Overview: This is not a repeat of the creation account from chapter 1. Chapter 2 has its own purpose of writing.
Structure:
v.5-6 "now..." " provides background information for the following narrative (as in 1:2)."
v.7-9a start the sequence of events (or action) of the narratives
v.9b and 14 background information.
v.15 the sequence of events of the narratives continues
v.4 "the LORD God made the earth and the heavens" "Since it deals with the close, personal involvement of the covenant God, the narrative uses the covenantal name Yahweh (LORD) in combination with the name God" (NET).
v.5 "The two causal clauses explain the first two disjunctive clauses: There was no uncultivated, general growth because there was no rain, and there were no grains because there was no man to cultivate the soil (NET)"
The rain and the cultivation were 2 events in the following sections in Genesis: the Flood in Noah's time and Adam being expelled from the Garden. Moses gave us a hint for the judgement going to happen to mankind following our sins. "The last clause in v. 5, “and there was no man to cultivate the ground,” anticipates the curse and the expulsion from the garden (Gen 3:23). (NET)."
Summary of v.4-5: the Israelites would asked, if our covenant God loved us and He is the Creator of the whole earth why did we suffer? Why the world that He created was so good but we suffered so much today? Why were we and our ancestors being slaves of the Egypt? The answer is: those were not the intents of God.
In the beginning of v.4, the author already gave us a hint and used the word, "account" or generation." In Genesis, that word is used as a mark of the beginning of a section of the book. If we look up the word it appears again in 5:1. That means 2:4 to 4:26 is a unit. In this unit, it is "a tracing of events from creation through the fall and judgment (the section extends from 2:4 through 4:26)...[Each] section of the book traces a decline or a deterioration through to the next beginning point, and each is thereby a microcosm of the book which begins with divine blessing in the garden, and ends with a coffin in Egypt. So, what became of the creation? Gen 2:4–4:26 will explain that sin entered the world and all but destroyed God’s perfect creation." (NET)
From the 2 sections of the description (v.5-6, 9-10) we see the original states of the creation is a rich and fertile environment:
v.5-6:
v.6 Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.
Basically, the earth was surrounded by a "sprinkler system." "Here is an indication of fertility. The water would well up from the earth and water all the surface of the fertile soil. It is from that soil that the man was made (Gen 2:7) (NET)."
v.9b-14:
v.10 Now a river flows from Eden to water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams
v.11v-12a where there is gold. (The gold of that land is pure
Not only the whole earth was covered with mist. Eden, especially was blessed with river flowing out from it. "Eden is portrayed here as a source of life-giving rivers (that is, perennial streams). This is no surprise because its orchard is where the tree of life is located (NET)."
Note: the first word that God said in this passage is in v.16.
Then the LORD God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”
2 verbs is in the form of certainty. Literally, "you may eat to eat (means, you may eat to what your heart's content....and you will die to die (you will surely die)."
God was very straightforward and told Adam the difference between blessing and curse. Adam was not confused when he chose to sin later.
Reflection: We are living in this broken world with this pandemic. This is not something we can blame God about. Sin was not there from the beginning. It is not created by God. He gave us the best environment that Adam did not have to sin. That was something that he chose to do. Today, God also gave us a very good live physically. God also gave us a new life that that we dont have to sin. When we sin it is because we chose to follow our old life.
On the other hand, God blessed Adam with food that he could eat to his heart's content. He satisfies our needs and He does not withhold any good from us. We should have no doubt about it.
Audrey
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