Genesis 2:18-20 respek wamen
18 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.
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.
Here we have, I. An instance of the Creator’s care of man and his fatherly concern for his comfort,
II. An instance of the creatures’ subjection to man, and his dominion over them
III. An instance of the creatures’ insufficiency to be a happiness for man
I. An instance of the Creator’s care of man and his fatherly concern for his comfort
It is not good that man, this man, should be alone
The Hebrew construction of v. 18 accentuates the negative phrase “not good” by placing it at the head of the sentence.
Interestingly, it is God who determines that it is not good for man to be alone
There is no indication that Adam himself was dissatisfied with his circumstances
God has made the man and provided a beautiful environment with honorable work, a setting men may sometimes consider idyllic, but God announces that more is to be done to achieve the ideal for the man
God’s concern is that man is “alone.”
Whether the man felt his aloneness at first is not stated; only the divine viewpoint is given
God has created human life to have fellowship with him but also to be a social entity
Isolation is not the divine norm for human beings
After making his evaluation (v. 18a), God proposes a solution
God will provide a helper for Adam
God already is Adam’s helper (but a superior helper)
II. An instance of the creatures’ subjection to man, and his dominion over them
The animals are also Adam’s helpers (but inferior helpers)
Every beast of the field and every fowl of the air God brought to Adam
not all the animals in existence, but those chiefly in his immediate neighborhood to be subservient to his use
God brought the larger quadrupeds and birds to the man
every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens
“to see what he would call them
animal In exercising his stewardship over creation, Adam names the animals
In ancient Israelite belief, knowing the name of a thing is what enabled one to do good for the thing named or to pronounce a blessing
Every beast of the field and every fowl of the air God brought to Adam
either by the ministry of angels, or by a special instinct, directing them to come to man as their master,
whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof
His powers of perception and intelligence were supernaturally enlarged to know the characters, habits, and uses of each species that was brought to him.
God brought them to him, that he might name them, and so might give,
1. A proof of his knowledge
2. A proof of his power
A proof of his knowledge, as a creature endued with the faculties both of reason and speech,
and so taught more than the beasts of the earth and made wiser than the fowls of the heaven
And, 2. A proof of his power.
It is an act of authority to impose names (Dan. 1:7), and of subjection to receive them
The inferior creatures did now, as it were, do homage to their prince at his inauguration, and swear fealty and allegiance to him
If Adam had continued faithful to his God, we may suppose the creatures themselves would so well have known and remembered the names Adam now gave them as to have come at his call, at any time, and answered to their names
God gave names to the day and night, to the firmament, to the earth, and to the sea
But he gave Adam leave to name the beasts and fowls
as their subordinate lord
having made him in his own image, he thus put some of his honour upon him
in giving names to them he was led to exercise his powers of speech and to prepare for social intercourse with his partner, a creature yet to be formed
To that end, God parades the animals before Adam
The force of this is to stress that Adam himself chooses who his partner will be
Rather than force a decision on Adam, God allows the man to make a free decision
Man is not free to choose what is right and wrong, but he is free to choose his life partner
but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him
The design of this singular scene was to show him that none of the living creatures he saw were on an equal footing with himself
III. An instance of the creatures’ insufficiency to be a happiness for man
But (among them all) for Adam there was not found a help meet for him
Observe here, 1. The dignity and excellency of the human nature
On earth there was not its like, nor its peer to be found among all visible creatures; they were all looked over, but it could not be matched among them all
2. The vanity of this world and the things of it; put them all together, and they will not make a help-meet for man
They will not suit the nature of his soul
nor supply its needs
nor satisfy its just desires
nor run parallel with its never-failing duration
reveals him as a social being, made for fellowship, not power: he will not live until he loves, giving himself away
Jewish sentiment noted this: “Whoever has no wife exists without goodness, without a helpmate, without joy, without blessing, without atonement … without well-being, without a full life; … indeed, such a one reduces the representation of the divine image [on earth].
God creates a new thing to be a help-meet for man
a helper The Hebrew term used here, ezer, refers broadly to rendering aid
a helper The Hebrew term used here, ezer, refers broadly to rendering aid