Genesis 2

Genesis 2:2

Gen. 2:2. “And on the seventh day God ended all his works.” The [Hebrew] word translated work, which comes from [the Hebrew word for] angel or messenger, and therefore most properly signifies a work done in the execution of some function to which the workman is appointed, as the angel, messenger, officer, or workman of another; and so is fitly used concerning the work of creation; which was performed by the Son of God, who is often called the angel of the Lord: he being the Father’s great officer, and artificer, through whom he performs all his work, and executes his eternal counsels and purposes. Gen. 2:3

Genesis 2:3

Gen. 2:3. “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, etc.” It is rendered very probable by Bedford in his Scripture Chronology,"[1730 folio. - G.] that this first Sabbath being the first day of Adam’s life, and so the first day from whence he began to reckon time, was the first day of his week; and so, that the first day of the week was the day that God sanctified to be kept by all nations and ages, excepting the change that was made of the day of the Sabbath for the Israelitish nation after the coming out of Egypt, till the resurrection of Christ; and also that the “deep sleep” that was fallen on Adam in which God took from him one of his ribs and made Eve of it, was on the night before. If so, then as Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, so Adam on the same day rose from his first sleep. As Christ on that day rose from that death that He died, by which He purchased and obtained the Church, being by that means created anew; so Adam rose from that “deep sleep” that he slept, which made way for her formation, and by which he obtained her. As when Adam arose from his deep sleep, God brought the woman to him, whose being, his deep sleep had made way for, and gave her to him; so when Christ rose from the dead, God brought the church to Him: it was gathered and brought home to Christ in an extraordinary manner, soon after His resurrection. As Adam rose and received his wife, “bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh,” and taken out of himself, from near his heart; so Christ received His Church that is “of his flesh and of his bones,” (Ephesians 5:30), and as the product of His most dear dying love. As this day was a day wherein God was refreshed, and rejoiced in beholding His works, and a day of rejoicing to Adam in that he then received his wife, and a day of rejoicing to Eve, being then first received into union with her companion; so the day of Christ’s resurrection was a day of rejoicing to God the Father, to Christ, and also to the Church, which was then begotten again to a living hope by the resurrection.

Gen. 2:5

Genesis 2:5

Gen. 2:5. “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.” This seems to be observed to teach that all the life that is in the creation is immediately from God, and not from the creature itself: that in itself is wholly lifeless and void, and empty of all perfection. The vegetable life that is in this lower world was immediately from God. Of all the innumerable kinds of principles of life that now are manifest, every one was immediately from God. Though the earth, and the rain, and the cultivation and husbandry of men be now made use of, yet these living principles were not first owing to them, for they were before them. So it is as to all principles of spiritual life in the spiritual creation.

Gen. 2:9

Genesis 2:9

Genesis 2:9 (and Genesis 3:22; Genesis 3:23; Genesis 3:24). Concerning the Tree of Life. This tree seems manifestly to have been designed for a seal of Adam’s confirmation in life, in case he had stood, for two reasons: 1st, because its distinguishing name is the tree of life; and 2nd, because by what is said in the latter end of the 3rd chapter, there appears to have been a connection by divine appointment, between eating of that tree and living for ever, or enjoying a continued, certain, and everlasting life. But yet here are these difficulties attending such a supposition. If it was so that this fruit was intended as a seal of Adam’s confirmation in life, and was by divine constitution connected with confirmed life, then it should seem that it was something kept in store, reserved by God to be bestowed as a reward of his obedience and his overcoming all temptations, when his time of probation was ended. There seems to be an allusion to this in Revelation 22:14, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life.” And chap.

Revelation 2:7, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.” So that it was not to be come at until the time of his trial was ended, for if he had eat of the tree before his probation was ended, confirmed life would doubtless have been as much connected with it as after he fell, and that would have defeated God’s design, which was that he should not have confirmed life till his obedience was tried; and if so, why was there not need of cherubim and a flaming sword before, to keep Adam from the tree, before he fell, as well as afterwards? Whereas there seems to have been nothing to keep him from this tree.

The tree was not forbidden him; for he had leave to eat of every tree, but only the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And as there was no moral hindrance, so there seems to have been no natural force to keep him off: it does not seem to have been out of his reach; for, if so, what occasion was there for placing cherubim and a flaming sword after he fell. The tree does not seem to be hidden from Adam, for, if it was sufficiently secured from him by this means, before he fell, so it was afterwards, and so what need of the cherubim and flaming sword? From the account which Moses gives of the place of this tree, that it was in the midst of the garden, it appears probable that it was in the most conspicuous place in the whole garden; as the tree of life is said to grow in the midst of the street of the heavenly paradise. Revelation 22:2. The street of a city is the most public place in it; and that Adam might have it in view to put him in mind of the glorious reward promised to his obedience, to engage him to the greater care and watchfulness, that he might not fail. The most probable account that is to be given of this matter is this: that the fruit of the tree of life was not yet produced; but that is was revealed to Adam, that after a while the tree should produce fruit, of which whosoever eat should live forever; that he might eat of it if he persisted in his obedience; and that if he did not persevere in obedience he would expose himself to death before that time, and so cut himself off from ever tasting of it. The tree probably made a most lovely and excellent appearance, and sent forth a sweet fragrance, and perhaps was gay in the blossom, promising most excellent fruit. This tree, as it grew in the midst of the garden, so probably it grew by the river, that ran through the midst of this Paradise. See Revelation 20:2; Ezekiel 47:12. Genesis 2:9; Genesis 3:22-24. On the Tree of Life.There is not the least probability that every fruit-tree in the garden of Eden was then loaded with ripe fruit all at one time. If so, there would have been no provision made for Adam’s subsistence through the year, according to those laws which God had established concerning the trees when he created them; for, according to those laws, the same fruit was not to be perpetually hanging; but when the fruit was ripe, the fruit was to be shed, otherwise the seed would not be shed upon the earth in order to a new production, according to Genesis 1:11; Genesis 1:12, “God said, Let the earth bring forth grass; the herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth, and it was so.” It is much more probable that it was with the trees of paradise as is represented of the trees that grew on the banks of Ezekiel’s river of living waters. It is represented as though there were all sorts of fruit-trees, and some yielding their fruit one month, and others another; so that there were ripe fruits newly produced every month of the year, and so a perpetual summer, and also a perpetual spring: some trees were hung with ripe fruit, and others in the blossom, in each month in the year. St. John’s vision, Revelation 22, may be so understood that each single tree bore twelve manner of fruits on different branches; and yet perhaps there is no necessity of so understanding it; and so one sort bore ripe fruit in one month, and another in another; so that the same tree was always in blossom in some part, while some other part was loaded with ripe fruit. But in Ezekiel’s vision the variety of fruits seems to be on different trees, because it is said there shall grow all trees for meat. Corol. This is a confirmation of the supposition, that the angels were not confirmed till Christ had ended his humiliation, and until he ascended into glory. For Christ is the tree of life in the heavenly paradise, in the native country of the angels; just as the tree of which we have been speaking was the tree of life on earth, the native country of men; and the Scriptures give us to understand that this person, who is the tree of life in this heavenly paradise, is “angels’ food.” Hence we may infer, that the fruit of this tree was the food by which the angels have their eternal life, or their confirmed life. But as man, who was made under a like covenant of works with the angels, would not have been confirmed, if he had persevered in his obedience, till the tree had brought forth its fruit, and till the fruit of the tree was ripe; so it is not probable that the angels were confirmed, until Christ, the Tree of life in the heavenly paradise, had brought forth his fruit. But what is the fruit that grows on this heavenly tree, the second Person of the Trinity, but the fruit of the Virgin Mary’s womb, and that fruit of the earth spoken of Isa 4:2; Isaiah 9:6, “In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely, for them that are escaped of Israel.” - “For unto us a son is born, and unto us a child is given,” etc. (how often are the children that are born in a family compared in Scripture to the fruit that grows on a tree!) when this holy child had gone through all his labours and sufferings, and had fulfilled all righteousness, and was perfected, as it is expressed in Luke 13:32; Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 5:9, then he was seen of angels, and received up into glory, then fruit was gathered: Christ, as full ripe fruit, was gathered into the garner of God, into heaven, the country of angels, and so became angels’ food: then the angels fed upon the full ripe fruit of the tree of life, and received of the Father the reward of everlasting life. Christ did not become the author of eternal salvation to man, till he was thus made perfect, neither did he become the author of confirmed eternal life to the angels, till he was made perfect. Thus the fruit of this tree of life did not become the food of life to either men or angels till it was ripe. This tree of life did as it were blossom in the sight of the angels, when man was first created in an innocent, holy, pleasant, and happy state, and was that creature from whence this future fruit of the tree of life was to spring, the blossom out of which the fruit was to come. It was a fair and pleasant blossom, though weak and feeble, and proved a fading thing like a flower. When man fell, then the blossom faded and fell off; man came forth like a flower, and was cut down, but the blossom fell in order to the succeeding fruit. The fall of man made way for the incarnation of Christ, it gave occasion to the production and ripening of that fruit, and to its blessed consequences. Thus, though Christ God man be not the Savior of the angels, as he is of men, yet he is the tree of life to the angels, and the bread of life as truly as to men.Gen. 2:17

Genesis 2:17

Gen. 2:17. “In the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die.” This expression denotes not only the certainty of death, but the extremity of it. Thou shalt die, in the superlative and to the utmost degree; and so it properly extends to the second death, the death of the soul; for damnation is nothing but extreme death, and I am ready to think that God, by mentioning dying twice over, had respect to two deaths, the first and the second, and that it is to those words the apostle John refers in Revelation 20:14, when he says, “This is the second death.” It is much such a reference as he made in the verse 2 of that chapter. There he explains to us who the serpent was that beguiled Eve, viz. the dragon, that old serpent, who is the devil and Satan: so here he explains what the second of those deaths, that was threatened to Adam, was. See notes on Revelation 20:14. Genesis 2:17. “Dying thou shalt die.” If we sometimes find such kind of doubled expressions, and also this very expression, dying thou shalt die, as in Solomon’s threatening to Shimei, when no more is intended than only the certainty of the event, yet this is no argument that this does not signify more than the certainty, even the extremity as well as certainty of it. Because such a repetition or doubling of a word, according to the idiom of the Hebrew tongue, is as much as our speaking a word once with a very extraordinary emphasis. But such a great emphasis, as we often use, signifies variously; it sometimes signifies certainty, at other times extremity, and sometimes both. Genesis 2:17. “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” This, in addition to notes in blank Bible, - And besides Adam died that day, for he was ruined and undone that day, his nature was ruined - the nature of his soul - which ruin is called death in Scripture, Ephesians 2:1; Ephesians 2:5; Colossians 2:13; Matthew 8:22; John 5:25. The nature of his body was ruined that day, and became mortal, began to die, his whole man became subject to condemnation, to death; he was guilty of death; and yet that all was not executed; that day was a token of his deliverance; and his not dying that day a natural death, is no more difficult to reconcile with truth, than his never suffering at all that death that was principally intended, viz. eternal damnation; and probably there were beasts slain the same day by God’s appointment in their stead, of which God made them coats of skins, for it is probable God’s thus clothing them was not long delayed after that they saw that they were naked. Genesis 2:17. “In the day, etc.” It does not seem to me necessary that we should understand this, that death should be executed upon him in that day when he ate. But that it may be understood in the same manner as Solomon’s words to Shimei (1 Kings 2:37). Death was executed upon Shimei many days after he had done that thing. The thing that God would signify to Adam by this expression seems to me to be, that if he but once presumed to taste that fruit, he should die. You shall not be waited upon to see whether you will do it again, but as soon as ever you have eaten, that very day shall death be made sure to you, you shall be bound to die, given over to death without any more waiting upon you; as that was what Solomon would signify to Shimei; that if he but once went over the brook Kedron, he should die; (see note on 1 Kings 2:37), and so these words signify that perfect obedience was the condition of God’s covenant that was made with Adam, as they signify that for one act of disobedience he should die. See Ezekiel 33:12 - [“Thou shalt die.”] (See Pool, Synop. in loc., The well-known “Synopsis Criticorum,” filling five large folios. Best edition is, Utrecht, 1684. - G.)

Gen. 2:21

Genesis 2:21

Gen. 2:21. “Adam received Eve as he awaked out of a deep sleep;” so Christ receives his church as he rises from the dead. Dr. Goodwin speaks of this deep sleep of Adam as a type of Christ’s death, 1st vol. of his Works, part 3, p.58.