Genesis 2:1-14 “The History of the Heavens and the Earth”

Good evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 2. Genesis 2:1-14 tonight.

Thus far in Genesis we have observed the six days of creation.

In the beginning God created… not big bang…

And, in six days He created… not in billions of years did the world evolve, but God created in six literal 24-hour days…

All things we see… as we look up into the night sky… the stars… the galaxy… the universe…

As we look around at all plant life… waters… oceans/lakes/rives… animals… insects… all creeping things… according to it’s kind…

Not according to macro evolution… where cows evolve into whales… or monkeys into men… though some men are a bit monkeyish…

But, micro evolution within a kind… from two Canis lupus… grey wolves… over time… we now have various breeds of dogs… and even recessive gene mutations… dogs that look like rats… I’m not much into Chihuahua’s…

Maybe that’s your thing… You’ve got a big heart… God has a heart for the weak and oppressed… so, good on you.

Forgive me… I’m biased… I have German Shepherds… I like the the dichotomy of ferociousness & affection.

And, God knew… God knew how over time how it would all unfold… He could see the first two… of a species of birds… and know all the amazing varieties that would form…

God looked at His creation and repeatedly said, “It was good”…

All created for and leading up to His masterpiece… Adam.

The first man… unique from all other creation in that he was made in the image of God… according to God’s likeness…

God… a word that is plural. In V26 of Gen 1… God said “Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness…”

Who’s He talking to? Angels… I’m not in that camp.

This is the trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… all three of whom were present in the beginning… creating…

And, man was created in the form of a trinity of body, soul, and spirit.

An eternal being like God… with characteristics like God…

And, God commanded mankind… male and female (v27 of Gen 1)… two genders… NOT male and female plus an additional 72 genders depending how you’re feeling… or depending on your environment… like some so-called Dr.’s claim.

Male and female… I’m so thankful for President Trump’s declaration of male and female…

Trump recently said, “the left wing Gender insanity being pushed on our children is an act of child abuse”…

And, it is… he’s going after big-Pharma and teachers pressing gender ideology for financial gain… and for personal agenda.

Good on our Government for reigning in the anti-biblical view on gender that has been plaguing our society.

Genesis says… “male and female He created them.” It’s not a feeling… it’s not environmental… it’s biological by the Designer.

It’s Biblical… and you’re NOT IF you’re promoting alternative genders beyond male and female.

If you’re a Pastor or a church that is promoting genders beyond male and female… shame on you.

You’ve drifted from the truth of the word of God and you need to repent of your sin.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable…” (2 Tim 3:16)

Stop trying to be like God and re-define or omit His word… Yield to His eternal word… it has outlasted every society to date… and it will outlast this one.

Well… since you’re all still here after that… tonight we continue into Genesis 2…

In vv 1-3, Moses writes about the Seventh day… where God rested.

V4 begins “This is the history”… and from vv 4-25 of Chapter 2, Moses recaps some details of first six days of creation…

Describing the mist that was upon the planet…

The formation of mankind from the dust of the earth…

Details about the garden of Eden… and the trees placed in the Garden…

And, greater detail about Day 6 of creation when God made male and female… Adam and Eve.

All of which we will look at tonight…

In a message titled “The History of the Heavens and the Earth.”

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage today.

Genesis 2:1-14 “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 4 This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated!

V1 tells us all of God’s creation from the first six days… were now complete… the heavens and the earth.

Psalm 33:6 reads, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.”

God spoke… “Let there be...” “And it was so...”

This is a matter of faith.. Heb 11:1 declares, “faith is the substance [the reality] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:3 reads, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

It dawned on me… if we believe that… we are written into Hebrews 11… the “Hall of Faith.”

“By faith WE understand...” Are you in the “we?” I know I am.

As Heb 11:3 stated… creation was not made from creation…

Gen 1 1 “In the beginning God created...”

“Created”… bara… created something from nothing.

We don’t need scientific proof… we believe this in faith…

God’s word formed and prepared the worlds.

Good science simply confirms what we read in the Bible, but it’s not necessary for our belief in the creation account.

Rom 1:20 declares, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen...”

Creation testifies of the realities of God.

And, let us not forget the words of God at the end of Chapter 1 as He looked back upon all of His creation… He accessed it and deemed… “it was very good.”

And, then on the Seventh day V2… God ended His work… I like the words “which He had done...”

Twice in that verse we read “which He had done”… in case you missed it the first time.

God repeats Himself often to emphasize THAT which is important.

Or in V3… same idea, worded a little differently… just in case you’re thick… “all His work which God had created and made.”

This was God’s works… it was NOT some haphazard cosmic explosion OR primordial soup that resulted in creation… V2 declares “which He had done...” God created.

Evolutionist want to remove God from the equation, because in removing God… you remove morality from creation…

And, then the pursuit of evil and wrongdoing… is not a matter of morality… in fact there is no morality because we are just a little higher than the monkeys.

It’s survival of the fittest… there is no after life… mass genocide can be applauded to reduce population…

63 million abortions since 1973… what does it matter if there is no God?

And, if you’ve had an abortion and you’re saved… that sin has been covered by the blood… there’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Rest in that.

But, my point is there is an agenda in science to propel and normalize evil agendas…

On the Planned Parenthood website they spout twisted messages… from their volunteer activist website, they write and I quote, “The threat to abortion access across the country is more dangerous than anything we have seen in nearly half a century.”

More dangerous than anything TO WHOM??

Certainly NOT to the unborn. Removing access protects the unborn.

Certainly NOT to the emotional and psychological health of the mother.

There’s big money in abortions. The estimated cost of abortions in the United States ALONE since 1973… is around $6.9 trillion.

I’m not sure how much of that is revenue, but it’s a big number.

Planned Parenthood claims they are a “movement… to protect sexual and reproductive health care.”

They’re not… they profit off of what God declares is an abomination…

They are aligned with those who seek to erase the words of truth “which He had done...”

V2-3 again… “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it [God declared it holy], because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”

And that was the conclusion of the Seventh Day. God ended His work and rested.

Take notice that prior to the fall of man… work was present on the earth. Having to work is not part of the curse.

You may have some picture in your head of heaven… and you imagine sitting at a beach for all eternity… relaxing… and never working.

Maybe you picture sitting on a cloud strumming a harp… wearing a toga. Is that heaven? I’ll be surprised if it is.

From the beginning, God assigned work to man. In V15 of Gen 2… God assigns Adam to tend and keep the garden. Eve would be his helper (V20).

After the fall… Adam’s work became difficult… he would toil… thorns and thistles were now present… and he would sweat… Gen 3:17-19… so it would seem that work pre-fall would contrast this.

The work was not like labor we relate to… it was not painful and full of obstacles like thorns.

In heaven, there will be work… Revelation 22:3 declares “there shall be no more curse” and “His servants shall serve Him.”

Serve could be rendered as worship. Part of our work in heaven will be to worship God.

Similar to the work the angels do in heaven… and yes… Angels work (Heb 1:7; Rev 22:9)…

They are ministers… fellow servants… there’s no unemployed Angels in heaven.

And God Himself is a worker. Jesus said in John 5:17 “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

1 John 3:2 declares “… we are children of God”… and “… we shall be like Him.”

So, if we are His children… and are like God… and He works… it’s a fair assumption that we will work also.

Just like the angels… there will be no unemployed saints in heaven either.

Now… if the idea of work does not sit well with you because or your earthly work experience… do not worry… work will be amazing in heaven.

I like how one scholar describes it… “work in heaven will be pleasant and satisfying. There will be no interpersonal conflicts, impractical expectations, or fatigue, and we’ll have the perfect Manager.”

So fret not… there’s work to do, but it will be a joy… rewarding… refreshing… and perfect for designed for who we are created to be.

Now NOTE regarding REST: God did not rest out of necessity. He did not rest because He was tired from all His creative work.

There was not even physical labor in God’s creative work… He spoke creation into existence.

God is not Altas… burdened by the weight of the world on His shoulders.

Jesus’ word… just His word holds all things together.

Hebrews 1:3 declares Jesus is “upholding all things by the word of His power.”

Scripture does not declare that God “needed to rest”… only that “He rested.”

Psalm 147:5 declares, “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite.”

Isaiah 40:28 proclaims, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.”

Listen… God rested, but it was for another reason beyond being physically tired.

Key to understanding WHY God rested is found in the Hebrew word translated “rested” in V2… which is the word shâbat… it’s the root word for Sabbath…

And, it means “to cease.” God ceased creating on the Seventh day… not from exhaustion… but because of completion.

This would also set a pattern for the Israelites… work six days and rest on the seventh.

Exodus 20:8–9… The Fourth Commandment… “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work…”

The Sabbath rest for Jews is a holy Sabbath to the LORD. (Exo 16:23)

Which based on Gen 2… God rested on the Seventh day… they observe Sabbath on Saturday.

The early church met on the first day (Acts 20:7) which is the same day Jesus rose from the grave (Mk 16:2)… so we commemorate Him and meet on Sunday.

More important than the day though is our hearts intention to observe the day to the Lord.

Romans 14:5–6 “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it.”

Now… one more point about the Sabbath to the Jews. Sadly, over time… in adding so man-made traditions (which we call “religion”)…

Jesus said in Mark 2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

Sabbath was created as a blessing FOR man… man was not created to be burdened by Sabbath.

But, the Jews perverted the intent of the Sabbath… burdening people by religious regulations too difficult to uphold… no longer was it a day to cease from labor and to rest in God… it had become a burden.

Again, that was not God’s intent. God wanted relationship with them… a day set apart or “holy” with them…

And, it’s the same with us. God desires relationship with you.

In fact… He sent Jesus so that in relationship with Him we can find that true rest. Because it’s NOT found by on a Saturday… the day the Jews observe Sabbath.

Profoundly, right after Jesus said that “Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

Jesus also said, “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Another time Jesus said in Matthew 12:8 “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

You may have heard it said, “Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath.” or “Jesus is our Sabbath rest.”

Because it’s in relationship with Him that we find rest…

Do you know that rest friend?

Jesus cries out to you as He said in Matthew 11:28–29 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

What an open invitation from a loving God… who desires to be in relationship with you.

Have faith in Jesus Christ… and you will find rest for your soul.

Well… continuing on… we do NOT have all night.

V4 “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created....”

The word “history” in Gk. is toledot meaning “generations”… account, record… sometimes translated “genealogy.”

V4 ends the genealogy of the heavens and the earth.

Some scholars assert the Chapter 1 to Chapter 2 break would be better between vv 3-4 of Chapter 2… as the Seventh day (vv 1-3) fits better with Chapter 1…

… and V4 of Chapter 2 marks the first Toledot Structure.

You can outline the Book of Genesis by the occurences of the word Toledot…

Overall… the phrase “This is the toledot of” appears 11x in Genesis…

Twice as “history”… nine times as “geneology.”

With each new Toledot Structure… each time this phrase appears… it marks the beginning of a new narrative…

… often including a detailed genealogy of the central figure in the narrative.

The 8 Key Toledots in Genesis include:

Toledot of Heaven and Earth (Genesis 2:4): Introducing Adam & Eve and detailing creation & the fall.

Toledot of Adam (Genesis 5:1): which gives the geneology of Adam and Seth… from whom Messiah would come… Jesus’ genealogy through Mary in Luke 3:36-38 matches the names in Gen 5.

Toledot of Noah (Genesis 6:9): Which tells the flood account… and of Noah’s chosen line who would repopulate the earth post-flood.

Toledot of the Sons of Noah (Genesis 10:1): Which is called “The Table of Nations”… outlining nations that would come from Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 

Toledot of Shem (Genesis 11:10):Introducing the lineage leading to Abraham.

Toledot of Terah (Genesis 11:27): Which primarily tells the story of Abraham & the Abrahamic Covenant.

Toledot of Isaac (Genesis 25:19): The account of Isaac and his sons, Esau and Jacob.

Lastly, the Toledot of Jacob (Genesis 37:2): The story of Jacob and his twelve sons, including Joseph's narrative. 

These are the key Toledots… two not mentioned are the genealogies of Ishmael and Esau.

But, these key Toledots lead up to the formation of the Nation of Israel… and it’s Twelve Tribes… the nation who would give birth to Jesus Messiah.

Thus, through these Toledots, we see the story of Jesus… how He formed creation… and His earthly heritage.

It ALL points back to Jesus.

So… Moses now details this history of the heavens and the earth… again “that the LORD God made”…

NOTE in V4 “LORD God”… This is the first time LORD God (Yehovah Elohim) is paired in the Bible.

553x in 538 verses will we read “LORD God” in the Bible and it distinguishes that this is Yahweh God… or Yehovah God… the one true God… as opposed to pagan gods.

This is the covenant name of Israel’s God… He is the one who exists… and causes existence…

LORD when all caps in the Bible is called the Tetragrammaton and in Hebrew would be written YHWH or YHVH… and these are the first four letters of the personal name of God minus the vowels.

YHWH is widely accepted as a causative formation of the Hebrew verb “to be”… which is the same we read when God declared His name is “I AM.”

I do hope you are taking good notes… this will be on the test later.

One last point on the name of God… in Jewish tradition… when reading the Hebrew text, one substitutes “Adonai” instead of pronouncing the tetragrammaton.

So, if you’re reading from the Complete Jewish Bible… you will read Adonai… instead of all caps LORD.

If you’re in the Jehovah Witness cult… they substitute all caps LORD for Jehovah and claim it’s a conspiracy that modern English translations have removed the name of God from the Bible.

Which is not accurate, God name is still there… in English it’s represent in all caps LORD… which in Hebrew is YHWH.

I find it so odd that JW’s are so picky to use the name “Jehovah” when it’s not even a Hebrew name.

Jehovah became the English translation and pronunciation of the Latin form of the Hebrew name Yahweh.

Yahweh is the Hebrew pronunciation… so if JW’s want to be technically accurate… they should use the Hebrew name… Yahweh.

V5-6 further reveals that “… before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown.”

There was a hydrologic cycle drastically different from today.

God had not caused it to rain up to this point as we read in V5.

V6 further reveals “a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.”

“Mist” by def. is “fog or vapor”…

Some define this as “fresh waster stream or spring”… some translations even read this way like the NLT “springs came up from the ground and watered all the land.”

The hebrew word for mist is only used 2x in scripture…

The other time is Job 36:27 “For He draws up drops of water, Which distill as rain from the mist…”

Henry Morris, William MacDonald… several scholars… prefer a mist watered the earth…

Dallas Theological states “when streams watered the ground...”

It was wet… but no rain. I lean towards mist.

Originally, the water supply “came primarily from local evaporation and condensation.”

We spoke about the Water Vapor Canopy as a possible explanation for the Second Day of Creation…

Genesis 1:6 “Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”

That… and spring-fed rivers as accounted for in Gen 7:11 “… the fountains of the great deep were broken up…”

The earth had reservoirs of subterranean waters… similar to today.

But, whatever the firmament was… and whatever this mist that watered the whole earth here in Gen 2 is… it was dramatically different from what we know now on earth.

I imagine it was much more humid… I don’t like humidity.

I’m originally from Maryland and the summers are about 6 degrees warmer and 3% more humid than Indiana on average.

And, even that makes a difference. I like the Indiana summer much better.

If you really want to experience humidity… go to the Philippines.

80-85% humidity on average in summer compared to our 72% average in Indiana!

It was brutal living there for 2.5 years. We had air conditioner units (inverters) in our bedrooms… but when the power went out… and it did often… it was difficult to function.

I remember one day… laying on the cold floor like my dog it was so hot.

Now… under a water vapor canopy where no great air mass movements would be possible, global temperatures would likely have been uniform.

A warm and humid climate is ideal for reptiles… this climate was likely ideal for dinosaurs.

Answers in Genesis holds that various dinosaurs… when they were small were on the ark… and post flood climatic change would be one of several reason for the extinction of the dinosaurs.

This climate shift occurred during the flood… the first time rain fell… “the windows of heaven were opened. And, the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.” (Gen 7:11-12)…

The present hyrdrologic cycle involves, as Morris put it,… “global and continental air mass movements, and annual and seasonal temperature changes” and “centers around the solar evaporation of ocean waters, transportation to the continents in the atmospheric circulation, condensation and precipitation in the form of rain and snow, and transportation back to the oceans via rivers.”

And, the present cycle is reflected elsewhere in scripture:

Ecclesiastes 1:6–7 “The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. 7 All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.”

Isaiah 55:10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,”

Psalm 135:7 “He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

After Moses revealed the additional details from Day 2 of creation… then he fast forwarded to Day 6… providing additional details about the formation of mankind…

In V7 again we read, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

Adam was formed from the ‘dust of the ground’… the six primary elements found in the human body are: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus.

All of which are also found in dirt, so God must have pulled the elements He wanted from the dirt to form mankind.

One major difference between the earth’s crust and the human chemical make up is silicone.

About 25% of the earth’s crust is silicone and only trace amounts of silicone are found in the human body.

Unless you’re Gumby… or one of those people who can really stretch their skin far… probably a little more silicone there.

And, look… that’s just a joke… silicone is probably not the reason some can stretch there skin far…

Someone’s going to come up to me afterwards and say, “hyperelastic skin is actually due to increased production of collagen and elastin.”

Thank you! Thank you for that correction.

But… it is fascinating that what the Bible says… that man was formed from the earth…

And, upon death we return to dust. When God curses Adam, God will say, “For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” Gen 3:19

And God is merciful to those who revere Him… thus He forgives us… and has compassion on us… knowing we are but dust…

Psalm 103:11–14 declares, “For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”

God formed mankind and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”…

In some sense we can visualize God taking Adam’s lifeless body which He just formed from the dust of the earth… and God blowing air into the inert figure.

But the words we read likely fall short… likely are inadequate… to the actual energizing… spirit infusing experience… of how GOD created mankind.

In all LIFE… Life must come from life. Life does not come from non-life… complex chemical reactions do not produce life.

Answers in Genesis has one such article on this topic titled, “Why the Miller–Urey Research Argues Against Abiogenesis.”

It’s light reading… a good bedtime story for your kids. You should check it out.

God is the originator and designer of life… He is the only self-existent being… and life came from Him… and He imparted life directly into man… “and man became a living being.”

Now… physical life and spiritual life are different.

In our Sunday morning study of Romans… we recently read in Roman 5 about “Death in Adam, but Life in Christ.”

We are all made in the likeness of the first Adam (physical life)… from whom sin and death entered the world. But, in being born again… we become like the second Adam (Jesus Christ) and inherit spiritual life.

1 Cor 15:47–49 “The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”

We all have the choice to be heavenly… to bear the image of the heavenly Man Jesus Christ. In faith we live life spiritually… and never die eternally.

Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:5-6 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Lots of thoughts surrounding the meaning of those verses… I know… but there must be more than water birth… be that mean physical birth… or John’s baptism… or other thoughts as well…

There must be as Jesus said a “born again” experience… a spiritual birth to enter the kingdom of God.

Have you been born again? Is your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? Do you believer Jesus Christ is your Lord… your Savior… your God?

We’ve received the breath of life and are alive physically… what a blessing that is… and it opens the door for the second birth… life now and eternally.

If you’ve never received that free gift… talk to me afterwards… I’d love to share the Gospel and pray with you.

Well… in the following verses… vv 8-14, Moses describes the Garden of Eden… let’s look at those verses and then end there tonight.

vv 8-9 “The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Mounce define Eden as “paradise or delight”… Eden comes from a word that means “delight.”

One Bible dictionary calls Eden the “Garden of luxuries.” (sounds quite extravagant).

The world in it’s entirety was placed under the dominion of mankind. In Genesis 1:28 God blessed Adam and Eve, and commanded them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Eden was not the whole world, but in a particular region… a special garden… where Adam made his home.

In Eden were trees pleasing to look at and eat from.

And there stood two other trees… “The tree of life” which was in the midst… the middle of the garden… and the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”… from which Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from (V17).

One bible dictionary states, the Tree of life A tree represents immortality, divine presence, wisdom, and righteousness as a path of life and an eschatological promise.”

We will read post fall Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden… to keep them from eating from the Tree of Life and living forever.

Gen 3:22-23 reads, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden...”

Regularly eating the fruit of the tree of life would enable mortal man to live forever…

Thus, when Adam and Eve entered into a sinful fallen state… God expelled them from Eden to keep them away from the Tree of Life.

God placed cherubim (plural) (described in Ezk 1 & 10… wild looking heavenly creatures)… as guards to the entrance to Eden…

… with a “flaming sword which turned every way” (as if a flaming sword and cherubim were not enough… this flaming sword flashed back and forth)…

and the purpose was “to guard the way to the tree of life.” Gen 3:24

We see the Tree of Life again in Eternity… in God’s eternal city… the New Jerusalem…

Revelation 22:2 reads, “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

One day we will eat of the Tree of Life… a different fruit each month bringing health to the nations.

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was planted somewhere, not stated, in Eden…

Genesis 3:6 states “…when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise...”

Lot’s of thoughts on what that all means. But there was fruit… it was pleasing to look at… that’s easy to understand.

But how it made one wise… lot’s of thoughts there… and we’ll circle back on that when we come to V17…

Disobedience to God, I believe, is key to understanding this mystery… Not some toxin in the fruit.

Let’s wrap up tonight… looking at our final five verses for tonight vv.. 10-14…

In these verses we see the location of the Garden of Eden… four rivers are mentioned… Pishon winding thought the land of Havilah… where there is gold, bdellium (aromatic resin) and onyx stone.

Find that and you find gold. V12 says it’s “good gold”… is there bad gold?

The second river is the Gihon winding through the land of Cush.

Third is the… New King James says Hiddekel… other translations read ‘Tigris’… running on the east side or Assyria or Asshur.

Fourth is the… Euphrates river.

And, I through up one of many speculative maps of where the rivers are, but no one knows. For centuries people have searched for Eden to no avail.

If the Tigris and Euphrates are where they are today, this would put the Garden somewhere in the Middle East…

But, river locations pre- and post-flood had to have changed.

The flood changed the whole topography of the earth. The flood very well could have destroyed the Garden of Eden… no one know.

And… even if you found the garden… would you live to tell the tale?

Remember the cherubim and flaming sword that moves all around guarding the way to the Tree of Life?

Just a minor detail…

Balaam’s donkey was smart enough to turn from the Angel of the LORD who had a drawn sword…

… preserving Balaam’s life.

I’m not so sure that’s how it would go down if you found Eden.

Next time… we’ll pick up in V15… focusing in on Adam… and Eve being created (not from dust, but from Adam’s side)… and God’s design for marriage… read ahead.

Let’s Pray!

Well we have concluded the creation portion of Genesis… the first Seven Days… and all that God created and His rest on the seventh day.

This has been a good journey… and we’ll be moving into narratives of our first people… the fall of man… the first murder… genealogies… the wickedness of mankind and the fall…

Really uplifting chapters ahead… but listen… this is important…

While the depravity of mankind is quickly on display in the opening chapters of the Bible… there has always been a gracious and loving God right there as well…

His plan was always there… to bring a Savior into the world… and through faith in Him we have life.

If you’ve never expressed your faith in Him… or if you need prayer for anything… I’d love to pray with you before you go.

May God bless you and keep you the rest of this week ahead.