GENESIS LESSON 6
Genesis 2:1 "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and
all the host of them."
Verse 1 of chapter 2 tells us a lot. Heavens is plural meaning
more than one. and when you are speaking of all the host, you are
speaking of many stars and the sun and the moon. It also states that
there was no more work to be done. Finished means nothing else remains
to be done. Just as Jesus said on the cross "It is finished" the work
was and is completed.
Genesis 2:2 "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."
In verse 1 and 2 God is Elohim. Remember Elohim is a plural word.
Some writers insert the sixth day in verse 2, so that there will be no
mistaking that the work was finished on the sixth day, and that no
work at all was done on the seventh day. Some of the translators
change "ended" to "had finished" to indicate no activity on the
seventh day. As we mentioned in the last lesson, 6 days of work, 6
years the land works, 6 hours on the cross for Jesus, and 6000 years
of work on earth for mankind. Six has to do with mankind. (work for
mankind, if you will).
Shavath is one of the words translated "ended". Shavath is the
primary idea of the (rested from all His work) and it means total
cessation from work.
This is also the rest that God speaks of for the Christian. Total
cessation from the struggles of life.
Genesis 2:3 "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."
God blessed that seventh day for mankind, to give mankind rest as
well as God. Jesus said "The sabbath was made for man and not man for
the sabbath" in Mark 2-27. You see, even in the day of rest that God
set up; He still had the needs of mankind at heart. He knew our bodies
would wear out, if we did not have 1 day in 7 for rest.
"Seven", as we have mentioned over and over again means spiritually
complete.
Sanctified just means that God Himself made it holy. He set the
seventh day aside and declared it holy. When we are sanctified, it
means we have been set aside by God and made holy by Him. We are not
made holy by what we have done, but by what He has done.
When We see the example that God did not rest until His work was
finished, we see what He expects from us. When He returns. He expects to
find us working. Trying to get one more saved before the trumpet
blows.
In verse 4 of chapter 2 of Genesis we just see the message
emphasized again that the Elohim God created all and everything.
Many writers believe that Moses' information for the first book
of the Bible came from various ancient writings, and they also believe
that there is a contradiction on the creation of man and woman in
chapters 1 and 2. They believe one writer spoke of a miracle creation
of both man and woman in chapter 1, and that another writer said in
chapter 2 that man was made first.
As I said in a previous lesson, I do not believe there were any
earlier writings. My own personal belief is, when Moses was on the
mountain top, God put the knowledge to write the history into Moses'
head (the glowing head). The creation of man and woman in Chapter 1 was
a brief statement that God made them. Chapter 2 could be a description
of how it came about. Just as when you read the genealogy of Jesus in
Matthew, it doesn't mean that it happened then, it is just explaining
how it came about.
Genesis 2:4 "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,"
Jehovah Elohim was first used here.
Genesis 2:5 "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."
Can't you see this is an unfolding of the short statement said
about the creation in verse 1?
Genesis 2:6 "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered
the whole face of the ground."
Maybe, I can give an example that will make it a little more
clear. I might just state that I made a glass of grape jelly. However,
if you asked how, I might go into detail about how I picked the
grapes, washed them, put them on the stove to boil, added sugar, and
strained it into a jar. Even if I had not gone into detail on how I
made it, the fact remains; it is still a jar of grape jelly.
Genesis 2:7 "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."
So many religious people of our day are confused about this one
verse.
Somehow they seem to overlook the break between the words "breath
of life" and "man became a living soul". You see if that statement had
ended at life, man would be alive. Man is in fact that breath of life
that God breathed into Him. This breath of life that God breathed into
the body is what man is. It is the spirit. The body is the house for
the spirit to live in.
Right now you are probably thinking, "well, where does the
sentence (man became a living soul) come in?"
If the spirit of man lived in this house called a body and had no
soul, there would be no conflict; but you see, there is a conflict.
The spirit wants to be in control, and the body wants to be in
control. Control of what? The soul which is the will of man.
The Bible says there is a war going on constantly between the
flesh and the spirit. Why would that be, unless they were trying to
take control of something? That something is the soul or will of
mankind.
We are a spirit, housed in a body and either the spirit or the
flesh (body) controls the soul (will).
Mankind did not just slither into existence by evolution, but was
rather created by a loving God in His own likeness.
The difference between man and beast is the power to reason and
have a will.
We went into that in a former lesson, so we will not elaborate
further here. Genesis 2:8 "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward
in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed."
We see again; Jehovah Elohim here planted a garden. He is always
concerned about the needs of man. This garden was a protected place
where God could fellowship with man, and where the needs of man would
be met, (a heaven on earth).
Some believe this garden was in the Holy Land we know today. It
really doesn't matter where it was. Just know it existed and was made
by God for man. God has always prepared a special place for mankind so
that He might fellowship with his people.
Genesis 2:9 "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."
God, not only thought of physical needs of mankind, but wanted
him to be happy as well. The trees were beautiful as well as
functional.
Nothing is more beautiful than a peach or apple tree in full
bloom.
The Garden of Eden became the highest form of heaven on earth. It
was beautiful to the eye and took care of all man's needs.
Just as the center of our life must be God for us to have a
fulfilling life, the central figure in the garden was the Tree of Life
(symbolic of Jesus). The forbidden tree in the garden was the tree of
knowledge of good and evil.
Even in this beautiful, wonderful garden, man's will was to be
perfectly active. As we said before, the thing that separates mankind
from the animals is the fact of his will. He can choose to do good, or
choose to do evil.
Jesus called Himself the Tree of Life. And certainly if we
partake of Him, we will have eternal life. It seems that the innocence
of man was the factor in making this garden truly heaven on earth.
We read in our Bible, that we can not break the law until there
is a law to break. It seems Adam was in a blissful state of no
temptation at this point.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil perhaps had something
to do with opening our eyes to the law of God, (it made us aware of
Him).
It is interesting to me as we move on down in chapter 2, we will
find out that Adam had never eaten of the Tree of Life, even though it
was in the garden for him. It might be symbolic to make us see that we
must partake of Jesus Christ's salvation and eternal life for
ourselves. It can be available, but if we do not partake of it for
ourselves, we will lose out, too, the same as Adam did.
He was partaking of the fruit on the outer edge, but never
partook of the Tree in the center (Jesus), which would give him
eternal life. We Christians must be careful not to just nibble around
the edges of Christianity. We must get to the center and eat of this
Tree of Life to be pleasing to God. Part time religion will not get us
into heaven. We must have Jesus as the very center of our lives to make
it to heaven.
We learn in our A.C.E. training that even in school, the world
does not revolve around us. We are not God. The world revolves around
God, Himself.
Notes
Questions 6
1. What does "finished" mean?
2. Why do some writers insert the sixth day in verse 2 of chapter 2?
3. What does the word "Shavath" mean?
4. What did Jesus say about the sabbath?
5. What does "sanctified" mean?
6. How can we be sanctified?
7. In what condition does God want to find us when He returns?
8. Where do many writers believe Moses' information to write Genesis
came from?
9. Name the way they believe there is a contradiction in chapter 1
and chapter 2.
10. Do we believe there was a contradiction?
11. Where is Jehovah Elohim (Lord God) used first?
12. Where did the earth get the moisture it needed to grow plants?
13. What was man's body formed from?
14. Where did man get his breath of life?
15. And man became what?
16. What is the breath of life?
17. Why do we have a body?
18. What are the spirit and the body fighting for?
19. What is the difference between man and beast?
20. Where was the garden located?
21. The exact location of the garden is not important. What two things
are?
22. Where was the Tree of Life located in the garden?
23. Describe the trees in two words.
24. What must happen for us to have a fulfilling life?
25. Where do we see Jesus (symbolically) in the garden?
26. What tree had Adam not eaten from, besides the tree of knowledge
of good and evil?
27. What do we learn in A.C.E. training pertaining to this lesson?
Notes
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