Then came the creation of the male and female, formed in the image and likeness of God himself. Many feel this was the creation of Adam and Eve. But was it?
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:26-27).
Interestingly, the Hebrew word for man is ’adam (small a), while the word for Adam is ’Adam (large A—both minus the diacritical marks). ’adam (small a) means “ruddy, i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)” (James Strong, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Abingdon Press, 1973.)
Although it’s true that ’adam (small a) could be referring to an individual, it is highly unlikely. The reason is twofold: 1) God didn’t initially say he was going to create the male and female, but man—’adam (small a); and 2) God then used the term ’adam (small a) in conjunction with both male and female. This would seem to indicate the usage for ’adam (small a) was meant as mankind, which was then defined as the male and female of the species.
My assertion is that the creation of the male and female isn’t referring to a physical one but a spiritual one—unless God only created one male and one female, which I don’t believe is the case.
I think it’s fair to say that most Christians believe each of us has a soul or a spirit self that is the life of the physical body. (For my purposes, the soul and spirit body or self are interchangeable.) Remove that soul from the body and you have a lifeless body, or in other words, death.
Extending this one step further, I believe the earth also has a soul. And why not? Does not the earth mourn? Cannot it be defiled by the inhabitants thereon?
“The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitnts thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant” (Isaiah 24:4-5; see also Isaiah 33:9; Jeremiah 4:28).
If the earth were just dirt, rock and water, so to speak, could it then mourn and be defiled and not have a soul?
Some might explain it away as merely a poetic personification. If that’s what they want to believe, that’s fine. But as for me, for reasons I will get into in another article, I choose to believe the earth has a soul. I believe Genesis 1 was the account of the creation of the earth’s soul.
I also believe Genesis 1 is the account of the creation of the spirits of all plant, animal and human life that were slated to come to mortal earth. In addition, I believe the physical creation of the earth mirrored the spiritual creation from Day 1 through Day 3. From there on, the physical creation appeared in a different order than the spiritual creation, as we shall see.
This may be hard to accept because of traditional belief, but there’s good evidence for it.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them” (Genesis 2:1 ; underscoring mine).
The question then may be asked: What exactly is a host?
The Hebrew denotes “a mass of persons, or figuratively a mass of things, usually reserved for use in regards to armies in wartime.” (ibid.)
I think we can safely rule out the “armies in wartime.” That leaves us with a mass of persons and things, such as flora and fauna—i.e., plant and animal life, as well as human life.
We must, therefore, conclude that all human beings, plant and animal life were created by the end of Day 6—their spirits, anyway. If these were physical creations, as we have been taught to believe, then all of modern mankind would have been created way back in Day 6. If this is so, then how were we able to be born again? With Nicodemus, we might ask:
“How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” (John 3:4).
We also know God rested on Day 7:
“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made” (Genesis 2:2; underscore mine).
We’ve generally been taught this was the end of the physical creation, but I believe it was the end of the spiritual creation. I know many Christians believe our spirits are created the moment of conception or even at birth. Yet, if this were true, God’s work of spiritual creation was not finished at the end of Day 6. Nor will it end until the final person, plant or animal has been born into mortality. (What applies to one applies to all.) Therefore, if this were so, God could not have rested on Day 7.
There’s still more:
“These are the generations [i.e., history] of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day [i.e., space of time] that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew” (Genesis 2:4-5; underscoring mine).
How could God create “every plant in the field” and “every herb of the field” “before it was in the earth” and “before it grew”? Only if the creations of which he was speaking were formed as spirit entities.
Some view this as conflicting. To me, it reaffirms that Genesis 1 was, indeed, a spiritual creation.
Continuing with verse 5, we read: “for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth”. If there were no rain, there would be no plants. If there were no plants, their could be no life dependent upon such plants. This would seem to add support to Genesis 1 being a spiritual creation. But there’s wiggle room here.
Most Christians likely believe it never rained until the flood in Noah’s day, and this is due to the appearance of the first rainbow afterward. This may have some validity. However, there may have existed some atmospheric conditions we don’t know about before the flood that allowed people to live from 600 to 900 plus years. These conditions may have prevented a rainbow from appearing, even when it rained—if it rained. The massive rain of the flood could have washed out whatever was in the atmosphere that allowed for such longevity. We just don’t know. What we do know is that it hadn’t yet rained (Genesis 2:5) after all the plant life had been created (Genesis 1:12).
Continuing with verse 5, we read: “and there was not a man to till the ground.” Even though the male and female had been created in Genesis 1, yet there was no man actually on the physical earth at this time. However, before man was placed on the earth physically, the following happened:
“But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:6).
Thus, God began preparing the physical earth for the habitat of man by making conditions ripe for the proliferation of plant life.
By the way, the Hebrew for mist denotes a fog. Whatever that referred to, it must have been a huge fog, heavy with water so that it watered the entire massive continent—i.e., “the whole face of the ground”.
From here on, I believe the spiritual and physical creations of the earth began to differ. I’m also guessing a good deal of time may have passed between this mist and the next great event: the creation of man.
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).
Adam (large “A”) was placed somewhere in the midst of this vast continent. By then, the greenery was likely all around him. Surely some of it was edible, else he could not have survived . . . unless it was not necessary for him to eat in his pre-fallen condition.
Next, “God planted a garden eastward in Eden” (Genesis 2:8). We don’t know what kind of a garden it was. It could have been a flower garden, a vegetable garden, a Japanese-like garden, an orchard, or any and all combinations of gardens. It likely took some time to grow. God then placed Adam into the garden.
“And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden , and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. . . . and the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Genesis 2:9,15).
Note, this is the second time it is mentioned that God placed Adam into the garden. I believe this was the real thing and the first mention (Genesis 2:8) was a preview. We know Moses used previews, as he next previewed the creation of woman.
“And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18).
However, before God created the woman, he formed “every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air” (Genesis 2:19). Then he brought them to Adam in some sort of naming ceremony, where Adam gave names to them all.
How he would even know what to call them, I would have to wonder. In modern science, they solve the problem by naming every new thing after themselves or someone or something that is meaningful to them. I imagine the naming process took quite awhile, so it was probably good the woman hadn’t yet been formed. But finally she was:
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:21-22).
Adam, apparently on a roll, continued his naming ceremony by calling the woman . . . well, woman.
To sum up, a quick reading of Genesis 1-2 might leave one a bit confused. To others, it is proof the Bible isn’t true because it seems to contradict itself. Still others may dismiss my ideas simply because they’re different from what they have been told all their lives. I have no problem with any of these views. It’s still a free country (for now, at least).
While there is much missing or held back in these two narratives, it seems clear enough to me that there were two creations—the first spiritual, as represented in Genesis 1, and the second physical, as represented in Genesis 2.
Whatever all this means to you, it is enough for me.
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