First I want to draw your attention to the use of the word Earth. I mentioned it in my last blog that it had been used 3 times, referred to again so 4 times in Gen 1. I was mistaken. It actually uses the word 7 times in Chapter 1. I left out the other because I didn’t think them all as relevant to the topic, but I was wrong… The animals, sunlight and darkness, all are pretty important parts of life. So yeah there you go… 7 times God speaks about the earth as whole during the first 31 verses of the Bible.
So moving on to Chapter 2. It is basically a recap of Chapter 1 told from a different perspective. Vs 1 “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.”
In verses 4-6 the word earth is used 5 times in the quick recap narrative leading up to the creation of man.
The rest of this chapter focuses on the creation of man, and the threat of death for disobedience, and the creation of woman.
What would it have been like to live in that time before the fall. Before human disobedience disrupted the balance of nature and stated purpose of all of nature. No sickness, no disease, no disorders, no crime, racism, hate, frustration, no bad days, no rough days, no depression, no death, only bliss and one rule; don’t eat from that one tree over there. As we all know the one rule often gets the better of us, and like each of us, Adam and Eve succumbed to the Serpent’s temptation, and the fall of man was the result.
I wonder how often we think about, or if any of us really understand just how far we fell. Do you understand what it was exactly that was lost. Sure all of those things I mentioned above are important, but since we live with those every day in our “normal” fallen lives, we may not think about the bigger picture issue. At one time the human race lived in community with their creator.
When I was growing up, my parents were divorced before I could remember. There was a time when I was very young, when my younger brother, Collins, and I were living with my mother. My father had moved to Arkansas and we lived in Texas. We loved our dad very much and missed him a great deal. We had a step-father, but we did not get along with him well at all. It made us desire Dad even more. We loved our mother, but we lived with her, so we missed and desired our Dad.
One day I a gotten into trouble with my step-dad and I decided I had had enough. So that I night I convinced Collins that we could pack our things, and the next day after my mother left for work, we could run away to my Great-Grandmother’s (my father’s grandmother) house. I was convinced that if we made it to my great-grandmother’s house she would take us to our dad. I had watched the roads and new the route from the house we lived in. This was the spring of my 2nd grade school year. So the next morning after mom left for work, we each took two bags packed with every toy we could possibly carry and left for school. On our way to school, we hid our toys under a small bridge, to be retrieved after school (yeah for some reason I did not consider skipping school).
After school was out we returned and retrieved our toys and set off for the long journey to my Great-Grandmothers house. About half way I realized our bags were too heavy so we hid them a second time; this time in some bushes next to the road. After what seemed like a long time we found the house we were looking for and my great grandmother answered the door. Looking back that must have been a very surprising moment. Especially when I gave her my plan, it must have broken her heart for me to ask her for help and her not be able to give me what I wanted.
A little while later the police arrived and my mother came to pick us up. She of course was scarred for us and didn’t know where to find us. When she received the call about where we were she was greatly relieved, though I cannot remember it, I am sure after the initial relief there was also some residual frustration. I really did not mean to hurt my mother, but I really, really, really, wanted my Dad.
Later that year, Mom sent us to spend the summer with him. It was an amazing time for us in AR. We did not have much money, or really much of anything, but we were where we wanted to be.
My point is this, my 7 year old desire for my dad, is maybe the closest thing I can think of to describe a moment or a feeling like what could have been felt in Eden. The anticipation of God walking with us daily, the excitement of what those conversations would have been like, the complete innocence of being enjoyed and enjoying the one that made you.
Think of the happiest moments of your life, what were they, but more importantly why were they? Did you feel safe, valued, secure, loved, surprised, excited…? That is what we fell from. A life that was perfect with the complete absence of miss-trust, insecurity, competition (for other affection), a never ending question “am I good enough”. I have only just mentioned the fall, and that is discussed at length in Chapter 3 of Gen.
If you were wondering how this is important to understanding God’s heart for the world? This describes God’s intention for all human’s everywhere. His desire for us is good things, He created us to enjoy him and to be enjoyed by him. It is important that all of us understand, His desires for us then, and His desires for us now have not changed. The paradigm in which we exist has changed a great deal, but we will discuss that more later.
In chapter the Earth is mentioned specifically 6 times bringing us to a total of 13 times in the first two chapters. Hope this has been thought provoking…
Chad