(last edited 3/14/04)Jan's Bible Notes
Genesis 2
1-3 God commanded Israel to observe the seventh day as the Sabbath, a day of rest. Are we still supposed to observe the Sabbath, as some believe? For the New Testament Christian, the Sabbath pictures rest from works; we rest in Christ every day, not just one day a week. Salvation is by faith, not by works, Eph. 2:8-9. The Sabbath was a “type” that was fulfilled in Christ. When we trust in Christ, we put aside the idea that we can do anything to make ourselves good enough. Read Heb. 4:9-10. The seventh day is not mentioned as having an evening and a morning. Our Sabbath rest in Christ is eternal. Nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to worship on any particular day, although there are several references to the early church meeting on the first day of the week. What happened on the first day of the week that they were commemorating? In the Old Testament, creation was the event that defined who God is; in the New Testament, the resurrection is the event that defines who God is. These are the two main events in history.
Did God rest because He was tired, or because His work of creation was done? Compare Ps. 8:3. The rest of the Bible makes it clear that God continues to work. Is. 52:10, what other work has God done that was much more demanding than creation, that required Him to “bare His arm,” to roll up His sleeve, so to speak? “Sanctified” means set apart for a special purpose. 2, would there be any more creation after those six days? The creative processes that God used in that week are no longer operating in the world. Evolutionists maintain that things have to happen uniformly from the beginning until the present, and although it is not happening, they go to great lengths to try to identify these non-existent processes. Creation is not a uniform, ongoing process, but was confined to those six days.
The rest of this chapter gives an expanded version of day six. Chapter 1 gave a very sketchy version. (Bible critics say this chapter is another creation story, and that these contradict. Not so.) This method of explanation is used elsewhere in the Bible; the overview first, then filling in details that are relevant to the author's point.
4-6 No rain before the flood, just a mist. 5, was man an intruder, as some environmentalists say, or was he necessary? Why did the earth need him? Was the earth made to function without man's help?
7 Did life just happen? Was this said of the animals? The life that is in man is different in some way than the life that is in animals. Read I Cor. 15:39.
8-9 Man’s home; two important trees. What two functions did trees serve? God gave man a nature that could appreciate beauty; are animals given this nature?
10-14 The garden of Eden is located geographically for us. What country is this today? Iraq. This area is known as the Fertile Crescent. What natural resources did God give that are mentioned here? What other important Bible location is in this area? Babylon, and the Tower of Babel. (You might want to look on your Bible maps.)
15 Who was this command given to? What did God command the first man to do as an occupation? Again we see that the environment was designed to thrive on cultivation, not neglect. Does your lawn or garden do better if left in its natural pristine condition, or when cared for? Working up ground, planting, pruning, and harvesting are not only necessary to a healthy environment, but are referred to in the Bible as pictures of how God works in our lives.
16-17 The plot thickens! What was the first and only restriction? What was the penalty? Here is the Bible's first reference to death. Does the context (through Gen. 3) refer to physical or spiritual death? This is what the message of the Bible is about. Humans seem much more concerned about physical death than spiritual death; which is more important? It’s interesting that they weren’t forbidden to eat of that other tree, but they will be soon. Here we are introduced to the concept of man’s free will. God has made clear what HE wants, but He has given man a choice to obey or disobey. This is a test. Man is in the perfect environment, with no sinful nature; what will he do? Only one rule; surely it will be easy to keep.
18 Adam is lonely; we were not designed to be alone. The woman is designed to be a what for the man? Some think that makes her inferior; Jesus did not think so, Mt. 20:25-28. Here we have the first mention of marriage in the Bible, although that term is not used here. (It is also implied in 1:28.) The first mention of something in the Bible is significant and should be noted. What does God give as the two purposes for marriage? And what purpose can we find in 1:28? (This is not to say that these are the only purposes of marriage, just that we don't want to read more into God's words than what He has said.) What is the main purpose of marriage today? To be with the one you are in love with. Is love mentioned here? Is God's plan for marriage that our spouse would fulfill our needs? Who should we look to for that fulfillment? If our spouse fulfilled that need, would we be as motivated to look to God to fulfill that need?
The first mention of love in the Bible is in Gen. 22:2. This is interesting, because Isaac is a type of Christ, and his being offered as a sacrifice by his father is a foreshadowing of Christ's death. Mount Moriah is where Christ was crucified. What did Abraham tell Isaac that God would provide for the sacrifice, 8? And what did God provide, 13? When did God provide the lamb? John 1:29. Notice the similarity of "your son, your only son, whom you love" to verses about Jesus, John 3:16,35. The next mention of love is Gen. 24:67, again used of Isaac, who is said to love his wife. If Isaac foreshadowed Christ, who is the bride of Christ? Eph. 5:23-32. And in this passage, the husband IS told to love his wife. He is told to love his wife as what, 5:25? And as what, 5:28? How does Christ love the church? Is He "in love" with the church? How does the man love his own body? Is he "in love" with it? Love is about choices, actions. It is interesting that nowhere in the Old Testament does God give directions about marriage that refer to love, except in Hos. 3:1, where He commands Hosea to go take again his unfaithful wife and love her, as an object lesson for Israel, to show them how God loves them. Again, we see love as a choice, not a warm fuzzy feeling. According to the Bible, love is about doing what is best for the other person, regardless of our feelings or how deserving they are.
Is the term or the idea of "in love" found anywhere in the Bible? Is it the biblical basis for marriage? Is the lack of it a biblical basis for ending a marriage? Does God love us, or is He in love with us? Some Christians talk or sing about God being in love with us. What is the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone? Love is focusing on the other person; being in love is focusing on how the other person makes ME feel. Is love about feelings or actions? What does John 3:16 say about how God loves? Feelings, or actions? Does the Bible say God loves us because we are so cute, lovable, or likable? Or does He love us because of HIS nature, because He chose to? Rom. 5:8. Luke 10:25-37 explains what love is, as Jesus answers someone's question about loving one's neighbor. In this example, is love about feelings or actions? Does the Samaritan like, or even know, the man he showed love to? So, according to the Bible, do we need to like the one we show love to? Does Eph. 5:23-32 command the husband to have certain feelings? Can feelings be commanded? How might these considerations change our ideas about marriage? Love is a choice, not a feeling, although it often includes feelings. Some of our ideas and expectations about marriage are based on the values of this world, not God's values.
19-20 Adam names all the animals; does he sound like a caveman? Does he communicate with grunts and gestures? Does he sound like he has excellent mental and language skills? Sounds like an agronomist/zoologist. (By the way, evolution has no explanation for human language.) Scientists believe that today we only use a small percentage of our mental capacity. Before the fall, when man was still perfect, he had access to 100% of his brain capacity. Far from being a “caveman,” he would have been more intelligent than man today. Adam was probably the smartest man in history.
Some who believe this can’t be a literal account, with six literal days of creation, argue that it would be impossible for Adam to see and name all the creatures in one day. Not so, if God had only created the basic kinds, with genetic capacity for variation and adaptation over time. Also, this might be a daunting task for modern man, with his limited intellect. But surely Adam had much greater intelligence than modern man. In Gen. 4, we see early man building cities, farming and ranching, creating music and musical instruments, and working with various kinds of metal. Considering these clues, it is even possible that pre-flood civilization was more advanced than our own; however, all traces of it have been destroyed by the flood. 19, “formed” can also be translated “had formed.” 20, what did Adam realize he was missing? God allowed him to discover this on his own; the woman would fulfill the longing that was now in his heart. This is another account of the creation, focusing this time on man and the things that concern him.
So where do cavemen fit into the Bible? After the worldwide flood, men probably lived in caves and used crude implements because all their technology had been destroyed. What if there was a worldwide flood today and only your family was left? Even though you knew about houses and tools, you wouldn’t have the immediate means or ability to reproduce those things for perhaps generations. No records of earlier technology existed because all evidence would have been destroyed by the worldwide flood. Noah and his family had only their own knowledge and whatever they could take on the ark.
21-22 What happens now? What is woman created from? “Fashioned” can be translated “built.” God built a woman to be different than man, yet complementing him—physically, mentally, emotionally. They have different marital roles, but neither is said to be superior or inferior to the other. God made man first. He is the head, the woman is his helper. Whether we like it or not, this is God’s plan. Genesis 1 sounds like man and woman were made at the same time on the sixth day, but now we have the detailed story of how both man and woman were made.
23-24 The practice of the woman taking her name from the man is found here in the Bible. What does cleave mean? Adhere tightly. (It actually has two opposite meanings.) God's definition of marriage is a husband and a wife--a man and a woman. In God's eyes, there can be no same-sex marriage. Here we have God’s plan for marriage and the home. Are we told here that the woman is to be subject to the man, as we see in the rest of the Bible? No, that comes later, as we will soon see, and we will see why. That apparently was not God’s original plan. 24, are these the words of Adam or Moses? Some think “one flesh” implies permanence; some think it refers to sexual intercourse or the child that results. We see that God’s plan for marriage is monogamous and heterosexual. After sin enters the world, we will see that God permits us to disobey Him.
25 At this point, nakedness does not bring shame. Shame is a result of sin. They had nothing to hide. (Why weren’t they cold? The earth had a uniform tropical climate at that time; we have no mention of winter, cold or seasons until after the flood, Gen. 8:22.)
Copyright 2003 Jan Young