Bible Study Genesis Part 28-Provision and Protection

Welcome to the program Study in the Chapel.

God's Word is supreme at Chapel Ministries.

We consider it absolutely essential to a proper relationship with God.

We study it, we love it, we rely on it every minute of every day.

The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold.

And we decided to share these with you in the hope that you too will be able to find inspiration, encouragement, and ultimately salvation through discovering Christ in Scripture.

Our intention is to travel all the way through the Bible.

It will be a challenging journey, but one that will undoubtedly bring you to a decision.

Through this study, you will be faced with either believing or rejecting what God has said to us.

It is our intention to provide you with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about God and his word.

We strongly encourage you to listen intently and diligently, because though at the moment you may not realize it, these things are truly a matter of life and death.

In fact, these are matters of eternal life and eternal death.

Never treat what God has said lightly.

There's truly nothing more important to you.

Now join us as we seek God's will through his inspired word.

We are still in the book of Genesis.

We are still in the first few verses of the second chapter.

There's a lot to learn here, so let's continue on with what we've been doing.

Tonight we are we have a little bit more work to do on verse 7.

So let's start that right now.

Let me read it to get us started.

Genesis chapter 2, verse 7.

Genesis 2:7

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 soul.

Now, last time, rather weakly, in my opinion, I mentioned that this is the point at which we see the very unique nature of human existence.

God breathed life into us.

The breath came from him and it entered us.

And by the way, by that he gave us life.

Nothing else in the Bible was given life this way.

And that is why we are very singularly distinct on this planet.

Yes, as we've said in the previous sections, there's a lot of life here, lots and lots of life.

And all of it was here when we finally arrived.

Before us, God created oodles of living creatures, high nephesh.

It's actually the distinguishing characteristic of the earth.

In that way, the earth is unique.

You know, though they've dumped trillions of dollars into finding it, no other place outside our planet that we've looked at so far has shown any sign of life.

Another reason we should realize that our creation is exceptional.

Now, I'm not saying that science will never find evidence of once living or even currently living creatures elsewhere.

But the fact that we've spent so much effort and still have come up short is telling.

If life ever existed on any of our planetary neighbors, it's really well hidden for some reason.

Topic for another day.

So back to my point.

Even though God put life into countless other species and subspecies.

And by the way, humans do not have any subspecies.

That's something to think about.

Almost every other species has a subspecies except for man.

Anyhow, God breathed into us, despite giving life to all of those many gazillions of animals, living creatures, sea creatures, land creatures, flying creatures, he only breathed into us.

I'm hoping that means something to you.

Listen, there's not even any mention of God's breath of life in angels.

Now that might just be because telling us that is not part of the story, which is actually my suspicion, or either that, or they don't actually have life in the same way we do.

Whether they do or not, the point is there's life that God makes, and then there's life that God breathes.

And it would seem that we humans have both.

And that makes us one of a kind.

Now, let me just say that there's a bit of danger in focusing too tightly on this aspect.

Lots of churches spend lots of time on this very point.

There are sermons and songs and special occasions just focused on the unique wonder of human beings.

In fact, that's how they bring in the crowds.

That's how they keep the crowds.

And you know what?

If your goal is to fill your church, here you go.

Talk about this and only this.

And they'll come and stay.

Maybe smattering a Christmas service here and there, Easter once in a while.

Don't forget summer camp.

Gotta throw that in there.

But stick to this.

They'll stay.

The people want a feel-good message.

And brother, this sure fits the bill.

People love to hear this.

Now, let me say there's nothing wrong with feeling good about our place in creation.

After all, it's God's will.

But the moment we lose sight of the fact that there's actually a purpose to us having this lofty place in creation, we begin to drift from God's intention of sharing his word with us.

God never shares anything with us just to pump up our ego.

If anything, he does it to destroy our ego.

And there's a fact that nothing whatsoever in this has anything to do with our efforts.

We can't go around patting each other on the back because we feel so superior to all other life on the planet, because we aren't responsible for such a blessing.

All of this is of God.

It is of grace.

We are what we are, and we have what we have because of, and only because of God.

And if we fail to highlight the grace of it all, then we're in danger of creating a me first congregation, a why not congregation?

Why not God?

Why can't I do that?

I'm the pinnacle of your creation.

Why not?

Shouldn't it be me?

And by the way, it's that attitude that was partially responsible for the cause of the Jews rejecting Christ.

Let's keep on moving.

We were made living souls.

We were made living creatures like every other life form, and we had the breath of life breathed into our nostrils.

That's our two-step life-giving process.

Not sure what else to say about that, except that it's pretty special.

And part of me is hoping that those of you out there that are wasting the life God gave you, you'll see what a unique gift you happen to be squandering.

I'm hoping that the millions of people who are out there doing everything they can to destroy the gift of life, whether destroying their own or someone else's, it's my prayer that you will be confronted somehow with the distinctiveness of human life to the point that you'll return to respecting it.

Again, respecting it in yourself and in others.

You see, we're all partakers of the breath that God breathed into Adam's nostrils.

And by the way, that's another interesting point.

We had nostrils before we had the breath of life.

Now, that may be nothing more than the way the story is told, or it's demonstrative of what I said just a moment ago.

Being made a living soul and having the breath of life enter our nostrils are two distinct events.

The second one being very unique and very special.

Well, I'll leave it there because I can't help but think that we won't satisfy our curiosity no matter how long we sit and think about it.

And I'm afraid we'll probably head off in a wrong direction, some other than scriptural direction, when trying to answer that question.

No need to distract ourselves or slow ourselves down.

The Lord God formed man and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

Nowhere else in the creative process is this step found.

Why are we constantly being beaten with this?

Because science doesn't want you to believe it.

Science is telling you a different story.

They're trying to say you're no more special than the algae that forms on the surface of your pool when you don't put enough chlorine in it.

You think I'm joking?

That's what they believe.

I'm trying to show you you are a very unique creation.

The breath that came directly from God was breathed directly into man.

That cannot be ignored.

But I must say, reading the scholarship on this verse, one would think that theologians don't seem to consider this all that novel.

I mean, I'm always amazed at how worldly some so-called religious experts can be.

They try so hard to downplay what's written in the Bible.

They put forth so much effort to take the passion out of these things.

So much so that they actually start to look silly as they do, setting aside things that are obvious for things that are acceptable.

If you know what I mean.

The office is throwing for Carol down in accounting.

Verse seven is where the making of man in God's image finds its culmination.

The last piece of the God-imaged man plan is happening right here.

God Himself gives mankind the breath that makes humans different.

Do you see why I want you to look at God's word closely?

These sorts of things manifest themselves when you do, and they stay hidden when you don't.

And the Lord God formed man and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul, a living creature.

Believe me, I want to keep hammering away at it, but I'm not sure it's going to help.

Time to move on.

Verse 8.

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Now, in this verse, we learn that God didn't just make man and then just plop him down and walk away.

There is an entire system in place.

God has a far-reaching plan.

That's what this verse is communicating to us.

God put mankind in a place of provision.

This isn't a howling wilderness.

This isn't a desert.

God didn't set man adrift on a shoreless sea.

He placed his precious creature in a garden that he himself planted.

The original word gives a sense of creating or setting up, listen to me, an orderly place.

In other words, this is a spot well thought out.

And listen, that theme runs the entirety of this discourse.

This isn't a random plunking down of trees here, and then, I mean, they put some animals over there, maybe some berry bushes over there.

You know what?

Fruit-bearing vines right there in the middle.

That'd be nice.

You know, as a kid, I really didn't like Legos.

My son-in-law loves Legos, but they bored me.

I mean, in those days, it was just a box of blocks with different sizes and different colors.

Whenever you sat down to play, you almost never made anything more sophisticated than a crude tower or something like that.

Some kids were good at it, though, and they made, I guess, rough-looking castles or more or less chunky houses.

But most of the time, whatever, whatever you built was accidental.

You just started putting bricks on top of bricks, and something came out of it.

Something accidental, something arbitrary, something unsophisticated.

But then they started coming out with those play sets.

Pretty soon you could make boats or airplanes or dollhouses.

The pieces are now purposely formed to make specific things.

That was a big improvement.

Listen to me.

It makes creating so much better when you have a plan, when you have a purpose in mind.

If you have a goal when you build stuff, you are far more likely to be successful.

This entire verse, and of course the next few, tell us a very sweet story.

This is a father taking the time, making an effort, meticulously planning, making sure his loved ones have what they need.

That's what this story is telling you in the original.

The language is telling you this sweet, loving father story.

This is a father with a plan to provide for his children's happiness.

Listen, never forget, God loves us, and he has since the beginning.

His love has not changed, nor will it ever.

And some may say, but how can you say that, John, when his word is so full of references to his wrath?

I agree.

There's a lot of wrath in the Bible.

Well, let me ask you a question.

What's different between this point of the Bible where God is lovingly providing everything mankind needs, and the point where he starts talking about wrath?

What's in the middle of those two epochs?

I'll tell you, sin.

At this point, when God is planting this garden, the original word means enclosure, another purpose-driven creation.

Enclosures are more than just structures pleasing to the eye.

What does God need for something pleasing to the eye?

He put this place there for a purpose.

It's an enclosure.

It's a walled-in, protected enclosure.

It's a place purposely built for protection.

And by the way, at that time there was nothing to protect us against.

All life lived together, but God still said, by these walls, I'm protecting you.

By these walls, I'm making you special.

Some say that the word Eden means heart of God.

I'm not sure I agree, but it makes sense.

God placed man in Eden.

God placed man in his heart to protect them.

When God is planting this garden, he's making sure it will fit the needs of the ones who will live there.

The garden provided sustenance and safety, and that's what this is telling us.

It was love and care and devotion before sin.

Between Genesis 2:8, the verse we're on, and the latter chapters of Revelation, where we frighteningly see God pouring out his wrath, there was only one fundamental change.

Genesis 2:8

If you're mad at God, listen to me.

Sin entered in and stood between us and a loving God.

Sin came in and stood between a needy people and a providing father.

Why do you think this world is in the mess that's in?

Despite all of the efforts that we embark upon to fix whatever our mess is, we can never be successful.

We only make things worse.

Because sin is standing between us.

We are inadequate to fix ourselves.

We weren't designed to take care of ourselves.

And God's only response to sin is wrath.

Listen to me.

If you stay in sin, you will receive wrath, just as the Bible demonstrates.

God's not hiding that from us.

It is sin and only sin that's triggered God's wrath.

But John, I don't think I'm that bad.

I'm not that bad.

I don't, I don't, I haven't murdered anyone that I know of.

I'm not an adulterer.

I keep my swearing to a minimum.

I certainly don't kick puppies.

Why is God mad at me?

You're not listening to me.

He's mad at sin.

A little sin is sin.

Not bad is bad to God.

And even if you did nothing, you were born with the stain of sin.

It's in your DNA.

I'm telling you.

So you may be angry with God for being wrathful, but the only one you should be angry with is yourself.

Unless you accept God's offer of a substitute, of the substitute.

If it were not for sin, there would be nothing but love and care coming from God.

Hey, why is this taking so long?

Listen, I've told you many times throughout this study, and I'll continue to do so, that one of the goals in this ministry is to get you to look closely at Scripture.

I want you to see that it's really an interesting book that has a lot to say to us.

It was written for you.

This book wasn't written just as a record, it was written for your purposes.

There's so much here that's incredible and mysterious and fascinating and unexplainable and simply magnificent.

The problem is no one has taken the time to teach you any of that.

And I'm fairly certain your pastors and ministers and priests were exposed to most of what we talk about here sometime in their training.

None of this was hidden away in some super secret book somewhere.

It's the same Bible they studied.

And they most likely had a course or two on just about everything we teach wherever they've been trained, seminary or wherever, Bible college.

They know about this stuff.

They know better than I do, which by the way is no big accomplishment.

It's just that they don't have time to go over it with you.

I mean, for the most part, the typical Sunday service, unfortunately, the only time.

Most of us get any exposure to the Bible whatsoever.

But Sunday, Sundays are usually just too jam-packed with the extras.

There's the song service.

And in some places, that's an hour just in itself.

But at the very least, 30 minutes.

Lovely, yes, most of the time, but still a big chunk of Sunday.

Then there are the announcements, and the bigger the church, the more of those that have to be covered.

There's building fund updates, changes to the child care schedule, women's club reminders, men's club location changes, Bible camp early registration dates, on and on it goes.

From there, the pastor or some other official has to get up and do the acknowledgment.

So I'd like to thank Sister So-and-So for the lovely flowers up here at the altar.

Sister, stand up so we can applaud.

You know, we all start to clap, and then three minutes later we sit down.

Then comes the offering.

Again, the bigger the church, the longer that takes.

In some places, we're already approaching 90 minutes.

Next is usually some form of liturgy.

Now, most Christian denominational liturgies do include scripture readings with some related preaching thereupon.

Protestant churches usually spend more time on that than a typical Catholic Church.

In fact, many theologians credit the Protestant Reformation with introducing preaching into church services.

But not that I'm going to defend the Catholic Church, but they never centered their church services on preaching.

For them, it was one thing and one thing only, the Mass, the communion, what we call the communion.

The whole service, that's what it was supposed to be.

There was not to be any preaching.

Preaching didn't come along to the Protestants.

They do it now, and some of them do a pretty good job.

Now, this portion of the program, the liturgy, is usually stuck somewhere in the middle of the service.

And therefore, by this time, we're very often two hours into the agenda.

At this point, the crowd is tired, the kids are fidgety.

There's a noticeable tummy rumble symphony beginning to swell.

Catherine's smiling because her stepdad is a pastor.

And most pastors, like Key, they're good at reading the crowd.

And he or she will be in wrap-up mode.

And that means little time for much more than the basics.

Besides, again, denominations have a very defined set of discussion points assigned for that week, and there's very little room for creativity.

What's the result of this paucity of teaching?

That's one of my favorite words, paucity.

Lack of teaching, scriptural ignorance.

That's what is the outcome.

A lack of appreciation for the beauty of God's word, a dangerous shortage of familiarity with the comprehensive nature of the message God has for us.

If we aren't taught that the Hebrew is telling us how wonderful the creation of the garden is, we'll breeze right through it.

We'll think of it as no different than my neighbor three houses down that has a nice hedge row.

We think that's all it is.

Couple nice palm trees, and that's it.

That's not the case.

It was a lovely, provided, safe place for God to put his children forever.

We don't know that.

Unless we're told.

Because I think sometimes this part is for the church leadership, this part of Hosea.

Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.

That thou shalt be no priest to me.

Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

That's a curse.

It's a curse because God wants his children taught.

He wants them to understand about him.

Why do you think he wrote this book?

So you can get to know it.

So you can get to know what he said in Genesis 2.8.

All right, I'll get down from my soapbox.

In fact, it's probably a good place to stop for the evening.

I think we've adequately covered verse 8.

We could probably say more, but it's best to keep moving.

As I said, I don't want us to get too bogged down in the details.

Too late.

So that's verse 8.

We'll pick it up at verse 9 next time.

See you then.

We hope this study has blessed you.

God's word is a great treasure, and it's our belief that a thorough, purposeful study of it will bring all of God's children to an understanding of his eternal plan of redemption.

It is our prayer that this will be so for all of our listeners.

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