Creation Take 2-Gen. 2:4-9

Last week as I spent time with family and friends in Texas I couldn’t help but catch myself telling and retelling stories of things that have happened to me since my last visit in an effort to catch everyone up to speed. Though the crux of the stories I shared rarely changed when they were repeated, inevitably the flavor and nuances of the tales did change as the same details were shared with new force. The more exciting or important the story, the more the story was repeated and the more attention was given to present the important elements with more compelling clarity.

The same is true of Moses’ desire to share the story of creation. Though we have already covered the description of creation as presented in chapter 1, Moses, in an effort to inform and inspire the people he led in the wilderness, retells the same story in a way that further explains some of the details pertaining to creation’s most important elements. In this case, the star of God’s creation was mankind (see 1:26ff). Therefore, in Moses’ retelling of the story, mankind again takes center stage, only this time, more is learned about how he was formed.

So without further ado, let us enjoy the creation story again and observe the three parts of Moses’ second take on this fascinating epic.

The Proclamation -2:4

As mentioned already, in chapter 2 Moses retells the story of creation in a way that highlights only some features of what has already been disclosed earlier in chapter 1. Though different, the introduction given in verse 4 illustrates how this passage and Genesis 1 are parallel (inasmuch as the same words are used and repeated throughout chapter 1)—“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven” (2:4). Though this is the second edition of the creation story, this verse contains the first instance of “Lord” (Yahweh). Combined with “God” (Elohim), this title in verse 4 acts as a kind of linchpin that bridges chapter 1 and 2:5-4:26 (as “Elohim” is used almost exclusively in chapter 1 and “Yahweh becomes dominant in chapters 2-4). What is unique about “Yahweh Elohim” (Lord God) is that this two-titled reference is repeated 20x in chapters 2-3 in an effort to demonstrate that the covenant leader of the people of God (Yahweh—the God that the Hebrews in the wilderness were familiar with) is the same wondrous deity who created the universe (Elohim).

The Situation-2:5-6

In verses 5-6, Moses skips the first days of creation and picks up the story in this retelling to what the earth was like before the creation of the first man. According to verses 5-6 there was no “shrub of the field” and “no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground…”(2:5). The reason for the lack of plant life, in spite of the subterranean water source was that there was no man yet living to till the soil. In other words, God created vegetation in such a way that its fruitfulness, in some ways, depended on mankind’s management and dominance. This description sets things up perfectly for Moses will reveal in verse 7.

However, for now, according to verse 6, “a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground” (2:6).

Many commentators are at odds concerning how to interpret these verses and how they compare to the days of creation in chapter 1. Though by day three vegetation was created on the earth (1:11-12),  the words used here in verse 5-6 (“field” and “ground”) and their respective translations are not intended to refer to the same thing. Instead, “field” (sadeh) is often used in the Old Testament for pasture land or cultivate ground (Gen. 29:2; 30:16; 37:7; 47:24). “Ground” often is used in connotations pertaining to soil, which is cultivated by human enterprise (2:7, 19, Matthews 194). Therefore, while vegetation existed before day 6, the tracks of land necessary to cultivate a crop or harvest were not in existence before man was alive to farm it.

One other thing worth mentioning is that “ground” (adama) comes from the same root as the name given to Adam—the first created man who is introduced on the scene next.

The Creation-2:7-9

It is clear from the literature here that, like in chapter 1, mankind is given special focus. While in chapter 1, mankind was introduced as the grand fortissimo (1:27ff) following a long crescendo (1:6-25), here the creation of mankind is emphasized by the craftsmanship with which God makes his greatest product—“then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (2:7). In a brilliant paradox, God’s most glorious creation is manufactured out of the humblest of elements—the “ground” (adama). Not only that, but mankind was made out of the very thing that he would be instructed to till (2:15)—rendering him especially suited for his task of cultivation.

Not only that, but mankind and beast share in the same physical properties with one very important description. Unlike the plant world, both animals and humans are described as living (2:7; 7:22). Both animals are considered “living creatures” (1:20-21, 24; 2:7; 9:10). However, “the source of animal life is attributed to the ‘ground’ (2:19) from which the animals came forth ‘in a moment.’ But the man was ‘gradually formed,’ and his fountain of life was the divine breath—‘and God…breathed into his nostrils the breath of life’ (2:7) (Matthews 197). This description sustains the prominent place mankind maintains in the narrative as his life force comes from the Creator Himself!

Additionally, “breathed is warmly personal, with the face-to-face intimacy of a kiss and the significance that this was giving as well as making; and self-giving at that” (Kidner, 60). This unique formation produces a unique relationship that mankind shares with his Creator. Humanity is special in God’s eyes and therefore worthy of a special creative act complete with intimate attention and time.  

As a result of God’s breath, “man became a living being…” (2:7b). Such an image becomes a precedent that is consistently upheld throughout the remainder of the Old Testament. Job 27:3 states, “As long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils.” In Deut. 20:16; Josh. 10:40; Job 27:3, to possess the “breath of life” or “breath” is to be alive and in 1 Kings 17:17, the absence of it describes the dead. Also, in Ezekiel 37:9-10, it is the breath of God that reanimates dry bones.

Ultimately, that God’s breath was used to animate mankind means that he is totally dependent on God for what is most essential to life. Though a glorious creation, mankind is infinitely inferior to the God who created him. Moses, in retelling the detailed version of mankind’s creation, hoped that his people would recognize that as God sustained His people with manna and quail and deliverance, so too does He sustain them on an infinitely more fundamental level.

However, mankind as a “living being” (nephesh hayya) also speaks to the radical unity within mankind as a disjointed “soul” separated from the body was not central to Hebrew thought (contra Plato). In fact “living” (nephesh) has a semantic range that includes: “life,” “person,” “self,” “appetite,” and “mind.” In this context, most of these connotations fit as all speak toward identity and selfhood. Ultimately, as this passage demonstrates, mankind does not possess a “nephesh” but rather is a “nephesh” with a body. A possible translation of this verse might read “and man became a souled body.”   Nothing else in the universe can claim this status!

Not only did God create man with a special constitution, He created a special environment in which man was to thrive and live out his God-given potential as cultivator and manager—“The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed,…” (2:8). No other created thing is given special treatment like this. It is clear from the text that God holds a special place in His heart and will for humanity as they are gifted with the blessing of this special garden.

The Garden of Eden suggest that God holds mankind in high regard and the phenomenon of the garden also establishes God’s commitment to order, work, beauty, and cultivation. As each of these qualities are witnessed in any arboretum, so too are these assumed of the most perfect Garden of Eden. Again, God is depicted in Genesis thus far as a God who brings order out of chaos, is not afraid to work, always trends toward beauty, and seeks to bring about the cultivation of His creation. As those who were made in His image, mankind needed a platform on which to put its unique gifts to good use.  God had an empty universe, mankind is given a garden.

 “Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,…”(2:9). Teaming with potential, the Garden of Eden was a veritable smorgasbord of plant life. Not only was it beautiful beyond belief (pleasing to the sight), its fruit was “good for food” (2:9).

I want you to picture the beautiful gardens you have come across in your lifetime either on a garden tour you have attended, on a vacation you took, in a magazine, or perhaps even in your own backyard. No matter how quaint, elegant, or aesthetically pleasing the image you are thinking about now is, it doesn’t hold a candle to the view that Adam and Even shared in Eden. Now I want you to think about the sweetest fruit that you’ve ever bit into—the juiciest peach, berriest berry, crispiest apple, tangiest pineapple, etc. Now imagine what that same fruit would have tasted like without sin in the world—the same sin that took a toll on vegetation and our bodies and keeps us from knowing what a perfect fruit tastes like. These are the fruits that Adam and Eve enjoyed whenever they wanted. It hung over them in large clusters on low branches and grew on the most fertile vines you could ever imagine. All of this God gave to Adam and Eve!

Included among the foliage in the Garden of Eden was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—standing as powerful and concrete images of the potentialities that were present, though, at this point, not all realized in the world. At this point in the narrative, these trees act as a foreshadowing of the next chapter, but they also echo what God stands over and above. Inasmuch as life, good, and evil are depicted as created trees in God’s garden, God stands in a position in authority over these. He is the giver of life, the ultimate good, and the standard by which all evil is judged. These reminders stood around Adam and Eve in their garden as trees do in a park.  

So What? 

Ultimately in this retelling of the creation story mankind is depicted as a souled body, especially made and planted in a uniquely prepared environment. If in the first chapter of Genesis we learn of mankind’s superiority over all creation because of his being created last and being made in God’s image, in Genesis 2 we learn of mankind’s unique and intimate relationship with God as it was God’s breath that animated mankind’s humble form and God’s garden that man called home.

This would have reinforced the promises made to the Israelites in the wilderness. The same God that had saved them from slavery and promised them a land flowing of milk and honey was this same God who prepared a special place for His first couple. God has always been about preparing a place for His people that is exceptional, wondrous and perfect.

In fact, this is true for His people today. Inasmuch as the people of God have new life breathed into them through the Holy Spirit, they too enjoy a special relationship with God and can hold fast to the promises that one day we too will enjoy a perfect paradise—a paradise that is described in Revelation 21-22 as a place comparable to the Garden of Eden. Therefore, be encouraged today if you are a human being—for you are a souled body—a truly remarkable mixture of matter and spirit. Be encouraged today believer—for you have a paradise awaiting you!