The Garden of Eden

2023-11-10

Genesis 2:4-25 is not some “separate” creation story as some purport; this passage gives more specifics about what was said in the previous section (Genesis 1:1-31; 2:1-3; see Creation), especially concerning the sixth day. It answers questions, such as: How did God create man and woman? What happened to them once they were created? What did having dominion over the world look like? This was the world that God had created and was not marred by sin.

God’s Name

First, we see God being called the LORD God. This name LORD is His personal name. We see a combination of the His name with the more generic “God.” We see God’s power in this passage, but we also see a very personal side of God as He carefully formed the man and woman, where He had intimate friendship with them.

God’s Preparation (Genesis 2:4-6)

First, we see detail that before humankind, the plants were provided for by God Himself by a mist from the ground. “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. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:5, 6). God ensured that when the animals and the people were placed on the earth, they had the sustenance they needed.

The LORD God Formed Man (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. (Genesis 2:7)

The LORD created man from “the dust of the ground.” It should not surprise us that the human body is made up of the same elements found in creation. However, sculpting a man from the elements of the world was not enough to make him a living being. The LORD God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” Life does not come from non-life. Life does not come about spontaneously. True life is created by God. When the LORD breathed into Him life, the “man became a living soul.” His becoming a living creature was dependent on God’s providing life.

There is no mention of this man being another animal like an ape, like the theistic evolution crowd would say. The text is specific in that the man was formed from “dust of the ground.” This was a miraculous occurrence that was not repeated a second time.

LORD God Planted a Garden Eastward in Eden (Genesis 2:8-15)

Of the plants created, the LORD planted this Garden of Eden, and the man was placed there. His task was “to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:15). This was His service and fulltime job. He would take care of it and keep it, which also implies guarding it. This garden was part of the responsibility of having dominion over the world and its creatures. There were no thorns and thistles. The man taking care of this garden would not be like it is today. Work would not have caused the fatigue and the pain that it does today.

The garden was a beautiful place as the trees were “pleasant to the sight” (Genesis 2:9). These trees were also “good for food.” What God provides for His people is good and perfect in every way. A specific type of tree was called the tree of life, which was in the middle of the garden. There was also this tree of knowledge of good and evil. God gave commands concerning this last tree later in the passage.

This garden was quite lush. We are told there were four rivers that became one river “to water the garden” (Genesis 2:10). The first three rivers, Pison, Gihon, and Hiddekel, encompassed entire lands, Havilah, Ethiopia, and Assyria, respectively. This is a lot of water from different directions all flowing to this central land of Eden and its garden, and the tree of life was at the center of this central land of Eden and its garden.

The names of lands and rivers mentioned are there for a reason. Some of these are names we know throughout the Bible and some of which we know even in our modern times.

However, you notice a problem. Hiddekel (Tigris) and Euphrates, sure, we have heard of those rivers and know where they are to this day. Where are the Pison and Gihon rivers? This is a hint that the world in those days was drastically different. When the Flood came about a millennium and half later, it thoroughly destroyed and rearranged the world of those days.

While we can recognize the names given in this passage, they would not be the same as we know them today. The names are given to show the proximity of the ancient world compared to the garden, but it is also intentionally written to record the history and the difference of the antediluvian world.

The LORD God Commanded the Man (Genesis 2:16-17)

The command of God was twofold:

  1. “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat”
  2. “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”

The man could freely eat without any restriction of every tree in the garden, all good for food and beautiful. This presumably included the life-imparting tree of life. However, eating of the tree of knowledge would cause certain death. Recall that God, when He spoke into the darkness and commanded light to exist, it came to be (Genesis 1:3-5). Ten times did God speak, and the creation came to be in the previous section. When God says something, it most certainly will come to pass. Likewise, when God said that the man would die if he ate of that tree, it would most certainly happen.

The commandment shows that death was a new thing. The man knew nothing of death because everything to this point was about creating life. He must have known enough about death that life, that should have been never-ending, would end. Death was an alien force that would only exist if the man allowed it to happen.

I Will Make Him an Help (Genesis 2:18-20)

Here, we for the first time that something is “not good”: “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18). The LORD would create a “help” for the man. “Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man” (1 Corinthians 11:9).

Before He did this, God showed the man his need for a helper and partner. Previously, God had created the animals of the world. These are the same animals brought to the man. No water creatures were mentioned, and when you think of animal kinds, which is a broader concept than species, this time of naming would not be an unreasonable task of endless years. The naming of the animals is part of the man having dominion over the world; he had authority over the animals, so should he name them.

However, after a few hours of this naming and seeing each animal having its mate, the man saw that there was no partner with him. He saw the need that God saw for him. No suitable helper was found.

(Notice in Genesis 2:19, we see that the man’s name was Adam. Actually, the name was there for many verses previously because “Adam” means “man” and was used several times. The translators did not start using the name Adam until now.)

She Shall Be Called Woman (Genesis 2:21-25)

The creation of woman was by God removing a rib from Adam and creating her. After seeing all other creatures fall short of being a proper help, Adam exclaimed, “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). There is deep theological truth in this passage concerning Jesus Christ and the church, which is why marriage is a sacred union. For a discussion on that, proceed here.

This set the precedent for marriage. A man would leave his parents and marry his wife. One man and one woman make a marriage. All deviations from this pattern were not from God, but were distortion brought on by sin later.

Conclusions from the Text

Adam and his wife were naked, but there was no shame. Sin and shame do not and cannot exist in God’s paradise. Death and disease were not there; even in their diets were they vegetarian, both the humans and the animals. There were no thorns and thistles; the work did not cause pain. The newlyweds did not have marriage difficulties. There was no alienation from God; He would walk through the Garden and commune with His creation. This was how God made things; they were perfect, with no death, disease, sin, and shame that are ubiquitous in today’s world. We know that the reason for these things was because Adam did eat of that tree of knowledge, and as a result, the world was cursed, and death reigned over every living thing.

Other Mentions of the Garden of Eden

In these places, we see that the Garden of Eden was the pinnacle of beauty and goodness. Well-watered places in the world were likened to the garden, and even great men were likened to its trees. It is the opposite of wasteland and wilderness. There is a promise that the world will one day be restored by the Lord to a state like what was found in Eden, but first the world will be made a desolate wilderness.