Genesis

Lesson 9 w/AnswersGenesis 2:8-17

In this lesson, we will be examining what God did with man, after he had created him. Our text for this study will be Genesis 2:8-17. We will be exploring such questions as: What was God’s plan for man? What was God thinking when he created him? What were to be man’s responsibilities in this great creation called earth, which God had made? We will examine these and other questions as we continue our study of Genesis and God’s creation of the earth and all that it contains.

Beginnings

In our previous lesson, we drilled down in Genesis 2:7, and we saw that God created, or formed, man using the elements of the earth. God did not create man by simply speaking man into existence; He intentionally used elements from what he had already created to form man, and then he breathed into man the breath of life.

God created man from the elements of the earth, and unlike all of the other animals and plants which he created in multitudes; he created only a single man. This creature was totally awesome in its uniqueness compared to everything else that God had created. And this one single being, was now living and breathing on this giant planet called earth, contained within a universe so vast that we can hardly describe it even today; an earth populated with animals, birds, and ocean life — all of which were created so that God could then create a single human being called man. Incredible.

So, let’s now discover what God does next with this most unique creation, man.

Read Genesis 2:8-17, and consider the following:

  1. Once God creates man and blows the breath of life into him, what is the very next thing that he does with this new creation?
    1. ANSWER: He places man in the Garden of Eden. God chose this garden as the place in which human life would begin on the earth.
  2. What is unique about the Garden of Eden? List each of things that our reference scripture passages tell us about this garden?
    1. ANSWER 1: We see that it was created/planted by God himself.
    2. ANSWER 2: We note that "all kinds of trees" were planted there, trees that were "pleasing to the eye" and trees "good for food". Note that man has just been created, and already we see references to things being "pleasing to the eye".
    3. ANSWER 3: In the middle of the garden, we are told that God planted the "Tree of Life" and the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil".
  3. How was the Garden of Eden watered?
    1. ANSWER: A river flowed through it.
  4. Why are we unable today to locate the four rivers mentioned in Genesis 2:10-14, and why is possible that not even the Tigris River mentioned in the verse 14 is actually the Tigris as we know it today?
    1. ANSWER 1: The flood would have destroyed all these rivers when the underground water system burst and water exploded onto the earth.
    2. ANSWER 2: There is speculation that the four rivers were named based on geography that the writer would have been familiar with — geography similar in appearance after the flood to those four rivers prior to the flood. It is conceivable that none of the rivers mentioned in these verses could ever be found, nor their locations identified within a specific geographic region.
    3. ANSWER 3: Those who do attempt to geographically place the four rivers, put them near the Tigris River of today.
  5. What was the purpose of the two trees planted in the center of the Garden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? (Genesis 3:22)
    1. ANSWER 1: The tree of life would allow mankind to live forever.
    2. ANSWER 2: The tree of the knowledge of good and evil brings that knowledge to those who eat its fruit.
  6. What was God’s purpose in placing both of those trees in the center of the garden?
    1. ANSWER: To provide eternal life to mankind as they lived and worked in the garden and to provide a test of faith and obedience to all of its residents. Would man listen and obey God completely, even though the tree was pleasing to the eye? God planted both trees with a single purpose: to provide his creation with a means to have eternal life as long as they were faithful and obedient to him alone.
  7. When do we see the tree of life again? Where is it, and what is its purpose at that time? (see Revelation 22:2)
    1. ANSWER: God again plants the tree of life in the center of his new creation, the new heaven and new earth, down the middle of the "great street of the city". Its leaves are provided for the healing of the nations as well.
  8. Why did God take this unique creature, man, and put him in this garden? Of all the places on the face of the whole earth, God chose this garden that he had made to place man in. Why? (see Gen. 2:15)
    1. ANSWER: God put man there to work the garden and take care of it.
  9. What are some of the other things that we can learn from Genesis 2:15 about man and about God’s creation, especially the garden?
    1. ANSWER 1: Man was created to work; and that was, and still is, God’s purpose for creating us.
    2. ANSWER 2: The Garden, even though it was created by God and planted on an earth that was still perfect, nevertheless needed to be "worked". The garden, and the earth as well for that matter, was not made as self-sustaining ecosystems that never needed care and which were always perfect. Even before the fall of man, God wanted man to "work" the garden, to care for it and to rule over it — just as he wanted man to have dominion over the entire earth.
  10. When did God give man, i.e., Adam, the commandment to not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil? Was it before or after he created Eve?
    1. ANSWER: God gave Adam this commandment before He created Eve; in fact, before Adam even saw the animals.

It is quite evident from this study that God’s culminating plan for His creation was man. In fact, in our next lesson, we will see that woman was also a key part of His plan. It is abundantly clear that God intended for all of his creation — the earth, the plants and trees, and all the birds and animals — to have a specific purpose; and He intended that they were to be cared for, and ruled, by man. He made us for work and to work; and, as we will learn in the next lesson, he made us to help and to have help as well. God did not create work as punishment for man and woman, but to give them a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Today, our work may not seem very fulfilling at times, and may actually feel to some like punishment; but that was not God’s original plan. Yet, even in today’s fallen world, just knowing that God loves us, and is with us in our work and families, can give us purpose and fulfillment. The Bible tells us to do all that we do to the glory of God. Let’s seek to honor Him this week in our work and with our families, as we continue to study His Holy Word.

In Christ,

Wes

[2010]

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