Evening On Point FULL NOTES 2009

Genesis chapter 2:18-24

Summary 2:18-24

In this portion of Genesis, we come to the first thing in all creation that
is not good. This section serves to show how God solves this problem,
how important community is in the purpose of God, and how marriage
came about as part of the structure of life that God designed.

We will see the following in this account:

Problem (2:18); Solution (2:19-22); Reaction (2:23); Result (2:24)

The Problem (2:18)

1. Not good

Up to this point everything has been good. All of creation as designed

by God is running perfectly, functioning just as God wanted it to
function. Everything is rightly related to everything else. This line is
shocking for two reasons:

a. First, it jumps out because of the repetition seven times in the

previous chapter of it is good. Over and over again we hear it
was good, it was good, etc . . . until it was not good.

b. Second, it also jumps out because this is before the Fall of man,
before sin, before rebellion . . .. Humanity has not yet
disobeyed God and the curse which affects all of creation has not
yet been pronounced. This is part of the original thing that God
made. There is something in creation that is not good, but it is
not because of what humanity did.

Does this mean that God made something evil? While that is one
interpretation, it does not understand good in the correct way. Good is
not about morality, but about function, design, right relationship . . .
good is about everything working the way God wanted it to work, the
way he designed it. Here is something that God has made that is not
functioning as he wants it to. Something is wrong with the design.

So does that mean that God made a mistake? So, good is not about
morality, but about function, but doesn’t that then imply that God
made something incorrectly? Could he not have seen ahead of time
that this would not work out well?

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Throughout scripture God will ask questions as well as do things that
might make one question God’s omniscience. However, I submit to
you that this malfunction in creation is intentional. Sometime we will
ask my daughter a question such as what color the grass is or we
might point to a certain letter and ask her what it is. She knows the
answer, but gets shy or plays like she doesn’t. At that point we will
give a wrong answer. We might say that an A is a L or that the grass is
purple. My daughter will often speak up then and correct us with the
right answer. However, it was in our intentional mistake that our
daughter finds the answer. I believe that God wanted to teach
humankind a valuable lesson, but not in the words. He wanted it to be
a whole body experience.

As a former school teacher, I would do everything I could to help

students experience something, not just mentally learn about it. For
example, I used to do something unique on the first test that my
students would take. I was known as a hard teacher and my tests
were very difficult. And no matter how hard a student studied for that
first test, I do not believe I ever had a 100%. The day following that
first test, I would come in and pull out the graded tests. You could feel
the tension in the room as students squirmed in their seats. I would
pass back the tests and once everyone had a test, I would ask them to
a number on the top of the test. A (1) meant they would take the
grade they got and deserved. A (2) meant they would take a 100% on
this test no matter what they actually got. A (3) meant the same as a
(2) but with the acknowledgment that they did not deserve this 100%.
As simple as that sounds, student after student would come to me and
tell me they understood grace in a way they never had before because
they experienced it.

That is what I believe God is doing here as he will do in the garden, as

he will do with Cain, as he will do with Abraham, etc. He is letting
humans experience something so that they might learn to a greater
depth.

2. Man alone

So, what is not good? It is not the way in which worship done or
Eucharist is done or some theological area like the salvation or some
horrible sin like murder or something like that. What is it? It is that
man is alone. The thing first thing in all the universe that God says is
not working properly, is not designed in the right way is man being
alone. Two things to help understand this:

a. It is not good first and foremost because without a companion

man can only fulfill one of God’s mandates: rule over the earth,

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but he cannot fulfill the other: multiply and be fruitful. That
makes this situation “not good” because that is a mandate from
God and the design of God, yet it is impossible for man to do
alone.

b. Secondly, it is not good because God created man to be in

relationship, not just with him, but with each other. In fact,
Adam has community with God, but that is not enough. God is
not all I need no matter what certain worship songs say. God
made humanity to be in community with others like him—other
humans. Animals cannot provide what another human being
can, and God has determined that not even He is enough for
man. Could God have been enough? Yes, but in his design, he
made himself insufficient for man. It is not good for man to have
only animals or only God. God designed man to in relationship
with man.

God not only evaluates the situation as something that is not good, but
he rectifies the situation himself by making him a helper who is like
Adam.

3. Companion or helper

This word describes one who delivers or provides necessary assistance.

The woman would deliver man from his solitude and provide the
necessary component to fulfill God’s mandate to reproduce. She
provides what is necessary so that situation can be good. This term is
used almost exclusively for God (Ex 18:4; Dot 33:7, 26; Ps 33:20). It is
not a subordinate position as we might think of in the work place of
someone who is an assistant to the boss, nor is there anything inherent
in this word that would convey that the one helping is somehow
inferior to the other. In fact, if anything, it would go the other way
since the helper becomes necessary to rectify a situation that the one
being helped cannot solve alone. This word is not about status. It
describes her role or function, not her position or standing.

4. Corresponds to him

The NIV describes the helper as one who is “suitable” for him. That is
not the best interpretation of the term. The word is a combination of 2
prepositions that probably means either “what is in front of” or “what
corresponds to” – that is when they look at each other, they should
look the same. They are the same. She is his equal. She has two

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arms and two legs and stands upright and speaks and thinks and sits
and eats, etc just like him. She corresponds to him in ways that
nothing else does.

This is evident in the very reason for her creation. She will be made
because there is nothing and no one like Adam. She is made like
Adam to be his equal, to be the same as him. In fact, to fulfill her
purpose she must be his equal, like him.

This is not to deny differences between men and women because there
are certainly differences. Men and woman look more alike than men
and dogs or women and parakeets, just as man and woman
communicate and think differently than giraffes or elephants.
However, we do not look exactly alike nor think exactly alike. We are
different, but those differences do not detract from our human-ness.
Men and women are different, but equal as designed by God.

The Solution (2:19-22)

1. Forming the animals and birds

God made the evaluation and God now brings the solution. He does
not consult Adam. In fact, he does not even ask Adam how Adam feels
about being alone. God sees the issue and goes to rectify it. However,
the beginning move is a little strange. He begins by forming animals
and birds. Did he not already do that? There are two views here:

a. While the world is populated and God has blessed the creatures
so that they can multiply and fill the earth, this is a specific
place, the Garden that God forms anew to put the man in. He
formed the trees of this garden uniquely for this garden and now
he is forming creatures specifically for this place. All of this is
taking place on day 6 and does not affect what happened on the
previous days. This is a new creation distinct from the creation
that took place on days 1-6 in Genesis 1. The differences in
these two accounts has long been recognized and the Jewish
explanation to support that these are two different accounts is
that God created only 2 types of land dwellers in this second
account while there were three in the first. These are not the
same accounts.

b. Neither of these accounts is giving us a perfectly historical or

scientific account of what happened on these two days. Rather,
in a poetic/narrative kind of literature, both accounts teach an

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ancient world about God’s power and order over the universe
and man’s place in the universe as distinct and special while
chapter 2 expands on the unique creation of man and woman to
in order to explain the connection between man and woman and
the origin of marriage (along with the introduction of the tree
which will be important in chapter 3).

Either way the point remains the same. We will continue to explore
that meaning as we continue through this text. However the perfect
historical validity of all the details will not change the intended purpose
of the text to teach something profound about the relationship
between man and woman. This is not to deny either the complete
historical veracity or at least a core historical veracity that affirms the
connection and need of man and woman for one another.

Back to the text . . .

God forms these animals for a specific reason. It is not to populate the
garden, but to allow Adam to do two important actions and recognize
one essential truth that God believed Adam needed to see:

a. To exercise his role as ruler over the life on planet earth. God
makes these animals and then brings them to Adam in order that
he might name them. Now the naming is not like this is Bob or
Carol. Adam is designating what these will be called since he is
the ruler right now. He is excising his official role given to him by
God.

b. In exercising this role, he is also demonstrating for himself that

he cannot fulfill the second role, namely populating the earth.
This whole process makes it very clear to Adam that things are
not good.

c. Adam needed to know and experience the truth. And as he

watches animal after animal go in front of him, and he sees the
end of the line coming, the feeling of loneliness must have been
terrible because he is seeing firsthand that he is truly alone.
There is no one in all of the creation like him.

The result of Adam seeing his lack of companion, of feeling the terrible
loneliness, and of realizing that it is not good is for God to continue to

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act. Adam is not in control here. God makes the evaluation and then
begins the process to show this to Adam and then brings the solution.
Everything happening is from God. Like chapter 1, the sovereign God
is working out his plan without consultation from others. And though
God has created man in such a way that man needs more than more
than God, it is still only God who can provide the thing that man needs.
Neither the animals nor the man can supply what is lacking. Only God
can give what is needed.

God now puts the man into a deep sleep. Sleep is associated with
dreams and visions. It is a means not only to rest the body, but for
God to communicate at times with man. In this case, the sleep
continues to demonstrate that God is in total control. Adam has no
part in fulfilling this need or solving this issue. He sleeps through it. It
may also be that this would be a rather horrendous thing to be awake
for. While we often think rib, the term really signifies the side. The
image is of God grabbing flesh, bone and blood from Adam and
forming the woman out of these things. But for Adam it is the process
of falling asleep, waking up, and knowing that something has been
taken from him.

God even brings the woman to Adam. God saw the problem and
helped Adam to see the problem. Then he put Adam to sleep and went
to work. It appears that after taking the substance from Adam, he
then left Adam there. Adam work up and was still alone. At some
point when God was done he then brought the woman to the man.

From Adam’s perspective it must have been a strange and difficult

time. God’s original comment does not seem to have been made in
the presence of the man. All Adam knows is that God starts bringing
all these animals to Adam in order for him to name them. When the
last one comes, Adam realizes beyond a shadow of a doubt the
staggering realization that he is utterly alone. Then God puts him to
sleep. The sleep may have also been a way of easing the pain
stemming from Adam’s loneliness. When he wakes up, there is no one
there to explain what has happened. He is still alone, but maybe even
more so as even God is not there. But something has changed. His
side hurts. He is missing something. Finally God brings the woman to
him and immediately Adam understands what has happened.

The Reaction (2:23)

Adam’s response is one of excitement, of joy, and of a profound

recognition of what has just taken place. The next part should be read
as an exclamation! Adam is excited. This is not just a statement from
a neutral party, but rather a bold, excited utterance.

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He says 4 things:

a. This one at last: he has been through so many. All of creation

has been paraded before him and he has witnessed and
personally felt that deep knot in his stomach, that horrible
sinking feeling when something goes terribly wrong. Adam
experienced that. And he exclaims, “Finally! Oh, this is the
one.”

b. Bone of my bone and flesh or my flesh: this is like me. What he

finds, what gives him so much relief and excitement is that this
one is not like the animals, not like the birds, not like all the rest
of creation that has been brought to him, not even like God. This
is one is like him. He is not alone.

c. This one will be called woman (eesha) for she was taken out of
man (eesh): there is a word play here. As he is called Eesh and
she is like him, but subtly different in really good ways, she will
be Eesha.

d. Since he names her, does that imply rulership? No. He is not

naming her, so much as recognizing who she is, even what she
is. She is an eesha since she was taken from an eesh. She has
his name, the name of the ruler. She has his category: human.
There is no sense of ownership or being ruled over here. The
animals were to be ruled, but she was made to rule with him not
be ruled by him. She is one of him, not one of them. Her name
is his name and recognition of what God has done in creating the
co-ruler.

Marriage (2:24)

For this reason . . . while this is a great episode that shows us the place
of woman and the need for community, it has another purpose. It ends
by saying, “for this reason” – for what reason? Since the woman came
from the man to be his companion, to make it possible for God’s
command to fill the earth to take place, this editorial remark connects
marriage to this.

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The reason that a man leaves his mother and father and is joined to his
wife is because it was not good for man to be alone and so God
created a woman from him and by rejoining with her, what was not
good becomes good because they are no longer alone and more
importantly they can now form a family. There is also beautiful poetry
as well: they become one flesh. They return to what they were in
beginning. Human marriage is the ultimate form of intimacy. It is
where man and woman become what they began as: one.

Why do they leave? For two reasons:

a. They must leave because they are joining together in order to

form a new family, not just add to the one that is there. They are
beginning another family and taking on the commission to help
fill the earth.

b. They must leave because the union they enter into cannot have
another a part of it. It is the ultimate in unity and intimacy.
There cannot be a parent or a friend or a job or anything – even a
child – that comes between them. They become one and in
God’s intention that oneness only comes from the union of a man
and a woman. Their oneness is stronger than blood.

c. One interesting element to this is that in this culture the woman

actually left her family and joined the man’s family, which makes
this last comment strange. Rather than describing what
culturally takes place, this explanation focuses more upon the
instinctual urge that drives a man to leave his family and search
out a companion. It seems as if as much as a woman wants to
be found and sought after, so a man desires to search after and
find a woman. A man will leave his own family in order to find
his own.

The last verse is more connected to the following chapter than to this
one. This chapter should end at verse 24 with the statement regarding
marriage. So we will tackle verse 25 next week.

Summary

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God created mankind to be in community with man and woman being
the ultimate expression of intimacy and the means by which God
would fill the earth. Man and woman stand as equals, meant to rule
together, meant to form new families together, and meant to receive
God’s blessing together and multiply and fill the earth. It is a beautiful
picture of our need for each other and the deep connection that is
intended by God in marriage.