Genesis 2:4–25
Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture. Also look at Exodus 3:13–15, Job 12:7–11; 1 Cor.15:42–49; Ephesians 5:25–33; Colossians 1:15–20; Revelation 22:1-5.
1. It is largely understood that our passage is a second account of creation because of the difference in vocabulary, style, and order of events, plus the use of LORD God—Yahweh Elohim—in place of Elohim for God in the earlier account.
2. In addition, there is no day-by-day account of the order of creation, rather the author moves directly to the creation of the first human.
3. Before there was any vegetation, Yahweh Elohim formed ‘adham from mere dust of the earth. Thereupon the LORD God brought all manner of vegetation into being.
4. He created a paradise/garden and in the center of it was the “tree of life.” The LORD God also created the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” the location of which is uncertain.
5. The location of the garden or park is described by giving the names of four rivers, two of which are known, the Tigris and Euphrates; the other two are unknown, Pishon and Gihon. The Tigris and Euphrates, still with the same names, are found in modern day Iraq.
6. The LORD God put the man in the garden to work and keep it, produce food and guard it, and He warned the man not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
7. Created a social being, the single man had no other being to relate to, so God created the animals and the birds (no mention of fish) in order to find a “helper” for the man.
8. These did not satisfy so the LORD God put the man asleep and out of his side or rib, a being was created with whom the man could relate. And the man was indeed happy and thankful for this.
9. So then, ever after, the man, ish, would leave his parents and hold fast to his woman, ishshah. They would be considered “one flesh.”
10. These two, the man and woman, were naked yet were not ashamed; there was no guilt or shame attached to their sexuality. This would change, and radically so.