Genesis 2:4-23
The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17). As we have considered the powerful Creator’s work we would agree with Jeremiah—nothing is too hard for God. And the Creator is writing his story in your life. Whatever you are going through, nothing is too hard for him.
We have considered the six days of God’s powerful creative work and his celebration of completion on Day 7. On Day 6, God created man in his image (Genesis 1:27).
What does it mean to be created in the image of God?
Theologians normally put the attributes of God in two categories: incommunicable and communicable. Incommunicable attributes are those characteristics that belong to God alone. Examples of incommunicable attributes are:
- God’s self-existence and self-sufficiency.
- God’s immutability (free from change).
- God’s infinity (free from limits of time and space. Eternal and omnipresent).
- God’s simplicity (there are not elements in God that can conflict).
Incommunicable attributes are those God does not share. Communicable attributes are those God does share with us. Here are some examples of communicable attributes:
- Spirituality (John 4:24— “God is spirit.” Man is body and spirit).
- Freedom (man has been given freedom to make choices).
- Knowledge (man can learn and apply his knowledge).
- Moral attributes (e.g., goodness, love, mercy, grace, patience).[1]
To be made in the image of God means that God shares certain attributes with us. J. I. Packer explains it like this,
God made man a free spiritual being, a responsible moral agent with powers of choice and action, able to commune with him and respond to him, and by nature good, truthful, holy, upright (Eccl. 7:29): in a word, godly.[2]
In Genesis 1:27-31, God introduces the creation of man. Beginning in Genesis 2:4 the full story begins. Let’s start there.
Genesis 2:4
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
The word “generations” (toledot) is sometimes translated “accounts” and provides a literary outline of Genesis. There are ten generations or accounts listed in the book. Here is the first account of the heavens and earth focusing on the beginning of man.
Also, in Genesis 2:4, we are introduced to a new name for God—Lord God (Yahweh Elohim). Elohim is the Mighty Creator, the powerful and sovereign God. Yahweh is God’s personal name designating as the one who enters into a relationship with man. This name describes the God who breathes into man the breath of life, makes a covenant with man, and always keeps his promises. Yahweh occurs over 6,800 times in the Old Testament. It is translated “LORD” with all capital letters. The name, Yahweh, is found in every Old Testament book except Esther, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. It was a solemn, sacred name spoken only by the priests worshipping in the Jerusalem temple. After the temple was destroyed in AD 70, the name was not pronounced at all. When Yahweh appeared in Scripture the reader used the name Adonai instead.
After providing a brief description of what the earth was like before man (Genesis 2:5-6), Moses says that “the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground” (Genesis 2:7). The word translated “formed” is the Hebrew word yatsar. Yatsar is used in Scripture to describe a potter working at his wheel to shape and form clay (Jeremiah 18:1-3). Here, God is pictured as a sculptor forming man from dirt on the ground. After forming the man with all the intricate systems of the body, God stooped down and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7).
The word translated “living creature” is the Hebrew word, nepes. This word describes the whole person with his body, soul, personality, mental capacity, and emotions. Man is God’s crowning creation, made in his image.
God placed Adam in the beautiful and bountiful garden of Eden and gave him one command. We’ll consider that in Genesis 3. For now, let’s continue with God’s creation process.
Everything God had made to this point was good, but now the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). The word “helper” is usually used in Scripture to describe God (Exodus 18:4, Deuteronomy 33:7, et al.). It describes one who provides what is lacking. This “helper” was to be “fit” for the man. The word translated “fit” is the Hebrew word neged. It means, “that which is opposite, that which corresponds.” So, when God says that he will make a helper fit for the man, he is saying that what the man lacked, the woman would supply, and conversely, what the woman lacked, the man would supply. The man and woman would complete each other physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The man and the woman were made for each other!
In order to drive home the man’s aloneness, God had him name all the animals. This allowed Adam to realize that “there was not found a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:20).
Genesis 2:21-23
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Adam exclaimed, “This at last…!” Now there was another person to complete him, and in turn, he would complete her. God created them male and female, two distinct genders, to complete each other. That is God’s design from the very beginning.
Next time, we’ll discuss further the beauty of God’s ordination of marriage. But today, let’s focus on the powerful personal God—the Lord God—Yahweh Elohim—who stooped down and breathed life into man so he could begin to write his story in our lives. What an awesome and amazing God!
PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read Genesis 2:3-23—Focus on the name Lord God—Yahweh Elohim—the God who stooped down and breathed into man the breath of life—the powerful personal God who created you in his image and is writing your story.
Prayer and Application
How does understanding that God created us in his image, formed us with his hands, stooped down, and intimately breathed life into us—how does this knowledge of God impact the way you view God, yourself, and his purpose in your story?
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[1] For a deeper study on the communicable and incommunicable attributes of God see Wayne Gruden, Systematic Theology (Zondervan, 1994), 156-225 and Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology (Moody Publishers, 1999), 39-50.
[2] J. I. Packer, Knowing God (IVP Books, 1973), 100.
I really like this new format!
Awesome to learn more about Yahweh! It’s the name I use the most when praying.