything, He rested. His was a rest of completion, not a rest of exhaustion because God never gets weary. The Sabbath was given by God to Israel, according to Exodus 31 to remind them that they were His special people. It also is a symbol of the eternal rest that the believer in Christ has with Him for eternity.

In v.8 of today's passage we read, "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed."

After creating man, God planted a garden eastward in Eden. Eden means "delight" or "pleasure." Eden was, if man obeyed God, to be a place not for work, but for a different purpose. This garden was something special and something intended for the man God had formed in His image. The Garden of Eden was the perfect environment, yet, man still rebelled against God because he had a choice. Later, on toward the end of time, we read in the book of the Revelation, for a thousand years Satan will be bound. So, during the Millennium the devil will not be present. And, after the thousand years is up, Satan will be released from the Abyss and a huge rebellion will take place. This will happen after the Millennium, after a thousand years of a perfect environment on earth. The Millennium will be another Eden for a thousand years; it will be a perfect paradise. But mankind will sin yet again rebel against God because man is depraved by his sin. The problem is the evil within the heart of man. It is not the environment that makes us do what we do, it is the wickedness that man invited into his heart so long ago that makes us so rebellious.

Human history involves three gardens: the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Garden in heaven where God will take all of His children to live in eternal bliss. Interestingly, in the Garden of Eden man sinned, and in the Garden of Gethsemane the Lord Jesus paid the penalty that was created by that sin on His cross. Believing on the Lord Jesus will yield eternal bliss for the believer in the heavenly Garden.

The indication here was that these two trees were in the middle of the garden. The trees were there as a test. It wasn’t that there was anything in the forbidden tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that was toxic; that tree in particular was just a test. When Adam ate of that tree it was an act of disobedience which separated him from God.

Interestingly, the ground in the Garden of Eden needed to be tilled. The ground was outside of the Garden of Eden, not in it. And, God knew well before the fall that man would fall. And so the garden, despite being made as a place where God would fellowship with man, didn’t fill the entire earth. Instead, the Garden was a localized place of grace and of abundance. It was, as God knew from the beginning, a temporary place for Adam to dwell. This isn’t readily apparent though. In this verse, it was there in the Garden of Eden that God "put" Adam.

For Adam, appreciating the Garden meant he would need to leave the Garden. This is how we learn to appreciate anything, by contrast. If there is no contrast, then we have no ability to appreciate our current state. God knew that man would start in the Garden and then be removed from that Garden because of our interaction with, believe it or not, a tree. But God’s plan is that we are to be restored to the Garden because of our interaction with another tree. The plan is so intricately woven and presented in the Bible that it’s almost beyond imagination. Everything fits so beautifully.

In v.9 of today's passage we read, "And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

There were many trees in the Garden of Eden and God accentuated two trees there; the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And of these two trees, the fruit of only one is forbidden. More than a little was tied up in those two trees. Choices were tied up in them, conditions were tied up in them, blessings and curses were tied up in them, life and death were tied up in them, the law and grace were tied up in them.

Although Adam was told to not eat of this tree, the choice was still his to make. God placed the tree in the Garden when he could have simply not have placed it there at all. By placing it there, it was possible for Adam to eat it even though he was told not to. The choice had to be there in order for love to be a reality. Obedience is always a test of our priorities and our allegiances.

Sadly, as the story unfolded Adam chose foolishly and he knew evil experientially. Before he ate of the forbidden tree, Adam was like a little innocent child because he knew nothing about evil. But the day he ate, he lost the innocence, and he was shackled by the enemy himself.

Before he sinned, Adam knew God as the generous God who loaded this little planet with so much wealth, wonder and beauty, and He gave man, made it His image, the creativity to do and make some incredible things. It was all there for Adam to enjoy. God had furnished him a garden, and in it was everything he ever needed. But man ignored God and he chose not to be dependent on God. Man wasn’t content with the life that God had given him. So he rebelled and God had no choice but to banish man from the Garden and all of man's progeny was hurled into chaos and a world of death. Sadly, it didn't have to be this way.

Genesis 2:4-7

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4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. ~ Genesis 2:4-7

Today, we continue our study of Genesis 2 which highlights the fact that God is complete in and of Himself. He lacks nothing and therefore anything that He has created is a demonstration of His own goodness and reflects His infinite worth.

In v.4-6 of today's passage we read, "4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground."

The words "This is the history of the heavens and the earth" is a phrase used eleven times in the book of Genesis. It is always followed by an account of what had happened before. Today's passage is the beginning of what is described regarding what happened to the world that God created. So, Genesis 2 is not a second creation account, but rather is an expansion of what we have already been told in Genesis 1. In Genesis 2, Moses tells us how man was created. This is important because it provides the background which helps us to see the magnitude of man's rebellion against God. In order to understand the fall in Genesis 3, we need to understand what we fell from. Sin will only make sense within a worldview of a good, omnipotent God who created us in His image to know Him personally.

Here, we have for the first time another name of God that appears in so much of the rest of the Bible. The name translated "Lord" is the Hebrew name YHWH. In Genesis 1 we were introduced to Elohim which is God's name for His transcendence and power over creation. In relationship to being the Creator, He is Elohim, the Mighty God. 

Sometimes the word Elohim is shortened to El and used as part of a longer name. El Shaddai, for example, means "God Almighty." El Elyon means "God Most High." When the Lord Jesus cried out from the cross, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani," He addressed the Father with a form of Elohim, Eloi which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

In addition to Elohim, God introduced His other name YHWH. In His relationship to history, especially history of His people, the Covenant people, He uses the Covenant name Yahweh. When Moses was commissioned by God to go to the children of Israel, Moses asked God, "Who I am I going to say sent me?" God responded by saying: "Tell them that I AM has sent you to them for this is My name forever and a memorial to all generations."

The name Yahweh underscores the fact that God is the self-existent One. He doesn't depend on anybody else for life. He is the only non-contingent being in the universe. Everything else is dependent or contingent upon Him. Yahweh the uncaused cause speaks to His eternal nature, not I WAS THAT I WAS but I AM THAT I AM. The name YHWH underscores the fact that He is always faithful, He's always available. All of the characteristics that embody Him are part of His eternal nature. 

In v.6 we see that before the Fall of man, the springs of the earth watered the earth. This means the whole world of plants and trees did not receive water from above; they received water from below. This means the ability of the Earth to produce flourishing plants and flourishing trees was not originally dependent upon rain, which sometimes comes and sometimes does not. Man would have continued to enjoy these conditions had he resisted the temptation to sin. But when he transgressed even the soil of the earth obtain its moisture from above.

In v.7 of today's passage we read, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."

Mankind bears God's image mentally, morally, and socially, but in this verse we learn that Adam consisted of both heaven and earth. Man was formed out of the dust and then the divine Creator breathed life into him. This doesn’t imply that he or we are in any way divine, but that the life of man came from God, not by random chance. The spark of life which quickened the clay jar was none other than the breath of the Creator. The man had become a living being. We are the final act of creation. We are the highest form of what has been made. And, we are fearfully and wonderfully sculpted.

God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing on the first day of creation. Five days later, on the sixth day, He created His final and most stupendous work of art , a masterpiece made out of the simplest and most common part of God's creation, dust. God took this "next to nothing" material, formed it and breathed His life into it. God didn’t use gold dust, He didn’t use silver dust, He didn’t even use zinc. And, to this day we are of the dust of the earth. We came from the dust and to the dust we shall return.

This verse tells us that God "formed us." The Hebrew word used here implies a careful and attentive shaping of man. This same word is used in the books of the prophets when describing a potter shaping a bowl from the clay. And so, the man became a living being. God shaped man into the form He determined and we are as He decided.

This God, Elohim YHWH, the One who created the heavens and the earth has also formed us out of the dust of the ground and He also has breathed into us His very breath. It is this same God who also forms new hearts and new eyes for everyone with a willing heart, a heart that is willing enough to take a chance on Him. He didn’t repair our old heart; No, He gave us a new heart; A new heart that is in spec with His and has the ability to see what is really real and is really fake. 

Genesis 2:1-3

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1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. ~ Genesis 2:1-3

Genesis 1 showed us the wide-angle lens view of God's creation, while Genesis 2 shows us the zoom lens view of God's creation. Genesis 1 showed us the scope of all of the days of creation, and all of the things God made from the luminaries in the sky, to the heavens, to the earth, and to every living being made by God. In Genesis 2 the lens zooms in on God's crowning creation: mankind.

In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done."

Once His work was finished, the LORD rested. In doing so, He set a pattern for man to observe a day of rest, as well. The principle of resting on one day after we have worked all week is wise, otherwise we will burn out physically. But, the seventh day Sabbath wasn’t only based on creation, it was also based on redemption. Throughout Israel's history the focus of the Sabbath was to be upon the One who would redeem Israel from their sin.

In Exodus 20:8-11 we read, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.  Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

This command is repeated in Deuteronomy 5 where the purpose of the Sabbath is actually different than in Exodus. The reason God gave this command in Exodus was based on the creation account. He said "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day." The second reason God gave the command in Deuteronomy was based on the consummation of redemption and the promise of entering into His rest. Moses said, "And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm."

Everything in the Old Testament is a picture of something greater to come to be revealed in the New Testament. In this case that something greater is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true Redeemer and He has provided the complete rest which could only come about with His fulfilling the Law given to the Israelites. The Law was given to Israel alone. Until the coming of Christ, the Sabbath was a sign, like circumcision, of the covenant law received at Mount Sinai and agreed upon by the people of Israel. Nine of the Ten Commandments found in the Old Testament are repeated in the New Testament. The only commandment not repeated in the New Testament of the ten is the fourth: to remember the Sabbath.

In Exodus 31:13 we read, "Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you."

Israel worked six days and rested on the seventh. This can be equated with the anticipation of rest which yet laid ahead for them. Christians following the pattern set in the New Testament, worship on the first day of the week and then work after that. Israel worked in order to rest, New Testament believers rest in order to work. The Sabbath was a sign between God and the Israelites as a part of the covenant law. According to Hebrews 7:18 and Hebrews 10:9, the law of Moses has been "set aside" by the work of Christ and the establishment of the New Covenant. What sinful man could not do in living out the law, the Lord Jesus did on our behalf. 

When the Lord Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished," that meant He paid the penalty you and I owed for our sin and He fulfilled the law that you and I could never uphold. After the Lord Jesus paid the penalty of our sin, He sat down at the right hand of God. In the tabernacle there were all kinds of furniture, there was an altar to burn sacrifices, there was a laver for washing, there was a table with bread that needed to be changed out at regular intervals, there was a lamp which needed to be filled with oil, and there was an incense altar that needed fresh incense. There were all kinds of things that needed to be done morning and evening, day in and day out, all year long. Underscored was the fact that the priest’s work was never finished. This explains why there was no chair in the tabernacle.

In Hebrews 12:2 we read, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

The Sabbath was a part of the Old Covenant, not the New. It was based on God’s work of creation and Christ's work of redemption. The Lord Jesus is our Redeemer; in and through Him we have been made a new creation. Both actions were directed to the cross. It is by faith and faith alone in what the God of the Bible has promised that brings believers into a state of rest, not the law. This is why the writer of Hebrews wrote, "For we who have believed have entered into His rest."

In v.3 of today's passage we read, "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

The fourth of the Ten Commandments is the only command that starts with the word "remember." The word Sabbath comes from a Hebrew word meaning "day of rest." On the Sabbath day no one was to do any work. God sanctified or set the seventh day apart because of all it represents. Essentially it points us to placing our faith in the Lord Jesus and being justified solely through our faith in His finished work on the cross. Christ’s first coming did not abolish the principle of rest; rather, it ushered in a deeper kind of rest than the Sabbath could ever offer. 

The day between the struggle of the cross and the solution through the resurrection, on that final Saturday on earth for the Lord Jesus, God was silent. It was a subtle reminder that we learn the value of sitting still, of being silent before Him and of trusting Him with our very lives. The Lord Jesus knew God would not leave him alone in the grave. We must know, God will not leave us alone with our struggles. His silence is not His absence.

Genesis 1:29-31

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29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. ~ Genesis 1:29-31 

Today, we close out our study of Genesis 1 which is of the world that God created as we know it. God created from the least complex to the most complex which should inspire us to do the same with our own works, ever improving on what we do. God created this world by the power of His Word, the very same power whereby He re-creates the sin trapped souls of those who come to an end of themselves and who cry out to Him for salvation.

In v.29-30 of today's passage we read, "And God said, 'See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food'; and it was so."

On the sixth day, God created all of the beasts of the earth and He created man, thus completing His creative effort. God did His work in 6 days to show us a good and proper cycle of living; taking one day a week off for rest and relaxation. And also, these six days are representative of a greater picture in redemptive History. God concluded His works on the sixth day and, as we will see, He rested on the seventh. 

Today's verses remind us of what was available for man to eat after God created him. The intended food for man included the grains of the fields, and the fruit of trees. So Adam and Eve first were vegetarian, they could eat every plant yielding seed on the surface of the earth, every tree yielding fruit with seed in it was food for them. Man and animals were all vegetarians at creation because there was no death on the earth; nothing died. God established this as the original fixed pattern. It was permanent at that time. The words, "it was so" indicates its permanence. Its permanence ended with the Fall of man. Interestingly, according to Isaiah 65:25 when the curse is removed, during the Millennium, all carnivores will eat plants again. 

In v.31 of today's passage we read, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

After earlier making His pronouncement about the food available for life on earth, God expanded on His previous descriptive statement of the first five days as, "It was good."  Here, He expanded it by saying, "It was very good."

The narrative here smacks in the face of the evolutional adige of, "The survival of the fittest." Before sin entered into this world it was that everything that God created including the food for the animals and man was "very good." This provides for us a peek into life with God at the helm. In Matthew 4:4, the Lord Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." When God provided bread as the basic food of man, bread made from the grains of earth, the seed-bearing plants and the fruits, He intended that such physical bread would be a picture of the bread desperately needed at the psychological and spiritual level of man as well. In fact, the whole of scripture teaches that the Lord Jesus is the end of all of our desires.

The "bread" is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ who said, "I am that bread of life, he that eats of me shall never hunger." Then in Matthew 6 the Lord Jesus said, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

In the same way that God provides for the birds and the animals and the flowers, He provides for the one who seeks Him for his daily needs. This is why the Lord Jesus went on to say, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. and all these things shall be added unto you." That's a great deal, especially when we consider that that which we trust the most will define us the most. As long as we keep our focus on trusting God for our daily needs, we will discover that we will never come in second as we seek Him first.

Genesis 1:24-28

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24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." ~ Genesis 1:24-28

Today, we continue our study of Genesis where God has created the infrastructure for all created living things to enjoy. Today, we consider day 6 of the six days of creation and it is Friday. Everything to this point had been created by God in anticipation of His final creation, the creation of man.

In v.24-25 of today's passage we read, "24 Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind'; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

Every animal that has ever roamed the face of this earth has a specific purpose and was designed in a specific way in anticipation of the coming man. God knew and knows every thing about every created being ever created, every thought they think, and every move they will make. In Psalm 139 we read, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it." After God created all of the animal kingdom, He said that it was good. Seven times in this chapter God said, after He made something, "It's good." 

In v.26-27 of today's passage we read, "26 Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

The creation of man was strikingly different from the creation of the animals. Animal life appeared much as plant life did, and as the fish and the birds appeared. The creation of the earth and the animal world is all described in very much the same language and their creation followed the same pattern. But, when God created man, a different note was struck. For example man was created by God only after God had held a divine consultation about man. God said, "Let Us make man in Our image."

God’s final part of the created order was man. Man is the most complex and sophisticated organism in the universe and even more, man bears God’s image. Mankind is like God in the sense that we have the ability to communicate attributes like God. In addition, we can reason, we are rational creatures. We have the ability to apply intellect and reason and research and come to conclusions. Logical thoughts attached to other thoughts. Animals can't do that. 

We are trichotomous beings. This means we are composed of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul prays that God would sanctify us completely, body, soul, and spirit until the coming of Jesus Christ. Not just body and soul; not just flesh and conscious life, but body, soul, and spirit. There is a clear difference between our spirit and our soul. When we were justified through Christ our spirit was made alive to God. And now that we know Him, we are experiencing change in our souls. This is sanctification.

The Hebrew word translated "God" throughout this chapter is Elohim which is a plural noun but singular in meaning. God referred to Himself in the plural when He said, "Let Us make man in Our image." This is the first time that it is revealed in the Bible that God is Trinity. These words were inter-Trinitarian communication. This is the Father and the Son and the Spirit convening together. "Let Us make man in Our image."  

The idea of the Trinity is one of those imponderables of Scripture. But, in an attempt to help us understand the Trinity, think of the fact that time can exist in three different dimensions. It can be yesterday, it can be today, and it can be tomorrow; it just depends on what reference we have. Another example is that of water which can exist in ice and in vapor and in fluid form. In like manner, the Bible teaches that there is one God existing in three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Note the words at the end of v.27: "Male and female He created them." Although this point ought to be obvious and unnecessary, it seems that in the confused world that we live in people can’t figure out even the obvious. God created man as man and God created women as women. In an attempt to deny this, modern thinking has taken almost everything to extremes never intended simply to deny the difference between the sexes. This is a ploy of the enemy.

In v.28 of today's passage we read, Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

God’s first command to man was that man would have children sufficient to fill the earth especially since mankind began with only two people. The function of subduing the earth and having dominion over it would necessarily require a long time for the growth of a large enough population to fill the earth, and for acquiring sufficient knowledge and skills to enable man to bring it under full control and development. God's command to subdue and exercise dominion over creation in no way implies hostility and resistance from the earth. Rather, it suggests intensive study, study of the earth and its creatures and then application of that knowledge for the optimum benefit of all affected for the glory of God.

We must also note that God gave to man no instruction to exercise dominion over other people, but only over the earth and the animals. Had man not rebelled against God’s Word, all would have remained in perfect fellowship with God and, therefore, with one another. But, when man followed the deceitful words of Lucifer, the perfection of the Garden of Eden was dramatically altered. This just underscores the fact that God always has our best interest at heart even though the circumstances may scream the opposite. It is the most resounding message of the Bible that if we trust the Lord and give Him enough time, He will direct our paths resulting in His best for us.

Genesis 1:20-23

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20 Then God said, "Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens." 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. ~ Genesis 1:20-23

Today, we consider day 5 in the six days of creation. In a little less than two days, the fifth and part of the sixth days of creation, which were Thursday and Friday of the first week, God created every type of animal that exists. And so, on that first Thursday ever, God created the wildlife in the waters, birds, and other winged creatures, and all of the life in the sea.

In v.20 of today's passage we read, "Then God said, 'Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.'"

During the first three days of creation, God created the infrastructure needed for this world to operate successfully. Then, during days four through six, God created the animals, the fish and man to inhabit the creation that He had made. We are told the Earth is 25,000 miles in circumference and weighs approximately 6,586 sextillion tons. It hangs in empty space. It spins at 1,000 miles an hour with perfect balance. At the same time that it’s spinning at 1,000 miles an hour, it is moving through space around the sun at 1,000 miles a minute in an orbit of 580 million miles. Mind blowing!

In v.20 here we have the first appearance in Scripture of a very remarkable and important word. We are told that God brought forth in the waters "an abundance of living creatures." Those two words "living creatures" is a translation of a single Hebrew word which means "soul." Here we have the first appearance of creatures with souls. Animals, as well as humans, have souls, and it is the soul that marks the major difference between animal and plant life. The mark of animal life, even marine life and bird life, is that they can think and feel and decide. The three functions of the soul are the mind, the will, and the emotions. What sets man apart from other created beings is that we have a spirit.

In v.21 of today's passage we read, "So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

For the second time in this entire chapter the word "created" appears. The first use was in the very first verse of the chapter. It is significant that again we have this particular word brought in, because with its usage, God did something different. There had been no animal life of any kind before, but now God created different than He did before. Whereas before He created everything out of nothing, here God created the animals out of something that He had made before. This is important to point out because according to the fossil records, the major divisions of animal life as we know them, except vertebrates, appear nearly simultaneously very early in the fossil records. And in those fossil remains the crustaceans, for example, are found to be fully developed crustaceans. Of course, this contradicts the teachings of the evolutionists. Just as God created Adam and Eve as adult, He created all of creations as adult.

In v.22-23 of today's passage we read, "22 And God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.' 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day." 

The fifth day of creation came to a close after God blessed and commanded the animals to multiply. This is the first time in the Bible that God commanded living beings to procreate. Animals are precious to God. In fact, when Job complained that God had mistreated him, God pointed him to creation to help Job understand His sovereignty and His goodness. Animals figured prominently in God's response to Job’s attempted indictment. In Job 38:39-41, God reminded Job that it is He who provided for the animals. According to Job 40, God also pointed out that he is more powerful than the feared Behemoth and Leviathan by the very fact that He is their Creator. While they may have been beyond Job’s reach, these creatures were never beyond God’s reach.

In response, Job acknowledged God’s sovereignty. In Job 42:6 we read, "I take back my words and repent in dust and ashes." The fact that God used examples from the animal world to convince Job of His sovereignty suggests strongly that this is part of God’s intended purpose for His creation of the animals. God has built wonder into animals, and by design, they point us all to the God of the Bible as the great and only sovereign. And, our response should be the same as Job's; respect, and honor and awe and wonder in the presence of our mighty God.

Genesis 1:16-19

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16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. ~ Genesis 1:16-19

Today, we come back to day 4 of creation where God has created the heavens, the land, the sea and also the stars. And now, as we will see in day 4 on the very first Wednesday, He will create the sun and the moon. In all of this we are yet again reminded of God's vastness. The vastness of the universes underscores His greatness and His sovereignty. This, once again, highlights the fact that we can trust Him with our very lives, totally.

In v.16 of today's passage we read, "Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also."

These two great lights are obviously the sun and the moon. God created these bearers of light and gave to them their tasks; it is the job of the sun to bring the light during the day. And, it is the task of the moon to deliver reflective light to the earth during the night. It is the moon that determines the month in the course of its movement through its somewhat odd orbit. The moon also generates the seasons, as does the sun. Because the earth is tilted on its axis, it causes the sun to be at varying distances from its surface at different points on the globe at different times of the year. This produces the seasons which are critical for the rejuvenation of life and the growing of crops and the flourishing of the earth. God designed the sun and the moon to function in determining seasons. God also designed the sun and the moon to serve in the matter of days. Right now, our 24 hour day is determined everyday by the cycle of both the sun and the moon from sunset to sunset. 

God determined that the earth would orbit around the sun and the orbit of the moon around the earth. A day then is determined by the earth’s rotation around its axis, and one 24-hour period is the time of the earth’s rotation. God determined that; it is impossible for that to be the product of time plus chance plus nothing. The sun also determines our years. God did this by establishing the fact that it would take one full year for the rotating earth, each rotation meaning a day to continue its orbit all the way around the sun. That’s a 365 day time period. So God created the sun and it rules in the sense that it dominates life on the earth.

The sun is the agency by which our time in light and dark is determined. The sun is the agency, along with the moon by which seasons are determined. The sun is the agency by which the calendar year is determined. Whereas, it is the rotation of the earth on its axis that determines the 24-hour day, specifically, it is the rotation of the moon’s orbit around the earth that determines the month. And it is the earth’s rotation around the sun that determines the year. This is why God said that the sun would rule the day and the moon the night.

In v.17-18 of today's passage we read, "17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good."

The word "rule" used here in this verse packs a punch. For example, the moon helps to create the daily rise and fall of water along our shorelines. Tides are caused by gravity. The closer two things are, the stronger the force of gravity between them, and the faster they accelerate toward one another. If the earth were sitting still in space, which it is not, due to gravity, it would immediately begin to fall toward the sun. But gravitational attraction depends on distance. Thus, the near side of the earth would be attracted to the sun more strongly than the far side. But the earth is solid. Even if one side wanted to accelerate toward the sun faster than the other, the whole mass would move as one and the earth would not stretch into an egg shape.

The oceans, however, are not solid. They are free to react to the sun’s gravitational pull. The ocean on the near side of the sun would literally fall toward the sun faster than the earth and the ocean on the far side would literally fall more slowly than the earth. It blows my mind to think of the sun suspended in mid air out there 93 million miles away. And the moon, faithfully companions the earth. The moon is just the right size and just the right distance to produce tides that gently flush our coastlands. If the tides were much stronger, the earth would experience twice-daily tsunamis that would rip apart and destroy any living thing even within great distances from the shore. If the tides were much smaller, bays and estuaries would be stagnant and inhospitable to life. The earth-moon system is unique in our solar system. It defies the possibility that it has arisen by chance. Thus, the presence of tides points to intelligent design, by a loving God, who gave us a wonderful place to live. All of God's creation was placed in the heavens and on the earth by an infinitely intelligent and loving Creator. And, He saw that it was good, because it all benefitted us.

In v.19 of today's passage we read, "So the evening and the morning were the fourth day."

Here we have the completion of the fourth day of creation. Genesis frames God's creation of all things using a poetic structure which follows a strict and consistent pattern, where God speaks, creates, observes, and blesses His work. This verse closes out the description of the fourth creative day, referencing the concept of "evening and morning" once again. God's creation of the sun, moon, and stars counters any belief that these are deities themselves. Many cultures, including ancient Egypt, worshipped the sun and moon as gods. Other religions, and modern astrology, believe that the position of these objects determines a person's fate. By making it clear that these are just pieces of God's creation, the book of Genesis dispels any claims that there is supernatural power in the heavenly bodies. Truly, the God of the Bible is the One true God and I trust you are in a personal relationship with Him.

If you are not in a personal relationship with God, let me encourage you to have a conversation with Him. Tell God that you agree with Him that you are a sinner who is in need of His help. Invite Him into your life. Trust His Son's sacrifice on the cross for the payment for your sin which separated you from Him. And, as the Scriptures say, "You shall be saved."