Category Archives: Genesis 2

Contains the Genesis series for chapter 2

Marriage: Leaving and Cleaving

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Marriage is a great institution and one which has been established by God.  This is the primary passage in the Bible regarding the union between a man and woman.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Gen. 2:24-25)

The first aspect of marriage is that it begins a new family.  The man leaves his parents and he and his wife start their own unique household.  This is not to say that the parents and other family members are forsaken, but that their union constitutes a newly formed family unit.

Marriage: Wedding rings over Bible

Marriage, rings over Bible

The second aspect is that there is a bond between the man and woman.  The husband cleaves unto his wife.  The Hebrew word for “cleave” means to “stick to” or “stay close to”.  Jesus elaborated on this theme when He said, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” (Matthew 19:6)

The third aspect in this passage is that there is intimacy between the man and woman.  God reserves the expression of sex for marriage.  Our culture has moved away from this standard, but it is a timeless biblical standard which should be observed.  Sexual expression is a rite of marriage, so to speak.  As God instructs, “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” (Hebrews 13:4)

Marriage is a God-ordained institution and as such, God defines it, not our culture.  This union is defined by God in the Bible as always between one man and one woman.  While this standard has been defined by our culture as narrow-minded, old-fashioned, and far worse, it has been the undeniable standard throughout the ages. 

A Fitting Help

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As we saw in Genesis 1:26-27, God made man and woman on day 6 of creation.  In Genesis 2, we get more details of how the creation of woman came about.  At this point, God has created everything except the woman.  So every creature has a mate, except for Adam. 

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. (Gen. 2:18-20)

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Don’t Eat That

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God created all things, so He makes the rules.  God gave Adam the responsibility for the whole garden.  Adam could eat whatever he liked, except for one thing. 

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. (Gen. 2:16-17)

Sometimes, God’s restrictions don’t make sense to us.  As a matter of fact, we’re not sure why God gave this restriction.  However, God does not have to explain Himself.  After all, He’s God! Continue reading →

Work Is Good

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We often get the idea that work is a bad thing.  However, God didn’t create work to be that way.  In the Garden of Eden, Adam had work responsibilities.

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Gen. 2:15)

Notice first that God put Adam in the garden.  God was the One Who created work.  As we saw in the previous verses, God made everything good, so work must be good.  In Genesis 3, work became difficult due to sin, but work itself was created by God to be good for mankind.  God made human beings to be productive.
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The Rivers of Eden

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Water is necessary for life.  So for a vibrant garden to flourish, plenty of water was needed.  A single river (unnamed) went out of Eden to provide water for the plant and animal life there. 

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. (Gen. 2:10-14)

This river split into four rivers, which went out to a larger land area.  There are names given to these rivers: Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates.  Modern Bible teachers and scholars have tried to identify these with rivers seen today to try and locate the area of Garden of Eden.  Pison has had several suggested identities, but in general, it is believed to be a now dry riverbed stretching across the Arabian Peninsula.  Gihon is considered to be another name for the Nile.  Hiddekel is associated with the Tigris River and the Euphrates River is well-known.  There is only one problem with this–these rivers do not come together at any point.  While it is possible that at one point they did, there is a better explanation for this: the Flood of Noah. Continue reading →