ESOCS Devotional 31 October 2024 – Life in the Garden
MEMORY VERSE: “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” Genesis 2:8
TEXT:GENESIS 2:4-END
This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 6 but a mist went up 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 being.
8 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 the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to 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.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
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God created a garden paradise on Earth and placed man in the midst of it. But what was life like in the centre of God’s abundant blessing? In this section of scripture, we learn about God’s grace, His provision, His expectation for obedience, and we are introduced to His eternal promise to maintain relationship with His beloved creation. Before God completed His creation and said it was “very good,” He created man and placed him in the middle of the garden. This garden was loaded with trees, fruit and animals. Rivers watered the rich soil, and light nourished the plants. Trees grew from seeds that were planted in the land, which had been separated from the waters. God’s perfect design from each day of creation was working together in harmony. This garden was established as a place of blessing where God provided for, and enjoyed fellowship with His creation (Gen. 2:7-8).
The Earth was created to be inhabited (Isa. 45:18), and mankind was granted authority over creation and immediately placed in a position of blessing. Being “put” or “placed” in the garden has the meaning of being “set to rest” in the garden. Verse 15 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Here, we see an interesting contrast between being “set to rest” and being commanded to “work.” This contrast gives us an important insight into God’s approach to work. Verse 19 says, “Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.”
Imagine how difficult it would be to go throughout all creation and round up every kind of animal (large and small). Instead, God brought the animals to Adam. This shows us a principle about how God helps us to accomplish His calling in our lives. God placed Adam in the garden and led the animals to him. Adam used His gifts (his intellect and authority) to name the animals. Because God had given Adam dominion over creation, whatever Adam chose as the name was its name. Simple as that. No striving. No plotting. No second guessing. Just faithful obedience using the talents God provided in the first place. Similarly, today, God has given us talents and intelligence to make our way in this world. We can be tempted to think that God isn’t involved in our careers or that our vocation is somehow separate or less important than other areas of ministry. But the bible says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” (Col. 3:23).
- You should be effective in the work of God.
- Lord, help me to be useful to you in the Kingdom business.
Further Reading: Genesis 39:1-6; John 1:35-end; Hebrew 11:32-end-12:1-2
ESOCS Devotional 31 October 2024
