As we move into this portion of Genesis 2, we must see and understand that it presents a zoomed-in view of what has already been told in chapter 1. Chapter 1 is a wide-angle view of creation, while Chapter 2 is a zoomed-in view. It’s a retelling of what’s already been told. In these verses, we find a more detailed description of God creating man and placing him in the garden, where he was to dwell with God in harmony while tending to the garden.
Let’s dive in.
“4 These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.”
5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
When you hear the word “generations,” you might be like me and think it refers to genealogy or a family tree. If so, you’re likely very confused by what this verse means— “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” However, the Hebrew word for generations (toledot) can also mean the story that flows from something or someone. For example, Genesis 6:9 states, “These are the generations of Noah,” which is then followed by the story of Noah, not a list of his children. So, in simpler terms, verse 4 is saying, “This is the story that has unfolded after God has made the heavens and the earth.”
Some view this verse as a section heading that signifies a transition in the book of Genesis. It’s an attention grabber. It begins the transition of a broad view of creation to a narrow view of the formation of man, woman, and the garden. So, we’re transitioning from the wide-angle view of creation into the zoomed-in view of creation.
THE LORD GOD
Before we move on, I would like to draw our attention to something in this verse, specifically a transition found in the text. Up until this point in the Bible, God has been called “God”— “In the beginning God…Then God said… So God created…So God blessed the seventh day…”But now I want you to notice how God is described as “the LORD God.”
In Chapter 1, the Hebrew name used for God is “Elohim,” which highlights Him as the powerful and majestic Creator. However, in Chapter 2, God is introduced as Yahweh Elohim. Yahweh highlights God’s relational nature as our covenant redeemer. So, this title, “LORD God,” highlights God’s greatness and closeness. God, the creator, is God our redeemer. The personal God is the powerful God. The one who formed the stars is the one who formed us. The one who spoke the sun into existence breathed his breath into man’s nostrils. The one who holds the universe in his hand is the one who redeemed us with an outstretched arm.
God is both transcendent and immanent; He is sovereign over all and closely dwelling with those who belong to him. God is powerful and personal. The One who dwells closely with his people in the garden is the One who created all things. We are reading the story of a mighty and personal God forming man into his image, placing him in his garden to rule over his creation.
A LAND WAITING FOR CULTIVATION
Verses 5-6 then describe the state of creation before man was formed. No bush of the field or small plant of the field had yet sprung up. So, with the camera lens zoomed all the way in, we’re beginning to see what creation looked like before humans entered the picture. Bush of the field signifies wild, uncultivated shrubs or plants that require rain to survive. Plants of the field signify cultivated crops or food plants that require human farming. So, the ground was waiting for someone to work it. It’s as if God’s good creation was unfinished without man’s participation. Yet, even still, God was providing and sustaining his creation by a mist or spring coming up from the land to water the face of the ground.
It’s not worth spending much time here, but some interpreters have trouble understanding the word "mist" here. Some interpret it as a dew-like mist, while others interpret it as an underground spring or stream. Either way, Eden was a well-watered sanctuary. God was miraculously providing for his creation during this time.
Then, in verse 7, the climactic moment transpires, and man is made— “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
This is poetically beautiful and theologically rich language.
Like every other beast of the field, God formed man out of the ground. But, unlike any other part of God’s creation, he breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life. Animals found life through God’s creative word, but man found life through God’s intimate breath. Many commentators highlight how the language of breathing is one of warmth and intimacy. It almost depicts the imagery of a kiss. God personally and intimately made man. He who was formed from dust was intimately given life by almighty God. All human life is special to God. It’s valuable to him. God made the first man from dust and breathed life into him. God made people in a special, loving way, and every life is precious to Him.
Then, in verse 8, we see God place man into the garden that he planted in Eden— “And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.”
The term garden means “a protected area,” and Eden means “delight.” So, the garden was a special enclosed sanctuary planted by God within the land of delight. The garden was a special, safe place in Eden, full of wonderful things. As we will see in how it’s described in a moment, it is a place of abundant, life-giving joy. Man's first home was one of blessing and delight, not struggle and scarcity.
Look at how it’s described in verses 9-14:
First, we see that God brought up beautiful and fruitful trees, trees that were pleasant to the sight and good for food. Two of those trees were the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life represented God’s life-giving presence and the gift of eternal life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil represented moral autonomy and covenant testing.
Second, we see that a river was present to water the garden, and then it divided into four rivers that went from Eden to various regions. Eden was the source of blessing that touched all of these neighboring regions: Havilah, Cush, and Assyria. Havilah was a land of abundance and resources, a place rich with gold, bdellium, and onyx. Cush was portrayed in Scripture as a distant and powerful nation. Assyria would later become one of Israel’s greatest enemies. These regions together represent abundance, distance, and future enemies. The river of Eden touched all categories of the earth— near and far, friend or foe, wealth or poverty. God’s life flowed out to the whole world.
Then we see in verses 15-17, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”
The Hebrew word for work is ʿābad, meaning to serve, cultivate, or labor, while the Hebrew word for keep is shāmar, meaning to guard, protect, or watch over. This tells us that Adam was called to tend the soil, cultivate growth, and guard it from harm. The call to work tells us work is a good, God-glorifying thing. Before sin entered the picture, work was present. Work is a key component in God’s design for humanity. God designed work to be good. The enemy wants us to believe the lie that work is bad, but the Bible teaches us that work is good!
Do you believe your job is good, church?
***I know this may conflict with some of our politically conservative leanings, but this teaches us that God designed humans to take care of their creation. He put man in the garden to work it, to tend to it, and take care of it. God has entrusted man to take good care of his creation.
Now, notice that when God puts man in the garden, he gives him specific instructions! He gives him permissionand restriction. He says, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.” As Phillip Bethancourt puts it in his commentary on Genesis, “God’s commands include both freedom and fences, liberty and limits, rights and restrictions, guidelines and guardrails— all for our good and his glory.” Sometimes we may face the temptation to view God's commands as unloving and oppressive. But what we find is that the opposite is true! God gives man freedom to enjoy his creation— eat of any tree! Except this one tree. Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
But why? Why doesn’t he want man to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Because “in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” To choose to eat from this tree would surely bring death.
God’s command here is good because it’s for man’s good! All of God’s commands are good because God is good! A good God seeks good things for his people! Therefore, when we read his commands, we trust that they are for our good! The moment we begin to see God’s commands as something other than good is the moment we start to wade into dangerous water. And as we will see in a few weeks, this is what will happen with Adam. Adam failed to obey this single command from God. He sought to sidestep God and His word to become wise on his own. He sought to take matters into his own hands. He sought to determine what was right without reference to God’s revealed will. As we will see in a few weeks, sin will enter the picture through the first Adam.
But! Here’s what’s beautiful!
The New Testament describes Jesus as the second Adam, the last Adam. So, where the first Adam failed to obey God, the second Adam came and walked in perfect obedience to God. Sin and death came through the first Adam, but grace and life came through the second Adam, Jesus Christ (Rom 5:12-21). In the first Adam, we all die, but in the second Adam, Jesus, we all can be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22)! Adam's disobedience brought condemnation, but Jesus’ obedience brought justification and life. Jesus came to restore that which was lost in the garden. He brings eternal life and restores God’s presence with his people. And we see this all anticipated throughout Scripture.
When you look at the temple in the Old Testament, you see a lot of parallels between the temple and the garden. This leads many to believe Eden was the first ‘temple-garden,’ the original sanctuary of God’s presence. The garden was an enclosed place where life flowed. It was where God dwelt with man, personally interacting with Adam and Eve. In the same way, the temple was God’s dwelling place among his people; it’s where God met Israel. In it were gold, precious stones, and trees, mirroring those in Eden. Water rituals were performed in it, which symbolized life-giving imagery. The temple was Eden’s architectural and symbolic continuation.
In the same way that Adam was called to work and keep the garden, the Levites were called to work in the sanctuary and keep it from defilement. So, Adam’s calling in the garden wasn’t just agricultural; it was priestly. But Adam failed in his role as a priest. He failed to work and keep it as he should. But Christ ultimately came and fulfilled Adam’s role as a priest. He is the great high priest! He was appointed by God as the great High Priest, offering salvation to those who obey Him. He is the greater Adam, the one who restores that which was lost in the garden.
But he wasn’t just the greater Adam, he was the true temple, God’s dwelling place among men. He is the tree of life fulfilled, the one in which eternal life is found. He is the rivers of blessing in which His Spirit is poured out to the nations. All who are in Christ look ahead to a day when Eden will be restored, where God will dwell with his people for all eternity with no curse, death, or separation. We look forward to a day when we will no longer fail, when we will dwell with God in the new Jerusalem in peace and harmony, where a river of life flows from God’s throne and the tree of life bears fruit for healing, for all eternity.