Apply Within

Bob Davis: Whenever my idea goes against the word of God, I'm wrong. Smart as I am, I'm wrong. Whenever your idea of what's good or bad or whatever goes against the word of God, God bless you, you're wrong. And it's pride to think anything else. And that's what God says. So let's go with all that good news to Chapter 2.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we by the power of God's Holy Spirit apply his word within our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse through the Bible. Our study continues in Genesis Chapter 2 as Adam names the animals and God forms Eve from Adam's rib. Here's Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: Thus, or that's the way the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day, God finished, literally finished, his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

God Almighty was finished with everything he's going to do? No, with creation. He's not going to create some new critters. Everything that's created is right there. He's going to do some work later on, but all of creation, here it is. Take a look at it, learn about it, walk through it. But God Almighty blessed and sanctified the seventh day. Sanctified, kiddush in Hebrew. Sanctify means to set apart for a special use.

So, something's going to come in and go wrong. I read it to you, verse 31 of Chapter 1. Nothing's gone wrong yet. And that is important for you to take note of. Nothing has gone wrong yet. Why? He's looked at everything that he had made and behold it was very good. There's nothing wrong yet, nothing. It's perfect.

So verse 4, these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord made the earth and the heavens. Verse 5, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth and there was not a man to till the ground. Remember, for a whole day or a couple of days when they were created.

But there went up a mist from the earth. Notice it never rained. It never rained. But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. The whole earth, all the ground, got watered. Looks like every evening while you're sleeping and the mist comes down and you get up and the dew is all over. And remember we learned that it was probably like a tropical paradise.

Verse 7 says this, and the Lord formed man. Now, didn't he tell us God made him in Chapter 1? Male and female created he them? Yeah. Notice he's not contradicting himself, he's just giving us a little more detail about how God did it. He says that there was no rain that watered the earth or the plants and there was no man that was tilling the field. The plants were just growing, the fruit trees were just growing.

No people on the earth to take care of those things. So the whole earth was watered and taken care of by this mist. And we have a little more info about how God created man. These are the generations of the heavens of the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God, Jehovah, Yahweh Elohim, made the heavens and the earth or the earth and the heavens. Every plant of the field that you saw and we get down to verse 7, we already read it, but the Lord God, Yahweh or Jehovah Elohim, formed man from the dust of the ground.

We're dirt bags. God formed Adam from the clay, from the ground. He just puts a pile together and there's Adam. But he did something else. 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, hold it, soul. Not just a living being, a living soul. That means something. These words aren't accidental here. It means a lot.

We have a little more information. God formed. The word formed is yatsar in the Hebrew. It means to fashion. The idea of artwork, the idea of a potter fashioning the earthen vessel from the clay, making it into something with his hands. God just kind of forms or molds man. Full-sized dude.

So does God create and could it possibly look like it's been a long time? Yet there's the man there and he's only been there not even an hour yet, but he still looks like he's 30 years old, 35, 27, round in there, right? Young, healthy, strong. Why can't God do that? To form means to fashion. And the language in the word means the idea of a potter or an artist shaping an earthen vessel from clay.

God formed man from the dirt of the ground, from the earth itself. The Hebrew word for dirt or for ground is adamah, where we get the name Adam. It could mean red or dirt. So you could call him Red or Dirt. He's Adam. God formed man and then did what? God created him, put him together like a potter makes a beautiful piece of work.

By the way, I've seen some potters that are so gifted at what they do, their stuff sells for thousands of dollars and it's like a plate you put stuff on. Just beautiful. All artsy and everything, right? So just because man is made out of dirt doesn't mean he's not special and amazing. What a creation God has done. The highest of all God's creation.

So God formed man and then breathed the breath of life into man and man became literally, the language, a living soul. This means man has a spirit and a soul, a living spiritual being with a capacity to worship God, to serve God, and to fellowship with God. Verse 8 says, the Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he put the man whom he had built, formed, put together, created.

And out of the ground the Lord made, the Lord God, Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight. How many? Every tree that's pleasant to the sight and that's good for food. The tree of life also in the middle of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Those two. He tells us some are fruit trees, some are just beautiful trees. Lots of them are fruit trees, but there are two he gives us the name of.

Hmm, how important. And they were in the very center of the garden, right in the middle there. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And a river, a large river, verse 10, went out of Eden, flowed out from Eden, to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four different rivers. So that's one big river and it's coming out and now it's heading in four different directions.

The name of the first Pishon, that is it which surrounds the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. There's bdellium and onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon, the same is it that surrounds the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river Hiddekel, that is it which goes toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. We recognize two of those.

So here what do we have? God put together specifically for mankind, specifically for Adam, his creation. God put together a special garden and God made it. So you know it was a beautiful place for man. And it was east of Eden. It was a perfect place. Eden means pleasure or delight. So just east of Eden you've got this beautiful garden, a completely perfect environment for man to live in. God did that for him. He got the whole earth. You can spread all over the whole thing, but start you right here. This is a beautiful location.

Eden was located toward the east. It is believed to be the region that we know as Mesopotamia. We're talking huge, goes down toward Ethiopia, etcetera and so forth. So we're talking modern-day Syria, Iraq, Iran. The area where Babylon, etcetera and so forth, what you recognize. There was one huge river that flowed from the garden into divided into four rivers: Pishon and Gihon. But the Hiddekel, we know that today as the Tigris. And the Euphrates, we know that today as the Euphrates. So we know it's a big region. It's big. So somewhere in that region, that's where it all got started.

So look at verse 15, almost done here. Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. He is in charge. Who's in charge? Adam. Over what? Everything, the whole earth. Starting right here. This is just take care of this. It's beautiful now, Lord. I know. Go for it.

And the Lord God commanded Adam, the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat." How many? Every tree. Whichever one you want to eat from, you're free to do it. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it. Don't eat just that one. It's easy to spot, it's right in the center of everything. Don't eat of it. For in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die," literally dying thou shalt die.

There's been no death ever. That sounds scary to me. Adam, he hadn't been around for 20 years to get used to this whole stick, right? And God says eat that you die. Whoa, I don't even like the sound of that. I've never done something like that. Did he say don't touch it? Did he say don't look at it? Did he say don't lean on it and hang around it? What did he say? Don't eat.

You know it's real simple. God keeps everything for you and me really simple. He does. It's us that we say, "Now did he mean I couldn't touch it? Am I allowed to tear the leaves off and put them on my head or something? What can I do?" That's the tree, you focus on that and you're going to be playing with it, you're going to want to climb in it, you're going to want to just get away from the thing.

You can eat from any and every tree you choose. And I think that the Garden of Eden was big. What if the Garden of Eden was 1,000 square miles? How many trees in a healthy, healthy environment? Probably hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of trees, right? So this you just don't want me to eat that one? I can do that. I mean with all the trees around, we got this. You would think so, huh? If you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will surely die.

Now why would God do something like that? Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Can I eat from the tree of life? Sure, why not. Wonder why he didn't. Well, because there was no death in it, probably never crossed his mind. God has created man, now listen again, let's put it all together, in his own image. One of the attributes of God is that God has a free will.

What did God say? Let's make man in our image. Why did he say that? It's what he wanted to do. He's got a free will. We're created in his image. Adam's created in his image. See part of that means God has a free will and God does what he will. And Jesus in the garden prayed not my will but your will, thy will be done. You've got free will, I've got free will, Jesus saying, and I resign mine to yours.

Listen closely. God has created man in his own image, men and women in his own image. God has free will, therefore so does mankind. We're made in the image of God. We have free will. We choose what we want. If God has truly given man, Adam, you and me, a free will, then that man must be given a test, must be given a choice and allowed to choose, right? I have free will.

He must be given a test to determine whether he loves the Lord or not, whether he will willingly obey God or not. True? If everything's roses and rainbows it'll never come up. So God says, "Here's what I want. Here's the command. Everything is yours, just don't eat that one right there. That's all. If you do, dying you shall surely die."

Now here is the question that is hard for Christians to answer. Why is it wrong for man to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Answer's easy, but think about it. Is it wrong to have wisdom? Is it wrong to know the difference between good and evil? Is it? Would all of creation stop if you knew the difference between right and wrong and bad and good? No, look around, it hasn't.

The answer's so simple, most people don't even get the concept. It's wrong because God said don't. Get it? It's that simple. Would it have been wrong if God said, "Go ahead and eat everything and even the tree of the knowledge of good and evil"? Would it have been wrong then? No. What makes it wrong? God has commanded us don't. Now we've got a choice of all that's right and that one thing that's wrong. What am I going to do? And of course all of us can pounce and say eat the fruit. That's what he did.

So look at verse 18. And the Lord said, "It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a help meet for him." And verse 19, out of the ground the Lord formed every beast of the field. He's not saying he did it right there. It's a reiteration. And he had formed everything, and every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and he brought them to Adam to see what Adam would name them.

And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was what it was named. Now remember this guy hasn't been alive very long at all. And he's smart enough to name every critter that's out there. Chihuahua, etcetera, right? And Adam gave names to all the animals and the fowl of the air and every beast of the field and for Adam there was not found a help meet for him. Those are two separate words, help meet.

And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. That's where doctors, medical science, got the idea of putting people into a deep sleep to do surgery. They watched how God did it. And God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept and God took one of his ribs, closed up the flesh thereof instead. Then he closed it back up and the rib which the Lord God had taken from Adam, from man, he made a woman and he brought her to the man.

And Adam said, well let me stop right there. I'll tell you what he said later. God said it's not good that man should be alone. Well he's not alone, there's all kinds of birds and creeping things and there's flowers and he could eat a lot and what do you mean he's alone? The world's populated with all kinds of critters and things. But there's no mate for that man.

Remember when God created the animals, he created them male and female. Male and female created he them. They all had that's how they're going to procreate and there's going to be more animals. Remember we argued about the chicken and the egg? Well the chicken was first and then came the eggs after the two chickens got married. Remember? Of course. Why do you laugh at that?

Adam, as he's naming the animals, God said it's not good for him to be alone, but Adam would realize it as God brings the animals to him. He says well there's the zebra and his missus and there the two the rooster and his chickie and he's got all this and Adam's going whoa. He would realize as the animals are brought to him and he names them, they're male and female, but man is all alone.

And the Lord said, "I will make a help meet for him." That's two words. A help, someone to come alongside, stand with him, and it's neged, meet is translated neged. It means suitable, comparable, equivalent to, co-equal, compatible with. He made a female like Adam, only a girl kind. See woman came from man and from then on all men and all children come through the woman. From the man and the woman but through the woman.

See if she's taken from the man, from his rib, she is also co-equal created in the image of God. There is not one lower and one higher. There is not one smaller and one dumber. There could be one taller, sometimes girls are taller, but you get the point. And I mentioned to you that Matthew Henry commentary, it's more of a devotional kind of commentary, I like to quote from him sometimes, so Matthew Henry says this, I like this guy, "She was not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, near his heart to be loved." From his side.

So verse 23, Adam said this, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman," it means from man, woman the word means literally from man. "She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man." Therefore because of that shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed. You go that's a weird thing to say. Well not necessarily, put it together.

He said she's bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She is we call her woman. He named all the other animals. He said that's a woman, she's from man, she came from me. Thank you God. And Moses writes it, therefore because of that he says everybody hear this, a man shall leave his father and mother, cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. Take note, one man, one woman. That's what God set up, it will never change.

When we read they were both naked and not ashamed you go that's rare. Why does he what's that all about? I mean is that really TMI, too much info here? No, no it's listen closely. They were naked and not ashamed. The language is communicating to you and me there was no guilt, none. There is no sin. Everything is all right and nothing is wrong at all.

The language shows no guilt, it shows no sin. Where there is no sin, there is no guilt. Where there is no guilt, there is no shame. Or let me say it another way, there is nothing to hide. So that makes a whole lot of sense. So God did this and he did it on purpose and he's giving now men and women, Adam and Eve, the entire population of the earth, an opportunity to love him, to serve him, to obey.

It's just it's a very simple thing. Without a choice, love isn't love. And if you have a free will, God wants you, he will give you opportunities to use your free will. You have a free will. You can reject Jesus Christ or you can say, "Save me, Lord. Save me, wash me clean."

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is the radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are 9:00 and 11:00 AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM and a Monday evening Bible study at 7:00 PM.

You can download today's message in its entirety at northcountrychapel.com/studies. That's northcountrychapel.com/studies. If you would like a copy of today's message, write to us and ask for the message with today's date. The address is Apply Within, 2281 West Seltice, Post Falls, Idaho 83854. Or call us at 1-800-572-8851. That number again, 1-800-572-8851.

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