September 13, 2015: The Garden of Eden

September 13, 2015: The Garden of Eden

Genesis 2:4b-25

⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

On the day the Lord God made earth and sky— ⁵ before any wild plants appeared on the earth, and before any field crops grew, because the Lord God hadn’t yet sent rain on the earth and there was still no human being to farm the fertile land, ⁶ though a stream rose from the earth and watered all of the fertile land— ⁷ the Lord God formed the human from the topsoil of the fertile land^[c] and blew life’s breath into his nostrils. The human came to life. ⁸ The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east and put there the human he had formed. ⁹ In the fertile land, the Lord God grew every beautiful tree with edible fruit, and also he grew the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river flows from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides into four headwaters. ¹¹ The name of the first river is the Pishon. It flows around the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² That land’s gold is pure, and the land also has sweet-smelling resins and gemstones. ¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon. It flows around the entire land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is the Tigris, flowing east of Assyria; and the name of the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The Lord God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it. ¹⁶ The Lord God commanded the human, “Eat your fill from all of the garden’s trees; ¹⁷ but don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because on the day you eat from it, you will die!” ¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It’s not good that the human is alone. I will make him a helper that is perfect for him.” ¹⁹ So the Lord God formed from the fertile land all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky and brought them to the human to see what he would name them. The human gave each living being its name. ²⁰ The human named all the livestock, all the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals. But a helper perfect for him was nowhere to be found.

²¹ So the Lord God put the human into a deep and heavy sleep, and took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh over it. ²² With the rib taken from the human, the Lord God fashioned a woman and brought her to the human being. ²³ The human^[e] said,

“This one finally is bone from my bones
        and flesh from my flesh.
She will be called a woman
        because from a man she was taken.”

²⁴ This is the reason that a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife, and they become one flesh. ²⁵ The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they weren’t embarrassed.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Introduction:

As we begin this journey through the Narrative Lectionary, I am reminded of my great love of free samples.  Stay with me on this, okay?  I love restaurants, stores, and supermarkets that offer their potential customers a small bite of food which gives a hint of something bigger and better.  It could be a piece of cheese, some chips or perhaps a chunk of hamburger but whatever it is, I’ve rarely met a free-sample I didn’t like.  It’s as if your taste buds are given a “glimpse” of a wonderful experience to come.  Living a life of faith in God in our broken world is filled with many such hints of something better, glimpses of wonderful experiences yet to occur.

Here we receive a glimpse of paradise: how human life was (as is) meant to be.  It involves three key things: life that comes from God (verse 7), our relationship with the creation (verse 15) and our relationship with each other. By examining each of these three aspects we’ll gain a better understanding of who God intended us to be and what our life is meant to look like.  These “glimpses” will lead us to something bigger and better, but first let’s look at some “technical” things.   

The Technical Stuff:

The Bible contains two accounts of the creation of the world within the book of Genesis, written by different authors and later synthesized into one narrative.  Both accounts use rich, vibrant and poetic language and are not meant to be a scientific description of earth’s formation. Instead, they are like literary portraits which paint with words. The first is found in chapter 1 and the first three verses of chapter 2 and it is a beautiful poem that describes how God created an orderly world into being, forming it out of chaos.  On the seventh day, God rested.  In this account humans, men and women alike, are created “in God’s own image,” (Gen. 1:27) presumably at the same time.  At the end of the process, everything God made was “supremely good.” (Gen. 1:31)

The second account of creation is more intimate and “earthy.” It has many differences from the chapter 1: humans are created before plants and animals (unlike the account in chapter 1) and “woman” is created after these.  We also have a more descriptive account of the formation of humanity. As our lesson today says, God formed the human from the “topsoil.” The Hebrew word “adam” can be translated as either “man” or “human” and has a close relationship with the Hebrew word for ground or soil, “adamah.” Sometimes this person formed out of the “topsoil” is called the “earth-creature.” God forms the human out of the ground and breathes “life’s breath” into the human’s nostrils.  The “woman” comes later, after it is determined that the original “human” needs a companion.

What Does This Say to Us?

This devotion could go on with a more “technical” look at the biblical accounts of creation and the literary “mechanics” that make them work, but that’s not what we’re after here. When we read the bible devotionally, we’re looking to hear God speak to our lives today.  While a bit of technical know-how is necessary, it’s not the main thing. Now that we have a glimpse of the technical side, let’s see what it has to tell us today.  There are three main points that have a great significance for our lives. They were mentioned above, but deserve to be repeated: life that comes from God (verse 7), our relationship with the creation (verse 15) and our relationship with each other (verse 18 & 23). These “glimpses” or “free samples” will give us a hint of something larger and more significant for our lives.

When God “blew life’s breath into his nostrils” (verse 7) it shows us that humanity is truly “inspired.” This means that God has “breathed” into us and that we are filled with God’s spirit.  In the Hebrew language the word “ruach” can mean both “breath” and “spirit.”  Genesis 1 says that we are made in the image of God, and Genesis 2 says that we are filled with God’s breath/spirit. 

This is the beginning of the “case” for human dignity and human rights from a biblical perspective. Every person you meet was made in the image of God and has God’s breath/spirit flowing through them. Different skin color? Doesn’t matter. Different nationality? Of no consequence.  We are all made in God’s image and have God’s spirit/breath in us. This gives us a clue as to how we should treat each other. Jesus will later say that the two greatest commandments are “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being and with all your mind” and “you must love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-40) He’s quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, but that idea starts here in Genesis with creation. We can act accordingly.

This lesson also gives us a clue concerning our relationship with creation.  Verse 15 says “The LORD God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it.” We are caretakers of something given to us. In his Small Catechism Martin Luther says God has given us everything we need: “all the necessities and nourishment for this body and life.” This is done “out of pure, fatherly, and divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness of mine at all!!” What had “the human” done to be given a garden? Nothing! It’s a gift. Already we see God’s love and grace present in our story.  Also, this verse clues us in on our purpose: to take care of what God has made. We have a job to do and we feel close to God, at one with God when we are doing it. The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that it is God’s gift that people should “take pleasure in all their toil.” We can see that purpose here in Genesis 2.

Finally, verses 18 and 23 clue us in to our relationship with each other. God says “It’s not good that the human is alone. I will make him a helper who is perfect for him.” We are social creatures, meant for community and relationships.  Damon Thibodaux was a convicted criminal on death row. He spent year after year in solitary confinement with almost no human interaction. After fifteen years he was released when DNA records proved that he couldn’t have committed the crime that gave him the death sentence. After being released he spoke out against the practice of solitary confinement in interviews and other testimony by saying that it kills you “bit by bit and day by day.”

Thibodaux had learned what Genesis 2 tells us: “it is not good that the human is alone.” David Brooks is a syndicated columnist and best-selling author who agrees with Thibodaux (and, presumably Genesis 2) when he says “We’re not self-contained individuals. We’re social animals, not rational animals.” (quote from Brooks’ TED Talk). The human is complete when there is a relationship with the newly made woman.  Author and pastor Rob Bell has said that if you’re looking for a “girl power” moment, just remember that CREATION ITSELF isn’t complete until the woman is created.

We were made for community, we were meant for relationships: with God and with each other. Christians believe that God is in the form of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This means that at God’s core being, you’ll find a relationship. When we experience loving relationships, we are experiencing God and what God intended for us.  So here we are: experiencing some bite-sized “free-samples” at the beginning of our Narrative Lectionary journey: life, relationship with God and with each other. May they give us an appetite for more.