SEED OF PROMISE
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Gen 1:1)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began (Titus 1:2)
God’s Plan of Redemption, which end is Eternal Life with Christ, is given in outline form in the creation account of Genesis. The things created in Genesis 1 were created according to its kind, meaning that reproductive power (seed) was within its body, whether they be plant or animal. In very broad terms, there are three ways that seed is produced in plant life: in grass species seed is formed within the plant and is released in external seed pods at full maturity; in fruit tree species seed is formed in the plant and released in flowers at maturity and encased within its fruit at pollenation; in herb species seed is formed in the leaf and is released in flowers and a seed pod at full maturity. In animal life seed is hidden within the body and matures internally at puberty.
Another aspect of seed is the gender. In plant life male and female seed may grow from one plant or from separate plants, then are fertilized or pollenated in diverse ways to produce new seed of its kind. In humans male and female seed are joined in the female body to produce an embryo that is neither male nor female until the egg is fertilized by an X (female) or Y (male) chromosome from the male.
IN THE BEGINNING GOD
From the beginning God demonstrates that His ways are higher than man’s ways,
saying, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. I have learned recently
how profound is this one short sentence, because nothing can exist in time and space
without the elements of this verse.
Anyone who has studied the science of physics will recognize that all things physical
have this beginning. Everything we can see, hear, smell, touch and taste is composed of
the elements of time (in the beginning), space (the heaven) and matter (the earth). It’s the
first law of physics. I simply never put two and two together and came out with Genesis 1:1!
Or maybe a better way to say it is, I never appreciated the full truth of Gen 1:1.
Such knowledge made me step back in wonder at the simplicity with which Almighty
God establishes His sovereign authority. It’s an awesome thing to contemplate. Then at
the opposite end of the spectrum, to consider that a mere handful of dust had the
audacity to publish a book entitled The Origin of Species. Man has always been at enmity
with God, from the time he was commanded not to eat of one tree.
THE ALPHA AND OMEGA OF REDEMPTION
When God had finished His work of creation, He saw that everything He had made
was very good. On the seventh day God rested; He blessed and sanctified the day
because He was satisfied in His creation and rested (took pleasure) in it.
(31)And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the
evening and the morning were the sixth day. (1)Thus the heavens and the earth were
finished, and all the host of them. (2)And on the seventh day God ended his work which he
had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (3)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. (Gen 1:31-2:3)
Saying that everything was very good does not mean that everything created good was always good, for we know that sin entered in. But God knows the end from the beginning,
so declaring it to be good can mean nothing less than full redemption, that it shall be made
right and good by the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation we read, “the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world.” (Rev 13:8). Christ was declared slain for sin from the beginning,
....and resurrected, ....and victorious over the enemies of God. In the eyes of the Father,
Jesus has always been the source of restoration of all things to original perfection. It’s the
only way all God’s works are called very good, for God cannot deny Himself.
By this we are assured of redemption in Christ and ultimate rest in God with Christ,
which is confirmed by Paul (1Co 15:22-24) and again in Hebrews:
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the
word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we
which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall
enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he
spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, “And God did rest the seventh day
from all his works.” [Heb 4:1-4 (Gen 2:2)]
This Hebrews 4 passage says it all: a promise being left us of entering His rest was made and finished from the foundation of the world; God spoke the beginning and the ending into existence and took His rest in the seventh day. He accepted the blood of His Son slain on the Cross as redemption for all the sin of man.
Accordingly, all the days of Chapter 1, saying it was so and it was good represent God’s eternal blessings upon the earth and every species of created life. In Gen. 2:1-3, He declares His satisfaction and takes His eternal rest. So Chap. 1 is a complete look at God’s finished works in Christ, but not necessarily in proper time sequence.
Then in Gen. 2:4 God begins to reveal His works in time sequence, the living and dying of creatures that populate the heavens and the earth; to wit, the generations of the living in the order they were created, centered around man, the crown jewel of creation:
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day
that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 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. 6)But there went up a mist
from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7)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. 8)And the LORD God planted a garden [sowed seed] eastward in Eden; and there
he put the man whom he had formed. 9)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. [brackets added] (Gen 2:4-9)
The context of verse 4 above apparently is a stumbling block for many, saying that
generations refers back to the six days of creation. However, the grammatical form of the
Hebrew for “These are the generations” is used elsewhere in the OT twelve times; and in
every case it is a heading for what follows. So we know that generations applies to what
follows, which is the time sequence of things that live and die. In other words, generations applies to the LORD which gives life in the seed, that dies and lives and regenerates itself, until the Seed of promise comes with life everlasting.
Most of us cannot look at a seed and know what it will look like fully grown, except
through experience with growing, for it is the LORD God that established the body of each
seed according to His own good pleasure and power. And He made the activating agent for life out of the ground to be water, and water symbolizes His words, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (Joh 6:63). In other words, until the LORD spoke to the earth (Gen 2:6) to bring up that mist, there was not a living thing on the earth.
Therefore, we look to Chapter 2 for the genealogy (history) of living things in the heavens and the earth. At the same time, whatever conclusions that are drawn cannot conflict with what was revealed in Chapter 1, for we cannot change the word of God. Accordingly, we consider the generations of Gen. 2 as a timeline to be overlaid upon verses 1:11-25, understanding that “day” in verse 2:4 is not a 24 hour day. It’s God’s “day” or time period of creation, and He created Man male and female after His own image, according to His own good pleasure and purpose.
The principle that connects Genesis with the rest of scripture is stated, one of many such verses, in Isaiah, “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.”(Isa 42:9). Here Isaiah was addressing Israel, and Israel’s greatest prophet was Moses, who transcribed Genesis by revelation. And since many scriptures point to God’s works being done from the foundation of the world, the works of creation are in a pattern of God’s completed works.
There’s no doubt in my mind that the creation of man in the image of God is a multifaceted revelation about God’s Plan of Redemption. We know that making Woman from Man’s rib is in a figure of the marriage union. However, there’s much more to it than the joining of man and woman for regeneration. It’s all about Jesus!
CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
Man’s creation was unique. He is the only living creature that was not created according
to its kind. Every other living species, including birds, was created male and female with seed according to its kind. Adam, however, was created without a mate and thereby was dependent upon the promise of God. Being in the likeness of God separates man from all other life upon the earth.
Being created in God’s image is a blessing that confounds our understanding. If you ask
ten Christians to explain what it means, I suspect you would have ten different answers.
Nevertheless, God created Man male and female. Man was created in the image of God
(Elohim, plural Hebrew Name), saying, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
...and let them have dominion ...So God created man in his own image, in the image of God male and created he him; female created he them.” (Gen 1:26,27).
Man’s beginning was plural yet singular. It was so unique that it was never to be repeated again until God’s own Son Jesus Christ. Thus, we understand Jesus to be born as Son of God/Man, a Jew born in one body yet in two persons. It has taken me years to get a handle on this concept, and it’s nigh impossible to explain without some common understanding of the creation model and plan of redemption.
We know the creation of man is in the image of God. Better men than I have wrestled
with this concept, attempting to put it into plain and simple terms that can be easily grasped. The most basic one I know is: One in essence, three in person. Although this is scriptural, it doesn’t do much for ease of understanding. Some have compared it to time: past, present and future. Others say it’s like a man as father, son and husband. Still others say it compares to man’s body, soul and spirit. The image that God is Father, Son, and Spirit is understandable, yet translating this to Man in the image of God is a mind boggling challenge. Let’s not go that route. In my view, the Bible reveals what it means.
IMAGE OF GOD – GENESIS ONE
The Bible itself defines the image of God. We see in Genesis 1 that the ground is the
substance from which living species were created, for God brought forth grass and herbs
and trees and living creatures yielding seed according to their kind, meaning that each species had the capability to regenerate itself. But, as verse 1:26 below testifies, man was not initially created after his kind; he was created one body in the image of God. Then verse 1:27 reveals the promise of regeneration by male and female. So man was created with a dual nature, so to speak. And was this not the nature of Christ? fully God and fully man in one body? plural persons/one body?
(26) And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
(27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male
and female created he them.
(28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them “Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
There are a number of translation difficulties in these verses. The first is the seemingly
inconsequential connecting word “and” that begins verse 1:26. Literal translations of the
Bible and KJV begin the verse with “and,” while NASB and others use “then.” Not a big
deal, right? Wrong. The word “then” means an immediate following after while the word
“and” joins ideas but does not determine sequence. Here’s the deal: if Gen. 1 is a series of
events that follow one after the other, then is perfectly appropriate; but if it is a mixture of
sequential and non-sequential events, and is the appropriate choice.
First off, let’s establish that verse 1:26 is NOT sequential; it’s a conversation within the
Godhead and therefore could not possibly have occurred after all other species were created. The Bible tells us that all the decisions of the Godhead had been made from the foundation of the world. Also, the generations of living things in Gen. 2 reveal that man definitely was not created last, making the word “then” a doubly poor choice.
Verse 1:28 presents several difficulties, one being the word “replenish.” The definition
is: to fill something that had previously been emptied. Most translators have seen fit to use
“fill” rather than replenish. While it’s true the Hebrew may be translated both ways, let me
hasten to point out that the JPL Bible (translated by Jews) uses replenish.
[ Author’s Note: Perhaps a note is required here for those whose Bibles differ with
the wording of the King James Version (KJV) used here. I make it a point to compare
KJV wording with that of the NKJV in order that I can be aware of the least little
translation discrepancy. Generally the NKJV refrains from changing words except to
eliminate the Old English. But in this case they have chosen to use fill rather than
replenish.. So my concern is that those who pooh pooh the value of the KJV Bible will
have the excuse that I am hopelessly biased in these interpretations. And people are
free to make such judgments, but let me say this in my own defense. As a literalist I
want to be sure that I’m reading words that accurately translate the original Hebrew
and Greek meanings, for they contain the infallible word of God. One thing I will say
about the 1611 KJV translators, they had no axe to grind except to accurately trans-
late the original manuscripts into the English of their day. For them the old English
was natural and understandable. Today old English is awkward and difficult to read
aloud. Later translators wanted to make the Bible read in the vernacular that people
speak, and I don’t argue with that objective as long as it doesn’t change the meaning
of words. But the temptation to insert words that are “better suited” to an assumed
New Testament doctrine has been irresistible, judging by the latest versions.
It’s been my experience that the KJV more accurately translates the original
manuscripts, but not so with the NKJV, unfortunately. Not only that, but the KJV
cross references, at least in some editions, are much more complete and accurate than
other versions. But even expositors that translate by the KJV seem blind to many of
these cross references, judging by their notes. Of course, if one does not believe the Bible
is the word of God, then the literal translation of manuscripts makes no difference... in
which case why worry? be happy! follow after your favorite translator! ]
I believe the evidence for replenish is substantial. I know most translators are not literalists, and it appears to me that they are predisposed to think that verses 26-28 must apply to the events of Gen. 2 and therefore are biased against using replenish. Before we get to that, however, let’s deal with the repetition of dominion in verse 1:28 versus 1:26. I hope it is not tedious to point out these little nuances, but the expositors get so wrapped up in lengthy allegories for these verses that these distinctions simply get ignored. But I find this repetition stuff enlightening and relevant to sound interpretation!
The dominion statements of these verses are almost identical, a common tipoff to us
literalists to look for hidden meanings. First off, God has no need to repeat Himself unless
it’s to focus on something out of the ordinary; when He speaks a word, it does not return to
Him void. Once spoken is enough. I’ve learned to pay close attention when a command
appears to be repeated. Secondly, there was no need in 1:26 to include anything about filling or replenishing the earth because dominion was “given to them” to rule over everything that God created. To say “be fruitful and multiply” is redundant, for that is assumed by dominion over multiplying kinds.
It’s redundant for Adam, but uniquely appropriate for Noah, for God destroyed the first
filling in the great flood. The earth had to be replenished of man and beast alike:
(1) And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth. 2)And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon
the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered."
(Gen 9:1-2)
(28)And God blessed them, and God said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
(Gen 1:28)
Comparing verses 1:28 and 9:1, there are several points to be made. There’s an exact match of the replenish phrase, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” As for dominion, it’s effectively the same: the fish[es] of the sea, the fowl of the air, and over every living thing [upon all] that moveth upon the earth.
Then there is the subdue reference of 1:28. When Noah replenished the earth with the
creatures he preserved in the ark, they were made to fear man (animals in fear are in panic mode and a threat to man). At the same time, living creatures were to be a food source for Noah, so he had need to subdue them, whereas Adam did not.
Yet the most compelling evidence supporting the Noah connection is the generations of Adam given in Gen. 5, which extends only as far as Noah and his three sons. This explains the reason for repetition of dominions in Genesis 1: the first was spoken for Adam’s generations and the second for Noah’s, in order that the Seed of promise should have a line of inheritance extending to Mary, mother of Jesus.
Genesis 2 reveals unequivocally that Adam’s food was limited to fruit of the garden; the trees were the only source of food for Adam and his wife. Herbs and living creatures were never mentioned for food until the judgment against Adam. Living creatures were brought to Adam for names, and by the definition of “brought” we can conclude they were brought in from outside the garden and returned there afterwards, since there was no food for them within the garden. The beasts only became a factor for Adam after he was removed from the garden and no longer had access to the fruit trees. Even at that, he was not told the beasts were for food.
There is more evidence yet for the Noah interpretation, from Gen. 1:22, for in God’s
blessing of sea creatures He commanded they should “fill” the waters; and because sea
creatures were not affected by the flood of Noah’s time the waters did not need to be
“replenished” like the land; they only needed one filling. And verse 1:27 follows logically from 1:26; without question both are compatible with what is reported in Gen. 2!
But verse 1:28 is a definite break from previous verses. And the commands of 29 and 30 follow logically and are perfectly compatible with verse 28, for God thereby provided food sources for Noah and the beasts until the coming of the promised Seed.
(28)And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
(29)And God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the
face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you
it shall be for meat.
(30)And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that
creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat:”
and it was so.
(Gen 1:28-30)
The reason this applies to Noah’s generations and not to Adam’s is clear. It contradicts
Adam’s garden food sources! The trees of these verses are upon the face of all the earth, they are NOT within the garden. Verses 28-30 is God’s accounting for the flood, that He would destroy Adam’s generations but preserve the Seed in Noah’s seed.
[ UNDER CONSTRUCTION: TO BE CONTINUED ]
IMAGE OF GOD – GENESIS TWO
.Genesis 2 reveals that the generations of creation began with a mist that watered the face of the ground. Before the mist there was no rain, no plants, no creatures, no garden and no man to tend it. There was only God (Elohim), the heavens and the earth. Then came the mist and the creation of Man, as follows:
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day
that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 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. 6)But there went up a
mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7)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. 8)And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there
he put the man whom he had formed. 9)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. (Gen 2:4-9)
So God planted a garden and put man there to tend it. Does this mean that God planted seed to create the garden? Well yes, as a matter of fact, for the meaning of “plant” in the dictionary is to sow seed. And why not? The only way around this is to follow tradition and ignore literal interpretation.
Before planting the garden, nothing else was living in the earth; it reminds me of the lunar landscape viewed by the first man on the moon. Then the LORD God planted a garden. It does not say, as in Gen. 1 verses, that the LORD “spoke” the garden into existence, like “Let there be a garden” and poof! it was so. Yet I think that is the way people usually understand it. I know I did at one time.
However, the words say that the LORD God planted. Accepting the words as written, the first work of God that Man observed was Him sowing seed for His garden. Then he watched the miracle of seed sprout up to life out of the ground. Now, we know it takes water and warmth and time to germinate seed. The mist came up from the earth and provided the water and the sun provided warmth, but seeds don’t grow overnight; so what did Man eat while waiting for the garden to grow?
This stumped me at first, but then I was reminded that God fed millions of Jews for forty years in the wilderness with overnight settlings of dew that became manna. Therefore, we can interpret this in the same way; to wit, by extrapolation, the LORD God did provide manna from heaven for Adam while the garden was sprouting up.
Jesus called Himself the Bread from heaven, the source of all life! He was there in the
beginning to give life on earth by the word of His mouth. Created seed was the source of
regeneration. In other words, until that first seed that the LORD God created falls into the
ground and dies, there was no plant nor herb of the field, for the LORD had not caused water to come up from the earth.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” saith the LORD.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from
heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud,
that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth
out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isa 55:9-11)
Jesus said that no man has seen the Father (Joh 6:46), which surely must include Adam.
So if no man has seen the Father, we can safely conclude that the Father was not the LORD God of the garden account. Also, Jesus said no man comes to the Father except by Him, meaning that Adam had to be made a son of God by the LORD God Son.
By this we know that pre-incarnate Jesus Christ was Adam’s Creator, exactly as the
opening verses of John’s Gospel stipulate, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (Joh 1:1-3).
Returning now to Adam’s life in the garden, there was only one law that he and his wife
had to obey: don’t eat from that tree!
Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it
and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden
you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not
eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." (Gen 2:15-17)
Both the tree of forbidden fruit and the tree of life were unique among the trees, for
they were separately identified and located in the midst of the garden, as revealed a few verses before this, “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.” (Gen 2:9). These two trees were just there; they apparently
didn’t sprout from the ground, but they did bear fruit.
Several points here. Being a literalist, it seems to me that “in the day that you eat" implies that the LORD expected Adam to eat of that tree. And this is supported, I believe, by the fact that the tree of life was also in the garden; otherwise, there would be no need of this tree since all of Adam’s needs were met by the food trees. In other words, Adam could have stayed in the garden forever if he had obeyed the LORD; and he could freely eat of the tree of life, perhaps because it was food for the soul. We might conclude from this that the only purpose of the tree of life was to provide life to the dead, that is, after he ate of the tree of knowledge and died spiritually then it’s fruit would be resurrection life.
By this we confirm that redemption from sin and death was in the Plan of God from the beginning, as we concluded when He called the creation very good on the seventh day! Beyond a shadow of a doubt the LORD God knew that Adam would eat of that tree, and Christ Jesus would redeem him because He was given to be “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev 13:8).
The tree of knowledge was there for man’s test of obedience, i.e., for a temptation of
their free will. It makes sense that the garden should include the sources of death and life both. To obey the LORD’s command was to enjoy fellowship with Him forever, to disobey meant spiritual death and separation from God. Again, man could have spent eternity in the garden by obedience, i.e., eternal life with Christ in the garden of God on earth. Yet because of sin Christ shall come again to restore the garden like it was in creation:
“Not for your sakes do I this,” saith the Lord GOD, “be it known unto you: be
ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” Thus saith the
Lord GOD; “In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also
cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land
shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall
say, ‘This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and
desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.’” (Eze 36:32-35)
Eternal life with Christ is precisely what Jesus told His disciples to pray for, “Our Father
which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Mat 6:10). Knowing that no man has seen the Father except the Son, the only logical conclusion is that the LORD (Jehovah) Jesus Christ created Man and planted the
garden in Eden. Then He put Man in the garden to tend it, so had he not disobeyed Man could have spent eternity with Christ in the garden.
The LORD God put Man in the garden to tend it. Then He said:
(18)“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for
him.” (19)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.
(20)....but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. (21)And the LORD
God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs,
and closed up the flesh instead thereof; (22)And the rib, which the LORD God had
taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. (23)And Adam said,
“This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.” (Gen 2:18-23)
Then verse 2:24, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Gen 2:24). This verse seems a little disconnected
with the preceding verses, because it begins with “Therefore” and it made me wonder
what it was there for. But in fact it’s the conclusion to the entire creation passage which
opens with, i.e.,“These are the generations....” (Gen 2:4).
So we see that generations are involved, that man must separate and cleave as part of God’s divine Plan for passing the Seed through future generations. Paul makes it clear that regeneration is an equal partnership, that neither one is sufficient without the other, ”Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.” (1Co 11:11-12). Paul here clarifies the issue that he had raised earlier, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” (1Co 11:3), which is God’s established line of spiritual authority within the family and puts the man at the head.
This is the master pattern for regeneration of man in God’s image. Man was created by Christ and woman was taken out of man, also by Him, so all things are of God who is faithful to fulfill all His promises, praise His holy name. With the bone and flesh of the woman also came the Seed of promise that gives life to the world, which is the point of it all, is it not? Christ is the Alpha and Omega of life.
In summary, the generations of all living things is a complete cycle that begins with seed and ends with seed: first there was the Word, He formed seed, called up mist, formed man, planted seed, caused it to grow, formed living beasts, took bone from man, made woman with Seed, and commanded holy matrimony for regeneration of a new cycle.
P.S.: there’s no doubt that holy matrimony has lost its meaning in today’s world. Those who would defy God’s sanctification of marriage between one man and one woman have effectively denied the sovereignty of God over man. Taking vows before God, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, ‘til death separates, means almost nothing today, even among half the Christian population judging by divorce rates. Sadly, the Church seems to have lost reverence for the word of the LORD.
PATTERNS OF CREATION
One in marriage: Surely Adam had to ponder over God’s promise of a wife. Adam’s immediate response to the woman was that she was taken out of him, which demonstrates prior knowledge. Surely the LORD must have revealed it to him. Looking for other occurrences of deep sleep, I found that the land promise was confirmed to Abraham in a deep sleep (see Gen 15:12). Now knowing God’s faithfulness to be consistent in His ways, we can be fairly certain that the deep sleep of Adam included a vision from the LORD. In both cases the Seed of promise was placed in the wife, the Woman first then Sarah. In any case, Adam had prior knowledge that his wife would come out of his body.
When the Pharisees tried to entrap Jesus with a question about divorce, Jesus shamed them into silence with these Genesis verses. They were silenced because these words were Moses’ words, the revered prophet whose words they claimed to follow:
And he answered and said unto them, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at
the beginning made them male and female,” [Gen 1] And said, ‘For this cause shall a
man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one
flesh?' Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath
joined together, let not man put asunder.” [Gen 2] They say unto him, “Why did
Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?” He saith
unto them, “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away
your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.” [brackets added] (Mat 19:4-8)
Herein Jesus confirms the literal truth of both Genesis 1 and 2, and confirms the way that two are made one flesh in the image of God. He thus established that man and woman should be joined together in holy matrimony in the fear of the LORD to create one new flesh in the image of God.
I would hope most Christians believe in the inherited sin nature, but I suspect there are few that truly believe woman was originally taken out of Man in the power of God; more than likely they treat the creation scriptures like a distant allegory or even as a fable. Yet the Lord’s relationship to believers is in the pattern that woman was taken out of Man by the LORD God, the living Word. Paul certainly understood them literally.
One in Christ: The pattern is this: as a man leaves his father and mother to be joined to his wife in one flesh, so shall he do likewise in accepting Christ. It’s the spiritual pattern of redemption, to be separated from family and be joined to Christ in one Spirit by the same power of God that separated the woman from Adam. Christ declared it in His prayer for all believers, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (Joh 17:21). “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” (Rom 7:4). How many, even preachers, connect redemption with Christ being raised from the dead? Isn’t it usually the Cross that is preached for salvation? They focus on Paul opening chapters of 1Cor. and ignore the redemption message of Chapter 15, which is all about His resurrection.
Thus, the believer is joined to Father and Son by the Spirit of God, sent to men after He
was resurrected. “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” (Eph 1:4). “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:” (Eph 4:13).
He saved us to eternal life in His image, as Paul said, “For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren.” (Rom 8:29). The deep sleep of Adam is a figure of Christ’s death, and
the taking of Adam’s rib to make a wife in his own image is a figure of Christ’s broken body
that was raised up to glory that we might have a glorious body in His image! “Who is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature,” (Col 1:15). “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1Co 15:49).
Israel, the Chosen People: The LORD’s relationship to his people also came from the pattern of creation of Man in His image and Woman in Man’s image, bone of bones and flesh of flesh. It was followed in passing the promise through the generations of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Adam was unable to procreate because he had no wife and it took the intervention of the LORD to create him a wife. This then is the effective essence of creating the tribes of Israel. The key is to know it takes the intervention of the LORD God.
It began with a promise to Abram to become a great nation, a people for the LORD’s name. God intervened with Abram’s 90 year old wife to produce the promised son Isaac. And both Isaac and Jacob had barren wives where the LORD also intervened. But it’s Jacob’s seed that produced the 12 tribes of Israel and is our chief concern here. Isaac blessed Jacob and commanded him to take a wife from the family of his mother’s brother Laban so he could have a wife of his own flesh and bone.
And as the LORD would have it, when Laban recognized Jacob he said, “Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.” (Gen 29:14). So Isaac and Laban were following the patterns of the
LORD given in the garden account. The pattern set by the LORD in creating Adam and
was used again in creating a people for Himself, the twelve tribes of Jacob.
So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the
people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel:
because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. But
Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the
name of it was called Allonbachuth. And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came
out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, “Thy name is Jacob: thy
name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his
name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a
nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after
thee will I give the land.” (Gen 35:6-12)
The Church, the Body of Christ: The pattern was repeated in the virgin birth of
Jesus. It took the intervention of the Spirit of God in great power to bring the Seed of promise into the world.
And the angel said unto her, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And,
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of
Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Then said Mary unto the
angel, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” And the angel answered and said
unto her, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God.” (Luk 1:30-35)
We know the Seed was in the woman from the beginning when He took a rib from Adam’s body to create woman, because the Seed was in the woman when the serpent was judged. She was not formed from the dust of the ground but from her husband’s body; thus, it became the pattern for the Church as the body (wife) of Christ.
God’s creation of Adam male and female was a foreshadow of Christ’s relationship to the Church, being His flesh and bones through the Spirit of Christ. In the following passage, Paul declares the Christian to be a member of Christ’s body and the husband to be head of the wife, as Christ is Head/Husband of the Church and Savior of the body [by which Paul means that the Church shall be raised up and presented without spot or blemish in the day of resurrection ]:
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to your-
selves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to
the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as
Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church
is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He
that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth
and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh,
and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined
unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak
concerning Christ and the church. (Eph 5:18-32)
Paul calls it a mystery in Ephesians, however, he makes it clear in 1Corinthians that as
Adam’s wife was taken from his body, so the Church was formed from the broken body of
Christ. “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” (1Co 11:24).
Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. And God
hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power. Know ye not
that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and
make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is
joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined
unto the Lord is one spirit. (1Co 6:14-17)
And Paul makes reference to Christ as the Husband in 2Corinthians, and continues to
apply the image of God pattern to the man’s and woman’s role in the Church itself in his
pastoral letters to Timothy and Titus, by which he means the image of God in creating man
as male and female, the man first and woman out of man. For truly, this image is not
restricted to man joining woman in holy matrimony:
Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I
am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that
I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ. (2Co 11:1-3)
Then in the book of Acts is revealed that the LORD through Paul would take out a people for His name from the Gentile nations, which Paul also confirms in several places including his pastoral letter to Titus. And furthermore, the pattern for this was set by the LORD through Moses when He took His people out of Egypt!
(7)And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, “Men
and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the
Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.” .....(13)Then
all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what
miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. (14)And after they
had held their peace, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a
people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, ‘After this,
I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I
will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek
after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who
doeth all these things.’” (Act 15: 7, 13-17)
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in
this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from
all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Tit 2:11-14)
Man is distinctive among living creatures; he is created in God’s image, he is redeemed,
and he shall be raised. Indeed, were it not for this very unique nature, there would be
nothing to set mankind apart from any other living creature with seed, for we are procreated in the same manner. Is this not what the image of God means?
LIVING CREATURES
The Man was first called Adam when the LORD formed living creatures. The LORD
brought them to Adam to see what he would call them, in effect giving Adam dominion over all beasts and fowl.
(18)And the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will
make him an help meet for him.” 19)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. (Gen 2:18-19)
The LORD said it was not good that man should be alone. But then He brings the beasts and fowl to Adam before forming the woman! Why? Perhaps it had to do with the Noah connection of Genesis 1, for God preserved with Noah the seed of all the living creatures that were in Adam’s domain.
It’s a fair assumption that living creatures were not part of the garden environment, for they were BROUGHT to Adam for names. They were no doubt created and brought from outside the garden and afterward returned there to eat off the land; one reason is that green herbs were given the living creatures for food and we know that herbs were not part of the garden. Also, Adam is not instructed about using them as a source of food.
But why did the LORD bring creatures to Adam prior to making him a wife? These
creatures were all given the breath of life, and the LORD declared their end to Noah, “And,
behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the
breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.” (Gen 6:17).
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the
LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD
said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and
beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have
made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations
of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
(Gen 6:5-9)
Obviously, the breath of life is a common bond with Man. All the descendants of Adam
and the living creatures he named were destroyed in the flood, except for Noah’s family and
the creatures he took with him in the ark. Adam transgressed the commandment of the LORD, so Man brought sin into the world, yet all living creatures suffered under the judgment against sin. Even so, the LORD is just and, as the children of God shall be redeemed into glorious liberty, the beast and fowl too shall be redeemed.
Paul describes the restoration in Romans:
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath
subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the
whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but
ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within our-
selves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Rom 8:20-23)
But the common bond has deeper meaning yet. In fact, the creatures were the source
of sustaining life after Man was removed from the garden. They became a food source for
man, yes, but more than that, they were the source of salvation in the midst of corruption.
Indeed, if the LORD had not created them in the image of man, they could not later die in man’s
stead for atonement of the soul. In fact, the Hebrew word for “life” in Gen 1:30 may also be
interpreted as “living soul.” God has put the breath of life into the souls of beast and fowl
alike and He directs their ways as He chooses, else how could He rain down fowl from the
sky to feed meat to Israel in the wilderness, or direct the raven to feed Elijah by the brook,
or bring devouring locusts upon the land to punish His idolatrous people?
As a matter of fact, the LORD told Ezekiel to speak to the beasts and fowls and tell
them to fill themselves at His table in the great Day of the LORD, for they too shall be
delivered unto glory and feast at “the supper of the great God” (Rev 19:17-18):
And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; “Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to
every beast of the field, ‘Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to
my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel,
that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the
blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them
fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my
sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and
chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war,’” saith the Lord GOD. And I will set my
glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed,
and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the
LORD their God from that day and forward. (Eze 39:17-22)
It’s the way of the LORD to deliver the living creatures in the last days, for they had
been destroyed along with mankind in the great flood, except for those that were
saved in the ark with Noah, for “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen 6:8):
And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name
Noah, saying, “This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands,
because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” (Gen 5:28-29)
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean
fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and
the LORD said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake;
for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any
more every thing living, as I have done.” (Gen 8:20-21)
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every
beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and
upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that
liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh
with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.” (Gen 9:1-4)
After the flood Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings to the LORD; it was a
free will offering to worship the LORD. The burnt offering was of clean beasts and clean
fowl having fat removed and burnt with it, which caused a sweet aroma to rise up toward
heaven, and it was pleasing to the LORD (see Lev 1). It touched the heart of the LORD,
and He lifted the curse on the ground and promised not to smite every living thing again
as He did in the flood.
After the Fall, Abel brought the firstlings of his sheep and their fat as a burnt offering to
the LORD and it pleased Him, but firstborn Cain’s fruit of the ground did not please Him. So
Cain was wroth and slew Abel and his righteous blood cried out to the LORD, “And he said,
‘What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.’” (Gen 4:10).
And this represents the most critical part of the Plan of redemption, because it shows that
God responds in judgment to the spilling of innocent blood.
Both with Abel and with Noah the LORD was pleased by the sacrifice of clean living
creatures, for “the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.” So you see, man’s bond with
living creatures was in reality his deliverance from the LORD’s wrath against sin until the
coming of the Seed of the woman.