Lesson Aim: To show god’s handiwork and his goodness toward adam and eve prior to their sin.

Monday: Genesis 2:4-15
Tuesday: I Corinthians 15:45-47, Genesis 3:19
Wednesday: John 1:1-5, John 14:6, & John 3:3
Thursday: Isaiah 55:8-11 & I John 3:16
Friday: Ecclesiastes 1:6-7, Job 28:24-26, Jeremiah 10:13 & Jeremiah 51:16
Saturday: Genesis 7
Sunday: Genesis 1-2

LESSON OUTLINE

I. GENESIS 2 IS AN IN-DEPTH AND SPECIFIC LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED DURING A PART OF THE SIXTH DAY OF CREATION.

A. There is no contradiction between the accounts of chapters one and two of Genesis.

1. Genesis 1:26-30 is a general overview of the creation of man. Genesis 2:7,18-25 is a more detailed account of that event.

2. The account in Genesis 2:5-25 is not a second, complete and independent history of the creation, nor does it contain mere appendices to the account in chapter 1; but "it describes the commencement of the history of the human race." ¹

B. To form the man named Adam, God did not speak him into being. He personally made him from dust. (Genesis 2:7)

1. "Dust" is from the Hebrew word aphar meaning "clay, earth, mud: ashes, dust, earth, ground, mortar, powder, rubbish."²

2. To make man, God used earth’s smallest particles, component elements and compounds such as oxygen, nitrogen and calcium. As to man's body, he is literally a combination of chemicals.³ As Paul declared, "The first man is of the earth, earthy," I Corinthians 15:47. In viewing man, he does not appear to be made of the same common elements which compose sand and rocks, but he is, a fact which death and degeneration will confirm. (Genesis 3:19)

3. Yet, man is far more than dust. God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." (Genesis 2:7) Thus, "The first man Adam was made a living soul," I Corinthians 15:45. There was no animal ancestry, no pre-adamic man and no evolution involved.

4. It is striking to contemplate that moment when God had man all finished in a lifeless body form. Getting man to that point is beyond man’s comprehension. Man’s body consists of numerous intricate and complex systems such as digestive, nervous, reproductive, circulatory and many others. Then, God breathed and there was life. Suddenly all the systems worked...perfectly. Each system had to work for Adam’s life to be sustained. Failure in even one small area such as blood pressure or thyroid output would have meant certain death.

Note well that God did it right the first time. Mortals who introduce new products or inventions almost always try and fail many, many times before achieving even limited success. Not so with God. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

5. Man was made alive by the living God. Life comes from life. That is a universally observable fact. There are no exceptions. This is a fact which the evolutionary community tends to ignore, another massive flaw in their position. The fact is that all life is connected directly to the divine creator. Physical and spiritual life comes from Him.

Oh, the vanity of all who would have eternal life apart from Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh! He alone can give eternal life. (John 1:1-5) He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," John 14:6. He also said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," John 3:3.

II. ESPECIALLY FOR THE MAN HE CREATED, GOD PLANTED A GARDEN IN THE REGION OF EDEN. (Genesis 2:8-15)

A. Eden was a most delightful place.

1. The noun "Eden" comes from the Hebrew verb adan meaning "to be soft or pleasant." Eden came to mean "delicate, delight, pleasure."⁴

2. The location of Eden is unknown. Since they are not always the same, it is a mistake to associated pre-Flood with post-Flood locations. The Flood radically rearranged geography. Noah’s post-Flood location and the current locations of the Tigris (Hiddekel) and Euphrates rivers suggests that Eden might have been in that general area.

3. The whole earth was "good," but the region of Eden had the distinction of being an especially delightful place of pleasure. In Eden, Adam had what men seek today.

B. Within Eden, God planted a special garden. (Genesis 2:8)

1. With the whole earth so good and the region in which the garden was planted being a place of self-delight, it is difficult to envision just how spectacular this garden really was.

2. Unlike the trees God "spoke" into being on day three of creation, God "planted" special trees in the garden. "Planted" is from the Hebrew word nata meaning "to strike in."⁵ These trees were for both beauty (pleasant to the sight) and the practical benefit of man (good for food).

Also in the garden was "the tree of life." Genesis 3:22 says that if man ate regularly of the fruit of this tree, he would live mortally forever. This tree will be growing in profusion in the New Jerusalem.⁶ (Revelation 22:2)

Another very specialized tree in the garden was "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." This tree "...was good for food and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise...," Genesis 3:6. Somehow, eating of the fruit of this tree would produce a knowledge of evil as well as good and cut man off from the life that had its source only in God.⁷

3. This garden of paradise, deliberately prepared by God especially for man, was Adam’s home. The whole earth had been placed under man’s dominion, yet God did something extra just for man’s benefit and joy. Surely, the love and goodness of God for man is evident and highlighted by the garden He prepared in Eden. Yet, the greatest of all testimonies to the love of God for man is the cross. (I John 3:16)

III. GOD’S METHOD OF WATERING THIS PARADISE, WHICH EARTH WAS. (Genesis 2:5-6,10-14)

A. God’s current means of watering the earth.

1. Since the Flood, the earth has been watered by rain and snow. Great temperature differentials, such as those at the polar caps compared to those at the equator and inland temperatures at higher elevations compared to those over water at sea level, generate massive continental and global air movements. The earth’s tilt also causes seasonal temperature changes and differentials.

2. From bodies of water (and to a lesser degree, from moist land areas) moisture evaporates into the atmosphere. This moisture is transported by the air currents, generally from the oceans and gulfs to inland locations, where it condenses as the warmer moist air collides with the cooler, drier air. The precipitation is rain, snow or sometimes sleet and hail.

3. The rain, and ice as it melts, waters the earth. The excess returns to the large bodies of water via drainages such as creeks and rivers where the continuous meteorologic process begins anew. (Ecclesiastes 1:6-7, Isaiah 55:10, Job 28:24-26, Jeremiah 10:13, Jeremiah 51:16)

B. Prior to the Flood, God provided a different watering system.

1. God is careful to point out that at the beginning of creation, there was no rain. (Genesis 2:5-6) It is not difficult to see that without rain, the earth would rapidly degenerate into an uninhabitable desert. Since there was no rain, God had to provide another watering system.

2. With the climate so near to equilibrium due to the firmament (water canopy), some evaporation would occur during the daytime; and in turn, condensation would take place at night in the form of mist, fog or vapor.⁸ (Genesis 2:6)

3. In addition to the mist or dew which formed daily, there were also abundant spring-fed rivers. Genesis 7:11 calls these "the fountains of the great deep." In His creative activity, God had made an elaborate system of underground rivers, tunnels and lakes. Though the purpose is not the same, the remnants of such a system currently remains. One such example is the aquifer system which breaks out at the lower end of the Llano uplift in central Texas. Rain and snow waters soak deep into the earth in the regions such as New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma to the north. These waters find their way into underground tunnels and caverns, which grow in size and number before breaking forth into above-ground rivers such as the San Antonio, Frio and Blanco.

4. Prior to the flood, this system of underground rivers and smaller streams appear to have gravitationally transported waters inland. Much as the geyser system in Yellowstone National Park functions today, the incoming underground waters in pre-Flood days flowed over areas of the earth’s crust where deep heat warmed and pressurized them, thus forcing them to the surface in the form of springs and artesian rivers. Such a system kept the water table high and provided ample moisture for the roots of all plants. ⁹

5. In view of the unique watering system provided by God prior to the Flood, it is not difficult to comprehend God’s announcement that a mighty river originated in Eden, flowed through the beautiful garden home of Adam, then divided into four major rivers.

FOOTNOTES

1. Keil, C.F. and Delitzsch, F., Commentary on the Old Testament, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1973, Vol.1, page 76.

2. Strong, James, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, New York: Abingdon Press, 1958, reference 6083.

3. Morris, Henry, The Genesis Record, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976, page 85.

4. Strong, page 85, references 5727, 5730, 5731.

5. Strong, page 78, reference 5193.

6. Morris, page 87.

7. Ibid., page 88.

8. Rice, John R., In the Beginning, Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1975, page 102.

9. Morris, page 89.

SUMMARY

The second chapter of Genesis is not a mere repetition of the first. It is an in-depth look at a part of the activities of the sixth day of creation. Details are given as to how God actually went about the making of man and provisions for him.

God made man from "dust." Yes! Man is bodily composed of earth’s smallest particles, simple chemical elements and compounds such as oxygen and calcium. God did not speak man into being in the manner by which he made most phenomena. He personally took basic, small and common components and formed them into all the elaborate and highly complex systems which are a part of man. Even one system is enormously elaborate. Imagine the intricate detail and complexity of a liver, a kidney or an eye. Integrate them and consider that each is dependent on all others, and you will be overwhelmed by the fact that God achieved perfect success on His first try. Most inventors try and fail many times before achieving even limited success.

What a spectacular moment when God breathed into the lifeless form of man the breath of life and "he became a living soul"! Suddenly every system, which one second before was only lifeless dust, began to function in life. The Life-giver gave life, establishing what has clearly been the observable case without exception ever since, that life comes from life.

The spiritual implication is profound. All who would receive eternal life must receive it from the only one who has spiritual life to give, God in the person of Jesus Christ. Spiritual life is impossible to obtain through any system of human works. Life comes from life, which is an unanswered refutation of the concept of evolution.

For the man whom He had created, God prepared a special garden. It was located in a region called Eden, the location of which is unknown today. Some surmise that it was in the Mesopotamia valley. God "planted" the garden with an abundant variety of trees which were both "pleasant to the sight" (beautiful) and "good for food" (beneficial). Adam’s every need was being provided. In the beautiful garden, there was also "the tree of life." If man ate regularly of this tree, he would never experience mortal death. That tree will grow in abundance during the millennial reign of Christ on earth. In the garden was also "the tree of knowledge of good an evil." Partaking of the fruit of this tree would result in the loss of man’s purity and give him the knowledge of evil also.

The garden in Eden was paradise, the most efficient, pleasant and spectacular mortal place which has ever existed. Eden means delightful andpleasant. In Eden, Adam had what men today so desperately want. There was nothing good left to be desired. Eden is a clear testimonial to God’s special love and commitment to man. Yet, Eden is not God’s greatest demonstration of His love for man. The cross of Calvary is the greatest demonstration of God’s love to have ever occurred.

Amazingly, without rain, God kept the earth amply watered. Prior to the Flood, there was no rain. One would suppose that without rain, the entire earth would have rapidly become a desert. To the contrary, every land area was lush and productive year-round.

Since the Flood, global and continental air currents bring moisture, which evaporate over large bodies of water, primarily oceans and gulfs, inland. The incoming winds are moist and warm. When they collide with cooler, drier air over land, condensation of the moisture occurs in the form of rain or snow. The falling moisture, particularly in ice form, generates strong positive electrical charges, which discharge in the form of lightning. The falling moisture waters the earth before evaporating or returning to the seas by way of rivers and other drainages.

QUESTIONS

1. Explain the significance of Genesis 2 in addressing many of the points previously covered in Genesis 1.

2. Explain the composition of Adam’s body.

3. How did God differ His approach when creating Adam?

4. Discuss the complexity of Adam’s body.

5. What transformed Adam from a lifeless form into a living soul?

6. Discuss the concept that all life comes from life along with its implications for those who believe in works for salvation and those who embrace evolution.

7. Discuss the region of Eden.

8. Why does the location of Eden remain unknown?

9. Explain the significance of God personally planting the garden in Eden.

10. Explain the phrase "pleasant to the sight" as related to the trees of the garden in Eden.

11. Explain the phrase "good for food" as related to the trees of the garden in Eden.

12. Discuss "the tree of life."

13. Is the tree of life permanently extinct?

14. Discuss "the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

15. Discuss what a great demonstration of the goodness and love of God for man the garden in Eden was.

16. What is the all-time greatest demonstration of the love of God toward man?

17. Explain God’s statement that there was no rain prior to the Flood.

18. How does God water the earth now?

19. How did God water the earth when there was no rain?