The First Home (2:4-14)
Some Old Testament scholars have claimed that this section of Genesis 2 is a second account of creation written by a different author whose message conflicts with what’s found in chapter 1. That theory isn’t widely promoted today; for in these verses, Moses tells the same creation story but adds details that we need to know in order to understand events that happen later. Genesis 2:4 is the first of eleven “generation” statements that mark the progress of the story Moses wrote in the book of Genesis. (See chapter 1, section 2.)
Adam the worker. Looking back to the third day (1:9-13), Moses told how God had brought forth vegetation and provided a “mist” to water the plants. You won’t encounter rain in Genesis until the time of the flood. It’s interesting that God needed someone to till the earth and help produce the food needed. Humans are stewards of God’s creation blessings and should use His gifts as He commands. God and man work together, for God put Adam into the garden to do His work in tilling the soil and caring for it (2:15).
A retired man living in a city got tired of seeing an ugly vacant lot as he took his daily walk, so he asked the owner for permission to plant a garden there. It took days to haul away the accumulated rubbish and even more time to prepare the soil, but the man worked hard. The next year, the lot was aglow with life and beauty, and everyone took notice.
“God has certainly given you a beautiful piece of property,” said a visitor as he admired the flowers and the landscaping.
“Yes, He has,” the busy gardener replied, “but you should have seen this property when God had it all by Himself!”
The reply was a wise one and not at all irreverent. The same God who ordains the end–a beautiful garden–also ordains the means to the end–someone to do the work. After all, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26), and no amount of prayer or Bible study can take the place of a gardener plowing the soil, sowing the seed, watering plants, and pulling weeds. “For we are laborers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9).
Work isn’t a curse; it’s an opportunity to use our abilities and opportunities in cooperating with God and being faithful stewards of His creation. After man sinned, work became toil (Gen. 3:17-19), but that wasn’t God’s original intention. We all have different abilities and opportunities, and we must discover what God wants us to do with our lives in this world, for the good of others and the glory of God. Someday, we want to be able to stand before God and say with Jesus, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4 nkjv).
Adam the tenant. God planted His garden “eastward in Eden” (Gen. 2:8). “Eden” means either “delight” or “place of much water” and suggests that this garden was a paradise from the hand of God. Bible history begins with a beautiful garden in which man sinned, but the story ends with a glorious “garden city” (Rev. 21–22) in which there will be no sin. What brought about the change? A third garden, Gethsemane, where Jesus surrendered to the Father’s will and then went forth to die on a cross for the sins of the world.
We have no information about the Pishon River or the Gihon River, and though the Tigris (Hiddekel) and Euphrates are familiar to us, we still don’t have enough data to determine the exact location of the garden of Eden. The location of the land of Havilah is also uncertain; some place it in Armenia, others in Mesopotamia. The King James Version has identified the land of Cush as Ethiopia, but this interpretation isn’t generally accepted today. Fortunately, it isn’t necessary to master ancient geography in order to understand the spiritual lessons of these early chapters in Genesis.
In this beautiful garden, God provided both bounty and beauty; Adam and Eve had food to eat and God’s lovely handiwork to enjoy. As yet, sin hadn’t entered the garden; so their happiness wasn’t marred.