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.)
This man, who would later come to be known as Adam, became the first living, at least animal life, on the face of the earth, bar none, according to the chronology given in Genesis chapter 2.
For a treatment on whether the creation of Adam and Eve was literal or figurative, you may wish to read my two-part series, starting at: “Was Adam Created from Clay?”
First there was water in some form (we’re told it was a mist) that watered the whole face of the earth, then there was Adam.
However, one thing we must remember is that at this point in time the earth had not “fallen” and was, therefore, in a paradisaical state. We don’t even know if Adam even needed to eat in this state. We only know that certain things were “good for food” (Genesis 2:9), but that came later.
The Garden
After God had formed the man is when he got busy with the seeds or transplants.
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
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. (Genesis 2:8-9.)
Was there any plant life outside of this newly created garden? The simple answer is: We don’t know. It’s certainly possible, but if there were plant life outside of the garden, it obviously wasn’t as rich in life as the just-planted garden, or there would have been no need to call the new planting a garden.
Be that as it may, this is the first mortal reference to plant life since we were previously told that it had been created “before it grew” and “before it was in the earth.” (Genesis 2:4-5.)
The idea that there might not have been any or poor plant life outside of the garden makes the casting of Adam and Eve out of the garden even more stark and undesirable, going from a lush atmosphere to, basically a desert without any or little life of any kind.
Of course, this may be a wrong assumption, for as previously mentioned, there may have been some sort of plant life, much like one might have seen in the Great Plains of the United States before mankind moved himself there—in need of a lot of cultivating.
We know that after Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, he was commanded “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” (Genesis 3:19.) And the verse before that we are told the earth would bring forth “thorns and thistles,” and they may have already been present.
The First Commandment
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:15-17.)
This is the second reference of God taking the man and putting him in the garden. It’s kind of odd that Adam would have been placed in the garden twice, so, for some unknown reason, Moses felt the need to repeat himself.
You’ll note that God tells the man he may eat the fruit from all the trees except one: the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He didn’t say it was absolutely necessary for him to eat the fruit, but that he may. Again, remember that he was in a paradisical state and we don’t know for sure that food was necessary for sustenance.
For a treatment on the ensuing “fall,” you might wish to read my three-part series, beginning at: “Did Adam and Eve Need to Fall?”. (This series started out as two posts but ended up as three, in case you were wondering.)
Formation of the Beasts
About this time, “the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make an help meet for him.” (Genesis 2:18.)
But instead of immediately forming a “help meet” for him, God went about forming the beasts of the earth.
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field . . . (Genesis 2:19-20.)
It’s hard to imagine the task that was put upon Adam and maybe that’s why God delayed his forming Adam’s help meet until it was over. Of course, we don’t know how many animals were involved, but it had to be quite extensive. We also don’t know the range of Adam’s language, but it was undoubtedly expanded during this time. Where did he get all the names? That talent had to have come from the Holy Spirit.
And after this task was completed, and after undoubtedly Adam saw that the beasts he was naming came in two genders, it was again noted, “for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.” (Genesis 2:20.)
Then Came Eve
Then, in Genesis 2:21-22 God finally made a woman from one of Adam’s ribs, according to the account.
It’s interesting and noteworthy that the last creation that was chronicled in Genesis chapter 2 is the formation of woman. This certainly in no way demeans or lowers the formation of Eve, even though she didn’t arrive on the scene until everything else had been formed out of the ground.
Certainly the old saw, “last but not least,” aptly applies here. Without Eve, the entire plan God had/has for his creations could not be accomplished and would surely fail. And we know that God does not fail in anything he puts his hand to.
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