The Bible

 

Genesis 2

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1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

7 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 soul.

8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

   

Commentary

 

Genesis 2 - Synopsis

By Bradley Sheahan, New Christian Bible Study Staff

Genesis 2 tells the story of God’s creation of Adam from the dust of the earth, and the forming of the Garden of Eden at the headwaters of four rivers. In it there are many trees, with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of them. Then God seeks a helpmeet for Adam, and creates Eve from Adam’s rib while he is sleeping.

Here’s a brief outline:

  • God rests on the seventh day, blesses it, and makes it holy. (Verses 1-4)
  • God creates man, Adam, from the dust of the earth (Verses 5-7)
  • God plants a garden in Eden (Verses 8-14)
  • Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden, and warned not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Verses 15-17)
  • God seeks a helpmeet for Adam, and creates Eve from one of Adam’s ribs, and they are married, conjoined. (Verses 18-25)

In its inner spiritual sense, this chapter continues the story of the regeneration, or rebirth, of a human being. The early verses describe a person reaching the seventh stage of rebirth, represented by the Sabbath. It’s the celestial or heavenly state, in which a person has become remade, internally, in the image and likeness of God. Then, God shines through in all that a celestial person does and speaks.

Also, on another level, this chapter begins the story of the most ancient church on earth, sometimes called the Adamic church. “Adam” in Hebrew means “man”, so this is the church of mankind, i.e. a beginning stage of spiritual development in early human beings.

The prior chapter ended with the sixth day, the spiritual stage when a person has been transformed by God into a spiritual person, after the lifelong series of battles that a person encounters in this process. In the opening of Genesis 1, a person is pictured as spiritually dead, void and empty, blind to the love and truth of God, and living his or her life in pursuit of worldly ambitions and sensual pleasures. The evil and falsities that permeate that kind of existence enslave us, and, on our own, we are fighting a losing battle. The bonds that restrain us from evil are fear of the law, fear of the loss of life or loss of wealth, and fear of damage to our reputations. This state is a “natural” one, i.e. not one with much spiritual depth or activity.

If we turn to the Lord for help, though, we can be reformed, and develop a spiritual life, and be reborn. A spiritual person is also in combat with temptations towards evil and falsity, but is victorious. The bonds that restrain such a person are internal – the bonds of conscience. The celestial person, who will be discussed in this chapter of Genesis, is no longer in such combat, because evil and falsities no longer hold any interest.

For this summary, here’s some important insight: In our life in this world, we are very much aware of our physical, natural existence, and largely unaware of our concurrent spiritual one. On the spiritual level, we are continually interacting with people who are already in heaven or hell – spirits, both good (angels) and bad (evil spirits). The classic cartoon image with the little angel on one shoulder and the little devil on the other, both trying to influence us, isn't that far from the truth.

In ancient times, people had a more direct ability to communicate with the spiritual world, but we’ve lost that ability as we’ve become more enmeshed in worldly affairs. In the spiritual battles we need to go through as we’re being reformed, as we become more in tune with God’s love and truth, angels are helping us on our path to reach heaven, both here, as we live out our lives, and then further in the next life.


Spiritual lessons from this chapter:

As we continue in our path to enlightenment, it is God who is still leading us and teaching us about his way. He will continue to feed us the spiritual food that will bring us wisdom and understanding. When we reach the final stage of rebirth, we fulfill the potential He hopes for when he creates us, being made in God's image and likeness -- still uniquely ourselves, but loving and wise, useful and active but internally at peace.

Commentary

 

Three

  

The number three in the Bible represents completeness. That's why Jesus rose on the third day after the Crucifixion -- his transformation was complete. It's why Elijah stretched himself on the dead child three times, why Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, why the Lord called Samuel three times, and many more. It's also reflected in the fact that there are three levels of heaven, three levels of hell, three levels to human life and, ultimately, three aspects of the Lord Himself: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.