{"id":4347,"date":"2016-07-30T13:28:49","date_gmt":"2016-07-30T19:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=4347"},"modified":"2023-07-01T13:27:40","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T19:27:40","slug":"genesis-215-part-four","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/?p=4347","title":{"rendered":"Genesis 2:15 \u2014 Part Four"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Here\u2019s the way another of my reviewers responded.<\/h3>\n

I like the way you have explained this verse in the lesson, but I still think God had Adam and Eve doing important, meaningful work in the garden while also worshiping, resting, and obeying. Otherwise, why does God tell us to subdue the earth \u2014 the earth was perfect when He said this, but it still needed subduing. Adam and Eve helped God to spread the seeds around the land and further the multiplying process, among other things. Also, why do all modern translations not translate the words in the ways you have said? Maybe there is both a literal and spiritual meaning to Adam\u2019s work \u2026<\/span><\/h3>\n

I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea that God needed help. I have to think the garden was<\/em> perfect, as this reviewer says. Again I ask \u2014 What if Adam hadn\u2019t eaten the forbidden fruit but also hadn\u2019t done any work in the garden? Without the knowledge of good and evil, it couldn\u2019t have been sin.<\/h3>\n

I think this would be a good point to look at the first two chapters of Genesis and see what exactly God did tell Adam to do. As I read it, I come up with three things.<\/h3>\n

1.\u00a0So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth (Genesis 1:27-28<\/span><\/a>).<\/em>\u00a0 God told Adam to have a lot of children. I\u2019m guessing that Adam didn\u2019t exactly consider this an obligation \u2014 God probably meant it more as encouragement.<\/h3>\n

2.\u00a0\u2026 And subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Genesis 1:28<\/span><\/a>).<\/em> This is the whole \u201chave dominion\/be in charge\u201d issue again, and again, I think it refers to Adam\u2019s position, not his obligation. \u201cSubdue\u201d is also tied to multiplying, so it may simply mean that for man to rule the earth, there had to be men to rule. It obviously wasn\u2019t God\u2019s intention for earth to be empty. For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited : I am the LORD; and there is none else (Isaiah 45:18).<\/em><\/h3>\n

3.\u00a0And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:16-17<\/span><\/a>).<\/em> Here\u2019s the obedience issue. This is the entire law that Adam lived under. It\u2019s all about Adam\u2019s relationship with God, not about his role in the garden. Adam was in a position of fellowship with God and could do no wrong (except to eat the fruit) because he didn\u2019t have the knowledge of good and evil. But once he understood the difference, he was required to do good.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s the way another of my reviewers responded. I like the way you have explained this verse in the lesson, but I still think God had Adam and Eve doing important, meaningful work in the garden while also worshiping, resting, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genesis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4347"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8042,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4347\/revisions\/8042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versebyverse.carpelibra.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}