Chapter 4: And the LORD God Planted a Garden Eastward in Eden

After God created the world, He created a place for His newly formed people to live. Let us move on to Genesis 2, where we see what happened to those first people formed. These verses will rehearse the latter part of the sixth day of Creation when humankind was first formed (Genesis 1:26-31), but we will see much more detail than what we saw previously.

Genesis 2:4-10, 15-25: 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...

(2:15) 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.

Let us explore some of the major themes we see in this passage.

1. God is referred to as the LORD God instead of just God. If you recall, the word “LORD” refers to God’s personal name, Jehovah. This is the first time we see this designation in the Bible (Genesis 2:4). Instead of only seeing God as the powerful being that created the world and subdued the chaotic waters of creation, we see Jehovah God as He personally interacted with Adam, the first man. Adam had an interpersonal relationship with God. The Lord fashioned Adam and his wife, and God communicated with them.
2. Plants were watered by a mist from the ground rather than rain water. This may not seem very important at first, but we see that rain was not a phenomenon that the world experienced (Genesis 2:5-6). This is also apparent since rainbows did not appear in the sky until later on in the Bible (Genesis 9:13).
3. God created the man Adam and breathed life into him. The LORD God created Adam out of the dust of the ground. This was not enough however; God had to breathe life into him for Adam to be a real live person. (Genesis 2:7). Only God can create life; God is the source of life.
4. God loved Adam. Remember, by love, we mean a practical love which is service. God placed Adam into the Garden of Eden, a lush garden with many fruit trees (Genesis 2:8-9). He could eat as much as he wanted from these trees (Genesis 2:16). God did not ask Adam if he wanted to be placed there; God simply placed him there, because God is the creator and owner of all things. God knew what was best for Adam, and gave him a perfect home in which to live. Likewise, God knows what is best for us, and gives us what we really need.
   
   Let us look at the specifics of God’s gift to Adam. God said to Adam, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat” (Genesis 2:16). The phrase “freely eat” in the original language indicated emphasis. The word “eat” is actually used twice for emphasis. Adam could eat as much as he wanted from the garden, and he did not need to ask for more. God provided sustenance for Adam as a free gift.
5. God made Adam the caretaker of the garden. Adam’s job was to take care of this garden (Genesis 2:15). Since God is the authority over everything, He can delegate that authority to anyone He wishes.
6. There were two named trees in the Garden, the first was the tree of life. This one tree that was in the garden had a place of prominence; it was called the tree of life. The little we know about this tree is that it somehow imparted life to whoever ate of it (Genesis 3:22). It also bore multiple types of fruit, which made it unique from any other tree that ever existed (Revelation 22:2).
7. God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam could eat of the tree of life and any of the other trees, except one. Adam could not eat of the other named tree, called the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). God commanded that Adam should not eat of this tree of knowledge. Eating of this tree would introduce death into the human race.
   
   To this point, death was not a part of creation. God had created a perfect world. Death was a consequence for disobeying and rebelling against God, not a natural phenomenon. This phrase “surely die” is very similar to the “freely eat” we looked at in the previous verse. The verb “die” is used twice for emphasis. If Adam ate of the tree, it was not that he might die, or likely die, but that he would definitely die. When God states something is going to happen, it is definitely going to happen.
   
   We also need to define death. In some ways, we need to think of it as separation. Adam was going to physically die. He was not necessarily going to immediately breathe his last breath. However, there are three ways he was going to die. First, Adam was going to be separated from God. God is omnipresent, so it is not possible for Adam to be separated from God by proximity. By separation, we mean that the friendship and peace that existed between God and Adam would immediately be severed. This is very similar to what happened between Lucifer and God.
   
   Second, Adam’s body would start to slowly die. It may take a while, but his body would age, and eventually his body would breathe its last breath.
   
   Third, Adam would also eventually be thrown into the lake of fire after death (Hebrews 9:27). God is perfect, and imperfection cannot be in the presence of the perfect God. This terrible fate was not temporary. Adam would be in this lake of fire for eternity, because he sinned against the infinite God (Revelation 20:14-15).
   
   To this point, just as death was an unknown concept, so was anything that was not perfect. Adam only knew the good and the perfect. If he ate of the tree of knowledge, he would learn what evil is, and the greatest evil, death.
8. God created a wife for Adam. To this point, Adam is alone (Genesis 2:18). We see God said that it was “not good” for Adam to be alone. This is the first time in the entire Bible that we see that something is “not good”!
   
   God once again delegated His authority to Adam, this time to name all of the animals. To name something is to have authority over it. Seeing all of the animals, he saw that he lacked a mate, unlike all of the other animals.
   
   After Adam saw his need, God provided a “help” for Adam. Marriage is inaugurated here in God’s Garden of Eden.
9. Adam and his wife were naked. This may seem odd, because we know well that it is shameful to be naked. However, shame and embarrassment did not exist in those days, and they had no idea about clothes. A further explanation will be seen in the next chapter.

Adam and his wife lived in this perfect new world. They knew communion with God and with one another. They had all of their necessities available to them in a beautiful garden. God gave everything this new pair of human beings would need or want. If only this were the end of the story!

Next: Chapter 5: It Shall Bruise Thy Head

Previous: Chapter 3: O Lucifer, Son of the Morning!

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