Genesis Chapter 2

Creation Completed

2:1-3

God completes in history exactly what He planned to do with absolute perfection. God clearly shows us He fulfills exactly what He plans, in perfect time. All history will follow God’s perfect plan. God is in control. Now we are told God ‘rested’. We often think of this as a time of stopping activity and taking time to regain our strength. We rest when we feel weary or tired. Yet God NEVER is weary or tired, so this ‘resting’ meant God had finished His creation work and was satisfied completely with all He had done. The Rabbis state that the Creator caused a repose to encompass the universe. The laws of nature were carefully put into place and the flow of time begins. This first Sabbath is the 7th day. God created everything in six literal days, then, the 7th, He ‘rested”. Even today, our calendar week begins with Sunday, being the first day of the week.
This term of History, or genealogy, is from a Hebrew word toledoth, which means “this is what became of..”
This Completion of Creation is mentioned in Hebrews 4:3-4, “the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” God holds everything in creation in His power. Nehemiah 9:6, “All the things that are therein … You preserve them all.”
However, today we know that the first law of Thermodynamics states that matter or its energy equivalent, can not be created nor destroyed, under natural circumstances. Nowhere in our universe is matter being observed being created or destroyed. Natural processes cannot create energy. All energy is a result of the past creation ~ all done by God.
The second law of thermodynamics asserts that as time continues, the universe progresses from a state of order to a state of greater disorder (entropy). All energy available to do work continually decreases. The universe appears to run downhill to an eventual heat death when no temperature differences exist (there is no energy available).
We know now that this 2nd law evidently did not exist in the perfect creation.
So what happened to cause this state of perfection to now become imperfection and disorder? We will see the “this is what became of the Heavens and the Earth” answer in Chapter 3.

2:3

God does two things here within the seventh day ~ He blesses it and He sanctifies it, making it Holy. We are even told why He did this: Because in that day God rested from all His work ~ He was completely and totally satisfied at the perfect Universe He had created. Jews today still worship on the Sabbath. Strict Jews will do no work at all on the Sabbath. So why do Christians worship on Sunday rather than on the Sabbath, as God commanded in the Ten Commandments? After Jesus’ resurrection He appeared to His disciples on four Sundays; (see Mt. 28:1, Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; and John 20:1) Pentecost, the birth of the church was on a Sunday (Acts 2:1) Perhaps to allow for Gentiles to worship with Believing Jews, they met on the First day of the week, which is Sunday.

There is also the Ruler, Constantine, who became a Christian after winning a great victory after seeing a vision in the sky of a cross with the words, “in this Sign Conquer”. Constantine had issued a declaration on March 7, 321, that all peoples should rest on the day of the sun. Then in 325 A.D., Constantine issued a general exhortation to all his subjects to embrace Christianity. Constantine abolished slavery, gladiatorial fights, the killing of unwelcome children, and crucifixion as a form of execution. He did many other things to try to bring about a culture of Christianity in his kingdom. Many criticize him and accuse him of making Sunday the day of worship for Christians instead of Saturday, as required by the old Testament. However, keep in mind that Jesus also honored the Sabbath. So what should we do? Pray about it.

2:4

Just in case we aren’t certain about the exactness of time involved in Creation, this verse clearly tells us this is the History of the Universe, when ‘they’, the Heavens and the Earth, were created. If we believe God’s Word, we must believe an exact six day creation. If we fail to believe the previous verses, then why believe anything in the Bible? With God’s Word it is all or none. We cannot pick and chose what we will believe or not believe. We either Trust and Believe everything God tells us, or we call God a liar. We will see in Chapter three what happens when someone calls God a liar.

2:5-6

Now we are given some important details about how the Earth functions. Notice that until the mist, fog, or vapor, watered the ground, the plants were not able to grow. Once this mist began watering everything, then the plants could grow.

2:7

This verse is interesting because science has only discovered recently that the same essential chemical elements found in mankind and animal life are in the soil. Yet God was revealing this Truth to anyone who would believe His written Word. We also see that God breathed into the nostrils of the man the breath of life, and man became a living being. What a beautiful picture of God’s tender and loving care in creating us in His image, and then personally imparting His life into us.

2:8

God plants a special garden just for mankind and places him in this garden. Notice that God carefully creates a special, perfect garden for man to live in, and then places him in it. So our history of humankind begins in a garden carefully made by God. In the end, when God restores all things, the result will be a magnificent, glorious city – The New Jerusalem. (See Revelation 21:2, etc.) We should be excited to know that God always has the best planned for us. We need to become more and more like Jesus in anticipation of this glorious future God has planned for each of us. How can you be absolutely certain God has the best plans for you? See Jeremiah 29:11, and then memorize it as a prayer for yourself!

2:9

God again plants more trees in this garden; all the trees are not only beautiful, but the fruit is the best food possible for man! We are also told the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are also planted in this garden. We will learn more about both these trees in our future studies.

2:10-14

God gives us the basic geography of the garden; and the surrounding areas. Although we have rivers with two of these names today in our world, they are not the same rivers. How do we know this? (Hint: the flood changed the entire surface of the earth) We are also given information about precious metals and stones. Why do you think God wants us to know about these things?

2:15

Again, we are told at the exact time that God placed man in the garden, and what his task was to be. We can understand the need to tend, or care for, the garden; but why the need to keep it or guard it? Guard it from whom, or what? Any ideas? Evil, perhaps?

2:16-17

Now we see the first Command from God. Was the Command clear? Do you think Adam understood the importance of the Command? Did God give a warning of the consequences of disobeying the Command?

2:18

Suddenly we are told something is NOT GOOD. Yet in the same verse we are told that God will resolve the ‘not good aloneness’ with a helper comparable to him.

2:19-20

Although we are told that God is forming beasts and birds and bringing them to Adam; does this mean this is contradictory to Chapter one? Why or why not? Although God is forming these creatures and brings them to Adam; He is doing it for specific reasons. Can you think of why God is creating something for Adam to see? The “job” of naming all the creatures seems like a great privilege. Do you think Adam saw it that way? Since God had ordained that Adam was to rule over all creatures on the Earth, was this part of his Ruling position? Was Adam aware that he was privileged to work with the God of the Universe? As Adam saw each creature and then named it, do you think he was searching for his “helper”? What clue do we have? What other important areas do you see introduced here?

2:21-22

We see the very careful way that God created Adams helper. This woman was taken from his side, and was to be his partner and lifelong companion.

2:23

Adam’s first recorded words are given to us for our learning and reflection. Notice that he instantly recognizes that the woman is part of him, and was taken out of him. How did he know that if he was asleep? Obviously, God told him.

2:24

God speaks the famous words that tell all mankind down through the ages that a man and woman are to become one flesh in marriage. Jesus tells us that what God has joined together, man should never separate. Marriage was ordained and blessed by God to be one man and one woman until death parted them.

2:25

Because the man and woman were perfect and covered with God’s love and protection, they had no need of any other covering. Remember, they were both in the presence of God.

We see God giving Adam the privilege of seeing animals being created and of participating by being given the privilege of naming them. In this way, Adam can participate and learn responsibility for the ruling and caring of the animals. As God gives Adam work to do the work is designed to teach Adam responsibilities and privileges; remember, they always go hand in hand. God is teaching us lessons at the same time. Can you see why it is foolish to give anyone privileges without responsibilities? Spoiled, selfish and ungrateful people may come to mind here! The Truth is clear: With Privileges, come Responsibilities. To have privileges, and not accept responsibilities is destructive to our soul and spirit. Think this through carefully; IF we simple indulge ourselves with ‘privileges’, yet do nothing in the ‘responsibilities’ area, it brings a sense of worthlessness and dissatisfaction. We were created, by our Creator, to accept responsibilities; thereby experiencing a sense of value, and of satisfaction and joy in doing something worthwhile. Clearly, the best way to experience the maximum amount of joy and satisfaction in our work responsibilities, it to do them in a way that would honor and please God.