May 08, 2016

Genesis 2:4-25

Two Sundays ago we looked at God’s creation of man and His establishment of both the male and female genders. Then last Sunday we discussed not only why God created these gender differences, but the deeper significance of their unification through marriage. This morning we’re going to finish our time in Genesis 2 by looking at the world God formed for Adam and Eve as well as the parameters He then established for how man could maximize the enjoyment of this particular world.

As you go through chapter 2 you will notice that there are three things unique to this original world that God created and gave to both Adam and Eve (note: we’re still in the sixth day of creation)… A Mist, A Garden, and A River are all subjects of emphasis!

First… There was a mist! We’re told in vs. 5-6 that “before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown… the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.” 

It would appear in this pre-flood world and the conditions already established leading into the “third day” there were certain ecological systems that existed then that simply do not exist in the same way today. Instead of vegetative life receiving water through rain from the sky, we’re told they were watered by “a mist” that “went up from the earth.”

In Genesis 7:11 we’ll read that in Noah’s Flood “the fountains of the great deep were broken up” in addition to “the windows of heaven opening up.” Most scholars believe there existed under the surface of the earth a pressurized water system that released this “mist” through a geyser-like mechanism across the face of the earth.

Second… There was a garden! While God created vegetative life on the third day, after forming man from the dust of the earth, God then does something unique… Genesis 2:8-10, “The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 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. Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.”

Concerning this garden let’s start by looking at the How and What before getting into the Where and Why! Our passage is clear that “God planted a garden.” What makes this verse so fascinating is that, while in the creation narrative we’ve seen God “speaking” things into existence, “forming” man from the dust of the earth, and “making” the women from his side, the idea of God “planting” a garden is another first. This word “planted” establishes the idea of God intentionally going throughout the vegetative life He’d already created specifically picking and choosing certain plants in order to plant a “garden” unique to all the earth. 

And if that wasn’t special enough this word “garden” is equally enchanting. The word literally means “enclosed garden” and within Hebrew poetic literature is used to speak of the innocence and chastity of a virgin bride (note: six times in Song of Solomon). Here’s a provocative example: Song of Solomon 4:16, “The Shulamite (Bride of her Beloved): ‘Awake, O north wind, and come, O south! Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits.’”

Not only was this “garden” uniquely “planted” by God Himself, but the very nature of this protected and cherished place spoke of a beautiful innocence, purity, and intimacy.

The Where and Why are also significant. Notice “God planted a garden eastward in Eden” so that He could “put the man whom He had formed.” Note: It’s likely “Eden” was a larger geographic area with this “garden” being located somewhere in the east.

Within this special garden God “planted” for man all kinds of trees that we’re told were chosen based upon two very specific criteria: Genesis 2:9, “And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is (1) pleasant to the sight and (2) good for food.” We’re also told, “The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

What I love about this word “Eden” is that it literally means “pleasure.” God specifically “planted” a perfect “garden” for man uniquely filled with trees that were not only visually stimulating and majestic, but yielded fruit that was satisfying. Note: This phrase “good for food” doesn’t mean the fruit was adequate, but rather it was excellent!

Consider that in the place of pleasure (“Eden”) God “planted” or specifically picked out trees that would not only stimulate man, but would physically satisfy him as well. And if that weren’t enough God then split the man in order to make the woman so that with each others companionship they could enjoy this “garden” together!

Third… There was a river! After making man and the Garden of Eden for his enjoyment, in Genesis 2:10 we’re told God then created a single “river” to flow “out of Eden” (the place of pleasure) whose specific job it was to “water the garden” (the intimate enclosure where man would be pleased) before then splitting this “river” into “four riverheads” to cover the earth.

What’s interesting about this is that while the result of the “mist” and this “river” were the same, there distinction lies in what these two things were designed by God to water. This “mist watered the whole face of the ground” while the “river watered the garden.”

As we all know humanity needs two things for life: food and water… As it pertains to food in Genesis 1:29 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.”

While this “mist” watered their food it’s interesting that the specific job of this “river” was not to water the vegetative life in the garden, but to provide water for humanity. Adam and Eve were placed in this environment whereby God not only sustained their food through this “mist,” but one where a “river” perpetually flowed so that they’d never ever thirst! 

As God created man Spiritual and determined that his spiritual needs be satisfied in a relationship with Himself… And as God created man relational and then determined that his relational satisfaction be found in his wife… God created human beings with an incredible capacity for physical pleasure and then determined that the rest of creation satisfy that need.

All of creation was Man-Centric! Everything was created for man to be in “dominion over” and therefore satisfied by, which is why at the end of the sixth day we’re told in Genesis 1:28 that “God blessed them, and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over… every living thing that moves on the earth.’” This phrase “fill the earth and subdue it” means to take the earth in your hands and be satisfied by it!

Once again this is why after each day of creation God evaluated what He had made declaring that “it was good.” God evaluated every aspect of His creation in the context of how man would enjoy His handiwork! “They’ll love this!”

Which then explains why after making man male and female and giving them this garden full of things He knew would satisfy with a continual river so that man would never thirst, in Genesis 1:31, “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”

I hope you understand how this speaks of God’s incredible grace. Not only does this mean that God created with your enjoyment in mind, but that in His original design the fruit of the earth and this river of water that flowed out of her intended to satisfy your physical needs. 

In God’s original created order He gave man this world to be satisfied by and he was! Adam and Eve were perfect and they lacked nothing! There was no discontentment. No jealousies. No cravings… Just a continual satisfaction in all the things God had made.

It’s why the chapter ends in Genesis 2:25 telling us that Adam and Eve “were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” This word “naked” means “laid bare” and the phrase “not ashamed” means they felt “no shame” or literally “no disappointment.” They were completely one and totally satisfied by the world God had given them.

And yet… Tragically, following the rebellion of man against God, God allowed the earth to rebel against man! Unlike the conditions he enjoyed in this garden not only were Adam and Eve aware of their nakedness, but the fruit of the earth would no longer satisfy. Because the earth now resisted the very man it was created to satisfy, things were no longer good! 

This fruit of the earth would spoil and frustrate man for this river that flowed out of Eden was no longer able to quench man’s inner thirst. Today, because man stands against God, God no longer allows creation to satisfy! This world promises something it can never produce. It’s as the extremely hedonistic Mick Jagger famously sang, “I can’t get no satisfaction!”

Understand… This will not always be the dynamic for the Bible speaks of two future rivers created by God that will bring life back to the earth. First, at the Battle of Armageddon, Zechariah wrote (14:3-4, 8), “In that day Jesus’ feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley… And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea.”

The Prophet Ezekiel adds (47:8-9, 12) that “it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live… Everything will live wherever the river goes… Along the bank of the river… will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

The second river we’ll find in the new heaven (Revelation 22:1-3), “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.”

And yet, while these two rivers speak of a future restoration of God’s created order in Genesis 2, today, if you want the fruit of this earth to satisfy - if you want to find fulfillment in this life, these things must be yielded from a river of living water only provided in Jesus. In John 7:37-39 Jesus cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

There are two passages that shed further light on how this works… Psalms 1:1-3, “Blessed is the man who’s delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8 the prophet reiterates this idea, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.”

What’s interesting about this word “planted” found in both passages is that it’s a different Hebrew word than the one found in Genesis 2. While the phrase God “planted” spoke of an original act, the Hebrew word “shathal” means “to transplant.” 

While it’s a truth that since man’s sin the earth itself possess no river that will quench our thirst or yield satisfying fruit, our thirst can be quenched and our lives find satisfaction if we’ll transplant ourselves (root down) to the banks of a heavenly river… The Word of God! 

As Jesus told the women at the well (John 4:13-14), “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. The water that I shall give will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Understand… The only way we can return to this position whereby God declares “it is good” was for Jesus to hang on the cross and declare once and for all “it is finished.” Never forget from His death on the cross out flowed a blood that cleanses us from all unrighteousness, but also a river of living water that not only quenches our inner thirst, but yields in and through our lives lasting fruit!

Friend, until your thirst has been satisfied in Jesus, your earthly work will prove frustrating and fruitless. Unless your life flows forth from Jesus, this world will prove to only provide that which is rotten and bitter. By God’s created order this earth can only satisfy if it’s being watered from an eternal source who’s continual flow quenches our deepest of thirsts!

---

As we mentioned last Sunday within the creation narrative God does more than simply speak order out of chaos! Over and over again we see His Word further setting the parameters for how this created order was to naturally operate. God not only created all things, but He specifically determined how the things He created were to function and interact in the natural world for there to be order. 

Not only did God make man “male and female” before determining that this ultimate joining together of the genders occur within marriage, but following the formation of this world designed to satisfy man God also established how man could maximize the enjoyment of this particular world by explaining to man what he could do to ruin it! 

Genesis 2:15-17, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “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, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Notice God “put Adam in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” Right from the beginning God instilled within man a divine purpose. In the Hebrew “to tend” is “abad” meaning “to work or serve” and “keep it” or “shamar” means “to guard.” 

While some see this as a charge for Adam to care and keep the garden that God had given for him to enjoy, these two words have a much larger meaning and therefore implication.

Throughout the Old Testament we find this word “abad” being used to describe our service to God. When God originally appeared to Moses at the burning bush He told him (Exodus 3:12) “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” 

In warning the people as to the pitfalls of idolatry God said in Exodus 23:32-33, “You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

What’s interesting about this word for “serve” or “work” is that it’s directly tied to worship. Our ultimate worship to God is not in the singing of songs, but it’s in placing God as the most important One in our lives so that all of our work flows from this relationship. It stands to reason that this observation that Adam was placed in the garden to “work” had larger implications that just his role in the garden. Adam’s work was to flow from His relationship with God. Note: He wasn’t working to earn God’s favor or maintain it. 

Instead his work in caring for the garden was designed to be a natural response to God’s! His service was worship and in this environment in no way could his work be viewed as labor. It was natural which is why it wasn’t something God had to command him to do!

Additionally, “shamar” has a deeper meaning in the Old Testament as well. In Exodus 19:5 God promised Israel that “if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.” 

So what was it that Adam was to “keep”? What was he supposed to be guarding? I’m convinced that in context it was this all important position of God in his life. In his work and while in a garden given to him to enjoy it was critically important that Adam safeguard allowing either of these two things to become more important than God. 

In a sense Adam needed to keep things in a proper order… Not to get ahead of ourselves, but because Adam failed to do this consider that while his work had been enjoyable because it flowed from His relationship with God as worship, following his rebellion two things immediately happened to his work - it became labor and the basis of his unrighteousness.

And it is for this reason that God does another first in Genesis… “God commanded the man, saying, “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, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 

Understand… Not only does God make no similar directives to any other aspect of His created order, but this sole command is completely consistent with the greatest commandment of the law (Deuteronomy 6:5) affirmed later by Jesus Himself (Matthew 22:37) that man “shall love the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, and mind!”

It’s critical concerning your understanding of what’s happening here that you realize in order for a love relationship with God to exist it was necessary mankind be given a choice! Real love demands at its core the freedom to not love. 

If man lacked the freedom or for that matter the option, then not only would man have been robotic incapable of demonstrating love, but what happens next would have been nothing more than the actions of an unloving God! Note: Without a choice humanity may have remained innocent, but they could never have been righteous before God!

God didn’t force Himself onto mankind nor did He require love to originate within man. In His love for man God created an avenue for man to make a decision to love God or choose to reject His love. In both dynamics Adam’s love for God was designed to be reciprocal! 1 John 4:19 we’re told that “We love Him because He first loved us!”

While it’s true Adam’s life was suspended upon his strict obedience to this one command as the basic link which enabled him to be connected in love with His Creator, it’s also important we point out that God’s command to Adam was not restrictive in nature. 

God was clear to Adam that “of every tree you may freely eat.” There was just one tree that God determined was off limits. And note why this tree was off limits… “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” God’s command was not to restrict man’s enjoyment of the world he’d been give, but was instead focused on preserving man’s enjoyment.

God knew that in eating the forbidden fruit and thereby acting in rebellion to his Creator there would be a terrible result for man… Instead of a relationship with God man would find himself isolated from God. Instead of earth satisfying it would only serve to frustrate. Instead of enjoying community man would live in constant conflict. 

Instead of lasting pleasure there would be continual pain. Instead of work flowing from our relationship with God as worship, at best it would be labor - at worst it would be warped into a religious mechanism whereby we attempt to earn our way back into the favor of God. Instead of life rebellion would only bring with it death!

I hope you know God had and has better plans for your life! None of these things were part of His original creation. God wants you to live it up, to have fun and be satisfied. He wants to love you and by His grace provide you a life to be enjoyed. God is not a divine killjoy. And yet, God’s grace demands a relationship with Jesus you must choose to enter into! 

C.H. Mackintosh, “I would here suggest to my reader the remarkable contrast between the testimony set up in Eden and that which is set up now. Then, when all around was life, God spoke of death; now, on the contrary, when all around is death, God speaks of life: then, the word was, “in the day thou eatest thou shalt die”; now, the word is, “believe and live.” And as in Eden the enemy would make to void God’s testimony as to the result of eating the fruit, so now he seeks to make void God’s testimony as to the results of believing the gospel. God has said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”; but the serpent said, “Ye shall not surely die.” And now, when God’s Word plainly declares that “he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life,” the same serpent seeks to persuade people that they not have everlasting life, not should they presume to think of such a thing until they have first done, felt, and experienced all manner of things.”