It Was All Good And God Was Finished

STUDY OF GENESSIS

CHAPTER 2

Last week I think I did over load with chapter 1. This chapter I am going to try and make it a bit more bite size. In this section you have the institution of the day of rest, the Sabbath at the end of God’s creative activity. And a recounting of the creation of man in verse 7. I must confess that one of the things I wont to do when I get to heaven is to see if Adam and Eve have bellybuttons. I know its silly, but I'm curious. Any way on with our study.

CHAPTER OUTLINE: GEN. 2

I. The institution and sanctification of the sabbath, which was made for man, to further his holiness and comfort v. 1-3.

II. A more particular account of man's creation, as the central point and summary of the whole work v. 1-7.

III. A description of the Garden of Eden, and the placing of man in it under the obligations of a law and covenant v. 8-17.

IV. The creation of the woman, her marriage to the man, and the institution of the ordinance of marriage v. 18, etc.

Gen 2:1-6

2:1

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground--

1. THE INSTITUTION AND SANTIFICATION OF THE SABBATH (v. 1-3)

"HE that cometh unto God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Hence Holy Scripture, which contains the revealed record of God's dealings and purposes with man, commences with an account of the creation. "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead." - Bible History Old Testament

When Creator God had pronounced His approval of everything He had made, including man, the crown of creation, He declared the work finished. For the present, He would undertake no further creation.

Everything that came from the hand of God was "very good," that is, perfect to answer the purpose for which it had been destined. "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." It is on this original institution of the Sabbath as a day of holy rest that our observance of the Lord's day is finally based. God (sanctified), or hallowed, a day of complete rest. The Hebrew word (shabat) can be translated "desisted" or "ceased" or "cut off." It in no way implies weariness on God’s part. God rested from His creative activity (cf. Ex 20:11; 31:17) because He was done. The seventh day was set apart to be sacred and honored through the years as a reminder that God had appointed a season of rest, refreshment, and complete cessation of all ordinary work, toil, and struggle.

Some denominations have changed the precise day—from the seventh to the first of the week—because it is the resurrection of our Lord Christ Jesus, by whom not only the first, but also the new creation was finally completed. (See Isaiah 65:17).

HISTORY OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH (v. 4-6)

The primeval chaos, the creation of man and woman, vegetation and animals, are described, but there are some differences in the account in chapter 1 and chapter 2. The Creator is no longer called 'God' (Elohim) but 'The Lord God' (Jehovah Elohim).

"generations, products, developments." That which comes from any source, as the child from the parent, the record of which is history. The King James uses the word generations here. These are the generations (toledot). The Hebrew word comes from a verb meaning (to beget or bear children). It could be translated "begettings." This statement may be a reference to Genesis 1. The Septuagint translates: “This is the Book of the Genesis.” Some would translate it, The history of the heavens and the earth. And so the offspring of heaven and earth were pictured. A translation into Greek of the Hebrew Scriptures made several centuries B.C.

This verse corresponds to the second verse of the preceding narrative. It describes the field or arable land in the absence of certain conditions necessary to the progress of vegetation. Plant and herb here comprise the whole vegetable world. Plants and herbs of the field are those which are to be found in the open land.

It appears that God created everything, not only perfect as it respects its nature, but also in a state of maturity, so that every vegetable production appeared at once in full growth; and this was necessary that man, when he came into being, might find everything ready for his use. So here is the answer to that age old question, “Which came first, the Chicken or the egg?” It was a full grown Chicken ready to start laying eggs.

Yahweh (OT:3068). This word occurs 6,823 times in Scripture. It is the most significant name for God in the OT. It has a twofold meaning: the active, self-existent One; and Israel’s Redeemer. It is especially associated with God’s holiness (Lev. 11:44-45), His hatred of sin (Gen. 6:3-7), and His gracious provision of redemption (Isa. 53:1, 5, 6, 10). It is obvious from its use that it is, so to speak, the proper name of God.

Where Lord is printed in capitals in the English Bible it stands for the Heb. JHVH, the sacred divine name which was probably pronounced 'Yahweh.' In later times the word was considered to be too sacred to be uttered; the title Adonai (i.e. My Lord) was substituted in reading, and thus the true pronunciation was lost.

Hebrew was originally written without vowel-signs; when these were added to the MS text, the vowels of the name as read (Adonai) were attached to the consonants JHVH, and thus the artificial form 'Jehovah' was produced, which has come into common Christian use. Yahweh (Jehovah) is the proper name of the God of Israel rather than a title, and as such was used by other nations who regarded Jehovah as the tribal God of the Jews (cp. Isa 36:20); the name also occurs on the Moabite stone set up by Mesha (2 Ki 3:4).

The American revisers have substituted 'Jehovah' for 'the Lord' throughout the OT. In Gn 2 and 3 Jehovah is joined with Elohim ('the Lord God'). The latter name was probably added by the editor who combined the narratives in order to show that the Jehovah of this section (the God of Israel) is the same as the Elohim (the Creator of the world) of the previous one. 

Next week vs. 7-25 and the creation of man and woman.