Genesis 2:8-15 Marriage OH 1.

2
Now the Lord had planted a garden What Genesis 1-3 Teaches about Marriage
in the east, in Eden;
and there Man:
he put the man he had formed…
The Lord God took the man Made in God’s Image
and put him in the Garden of Eden
Why start with Genesis?
to work it
and take care of it… Jesus did (Mk. 10:6ff and Matt. 19:4ff)
“At the beginning of creation God made them male and female [Gen 1:27]…
Man’s Task and the two will become one flesh. [Gen 2:24]”
“To work, serve, till”:
A verb often used of cultivating the soil (2:5; 3:23; 4:2, 12, etc.). Understanding Genesis 1-3
Also often used in a religious sense of serving God ^(e.g., Deut 4:19), When we read the opening chapters of Genesis we need to be careful how we
especially of the tabernacle duties of the Levites (Num 3:7–8; 4:23–24, 26) interpret their language.
“To guard, to keep”: Literary Context
The simple sense of “guard” (4:9; 30:31),but more commonly used in legal texts of Written as an account in pre-scientific figurative language that was understood
observing religious commands and duties (17:9; Lev 18:5), within the thought framework of the people of the writer’s time
particularly of the Levites responsibility for guarding the tabernacle from
intruders (Num 1:53; 3:7–8) Note: Figurative does not mean imaginary!
Figurative language may be the most accurate way to convey what is real,
To Discuss abiding and certain in the absence of any human presence to observe.
Interpret sometimes figuratively, not always literally!
• What more do we learn about man’s task from the second account of
creation? Genesis 1 – 2 in brief
At the beginning of human history God made the first man,
Boundaries Set endowed him with life, and placed him in a garden
The second account of creation ends with a permission, a limitation and a warning,
before the narrative moves onto the next section. Note: Two accounts given: Gen 1 and Gen 2
Genesis 2:16-17 • Suggests the writer had the two ancient sources for his information,
And the Lord God commanded the man, each with a different focus on what is significant and needs explaining
“You are free to eat FREEDOM
from any tree in the garden; • So the two accounts are aiming to do two different things
but Account No 1
you must not eat LIMITATION Genesis 1:1-2:3
from the tree of the knowledge In the beginning WHEN?
of good and evil, God created the heavens and the earth… WHAT?
for when you eat of it,
you will surely die.” WARNING • light..
A Moral Boundary • sky…
The principle of having boundaries in the order of creation • land and sea… vegetation…
is extended to moral responsibility (the knowledge of good and evil)
• lights in the sky… sun and moon and stars…
Next Session • living creatures in sea and sky…
Man’s Helper
• living creatures on land…man…
 …in six days. HOW (LONG)? Creation defined in terms of activity, being fruitful and multiplying and subduing the
Gen 1:26 earth
Then God said, “Let us make man WHO? Note: All functional terms (of doing rather than being)
in our image, HOW? Made in God’s Image
in our likeness, and Man Made Responsible for Ruling Creation
let them rule over the fish of the sea and WHAT?
Interpretation:
the birds of the air,
over the livestock, • Man is set in the midst of creation as God’s statue
over all the earth and
over all the creatures • God assigns to man and woman (both made “in His image”)
that move along the ground.” the mandate of representative rule
Gen 1:27 i.e. authority to look after creation in His name
So God created man WHO?
in his own image, HOW? To Discuss
In the image of God
he created him;
• How do think of man “ruling the earth” today?
male and female HOW?
Is it the same as what Adam was told to do at creation?
he created them. • Is “rule” the same as “stewardship”? Where does “subdue”
Gen 1:28 fit in to the mandate given to Adam?
God blessed them (the male & the female) and BLESSING
Gen 1:26-28
said to them,
God made man and woman
“Be fruitful and COMMANDS
in his own image and likeness
increase in number;
to be fruitful
fill the earth . and
and
subdue it
so fill the earth by multiplying
Rule over the fish… birds… every living creature.”
and
to subdue it
To Discuss and
• What does “made in God’s image” mean to you? to rule over all his other creatures
Made in God’s Image Made Like God
(Figurative language) (Figurative Language)
How should we interpret “in God’s image”? Interpretation:
• Popular notions (taken from Greek thought) • As God rules over a large domain—the whole universe—so humanity
– Possessing intelligence, will or emotions is given charge of the entire earth to rule it for God as His stewards
– I.e. like God in his nature (being) Or: Account No 2
Genesis 2:4-25
•Ancient Eastern custom Gen 2:4-7
– The setting up of the king’s statue equivalent to proclaiming his When the Lord God made the earth
domination over the region in which the statue was erected (e.g. Dan and the heavens
3:1,5-7) – and no shrub of the field had yet appeared…
and there was no man to work the ground…
Gen 1:26-28 the Lord formed man
Textual Context from the dust of the ground
 and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life,
and
the man became a living being.