At Home In God's Garden  
– Genesis Two –

          The heavens and the earth and everything else were created by God in six days. On the seventh day God ceased from creation or He rested. God placed man in the beautiful Garden of Eden. At first the picturesque earth was like a green house. It was watered with vapor and not with rain. Genesis 2:7 provides additional information about the creation of man. "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." Genesis 2 is not the story of a second creation. Genesis 2 simply provides a few details that are not found in Genesis 1. There were all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees for man to enjoy. In the middle of the garden God placed two trees. One of the trees gave man life and the other tree gave him the power of choice. A river went out of Eden to water the garden; it parted and became four rivers, (1) Pison, (2) Gihon, (3) Hiddekel, and (4) The Euphrates. Man was allowed to eat from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told man that he would die that day if he ate any fruit from that tree. Man was to care for the garden by dressing and keeping it.

          God said, "It isn't good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him." Out of the soil God had created all kinds of animals and birds. Man named those things that he was to have control over. No animal provided a proper partner for man. God put man into a deep sleep; He took a rib from man and made a woman. Before God created the woman He closed up Adams flesh. The Lord made a woman out of Adam's rib. Eve was someone like Adam. She was part of his body. She was his own flesh and bones. The word of God says, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." (Genesis 2:24) God ordered that there shall be a closer connection formed between the man and woman, than can exist between parents and children. The creation provided a wonderful time of innocence. Although the man and his wife were both naked, they were not ashamed.

          The heavens and the earth were finished -- Genesis 2:1-7: God created the heavens and the earth and all the "hosts." The "hosts" likely refers to the angels. "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him." (Colossians 1:16) "God created the heavens." Please observe that heavens are plural. There are three "heavens" in scripture. (2 Corinthians 12:1-5) There is the heaven where the birds fly. (Jeremiah 4:25) The second heaven is where the stars and moon are located. (Isaiah 13:10) The third heaven is the dwelling place of God. (Hebrews 9:24) Genesis 1:2 says, "On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made." God set aside the seventh day as a day of rest. In the book of Genesis we have the generations or the beginnings of the heavens and the earth and also the generations of man starting with Adam and his descendants. The beautiful earth that God had made was at first watered by a midst from heaven. The creation of necessary thing for man to sustain life had been accomplished. Then, "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." (Genesis 2:7) Man is body, soul and spirit. All people are true humans and descendants of Adam and Eve.

God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden -- Genesis 2:8-15: God placed both beautiful plants and this man with a living soul into the beautiful garden in Eden. This was a special garden because "God planted a garden eastward in Eden." Adam may have seen the trees of the garden grow. In the garden were things pleasant to the sight and good for food. In the middle of the garden God place the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam learned “good” from God and he learned “evil” by his own actions. There was a river in the garden with four heads. They were Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates. The Pison compasseth the whole land of Havilah where there is gold. God even said "the gold is good." Imagine what the gold in heaven will be like!

          The tree of the knowledge of good and evil -- Genesis 2:15-20: Man was placed in the garden with some very simple commands to obey. He was to dress and to keep the garden. He was to avoid contact with the tree of knowledge of good and evil and he was not to eat of it. God gave man a free will and the power of choice. As in the beginning so it is today man can choose to obey or disobey God. God wanted man to serve Him out of love, not necessity. This love involved making the right choice. There have always been consequences for bad choices; "For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Death entered the world through the bad choices of Adam and Eve. (Romans 5:12) Man was alone in this beautiful garden. God said that was not good. Adam needed human fellowship. God would make man a helper like himself. God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air out of the earth. God allowed Adam to name every living creature. The animals and plants God created always reproduce after their kind and only reproduce after their kind.

          God made Eve from Adam’s rib -- Genesis 2:21-25: God made Eve from Adam's rib. Woman was clearly a part of the man. Man was made from the dirt or earth. Woman was made from part of the man's body. Normally both men and women have 12 pairs of ribs. Man does not have one less rib than women. The expression, "closed up the flesh instead thereof" likely means that Adam did not even have a scar. Concerning Jesus the prophet wrote, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." (Zechariah 12:10) The Savior's side was pierced and it did not heal. (John 19:34, John 20:27) Adam's reaction to the creation of woman was, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Genesis 2:23) The relationship of husband and wife should be the strongest relationship on earth. Adam and Eve lived in a time of innocence. Before there was sin in the world, nakedness was not a shameful thing.