1-OT 03 Genesis 1-11

Lesson #3 - Genesis 1-11 2018 Before starting this lesson, read Genesis chapters 1 thru 4; 6 thru 8; 11:1-9. THE JEWISH STYLE OF WRITING To understand the literature of any people, one must first know their culture and style of writing. So to understand the Jewish Bible, we have to know the Jewish style of writing. Repetition Not only do the writers use many words, but they also tell a story 2 or 3 times, with differences between them. It starts with a general or summary statement. In the first telling, the author gives basic facts with just a few details. The second time he gives smaller details and facts not mentioned the first time. They are like subdivisions in an outline. In this second telling he leaves out most of the basic facts, assuming you remember them and know where to insert the new details. In the second or third telling of the story, things may be in a different order or from a different perspective. The first time might be from God’s point of view while the second or third time is from a human point of view. ent General Statem I. Basic Facts A.. few details II. Lesser Facts A. new details B. more details point III. Different View A. other details When stories are repeated in the Bible, it is the same author using the Jewish style of repetition. Mirror or reverse image Facts are presented in a specific order. Then more facts are given, using the same ideas but in reverse order. For example, the author may talk about things that are good, bad and bad; then about more things that are bad, bad and good. The ideas are repeated in reverse order. Picture language The author mentions an object that is real and then uses it to point out an important detail or spiritual truth. For example, A shepherd who provides for his sheep is a picture of Jesus providing for us. Numbers have a literal meaning. Some also have a spiritual meaning thruout the Bible. Forty is a number connected with testing or judgment, depending on the context. The forty days of rain during Noah’s flood was literal as well as being connected with God’s judgment on the earth. Topics Events are organized by topics rather that in the order they happened. Never assume the text is in chronological order unless it says first, then this, then that. Extreme words have non-extreme meanings. Their purpose is to emphasize the idea. Thruout the Bible we read about God’s anger, wrath, vengeance and jealousy. These are extreme words. But for the Jews, they meant something very different that our English words today. In the Bible, God’s jealousy means He is committed to what is right and fair. It means the same as our word zealous. God’s anger or wrath means His judgment; His response to injustice, disobedience or evil. God’s vengeance means His justice. To love one and hate the other means to choose one and not the other. Opposites They are used to develop or emphasize ideas. Love vs. hate or darkness vs. light is used frequently. Circular writing rather than linear. The author will often begin and end the chapter with the same idea or a contrast. Western writing is always going forward with fact A plus fact B that results in fact C. We start with A and end with C. Jewish writing starts with a summary statement, gives fact A, fact B with the result of fact C and ends with the summary (or contrasting) statement that was at the beginning. Play on words The author uses puns, words that sound similar, words that create a cadence. Because it is written in Hebrew or Greek and based on that language, it is usually impossible to show it in the English translation. One example we do have is Paul’s comment in 2 Thessalonians, when he talks about people who are not busy; they are busybodies. Unfortunately, most of the plays on words are lost in the translation. Double Meaning There is an immediate meaning in the whole chapter for the people listening in that day. Then from one or two of those verses, there is also a future meaning. Knowing these characteristics will help us understand chapters 1-11 in Genesis as well as the other books of Scripture. 1 The Bible, as a whole, is like a library. All the books with the same topic are grouped together. The first topic in the Old Testament is LAW. There are 5 books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Sometimes they are called the books of Moses or the books of the law. The Jewish name for these books is Torah. It is a Hebrew word that has come to mean law. It literally means instruction. The Greek name is Pentateuch, which means 5 books or 5 scrolls. Y LAW HISTORY R ET PO LAW HISTORY POETRY ST HI Y OR LETTERS PROPHECY PROPHECY LETTERS CY HE P O PR Over the years, scholars have criticized these 5 books. HISTORY Paul’s LETTERSGeneral PROPHECY First, about their authorship. For 3000 years, Moses was always considered the author. But in the 1800’s, liberal scholars said the books were written by 4 different groups, hundreds of years after Moses. This became known as the JEDP theory - each letter standing for the name of a group or tradition that did the writing. According to these scholars, Moses could not be the author because writing was not yet developed and laws were not organized. But in the last 100 years, archeology has proven them wrong. Writing and detailed laws were not only in the days of Moses. They were also in societies 1000 years before Moses. So the scholars had to change their theory. Today some still think 4 groups put the material together, but agree that Moses was the original author or source of the information. I am teaching from the conservative point of view - that Moses not only wrote, but also put all of these 5 books together during his lifetime. A 2nd criticism is that ancient civilizations are not mentioned. For example, Genesis does not mention the great Chinese civilization. Because it is not mentioned does not mean it was unknown. Genesis was never intended to describe all of history. It would have been impossible to include the development of all civilizations. Genesis is limited to salvation history. Only the people and events that develop the salvation message are included. A 3rd criticism is that Moses is not writing as an eyewitness. Chapter 1 of Genesis happens in eternity past. Chapter 50 happens in the 1800’s BC. Moses lived some 400 years later c. 1 50 Genesis Moses 1400 BC. This means he is writing about events anywhere from c. 1400 BC 400 to thousands of years before his time. So how can his details 1800 Eternity Past be accurate? The answer is found in what we do today. If we want to write about WW II, we use what other people have written. If someone is still living who experienced the events or heard about it from someone who was there, we would find out from them if our sources are accurate. This is what Moses did. He used what others had written. Then God the Holy Spirit, who was living and experienced all the events, validated what Moses should write. He also gave Moses information that only God would know. Remember chapter one tells us the Spirit of God was at creation; He was hovering over the waters. This brings us to the background of Genesis, the first book of Moses. NAME The Jews used to name their books by its first words, so this book was called In beginning. The Hebrew word is Bereshith (beray-sheeth). When 70 Jews translated it from Hebrew into Greek - the LXX, they renamed all the books. They chose one word to summarize what the book was about. They called this book Genesis. It is a Greek word meaning Birth or Beginning. THEME The theme of the book is the beginnings or first of everything. We have the beginning of the world; the beginning of humanity and sin; the first marriage and family; the first sacrifice; the beginning of crime, language and nations; the first promise of salvation thru Jesus. Page 2 1 PURPOSE The purpose of Genesis is to give the background and foundation for the rest of the Bible. In later books, when authors made a point, they often used a person or event in Genesis to back it up. This means they considered the Genesis stories were true and their readers believed they were true. Genesis is the foundation for the rest of the Bible, both in Bible history and theology. PEOPLE Some of the outstanding people in this book are: Adam/Eve Cain/Abel Enoch Noah Abraham Isaac Jacob Joseph OUTLINE - The outline is based on the theme beginnings Chapters 1-11 The Beginning of the world and humanity Creation, Fall and Promise, Flood and Promise, Tower of Babel Chapters 12-50 The Beginning of the Jewish race. This includes: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. Because Genesis is the foundation book, we will study it in 2 parts. This lesson will focus on the beginning of the world and humanity, chapters 1-11. We immediately see the Jewish style of writing in Genesis chapter one. Verse one is a general or summary statement: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Moses then develops this statement by tellling the story twice. In chapter 1, he tells about creation in general. In chapter 2, he gives added details about humanity from God’s viewpoint Chapter 1 Creation in general In verse 2 he tells us the condition of the earth. It was covered in darkness. It was formless and empty. To give it form or shape God makes 3 separations. On the first day, He separates light from darkness. On the second day, He separates the waters. Starting with a solid mass of water, God separates it, leaving some of the water or vapor on top and some on the bottom. In the middle, He puts the sky or atmosphere. This expanse or sky separates the waters above from the waters below. FORM THRU SEPARATIONS Light from darkness 1st Waters 2nd Waters from dry land 3rd On the 3rd day, God separates the water below so there is water in one place and dry land in another. Now there is form, but the earth is still empty. To fill it, there is further creation. Continuing on the 3rd day, God fills the dry land with vegetation, plants and fruit trees. On the 4th day, He fills the heavens with the sun, moon and stars. In chapter 1:14, God says the purpose of the sun, moon and stars is to mark seasons, days and years. This is a partial answer to the question about the days of creation - if they were literal 24-hour days or extended periods of time. Our day of 24 hours is based on the rotation of the earth in relation to the sun. Genesis says the sun was not placed in the heavens until the 4th day. This means time, as we know it, could not begin until the 4th day. In the first 3 days, there was no way to count 24-hour time - it was still part of eternity. I am not suggesting God needed thousands of years to accomplish creation. If He had wanted to, He could have done all of creation in one second. My goal is to keep us from unnecessary arguments that get involved with time and take our focus away from God. Creation days 4, 5 and 6 may or may not have been exact 24hour days. But without the sun in place, days 1-3 did not have “earth” time. Page 3 1 If this book were written from the western point of view, there would be many details about the time. But this is the Jewish perspective. They were not concerned how long creation took. They were concerned that people knew it was God who did it. This is the concern and emphasis we also should have. In the first 4 days, God has given form or shape to the earth. The land is filled with vegetation. The heavens are filled with the sun, moon and stars. THEEMPTINESS EMPTINESS FILLED THE FILLED On the 5th day, God fills the heavens with creatures that fly and fills the water with creatures that swim. 3rd land: vegetation 4th heavens: sun, moon, stars On the 6th day, He fills the land with animals, with a man and then a woman. 5th heavens/water: birds, fish 6th land: animals, humans The way the emptiness is filled shows the Jewish style of mirror or reverse image. God fills the land and heavens and then the heavens and land. With this, creation is finished - it is very good - in fact, it is perfect. There is a perfect earth plus a man and woman with perfect bodies and perfect minds. Because God does not need to do anything more, He stops - He rests on the 7th day to enjoy the beauty of His creation. Chapter 2 God’s Viewpoint - added details about humanity THE OLD TESTAMENT WORLD Mt. Ararat r Tig is Ri v Garden ? of Eden Eup er Babel! Babylon hra t es According to chapter 2, the Garden of Eden is located near 4 rivers. Two rivers no longer exist, while the other 2 are very well known. Verse 14 gives us the names of ones we know - the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The Garden of Eden was inside the area of the these rivers - just where they join, or possibly a little further north, where the rivers approach each other. God places Adam and Eve in this beautiful garden with just one limitation. They cannot eat the fruit of one tree. All the others they are free to enjoy. The story in chapter 3 tells about a serpent. Chapter 3 uses the Jewish style of writing called picture language or symbolism. There is a real serpent or snake which is also a picture of Satan. (Rev. 12:9) It is not the literal snake that tempts Eve. It is Satan using the snake. He chooses the snake because according to chapter 3:1 it was more beautiful, wise and clever than any of the other animals. This is the meaning of the words subtle or crafty. Chapter 3 Chapter 3:1 shows Satan’s tactics. He begins with the question, Did God really say? He places a doubt in Eve’s mind. Then he distorts God’s Word to make God seem unfair. Did He say you cannot eat from any tree? Eve shows her strength and knowledge as she corrects Satan. God is not unfair. We can eat from all the trees. Verse 3 But God did say, you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it, or you will die. Over the years, people have said Eve was adding to God’s command because the part about touching the fruit was not in the command to Adam in chapter 2:17. They are looking at the text from the Western mind. God had said not to touch it, but it was not included in the first telling with just the basics. It is mentioned in the 2nd telling, which has all the extra details. This is the Jewish style of writing. Eve tells Satan if they touch or eat the fruit of that one tree, they will die. He responds in chapter 3:5 you will not die. God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. There is progression in Satan’s tactics. Doubt, distortion and then denial of what God had said. Eve’s response also shows progression. First, she looks at the fruit, thinks about it, then desires it, takes it and eats it. While there are differences of opinion, I believe that Satan tempts Eve when she is alone. Tempting only one of them gives him a much better chance to succeed. Also, if Adam were with her, Satan either would have said something to him or Adam would have responded to one of the questions. Page 4 1 In addition, the story is put together based on topic, not on time. The topic is eating. So we are told that Eve keeps some of the fruit in her hand. As soon as Adam is with her, she gives him some of the fruit and he eats it. The important point is that without any protest, he takes and eats the fruit. In the New Testament, Paul says Eve ate the fruit because she was deceived but Adam was not deceived. He does it willfully and knowingly. 1 Timothy 2:14 Adam and Eve are given just one command, but they do not obey it. God is fair and holy; He has to keep His word. He said if they ate the fruit, they would die. But as we read the chapter, we see they do not fall dead. This does not mean Satan was right when he said, you will not die. The explanation is found in the literal Hebrew. God had said, dying, you will die. The moment they disobeyed, their bodies started dying. The degeneration process began, so eventually they would physically die. But God was not just talking about physical death. He also meant spiritual death. The word death is always talking about separation. Physical death means life is separated from the body. Spiritual death means a person is separated from God. The moment Eve and Adam eat the fruit, their relationship with God is changed. Instead of enjoying God’s presence in the garden, they are afraid, ashamed and want to hide. Their disobedience brings immediate spiritual death. They are separated from God. Their companionship with Him is gone. This is the first consequence - Dying, you will die. God now tells them the rest of the consequences. Both will be involved in labor. Eve, with pain, will labor to bring forth children. Adam with painful toil will labor to bring forth food. God intended that childbirth and farming would bring nothing but joy. Now while it still brings joy, it is also mixed with difficulty, pain and sorrow. This is God’s punishment for their disobedience. All that was perfect is gone. They now will live in an imperfect world, with imperfect bodies and imperfect minds. For as long as the present world exists, people will continue to experience these imperfections. Adam and Eve are separated from God and not able to enjoy His presence. God does not want to leave them in this condition. So, He provides an answer to their spiritual death. In 3:15 God says to Satan, I will put hostility or conflict between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. Her offspring will crush your head and you will attack her offspring’s heel. God is using Jewish picture language – sometimes called symbolism. The easiest way for us to understand, is to begin with only the literal picture. In the garden God is talking to a snake about Eve. God says He SATAN EVE will put hostility between the snake and Eve. He will put hostility conflict between snakes and people. A man will appear on the scene. The snake will bite his heel but the man will step on and crush the you woman snake’s head. A snake biting the bottom of the heel, where no vein offspring offspring is involved, gives momentary pain, but it is never fatal. However, crush head He (Jesus) when a person steps on and crushes the head of a snake, it is fatal. strike This is the literal meaning and picture. you heel (Jesus) What the picture represents The snake is a picture of Satan. Eve is a picture of herself. Offspring of Satan refers to the evil angels that work for Satan. Offspring of the woman is the human race. One of her offspring will be a man named Jesus. The spiritual meaning Satan will continue to tempt Eve. She will always have a conflict between obedience and disobedience. Satan will create conflict for everyone in the human race. Since he can only tempt one person at a time, he will use evil angels to also do the tempting. The situation looks hopeless. But God has a solution. Jesus will enter the human race. Satan’s strike on Jesus will be the cross. It will appear he has defeated Jesus. But the resurrection will prove it was only temporary. The cross will not be fatal for Jesus, but it will be fatal for Satan. John the apostle wrote in his letter of 1 John 3:8, the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s works. Page 5 1 Hebrew 2:14 says about Jesus, He too shared in our humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil. Right now Satan is still the god of this age; the prince of this world. He is very active. As yet, we have not seen the effects of Satan’s defeat. But Satan is living on borrowed time. One day he and his angels will be thrown into the lake of fire. Genesis 3:15 is called the first gospel; it is the first promise of Jesus. Only Jesus could defeat the power of Satan and make a relationship with God possible once again. Satan brought spiritual death; Jesus brought spiritual life. The book of Genesis says people lived hundreds of years. Everyone wants to know if these are literal years or did they use a different way of counting? 500 yrs 1000 1500 2000 2500 Adam 6 generations Methuselah Noah sons Terah Abraham Personally, I think they are literal years of 360 days to the year - the Jewish year. The human race starts with perfect people with perfect genes, so we would expect them to live long lives. Genesis also implies that before the flood, the earth had an even climate like in a greenhouse. This also would lead to long life. After the flood, the age of people begins to decrease. In fact, by the time we get to Moses, he says the average life span is 70-80 years. I think God gives longevity so there are eyewitnesses to confirm events. They could give the facts, not just to one or 2 generations, but to many. For example, Adam lived so long, he could tell Methuselah who could have told Noah and his sons. They continued to live up to the time of Abraham and Job. All the facts, as well as their accuracy, were protected because it went thru only 3 people before it was written down. Noah and his sons could have written the facts hundreds of times and given them to people as they migrated in various directions. This would explain why the story of creation and the flood are in the cultures of all early civilizations. METHUSELAH METHUSELAH METHUSELAH METHUSELAH # of years from Methuselah to flood FFlolo99yyr r oodds.s. According to Genesis, was the oldest person who ever lived. When we look at the meaning of his name, we may When he it When he dies, dies,Methuselah it will will come come know why he lived so long. 9966 # he ofdies, years His name means, when it willfrom come. Methuselah “It” is referring toto the flood flood. When he dies, the flood will come. Did that M 187 L 182 600 N + + really happen? M There is a way it out. 187toLcheck = N + 600 = + 182 # of years from Methuselah to flood M 187 L + 182 N + 600 = 96 out is how old Noah is, when the flood arrives. Chapter 7:6 Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. Flo9 yr od s. If we know how many years from Methuselah’s birth until the flood came, we can compare it with Methuselah’s age when he dies. According to Genesis 5:25, Methuselah is 187 years old when he has his first son. The name of Methuselah’s age his son is Lamech. Genesis 5:28Methuselah’s says Lamech is 182age years old when he has his first son. This is now the combined 969 b d number of years ’s years birth. old 969 years old when when died died b since Methuselah d METHUSELAH Chapter 5:29 says Lamech’s son is When he dies, it will come named Noah. So all we need to find Methuselah's age If we total the numbers 187, 182, 969 years old when died b d and 600, we have 969 years from Methuselah ’s birth until the flood came. Now let’s see the age of Methuselah when he dies? Chapter 5:27 - 969 years. We can see that when he died, the flood came. Methuselah lives an extra long time so people have an extra long time to repent. When people break God’s rules, He has to respond. But He has no pleasure in sending judgment. So, before He sends it, He gives people time to repent - to change their mind about obeying His rules. But did the people know they should repent? The answer is “yes”. Partially thru the meaning of Methuselah’s name. But they also know it thru Enoch who lives during this time. The New Testament says Enoch was a preacher. He warned people that if they did not repent, God would bring judgment. Page 6 1 To emphasize his message, when his son was born, he named him, When he dies, God’s judgment will come. He names him Methuselah. Peter, in the New Testament, says Noah warned the people for 120 years while he was building the ark. God shows grace and patience by extending Methuselah ’s life. As long as he lives, there is opportunity to repent. Chapter 6 gives 3 reasons why God has to send the flood. Verse 5 says, The Lord saw how great people’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. Notice the words: every inclination, only evil, all the time. There was total evil. Verse 11 The earth was filled with violence meaning anarchy and lawlessness. Total evil Violence, anarchy Twisting of right and wrong Verse 12 gives the 3rd reason. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. The Hebrew word corrupt means a perversion or twisting of morals. They are saying right is wrong and wrong is right; good is evil and evil is good. Nothing was sacred. What a description of our day. Jesus said, as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when I return. There are times when society becomes so bad, the only answer is for God Himself to intervene. The ark is large enough to hold many people and yet only 8 people are willing to enter - Noah, his wife, his 3 sons and their wives. There are also animals in the ark. According to 7:2, there are 7 pair of each kind of domestic animal and one pair of each wild animal. The many sub species of animals we have today had not yet developed, so there was room for all of the animals. God preserves only one pair of each wild animal because immediately after the flood, He does not want wild animals to over-run the earth. Since domestic animals will be used for sacrifice and food, He preserves 7 pair of each of them so they do not become extinct. THE OLD TESTAMENT WORLD Mt. Ararat er Riv ris Tig el! Babbylon a B Shinar Ur We are told it rains 40 days. The number 40 is literal, but it also has special meaning for the Jews. This is another style of Jewish writing. Thruout the Bible the number 40 is always connected with testing or judgment. The 40 days of rain are judgment over this earth because people refused to repent. After 40 days, the rain stops. As the water recedes, the ark lands on a mountain in the Mt. Ararat range. In today’s geography, this is in eastern Turkey, where it borders with Armenia and Iran. Noah and his family wait several months until the water recedes. When they leave the ark, the first thing they do is build an altar to worship God. God responds with a promise: I establish My covenant with you; never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth, meaning the whole earth. 9:11 Since that time, there have been local and regional floods but there will never again be a global flood. The sign of this promise is the rainbow. When God sees the rainbow, He will remember, meaning, He will respond and act upon His promise. He will stop the rain before it can destroy the entire world. God is speaking. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. 9:16. Life begins all over again with Noah and his family. God gives them a series of commands. The first part is so simple, surely no one will disobey it. 9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number, and fill the earth. God’s simple command is Have children and spread out - scatter. How hard is that to obey? Over the next 100 years, Noah and his descendants migrate from Mt. Ararat south to the Mesopotamia Valley. In 11:l, it is called the land of Shinar. It is in the same area where the Garden of Eden had been. The Garden had been destroyed in the flood. Everyone moves to this area and speaks the same language. Page 7 1 Verse 4 tells us their goal: Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth. God had said, spread out - fill up the earth – scatter. These people are saying, let us build a tower so we will not be scattered. Again, there is disobedience to God’s simple command. God responds to their disobedience in verse 7. 11:7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language - notice the plural us - God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. Suddenly the people are speaking different languages. So the place became known as the tower of confusion, or tower of babél. This name sounded like the Hebrew word for confusion (ba-lál). Now the people are forced to spread out. Those who stay in the area build a city called Babylon. In the Bible, the name Babylon is always connected with rebellion against God. It is located on the Euphrates River, north of the Persian Gulf. Those who leave the area go in all directions. The descendants of Ham will end up west and south of Babylon and Shinar. The descendants of Japheth will go west and north. The descendants of Shem will stay in the general area or go east or northeast. JAPHETH HAM SHEM This takes us thru the first division of Genesis 1-11. We have looked at the ancient past, but what does this have to do with our lives in the present? The tactics Satan used with Eve were so effective he still uses them with us today, as individuals and in our churches. He causes us to doubt God’s Word: surely God does not mean “that” for our day and age. Then he distorts God’s Word: God wants you to be happy and fulfilled, so you have a right to do this or that. Finally, Satan denies God’s Word. That is not what God means. God’s rules have changed because times have changed. Disobedience always begins with distortion of truth. To recognize distortion and lies, we have to know what God said. To understand what is right and what is wrong, we have to know what God means. This is why our study of God’s Word is so important – to know what He has really said and what He really means. BIBLE DEFINITIONS Physical Death: Physical death means life is separated from the body. Spiritual Death: Spiritual death means a person is separated from God. Page 8 1 EXTRA INFORMATION FOR THE STUDIOUS AND INQUISITIVE Tower of Babel: Instead of letting the heavens declare the glory of God to them, they wanted to use the heavens to develop their own religion and worship. They wanted to interpret God in their way, preventing future generations of remembering the facts of the true God. Chapter 2 – expanded text to show how it is put together by topic with no chronology implied. It is the 2nd telling. The 2nd telling always fills in the details. It is giving God’s viewpoint of what He did It begins with a general statement This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. Now the account begins When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, there was a point when none of the vegetation had produced after its kind because there was no rain and no one to till the soil. The original vegetation that God created continued to live because streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground - It is at that point and for this reason … …the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. When God created the vegetation, He had also planted a garden in the east, in Eden; this is where He put the man he had formed. To give you a little more idea about this garden and how great it was…when the LORD God created the garden, He made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there, it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. These are some of the details about the garden. This is where the LORD God took the man and put him, so that he could work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper - suitable for him.” The evidence that he needs someone else is the fact that the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But the animals were not of his nature or substance - for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man. Page 9