Genesis 1:2-Genesis 2:17
"Working, Resting, Relating" • 10.8.09 • Thursday Night Study
Intro
- Moses has summarized the creation epic in verse 1. Now, he lets us in on the details.
• Genesis 1:2 : "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."
- The earth is the pivotal place in the Universe, for on it, the greatest display of God's love will be achieved. At this point in it's history, the earth is without form, literally an empty wasteland.
- The picture is one of confusion and chaos, not in an evil sense, but in an unordered sense. I might have said, "the place is a mess!"
- The canvas is set. The Spirit of God is hovering over the waters, protecting, but readying for the act of creation and then, "BOOM" or "BANG" if you like!
- God's creative activity is not written to us to cause us a headache. It's written to cause us to see how great God is and how great His love for us is.
- Those who first read these passages allowed the greater implications to impact their thinking about God, not what He created! I want to summarize this section using this simple outline:
Text
- There are six days represented in this chapter. The word for "day" can be used in the literal 24 hour way or in a period of time.
- For example, there is the day that we have just finished. Then, when referring to some ancient time, I might say, "In the days of..."
- Personally, I believe these to be literal 24 hour periods of time. Why? I'll pose three reasons for your consideration.
- First, recall that God is communicating to human beings. He is speaking a human language and thus has the vocabulary for specificity. Moses, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, employs the same word that is commonly used for a 24 hour period throughout the Old Testament.
- Along with this point, if God wanted us to believe that the creation epic took millenia or a greater period of time, He would have used that language.
- Second, if the creation process had taken millenia, it would severely, negatively impact the survival of vegetative life.
- Finally, and most importantly, you should believe this because I said so!
- In the end, it really does not matter in terms of duration. What matters is that we agree that God was the cause!
- Notice further the order that God employs. Creation takes place in 6 stages and it looks like this:
- Day 1 - Light separated from darkness
- Day 2 - The water expanse over the earth, water divided from water
- Day 3 - The seas are separated from dry land and vegetation
- Day 4 - The sun, moon and stars
- Day 5 - Birds and sea creatures
- Day 6 - Land animals and Mankind
- The order is interesting. One can say that one part builds right onto the next. You can see God's logic in terms of progression. The darkness was on the face of the deep, so light was needed.
- The waters were divided then land was divided from water. The heavenly bodies, responsible for ocean currents, came into being. Vegetation is brought into being. The next day, the Sun is made to nourish them.
- Then God says , let birds fly in the sky and sea creatures teem in the seas. Food for the birds. Then we have the land animals and Mankind. Food for man.
- You will notice also that in these 6 days, God employs three different methods of creative activity.
- The first of which is divine proclamation. Genesis 1:3 and 1:9 both tell us that God said for light and land to appear and they did.
- He proclaimed that it should be and it was. It happened. Theologians call this "Divine fiat."
- The second method employed in creation is pressure production. The fashioning and labor are seen in the words "made." God produced the firmament, the sun and moon, as well as animals this way.
- Finally, God ordains process. Notice the earth is to bring forth grass. The trees have fruit with seed inside of itself. Over the process of time, cattle and birds reproduce after their kind.
- It's interesting that God still works this way. Sometimes, its a word and something is done and complete. Other times, there is pressure and arrangement. Most of the time, there is process!
- Moving on, let's notice two final things about this passage. With every activity, there is a God sized endorsement: It was good. God enjoyed what He had made.
- The exception was on day two, Monday, which has no such endorsement, which explains why we feel the way we feel about Mondays.
- It was good is a statement of function and beauty, mixed with pleasure and joy. This brought Him satisfaction to look upon the greatness of what He created.
- As God does His work in our lives, we understand that what He is doing is good to Him. He is working a work in our lives that will bring Him satisfaction.
- Finally, notice that God submits Himself to a definite period of time. God could have done it all in one day. He chose instead to take six days to create. In doing so, He sets a precedent for us.
- This brings us to the climax of creation, which we see beginning in verse 26.
• Genesis 1:26-28 : "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.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 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.'" : Let Us! There is a council agreement between the Godhead that man is going to be very different from the rest of creation.
- Man is going to be made in the image and the likeness of the Godhead. There is much that is made of these two concepts. This refers to personality, morality and spirituality.
- In speaking of personality, we possess knowledge, feelings, a will, an adaptable concern for our surroundings. Morally, we have a conscience. Spiritually, we can have and do desire communion with God. There is distinction and dignity when considering man.
- Only mankind is separated this way from every other creative being in the first six days.
- The second level of distinction is in what he is given charge over. A sweeping level of authority is given to men, as they are to have dominion over all the other parts of God's creation.
- He is to subdue and master them. God made mankind, both male and female. Then God explains what all the other six days were for.
• Genesis 1:27-31 : "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 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.' 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. 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." : It was all made with man in mind! The fish, the birds, the herbs and the trees that bore fruit, all found their purpose in Man.
- God planned it all for Him! God looked upon it all, with man as the beneficiary of His creative work and the Bible tells us that He was more than pleased.
• Genesis 1:31 : "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 2:1,2 : "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 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." : God finished what He started. The seventh day of creation is not really a day of creative work.
- Everything was complete. God on the 7th day created rest. Shabbat. According to what I have read this last week, the word means to cease and desist. Primarily, it means to sit and be still.
- He rested from all His work which He had done. Certainly, this rest was not for the sake of recharging the old batteries! God cannot change. God's strength cannot be sapped. He chose to rest again, for a pattern, for His people.
• Genesis 2:3 : "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
- God made this day special. He marked it and set it apart, in memorium. It is also distinct in the fact that it is the only day that is not marked as having a beginning or an end.
˚ "'God, having completed His work of creation, rests, as if to say, ‘This is the destiny of those who are My people; to rest as I rest, to rest in Me.’”
- How important was this to God? Turn with me to Exodus 31. Moses is discharging God's commands to His people, expounding the law of the Sabbath.
• Exodus 31:13-17 : "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. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"
- He was refreshed. As I understand it, it literally means, "to breathe strongly."
- Now, turn with me to Mark 2. Jesus is walking through the grain fields and His disciples, hungry, have picked at little for themselves. The Pharisees as usual, raised an accusing finger.
• Mark 2:24-28 : "And the Pharisees said to Him, 'Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?' But He said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?' And He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.'"
- God gave this ordinance to His people, the Jews, in order that they might be refreshed, not just in their body, but in their spirit. Recall in Deuteronomy that God says, "that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you." That is to be their reflection, and ours as well, when we rest.
- Turn with me to Psalm 46. The first several verses are pictures of chaos. War, desolations.
• Psalm 46:10,11 : "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah"
- Out of the confusion, chaos and clutter of the world, God calls us to Sabbath, to rest and refresh ourselves in the rediscovery that no matter the circumstance, He is who He is!
• Genesis 2:4-7 : "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, 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; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 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." Moses provides us with a synopsis of all that He has just written for us, but from a different perspective.
- This is an earthly perspective of the creation epic.
- The details he gives here seem more like a news report from the ground. The earth was covered and there was God sustained life.
• Genesis 2:8,9 : "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." : Coming to verse 8, note the favor that God gives to man. He created a vast planet, filled with great diversity of life. But this is not good enough. God then plants a garden in Eden.
- For us guys, this seems a bit feminine. We don't want flowers! However, in the Ancient East, enclosed gardens were made for Kings, as a place of reception and fellowship.
- It's where you went when a visiting dignatary came. Usually, they were enclosed and filled with lush vegetation and beauty.
- Additionally, this garden was planted by God in a place called "Pleasure" or "delight." God planted everything the man could need right there in the Garden. Aesthetics (pleasant for the sight) and necessities, the trees that are good for food.
- And of course, the trees of great value, both the tree of life and the knowledge of good and evil. These were placed in the enclosed Garden as well.
• Genesis 2:10-14 : "Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 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." : This whole part of the passage seems so unnecessary. We want to dismiss it because these places carry little significance.
- Why does God tell us this? He tells us to illustrate that life came from this garden. Life giving water had it's source in the Garden of Eden. These mighty rivers all flowed from Eden to these lands.
- The picture is telling. The place of fellowship with God brings life out from it. The rivers represent streams of living water that fed other peoples.
- That's what happens when we fellowship with the Lord. That same life giving power is evident to those around us.
• 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.'" : In this Garden, man would find a God given purpose. God would relate to Him here in this place. He lead the man and put him in the Garden, not just to live, but to work.
- His work was to tend and keep the Garden of the King. The Garden that God Himself would walk through and visit often in.
- He was to till the ground and protect it. That is what the word "keep" means. He was to stand as a watchman against whatever danger might be present.
- As much as there was provision and purpose, there was also prohibition. Of course, we know that he was given every tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil though was off limits.
- This is where I really see the principle of relationship. First, God leads man to a place where He is often going to be physically. He gives him something to do there.
- But then, He puts a test in front of him, so that man in keeping himself from that tree, can demonstrate love and fidelity to God.
- God does not want robotic submission, but humble love that comes from a choice to obey. None of that has changed today. God still measures our love for Him by our obedience according to John 14:15.
Conclusion
- When I think about this passage, I think of more than the physical creation of the heavens and the earth. I think about God preparing a place for Man to have unbroken fellowship with Him.
- God made this earth for that purpose: That man might enjoy their God forever! He calls us into that relationship still today.
- Unfortunately, we know that the story goes from perfect to cataclysmic, as man has chosen death and has sinned. That sin, seen in the forbidden tree, separates us from God.
- But Christ, on another tree, died to open a door to bring us back to Him, and back to this beautiful place of fellowship.
"Working, Resting, Relating" • 10.8.09 • Thursday Night Study
Intro
- Moses has summarized the creation epic in verse 1. Now, he lets us in on the details.
• Genesis 1:2 : "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."
- The earth is the pivotal place in the Universe, for on it, the greatest display of God's love will be achieved. At this point in it's history, the earth is without form, literally an empty wasteland.
- The picture is one of confusion and chaos, not in an evil sense, but in an unordered sense. I might have said, "the place is a mess!"
- The canvas is set. The Spirit of God is hovering over the waters, protecting, but readying for the act of creation and then, "BOOM" or "BANG" if you like!
- God's creative activity is not written to us to cause us a headache. It's written to cause us to see how great God is and how great His love for us is.
- Those who first read these passages allowed the greater implications to impact their thinking about God, not what He created! I want to summarize this section using this simple outline:
I. God At Work (1:3-31)
II. God At Rest (2:1-3)
III. God In Relationship (2:7-17)
II. God At Rest (2:1-3)
III. God In Relationship (2:7-17)
Text
I. God At Work (1:3-31)
- Having read these verses at the beginning of our evening, I now just want to observe several aspects of the creation epic, which will help synopsize this great chapter.- There are six days represented in this chapter. The word for "day" can be used in the literal 24 hour way or in a period of time.
- For example, there is the day that we have just finished. Then, when referring to some ancient time, I might say, "In the days of..."
- Personally, I believe these to be literal 24 hour periods of time. Why? I'll pose three reasons for your consideration.
- First, recall that God is communicating to human beings. He is speaking a human language and thus has the vocabulary for specificity. Moses, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, employs the same word that is commonly used for a 24 hour period throughout the Old Testament.
- Along with this point, if God wanted us to believe that the creation epic took millenia or a greater period of time, He would have used that language.
- Second, if the creation process had taken millenia, it would severely, negatively impact the survival of vegetative life.
- Finally, and most importantly, you should believe this because I said so!
- In the end, it really does not matter in terms of duration. What matters is that we agree that God was the cause!
- Notice further the order that God employs. Creation takes place in 6 stages and it looks like this:
- Day 1 - Light separated from darkness
- Day 2 - The water expanse over the earth, water divided from water
- Day 3 - The seas are separated from dry land and vegetation
- Day 4 - The sun, moon and stars
- Day 5 - Birds and sea creatures
- Day 6 - Land animals and Mankind
- The order is interesting. One can say that one part builds right onto the next. You can see God's logic in terms of progression. The darkness was on the face of the deep, so light was needed.
- The waters were divided then land was divided from water. The heavenly bodies, responsible for ocean currents, came into being. Vegetation is brought into being. The next day, the Sun is made to nourish them.
- Then God says , let birds fly in the sky and sea creatures teem in the seas. Food for the birds. Then we have the land animals and Mankind. Food for man.
- You will notice also that in these 6 days, God employs three different methods of creative activity.
- The first of which is divine proclamation. Genesis 1:3 and 1:9 both tell us that God said for light and land to appear and they did.
- He proclaimed that it should be and it was. It happened. Theologians call this "Divine fiat."
- The second method employed in creation is pressure production. The fashioning and labor are seen in the words "made." God produced the firmament, the sun and moon, as well as animals this way.
- Finally, God ordains process. Notice the earth is to bring forth grass. The trees have fruit with seed inside of itself. Over the process of time, cattle and birds reproduce after their kind.
- It's interesting that God still works this way. Sometimes, its a word and something is done and complete. Other times, there is pressure and arrangement. Most of the time, there is process!
- Moving on, let's notice two final things about this passage. With every activity, there is a God sized endorsement: It was good. God enjoyed what He had made.
- The exception was on day two, Monday, which has no such endorsement, which explains why we feel the way we feel about Mondays.
- It was good is a statement of function and beauty, mixed with pleasure and joy. This brought Him satisfaction to look upon the greatness of what He created.
- As God does His work in our lives, we understand that what He is doing is good to Him. He is working a work in our lives that will bring Him satisfaction.
- Finally, notice that God submits Himself to a definite period of time. God could have done it all in one day. He chose instead to take six days to create. In doing so, He sets a precedent for us.
- This brings us to the climax of creation, which we see beginning in verse 26.
• Genesis 1:26-28 : "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.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 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.'" : Let Us! There is a council agreement between the Godhead that man is going to be very different from the rest of creation.
- Man is going to be made in the image and the likeness of the Godhead. There is much that is made of these two concepts. This refers to personality, morality and spirituality.
- In speaking of personality, we possess knowledge, feelings, a will, an adaptable concern for our surroundings. Morally, we have a conscience. Spiritually, we can have and do desire communion with God. There is distinction and dignity when considering man.
- Only mankind is separated this way from every other creative being in the first six days.
- The second level of distinction is in what he is given charge over. A sweeping level of authority is given to men, as they are to have dominion over all the other parts of God's creation.
- He is to subdue and master them. God made mankind, both male and female. Then God explains what all the other six days were for.
• Genesis 1:27-31 : "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 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.' 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. 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." : It was all made with man in mind! The fish, the birds, the herbs and the trees that bore fruit, all found their purpose in Man.
- God planned it all for Him! God looked upon it all, with man as the beneficiary of His creative work and the Bible tells us that He was more than pleased.
• Genesis 1:31 : "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
II. God At Rest (2:1-3)
• Genesis 2:1,2 : "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 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." : God finished what He started. The seventh day of creation is not really a day of creative work.
- Everything was complete. God on the 7th day created rest. Shabbat. According to what I have read this last week, the word means to cease and desist. Primarily, it means to sit and be still.
- He rested from all His work which He had done. Certainly, this rest was not for the sake of recharging the old batteries! God cannot change. God's strength cannot be sapped. He chose to rest again, for a pattern, for His people.
• Genesis 2:3 : "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
- God made this day special. He marked it and set it apart, in memorium. It is also distinct in the fact that it is the only day that is not marked as having a beginning or an end.
˚ "'God, having completed His work of creation, rests, as if to say, ‘This is the destiny of those who are My people; to rest as I rest, to rest in Me.’”
James Montgomery Boice
- This points to the type of rest that God intends His people to enjoy.- How important was this to God? Turn with me to Exodus 31. Moses is discharging God's commands to His people, expounding the law of the Sabbath.
• Exodus 31:13-17 : "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. You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.'"
- He was refreshed. As I understand it, it literally means, "to breathe strongly."
- Now, turn with me to Mark 2. Jesus is walking through the grain fields and His disciples, hungry, have picked at little for themselves. The Pharisees as usual, raised an accusing finger.
• Mark 2:24-28 : "And the Pharisees said to Him, 'Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?' But He said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?' And He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.'"
- God gave this ordinance to His people, the Jews, in order that they might be refreshed, not just in their body, but in their spirit. Recall in Deuteronomy that God says, "that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you." That is to be their reflection, and ours as well, when we rest.
- Turn with me to Psalm 46. The first several verses are pictures of chaos. War, desolations.
• Psalm 46:10,11 : "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah"
- Out of the confusion, chaos and clutter of the world, God calls us to Sabbath, to rest and refresh ourselves in the rediscovery that no matter the circumstance, He is who He is!
III. God In Relationship (2:7-17)
• Genesis 2:4-7 : "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, 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; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 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." Moses provides us with a synopsis of all that He has just written for us, but from a different perspective.
- This is an earthly perspective of the creation epic.
- The details he gives here seem more like a news report from the ground. The earth was covered and there was God sustained life.
• Genesis 2:8,9 : "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." : Coming to verse 8, note the favor that God gives to man. He created a vast planet, filled with great diversity of life. But this is not good enough. God then plants a garden in Eden.
- For us guys, this seems a bit feminine. We don't want flowers! However, in the Ancient East, enclosed gardens were made for Kings, as a place of reception and fellowship.
- It's where you went when a visiting dignatary came. Usually, they were enclosed and filled with lush vegetation and beauty.
- Additionally, this garden was planted by God in a place called "Pleasure" or "delight." God planted everything the man could need right there in the Garden. Aesthetics (pleasant for the sight) and necessities, the trees that are good for food.
- And of course, the trees of great value, both the tree of life and the knowledge of good and evil. These were placed in the enclosed Garden as well.
• Genesis 2:10-14 : "Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 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." : This whole part of the passage seems so unnecessary. We want to dismiss it because these places carry little significance.
- Why does God tell us this? He tells us to illustrate that life came from this garden. Life giving water had it's source in the Garden of Eden. These mighty rivers all flowed from Eden to these lands.
- The picture is telling. The place of fellowship with God brings life out from it. The rivers represent streams of living water that fed other peoples.
- That's what happens when we fellowship with the Lord. That same life giving power is evident to those around us.
• 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.'" : In this Garden, man would find a God given purpose. God would relate to Him here in this place. He lead the man and put him in the Garden, not just to live, but to work.
- His work was to tend and keep the Garden of the King. The Garden that God Himself would walk through and visit often in.
- He was to till the ground and protect it. That is what the word "keep" means. He was to stand as a watchman against whatever danger might be present.
- As much as there was provision and purpose, there was also prohibition. Of course, we know that he was given every tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil though was off limits.
- This is where I really see the principle of relationship. First, God leads man to a place where He is often going to be physically. He gives him something to do there.
- But then, He puts a test in front of him, so that man in keeping himself from that tree, can demonstrate love and fidelity to God.
- God does not want robotic submission, but humble love that comes from a choice to obey. None of that has changed today. God still measures our love for Him by our obedience according to John 14:15.
Conclusion
- When I think about this passage, I think of more than the physical creation of the heavens and the earth. I think about God preparing a place for Man to have unbroken fellowship with Him.
- God made this earth for that purpose: That man might enjoy their God forever! He calls us into that relationship still today.
- Unfortunately, we know that the story goes from perfect to cataclysmic, as man has chosen death and has sinned. That sin, seen in the forbidden tree, separates us from God.
- But Christ, on another tree, died to open a door to bring us back to Him, and back to this beautiful place of fellowship.
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