BIBLE FOR YOU!--No.12!--Genesis Chapter 2, Verses 8-25!
DFO 2705
10/90
--And Genesis 2 Review!
1. (Techi: Thank You Jesus! Praise the Lord! Amen, Lord Jesus, thank You for the opportunity to have this class with Grandpa. We pray that You'd please bless it, Jesus, & help us to be good students & attentive listeners. Bless Grandpa & give him wisdom for this class, in Jesus' name.) Amen, thank You Lord for Thy Word, that we have it to study. Thank You Jesus!
2. All right! We're going to read about the Garden of Eden, starting with the 8th verse of the second Chapter of Genesis: "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, & good for food."--The Lord was providing for him, wasn't He? "The Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden, & the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, & became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold."
3. Look at the map in the back of your Bible. It will probably be the first map in the back of your Bibles, this map here of the Ancient World. Have you got a map like this? (Techi: I have the Kingdoms of Israel & Judah, is that good enough?) No, you need the map that shows the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia, etc., what is in fact Iraq today! It used to be called Mesopotamia. You need something that shows the whole thing, all the way to the Persian Gulf.
4. Well, look at my Bible, this is the Ancient World. Here's the Persian Gulf, and the two principal rivers which flow into the Persian Gulf are the Euphrates--which actually comes out of Turkey--and the Tigris. Right near Babylon they flow together, and at flood tide they even flow across each other. And it is assumed that these other two rivers that He's talking about here were little rivers down here near the Persian Gulf where they flow across from each other. (Techi: What does it say it compasses?) The Pison "compasseth the country of Havilah."
5. I should have my Bible Dictionary here! David, would you get me my big Bible Dictionary from over there in the bottom of that bookcase? It's a big old worn-out book with a grey cover. (David: Is it this one?) Yes, that's the one!--The one I used in college! My goodness, when was it?--Back about 1949 or 1950, or even before that!--About 40 years ago or more.
6. Well, let's see what this says about Havilah. Here we are! "Havilah: A district of Arabia. Peopled in part by the Cushites, & in part by Jochtanites, Semitic people." They were descendants of Shem. It must have been somewhere here in the Arabian Peninsula that Havilah was.
7. (Techi: Where's Ethiopia?) Ethiopia is way down here, Honey. (Techi: In verse 13 it says that the other river is in Ethiopia.) We can look up the two different rivers and see what it says, if you want to go into it that deep. I think we can do this quickly without delaying the lesson too much. (Techi: Well, that's okay, Grandpa. If it's going to take too long, that's fine.) Well, we don't exactly need to know all of these things. But I can look it up as long as I've got it here. (Reads from Bible Dictionary:)
The Garden of Eden!
8. "Eden: Delight, pleasantness. Country in which God caused trees to grow from the ground & in this manner planted for Adam a garden, called from its situation the Garden of Eden. A river went out of the country of Eden to water the Garden, & being thence parted became four heads, called Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel & Euphrates." The Hiddekel is the Tigris River. And we know about the River Euphrates. Those are both in modern geography books & are still there, of course.--The Euphrates, which is the longest river in all that area, & the Tigris, & these others.
9. Iraq used to be called by the Greeks, Mesopotamia. Guess what that means? "Meso"--between; "Potamia"--the rivers. It's the land between the rivers. Therefore, obviously, Eden was a land between these two main rivers, & exactly where the other little ones are is not important. (Techi: Because they might have dried up?) Well, they might have, but these two big rivers are still here. And since it was between the rivers, a lot of people figure the Garden of Eden was somewhere around Babylon here. This is also where the Tower of Babel was located.
10. (Techi: Why do you think the Lord put it there?) Well, it was well-watered & had lots of trees. It made a good place for a garden where there's lots of water, right? (Kids: Yes!) That's usually what most Bible students consider the location of the Garden. But remember, it's no longer there.
11. Verse 12: "And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium & the onyx stone." Oh my, Adam could have made lots of pretty jewels for his wife, Eve! (Techi: Yes!) Verse 13: "And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia." (Or "Land of Cush," which included what is now Saudi Arabia.)
12. Verse 14: "And the name of the third river is Hiddekel"--that's the Tigris--"that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria." The East side of Assyria. See, here's the Hiddekel, or the Tigris, & here's the Euphrates over here. And down here around Babylon they even flow together in a lot of little rivers. It's not really important because Eden is no longer there, but it's interesting to know where Eden was! (Kids: Yes!) "And the fourth river is Euphrates."
Man in the Garden of Eden!
13. Verse 15: "And the Lord God took the man, & put him into the Garden of Eden."--To just lie around & loaf & laze & pick apples off the trees? (Kids: No!) It says, "To dress it & to keep it." Well, you know how much work it takes to tend a garden! God didn't expect Adam to just loaf around & be a lazy lout, but He put him there "to dress it & to keep it."
14. Verse 16: "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 & Evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." He didn't mean that Adam would drop dead on the spot, but He meant that he would start dying on that day. In those days, it took them a long time to die, so Adam lived quite a few hundred years. (930 years!--Gen.5:5.) Men's bodies were apparently stronger then & more resistant to disease & everything. The Devil hadn't gotten in far enough to kill'm quick!
15. All right! I finished reading my paragraph, now whose turn is it? 18th verse, whoever can find it first! (Techi: "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, & every fowl of the air; & brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: & whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.") (See "Naming the Baby!", ML #338.)
16. So He brought them to Adam to look at'm & name'm. Boy, that was quite a job! (Techi: How did he know how to name'm?) I guess he just thought up names, or maybe the Lord helped him. Maybe he just looked at the animal & gave it a name that sort of described it, like we do our pets. (Techi: Yes, maybe so! So God made the animals the same way He made Man, out of all the minerals & stuff from the ground! That's interesting!) Yes!
17. (Techi: Verse 20: "And Adam gave names to all cattle, & to the fowl of the air, & to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.") So Adam didn't find anybody that satisfied him. All the animals were cute & good company & all that, but they still weren't really what he really needed most, of course.--Which for one thing was sex, & to bring forth fruit himself. So, verse 21!
18. (Techi: "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, & he slept: and He took one of his ribs, & closed up the flesh instead thereof.") Wow! God has His Own form of anaesthesia! He put Adam to sleep & took one of his ribs! Verse 22: "And the rib..."
19. (Techi: "And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman & brought her unto the man.") Boy, that must have been quite a shock for both of them, the first time they saw each other they were stark naked! (Techi: Verse 23: "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones & flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.") All right, so that word "woman" means she was taken out of the man. "Therefore...," verse 24.
20. (Techi: "Therefore shall a man leave his father & his mother, & shall cleave unto his wife, & they shall be one flesh.") Jesus even quoted that verse! (Mark 10:7-8.) That doesn't mean you have to leave our Home here, David!--In our Family we all live together!
21. (Techi: Verse 25: "And they were both naked, the man & his wife, & were not ashamed.") How come they weren't ashamed of being naked? (Techi: Because the Devil didn't tell them they were!) Yes! The Devil hadn't yet told them that it was "bad" to be naked, see? It was just perfectly natural, & that's the way it should be!
Genesis Chapter 2 Review!
22. All right! There are some very interesting truths in here. Let's have a little review now of the second Chapter, & then we'll have the test on it tomorrow night. How's that? (Techi: Okay!) All right! I'll ask you some of the questions I'm going to ask you on the test.
Review: The Seventh Day!
23. Since the Lord rested on the seventh day & later on He commanded all of the people also to rest on the seventh day, why do only the Jews & the Seventh-day Adventists do this now, & not the rest of the Christians? Why do most Christians worship & rest on the first day of the week? (David: Which is Sunday.) Right. Well, I could ask you this:
24. On what day of the week do most Christians worship? (Techi: Sunday.) Right! Why? (Techi: Because they want to? I don't know!) (David: Grandpa, if a week has seven days in it & the first day of the week is Sunday, then isn't the seventh day Sunday too?) No, if you start counting with Sunday: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; that's seven days, & Saturday is the seventh day.
25. So give me two reasons why the Early Christians started worshipping on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. Well, one reason is because they had to go to synagogue on the last day, Saturday, right? I could ask you that in a different way, which you could answer with a one-word response: Since they were Jews they had to go to what on Saturday? (Techi: Synagogue!) Right. (Techi: The sin-a-gog, ha!) Yes, they are agog with sin nowadays, that's for sure!
26. What other reasons do the Christians give today? Because Who rose on the first day of the week? (Techi: Jesus!) That's right. Or I could ask it like this: What day of the week did Jesus rise from the dead? (To Techi:) Are you having trouble with your ankle again? Jesus, bless it & heal it, in Jesus' name. Sorry, I don't seem to have the gift of healing, but I can pray. (Techi: Oh, Grandpa! You do, but it's just sometimes the Lord wants us to learn patience.)
27. In the Ten Commandments, which commandment commanded that they should rest on the seventh day of the week to keep it holy? (Techi: The fourth!) Fourth Commandment. Very good! (See Exo.20:8-11.) Then why don't the Christians continue to rest on the seventh day, Saturday? (Techi: Because they're not Jews. Because they don't believe it.) And also, we no longer are bound by what? (Techi: The Law.) The Mosaic Law. That's very important. We studied a lot about that.
Review: Crime & Punishment!
28. And how many crimes in the Mosaic Law have capital punishment as their penalty? (Techi: 26.) 26 crimes. If you count them--as I did one time when I was in the Army--they had 26. It astonished some of the guys in the Army. They said, "We've got to kill, but it says in the Ten Commandments, 'Thou shalt not kill!'" I said, "Well then why did God tell them to kill people for 26 different crimes?"
29. What that really meant was, "Thou shalt not murder."--In other words, wilfully kill for selfish or bad reasons. But God commanded His people to kill lots of people lots of times, in wars, etc. (David: And even animals.) Yes. (Techi: Stone the ox!) What's that? (David: In one of the laws it said if an ox hurt or killed a person, the ox should be stoned.) (Exo.21:28-29.) Oh, yes, yes, yes, that's right! (Techi: But why did the Lord do that? It's not really the ox's fault.) Well, don't worry about that. The Lord had a reason. (Techi: Was it because the animal was demon-possessed or something?) Probably.
30. One reason was to satisfy the person who was hurt. (Techi: For a ransom, sort of?) There were a number of different laws about how the man should be repaid who either lost his ox by some accident or for somebody's mistake, & if somebody hurt his ox or something, it specified how that man would pay him back. What was the usual method of punishment of a loss of property? (Techi: They'd have to repay the loss.) And to do so, they had to do what? (David: To work for them.) To work for the man who lost his bull. (Techi: Sometimes, or if they had enough they could just pay money.) If they had enough they often were required to pay four times as much.
31. What's the name of that little guy who went up in the tree? (Techi: Zacchaeus!) He was boasting about how righteous he was & he said he not only repaid those he owed money, but he repaid them four times as much. (Luke 19:8.) Actually, the amount of payment & the type of payment depended on the crime or the theft, etc.--So it could be as little as simple repayment, or up to four or five times the amount stolen. (See Exo.22:1-4; Pro.6:30-31; Lev.6:2-5; Exo.21:30-36 & Lev.24:18 for a study on different repayments required by the Mosaic Law.)
32. So what kind of jails did they have under the Mosaic Law? (Kids: They didn't have any jails.) Right! If the guys were real bad, they killed them. And the guys who weren't so bad but just made a mistake or it was an accident, they made them do what? (Techi: They made them work.) Repay, or if they couldn't repay, they had to go to work for the guy until they worked it off. We studied all those things, remember, so I'll think of some way to ask you those questions. All right? (Kids: Yes!) All right!
Review: Man in the Garden!
33. They had lots of rain during the early period of Man, right? (David: No!) (Techi: They had no rain.) What did they have? (David: The mist.) (Techi: That came up from the ground.) Yes, a mist that watered the whole face of the ground.
34. What is a soul? (Kids: Body & spirit.) A body with a spirit. Of course, when the spirit departs from the body, it's just a dead body, right? Can you quote the Scripture that proves that that is a soul? (Techi: "He breathed into his body the breath of life & Man became a living soul."--Gen.2:7.) That's right.
35. What did He form that body of? (Kids: The dust of the ground.) Which means what? (Techi: The minerals.) Chemicals & minerals, etc. Pretty good body! I'll tell you, it's a work of art! You may not look at me & think I'm a work of art, but it's really quite a feat!--In fact, two feet!
36. So when He had formed the Man, what Garden did He put him in? (David: The Garden of Eden.) And what two principal rivers flowed through the Garden of Eden?--Two main rivers that are still on the maps today? (Kids: Tigris & Euphrates.) (Techi: Or Hiddekel & Euphrates.) The modern name is Tigris, so let's use that, OK? What two rivers are still on the map that flowed through the Garden of Eden? (Techi: Tigris & Euphrates.) Right!
37. And where did they sometimes even flow together at flood time? Near what famous place? (David: Babylon.) Right! You know, they're always changing the name of countries nowadays, but for years & years, in fact, for about 2,000 years, that area was called what country? (Techi: Mesopotamia.) And what does that word mean? (Techi: Between the rivers.) Yes, the land between the rivers. I thought that was a good name for it, right? But now they've changed the name of it, maybe that's what's wrong with it.--They changed the name of it to what? Something that's all in the news today. (Techi: Iraq.) Iraq, right!
38. And God put Man into the Garden so he'd have lots to eat.--True or False? (Techi: False!) Well, that's one reason. (Techi: Half false!) (Kids laugh!) And another statement: So he wouldn't have to work for a living. True or False? (Techi: False!) What did he do? (Techi: He dressed it & kept it.) Right, & some versions of the Bible say "tend & keep it."
39. And they had some jewelry, at least rough stones in the same area. What was at least one of the kind of things that were beautiful that Adam could have made Eve jewelry with? (Techi: There's onyx, bdellium & gold.) Well, good for you! The easiest one is gold. But anyway, if you can name any of them, that's fine. (David: It says in the Bible Dictionary that bdellium was supposedly the colour of manna. And some people say it was sort of a gum from a type of tree, others say it was like pearls.) That sounds good, pearls. Well, obviously He's talking about stones here & jewelry or decorations, gold. Manna was white. (Techi: But pearls are only found in oysters, aren't they?)
40. Now remember, don't believe everything you find in a Bible dictionary. (David: Yes, that's right.) It's not necessarily the Word of God. In this book they give all kinds of theories about all kinds of stuff, but the simple answer is the best.
Being in the Garden Saved Man Lots of Work!
41. Could Adam eat of every tree in the Garden? (Kids: All but one.) Just think, all he had to do was pick the fruit off the trees to eat in those days! Look at all the kinds of work they were saved. They were saved what different kinds of work by just going naked? (Techi: Making clothes, wearing clothes.) It's not work to wear'm, but making clothes, & something else that we have to do almost every day. What do you have to do with clothes? (Kids: Sew them.) Sew them, yes. (David: Make them.) All that work in making them. Then what do you have to do after you wear'm? (David: Wash them!) (Techi: Oh, laundry!)
42. It saved them from first of all having to spin the thread out of the fibers, then they have to weave the cloth with the thread. And then they have to cut the cloth to shape it into garments. Right? (Techi: Then they have to sew it.) Yes, & then after they get finished wearing their clothes & they're dirty, they have to do what? (David: Wash them.) Yes. Look at all of that: Spinning, weaving, cutting--you have to cut patterns, you know--sewing. (Techi: Making the needle & thread.) Yes, spinning is making thread. And then washing. Four or five different things Adam & Eve were saved from by the Lord just letting them run around naked!
43. In Eden it was like the Tropix, quite warm & comfortable to run around without lots of clothes. (Techi: Yes, perfect weather.) It shows that that area had a tropical climate in those days. Now it's almost all desert. (Techi: Except they preferred fig leaves.) Honey, they didn't prefer fig leaves; only after the Devil made them think it was naughty to be naked. (Techi: I mean they made fig leaves instead of clothes.) Yes, they made aprons of fig leaves to hide their private parts. (Gen.3:7.)
44. So just to be able to pick your fruit off the trees saved them from doing what? (Techi: Cooking.) First of all it saved them from having to dig in the ground & grow their food, right? (Kids: Yes!) We can still pick fruit off of trees. But what else didn't they have to do? What type of food preparation? (David: Cook.) They didn't have to cook!
45. What else did it save them? What about dishes? Aren't these the chores that we always have to do now in order to prepare meals? You've got to have meal prep, you've got to clean the vegetables, you've got to cook'm, you've got to dress the meat, you've got to cook it. You have to have fires to do all of that. You don't just eat on a banana leaf like some people do in some countries! Most of the civilised civilisations eat on what? (Kids: Plates!) On dishes! Plates is one kind of dish. Dishes is the answer I would want on that.
46. So just think how many things it saved Man when God placed him in the Garden of Eden! They didn't have to spin thread, weave it, cut & sew it, wash the clothes.--Which usually requires hot water, so they didn't have to heat the water or anything because they didn't have to wash'm, because they didn't wear'm!
47. And just picking the fruit off the trees saved them from how many things? From having to...(David: Do dishes.) Yes. Well, first of all it saved them from having to prepare it & cook it & then do dishes. There are about 8 or 9 things. You don't usually have to cook fruit, so they were saved from having to cook. They didn't have to make bread. See? (Techi: They didn't eat starches?) Well, it depends on what kind of fruit you eat. There are all kinds of fruit. (David: They probably had every kind.) Do you like breadfruit? (David: It's not one of my favourites.) It's a very interesting fruit.
48. There's just one kind of fruit the Lord forbade them to eat--as a test, no doubt. (Kids: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil.) That's right. Could they have eaten of the Tree of Life? (David: Yes, amazing!) Yes, and they would have lived forever! (Gen.3:22.) Wouldn't that have been horrible?--Wicked Man living forever? (Techi: We'd still have Adam & Eve running around!) Yes! (Techi: Of course they wouldn't have been evil if they hadn't eaten of the other tree. They would have been perfect.) Yes, right.
Review: A Wife for Adam!
49. So anyhow, then the Lord made what for Man? He brought him all the animals & what did Adam do? (Techi: He named them.) But he didn't find any one for a mate, so the Lord finally did what? (David: He made him one!) He made him a what? (David: A help meet.) A help meet, or a mate, woman or wife. I'd accept any of those answers. (Techi: Yes, it calls it "wife" here.--Gen.2:24-25.)
50. And He brought her to the man & Adam said, "Well, she is going to be called Woman, because she was taken out of me, out of Man.--Bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. Therefore shall a man leave his father & his mother"--he didn't have any father to leave, except God his Father--"& they shall be one flesh."
51. And was there anything wrong with being naked then? (Kids: No!) Nor is there anything wrong with being naked now. The need to wear clothes was part of the Curse, & "Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse!"--Gal.3:13. We're not under the Curse, & if it weren't for the ungodly Curse-bound System & all of their laws, we could live just as free as Adam & Eve were in the Garden of Eden!
Closing & Prayer
52. So those were some sample questions of things I'm going to ask you on this Chapter! Do you think you've got it? (Kids: Yes!) All right! We got a lot out of that Chapter, didn't we? (Techi: Yes!) But you should have been around when I was teaching classes in school! Maybe it was a good thing you weren't, because I went on & on for an hour or two about any one point!--The one about nakedness or the one about the seventh day, I'd go on & on & on! So we're kind of condensing things here, really, we're going pretty fast!--Almost a Chapter every lesson! Right? (Kids: Yes!) OK! Praise the Lord! God bless you! Whose turn is it to pray?
53. (David: Thank You Lord! Thank You Jesus for what we learned today about Genesis & Adam & Eve. Thank You Jesus for these wonderful classes & how they've been such a blessing to us. We really pray, Jesus, that You'll bless the rest of this night & give us all a good night's sleep, in Jesus' name.) Amen! Thank You Lord!