Genesis 2
EverettGenesis 2:1-3
The Seventh Day of Rest – Genesis 2:1-3 describes how God finished His creation in six days and rested on the seventh day. He ceased from His own works in order to enter into rest. One purpose of this rest was to allow His principles of faith that were made a part of the fabric of His creation to take effect and operate in His creation, particularly in mankind. We read in Hebrews 4:10 that we, too, enter into rest when we cease from our own works and serve the Lord. Hebrews 4:10, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” The Number Seven in the Holy Scriptures - The number seven will play an important role throughout the Scriptures as God uses it to bring to pass His divine plan and purpose of creation and redemption for mankind. It will appear in Genesis, in the Law of Moses, all the way until it plays a vital role in the book of Revelation. In the Law of Moses, the Sabbath was the day of rest for man. The seventh year was the Sabbath year where the land rested. The seventh Sabbath year was the year of Jubilee, when everything was to be restored to the rightful owner. The millennial thousand-year reign will be a rest from the evils of Satan, which is the seventh millennial since man was created. Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Genesis 2:1 — Word Study on “were finished” - Strong says the Hebrew word “were finished” (λָ ?μָ ?δ) (H3615) is a primitive root and means, “to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitive (to complete, prepare, consume).” Genesis 2:2 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. Genesis 2:2 — Word Study on “rested” - Strong says the Hebrew word “rested” (ωָׁ ?αַ ?ϊ) (H7673) is primitive root means, “to repose, i.e. desist (from exertion).” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 71 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “cease 47, rest 11, away 3, fail 2, celebrate 1, misc 7.” Genesis 2:2 — Comments - Why did God rest on the Sabbath, since He was Almighty and needed no physical rest? I believe that He stopped and rested in order to see His Glory, the glory of His handiwork. While teaching on the Creation story, I asked my little 5-year old daughter what God did on the seventh day. She quickly said, “He went to sleep.” (October 27, 2003) Well, not exactly. He simply ended the work required to fulfill His office and plan. When I finish building something, I do not go to sleep. Rather, I stand back and admire the work of my hands. I enjoy watching something word that I put together. In the same way, God has stepped back in order to enjoy His creation. When God entered into rest, He did so fully satisfied with His creation. His rest was eternal because He found full contentment in the creation of man and the heavens and earth. God loves us so much that He is fully satisfied with us. He need not look for another being to love, for He has rested forever with us in His mind. Genesis 2:2 — Old Testament Quotes in the New Testament - Genesis 2:2 is quoted in Hebrews 4:4. Hebrews 4:4, “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.” Genesis 2:2 — Scripture References - Note a similar verse: Exodus 20:11, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Note other biblical references to the Creation Story: Nehemiah 9:6, “Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.” Psalms 33:6, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” Psalms 102:25, “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.” Isaiah 45:12, “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.” Genesis 2:3 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.
Genesis 2:4-50
Ten Genealogies (Calling) - The Genealogies of Righteous Men and their Divine Callings (To Be Fruitful and Multiply) - The ten genealogies found within the book of Genesis are structured in a way that traces the seed of righteousness from Adam to Noah to Shem to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob and the seventy souls that followed him down into Egypt. The book of Genesis closes with the story of the preservation of these seventy souls, leading us into the book of Exodus where we see the creation of the nation of Israel while in Egyptian bondage, which nation of righteousness God will use to be a witness to all nations on earth in His plan of redemption. Thus, we see how the book of Genesis concludes with the origin of the nation of Israel while its first eleven chapters reveal that the God of Israel is in fact that God of all nations and all creation. The genealogies of the six righteous men in Genesis (Adam, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) are the emphasis in this first book of the Old Testament, with each of their narrative stories opening with a divine commission from God to these men, and closing with the fulfillment of prophetic words concerning the divine commissions. This structure suggests that the author of the book of Genesis wrote under the office of the prophet in that a prophecy is given and fulfilled within each of the genealogies of these six primary patriarchs. Furthermore, all the books of the Old Testament were written by men of God who moved in the office of the prophet, which includes the book of Genesis. We find a reference to the fulfillment of these divine commissions by the patriarchs in Hebrews 11:1-40. The underlying theme of the Holy Scriptures is God’s plan of redemption for mankind. Thus, the book of Genesis places emphasis upon these men of righteousness because of the role that they play in this divine plan as they fulfilled their divine commissions.
This explains why the genealogies of Ishmael (Genesis 25:12-18) and of Esau (Genesis 36:1-43) are relatively brief, because God does not discuss the destinies of these two men in the book of Genesis. These two men were not men of righteousness, for they missed their destinies because of sin.
Ishmael persecuted Isaac and Esau sold his birthright. However, it helps us to understand that God has blessed Ishmael and Esau because of Abraham although the seed of the Messiah and our redemption does not pass through their lineage. Prophecies were given to Ishmael and Esau by their fathers, and their genealogies testify to the fulfillment of these prophecies. There were six righteous men did fulfill their destinies in order to preserve a righteous seed so that God could create a righteous nation from the fruit of their loins. Illustration – As a young schoolchild learning to read, I would check out biographies of famous men from the library, take them home and read them as a part of class assignments. The lives of these men stirred me up and placed a desire within me to accomplish something great for mankind as did these men. In like manner, the patriarchs of the genealogies in Genesis are designed to stir up our faith in God and encourage us to walk in their footsteps in obedience to God. The first five genealogies in the book of Genesis bring redemptive history to the place of identifying seventy nations listed in the Table of Nations. The next five genealogies focus upon the origin of the nation of Israel and its patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There is much more history and events that took place surrounding these individuals emphasized in the book of Genesis, which can be found in other ancient Jewish writings, such as The Book of Jubilees. However, the Holy Scriptures and the book of Genesis focus upon the particular events that shaped God’s plan of redemption through the procreation of men of righteousness. Thus, it was unnecessary to include many of these historical events that were irrelevant to God’s plan of redemption. In addition, if we see that the ten genealogies contained within the book of Genesis show to us the seed of righteousness that God has preserved in order to fulfill His promise that the “seed of woman” would bruise the serpent’s head in Genesis 3:15, then we must understand that each of these men of righteousness had a particular calling, destiny, and purpose for their lives. We can find within each of these genealogies the destiny of each of these men of God, for each one of them fulfilled their destiny. These individual destinies are mentioned at the beginning of each of their genealogies. It is important for us to search these passages of Scripture and learn how each of these men fulfilled their destiny in order that we can better understand that God has a destiny and a purpose for each of His children as He continues to work out His divine plan of redemption among the children of men. This means that He has a destiny for you and me. Thus, these stories will show us how other men fulfilled their destinies and help us learn how to fulfill our destiny. The fact that there are ten callings in the book of Genesis, and since the number “10” represents the concept of countless, many, or numerous, we should understand that God calls out men in each subsequent generation until God’s plan of redemption is complete. We can even examine the meanings of each of their names in order to determine their destiny, which was determined for them from a child. Adam’s name means “ruddy, i.e. a human being” (Strong), for it was his destiny to begin the human race. Noah’s name means, “rest” (Strong). His destiny was to build the ark and save a remnant of mankind so that God could restore peace and rest to the fallen human race. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning, “father of a multitude” (Strong), because his destiny was to live in the land of Canaan and believe God for a son of promise so that his seed would become fruitful and multiply and take dominion over the earth. Isaac’s name means, “laughter” (Strong) because he was the child of promise.
His destiny was to father two nations, believing that the elder would serve the younger. Isaac overcame the obstacles that hindered the possession of the land, such as barrenness and the threat of his enemies in order to father two nations, Israel and Esau. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, which means “he will rule as God” (Strong), because of his ability to prevail over his brother Esau and receive his father’s blessings, and because he prevailed over the angel in order to preserve his posterity, which was the procreation of twelve sons who later multiplied into the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus, his ability to prevail against all odds and father twelve righteous seeds earned him his name as one who prevailed with God’s plan of being fruitful and multiplying seeds of righteousness. In order for God’s plan to be fulfilled in each of the lives of these patriarchs, they were commanded to be fruitful and multiply. It was God’s plan that the fruit of each man was to be a godly seed, a seed of righteousness. It was because of the Fall that unrighteous seed was produced. This ungodly offspring was not then nor is it today God’s plan for mankind. Outline – Here is a proposed outline:
- The Generation of the Heavens and the Earth — Genesis 2:4 to Genesis 4:26 a) The Creation of Man — Genesis 2:4-25b) The Fall — Genesis 3:1-24c) Cain and Abel — Genesis 4:1-26
- The Generation of Adam — Genesis 5:1 to Genesis 6:83. The Generation of Noah — Genesis 6:9 to Genesis 9:294. The Generation of the Sons of Noah — Genesis 10:1 to Genesis 11:95. The Generation of Shem — Genesis 11:10-266. The Generation of Terah (& Abraham) — Genesis 11:27 to Genesis 25:117. The Generation Ishmael — Genesis 25:12-188. The Generation of Isaac — Genesis 25:19 to Genesis 35:299. The Generation of Esau — Genesis 36:1-4310. The Generation of Jacob — Genesis 37:1 to Genesis 50:26