A garden of great old fruit trees on the bank of a clear river at early morning, mist on the water and among the trunks.

The Book of

Genesis 2

The work is done and God rests. Then the story comes close: one man, one garden, one command, and a gift he could not make for himself.

25 verses≈ 5 min2 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–11BeginningsCreation, fall, flood, BabelChapter 2
12–24AbrahamThe call and the promise
25–36Isaac and JacobThe promise passed on
37–50JosephGod meant it for good

The Seventh Day

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

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Man and Woman in the Garden

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.

Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted, for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

Genesis 2:7

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

The rivers of Eden

Two of the four rivers still bear these names: the Tigris, which runs “along the east side of Assyria,” and the Euphrates. The Pishon and the Gihon are unknown, and where Eden lay is unknown.

Pray

The God who plants gardens

Before the man had done a single thing, God had planted a garden for him, full of trees “pleasing to the eye and good for food,” with a river to water it all. Thank God for the good gifts around you that you did nothing to earn: food, beauty, water, breath itself. Then ask Him for the one gift the garden pointed to: life with Him that never ends.

Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”

Reflect

Every tree but one

God’s first command begins with a yes: “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden.” Only then comes the one no. It’s easy to see God’s commands as a fence that keeps good things out. Look at your own life for a moment. Where do you see God’s generosity, and where is the one ‘no’ you keep staring at? Write both down.

Animals gathering toward the water at a river bend in a garden at morning: a lion, deer, a pair of oxen, an ostrich, birds in the branches.

And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh. And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.

0:38

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

A man’s and a woman’s hands joined, fingers interlaced, resting on cool grass in morning light.

And the man said:

“This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

for out of man she was taken.”

Genesis 2:24

And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.

Question

Quick question

In a world God called good, one thing was not.

What did the LORD God say was “not good”?

You’ve experienced

Genesis 2

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A verse to carry with you

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Genesis 2:24

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