ADAM AND EVE
Genesis 2

Genesis 1:26 and following give a wide-angle shot of God's creating humanity. Genesis 2 zooms in. Some students have even said they represent two stories. I can imagine Moses, during that 40 years in the wilderness, recording the histories from the various tribes and being led by the Lord which ones to include. Anyway, let's look at the details of the story.

THE MAIN TAKEAWAY: God created YOU. The fact that He created the human race is vitally important. Yet for you personally the belief He created you as an individual, placed you in this world and time transforms life. Suddenly you are supposed to be here. Suddenly you have a mission. God gave you certain talents, abilities, and opportunities for that mission. If you fail, no one else can do it. You are his unique creation!

Word play: The Bible is full of it. Three or four words have the consonants “dm” as their root form in Hebrew letters. Adam is both the man's name and a generic term for man, often translated in modern translations as humanity or something similar unless the word obviously refers only to a male. “Dam” means blood. “Edam” means red. “Adamah” means earth. You should see the obvious connections.

God formed Adam in great detail. James Weldon Johnson wrote a great piece called “The Creation.” You can find Johnson himself reading it on You Tube, recorded at Columbia University in 1935. I recommend it. Also Psalm 139 speaks of the closeness God has with us. The more I learn about the human body, the more amazed I am at its details and intricacy. A friend taught an introductory college course in blood. I saw the textbook once, and it looked like a large dictionary. Who knew?

The Lord formed Adam out of the dust of the ground. Formed him in detail, as I mentioned above. And then he breathed into man the breath of life. This was not artificial respiration. This was the real thing. God's own breath and spirit came into that clay human, transforming him from a doll to a human being! The Hebrew calls him a “nephish haya,” a living soul. And so he was. And so are we.

Then the Lord moved on to make a partner for Adam. We find the first anesthetic and the first surgery done by the Lord Himself. The Hebrew is better expressed by something like “a piece of his side,” rather than a “rib.” Eve was to be by his side, as a partner. Incidentally, “helpmeet” is not a word. Look at the King James. It makes two words, a “help meet,” that is, a helper fit for him or suitable for him, a partner. 

It is not good that man should be alone. Aristotle said “Man is a political animal.” We would more likely say a social animal. Man's first partner was woman, a wife. I don't know how many anxious pleas I read on Facebook from single women moaning that they have no man to share life with. And yet many of them are far too quick to grab the first man who comes along, instead of becoming deeply acquainted to discover a true partner and companion. I'm sure men do likewise, just don't talk about it as much.

She shall be called “woman” because she came from man. More Hebrew word play. Another word for man is “ish.” Ishah is the corresponding word for woman. The similarity does carry over somewhat into English.

“They were naked and not ashamed.” Their intimacy was natural, but remember this in the next chapter after they have sinned. All of a sudden they were ashamed of their nakedness. How exposed and ashamed do you feel after sin?