“In the Beginning God…” Genesis 2:4-25 July 7th 2024

3 Key Themes:

1. God as the Author of Blessing

2. Man as a Dependent Royal Priest

3. God as one who wants to be Found

God as the Author of Blessing

Genesis 2:5, 18, 20b

5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for

the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground,

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable

for him.”…But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

When God is the originator, blessing flows, When God is the afterthought, death reigns

Genesis 2:10-14

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four

headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of

Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are

also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of

Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And

the fourth river is the Euphrates.

• 4 rivers named: Gusher, Buster, Rusher and Bloomer

• Literally "Increase, bursting forth, swift, and fruitfulness"

• They water the 4 areas where the entire bible takes place.

God's blessing, while found concentrated in a specific place is for the world

How does this help us understand scripture better?

Genesis 2:16-17

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the

garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when

you eat from it you will certainly die.”

God’s first command is not a prohibition, instead it is to enjoy to the fullest.

Man as Dependent Royal Priest

Genesis 2:7

"Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his

nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."

• No other creature is created in the way Humans are created.

• Mankind is a God-filled image bearer.

Genesis 2:8-9

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he

had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were

pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and

the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

To hunger and to thirst is apparently important for what it means to be human.

We are designed for dependency.

Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and

take care of it.

"Work it and care for it.” | “To serve and to keep” | (abad / ע) בד ) & shamar ( ש / מר

Bible Project Classroom

• The phrase “to serve and keep” (abad / ע) בד ) & shamar ש / מר ) refers to a priestly

service of worship. These verbs are used together as a phrase elsewhere only in

descriptions of the priests and Levites working in and around the temple.

• The word "work" is commonly used in a religious sense of serving God, and in

priestly texts, especially of the tabernacle duties of the Levites

• “to keep” has the simple sense of ‘guard’, but it is even more commonly used in

legal texts of observing religious commands and duties

“The tasks given to Adam are of a priestly nature: caring for sacred space. In ancient

thinking, caring for sacred space was a way of upholding creation. By preserving order, nonorder

was held at bay … the point of caring for sacred space should be seen as much more

than landscaping or even priestly duties. Maintaining order made one a participant with

God in the ongoing task of sustaining the equilibrium God had established in the cosmos.

…’to complete what was unfinished, and to preserve the existent, not as a status quo but in

a continuing, dynamic, even revolutionary process of remodeling and improvement.”’

Genesis 2:16-17

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the

garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when

you eat from it you will certainly die.”

God’s first command is to enjoy to the fullest.

But with great power comes great responsibility.

How does this help us understand scripture better?

Bible Project Classroom

Notice that the first command has to do with eating from all of the trees, not the prohibition

of the one (Gen. 2:16). The divine command is not arbitrary and is directly linked to

humanity’s continued enjoyment of life in the garden of Eden.

The prohibition’s purpose is to safeguard the divine intent for humanity to enjoy God’s own

life in the garden.

Whether or not to act with dependency on God’s is the question

every biblical “hero” must face

God as one who wants to be Found

Genesis 2:8-9

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he

had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were

pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and

the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God is creating a centralized location where both His Blessing and Himself can be

experienced & found.

There is a “located-ness” to God

How does this help us understand scripture better?

Jesus..

is the perfect Author of Blessing

is the perfectly Dependent Royal Priest

is the one who can be Found

Is the one who Finds