Lesson for June 17, 2020

Knowing the Bible

Lesson 5

The Creation of Mankind

(Genesis 2:1-25)

Verses 1-6

“Thus, the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God

had created and made. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.” In Creation, we see that there had to be an intelligent, organized Creator of the universe. The seventh day was a day rest, not that God was tired, it simply means creation was finished. He did set apart (sanctify) the seventh day indicting that mankind needs a time of rest from his labor to refresh his mind and body. Here is the reference to the midst from the ground watering the earth.

Verses 7-25

“Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die. Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper corresponding to suitable for him.” Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for man Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man 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.” For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” God is the original creator of human life and He continues to create human life. What we have in the above verses is biological life and soul life resulting in human life. When these two are combined and God breathes soul life into biological life, man becomes a living soul, having human life. 

“Neshamah” is the Hebrew word for the breath of God and “chayyah” is the Hebrew word for life. Biological life and soul life were imparted to Adam and Eve simultaneously. 

There are four words used in Genesis to describe the creation of original human life:

• Asah – to make or manufacture after a pattern. Genesis 1:26 – “Then God said, Let us ‘asah’ man in Our image according to Our likeness.” This verse describes the creation of soul life as it was made in the image of God, which by itself is not human life.
• Bara – to create or to make something out of nothing. Genesis 1:27 – “And God ‘bara’ man in His own image, in the image of God He ‘barah’ him; male and female He “bara” them.” This verse describes the creation of the soul life, which is made from nothing.
• Yatsar (jatsar) – to form from existing material. Genesis 2:7 – “Then the Lord God ‘yatsar’ man of dust from the ground.” This verse describes the creation of biological life of the male, which by itself is not human life.
• Banah – to build or construct from existing material. Genesis 2:22 – “And the Lord God ‘banah’ into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man and brought her to the man.” This verse describes the creation of the biological life of the female.

God is still the One that breathes soul life into biological life creating human life, but not simultaneously. Genesis 2:7 says,“Then the Lord God formed (Hebrew “jatsar”) man of dust from the ground (biological life) and breathed (Hebrew “naphach”) into his nostrils the breath of life (neshamah chayyah, soul life); and man became a living being (nephesh chayyah, literally a soul having life or human life).” 

When a fetus emerges from the womb and God breathes soul life into biological life, human life is created. (Isaiah 2:22, 42:5, 57:16; Job 1:21, 33:4; Ecclesiastes 12:7)

Breath of life in Hebrew is “neshamah hayyah” and means the spark of life or soul life; “nephesh hayyah” means a living being or human life. “Ruach” in Hebrew is translated “breath” and is a reference to the soul, the breath of life. “Ruach” is also translated “spirit” in some passages and refers to “human life.” The context of the passage gives us the correct use of the word.

Isaiah 57:16 uses “ruach” to refer to human life and “neshamah” to refer to soul life. This and other passages confirm that God is still the One that creates human life. Ecclesiastes 12:7 gives us further insight. This verse tells us that biological life returns to dust and the soul (ruach) returns to God from where it originated. Isaiah 42:5 uses the same words and tells us once again that it is God who gives life. 

Job 33:4 is also clear that it is God who creates human life by imparting the soul at birth. In the Book of Job, we see several passages that refer to birth. (Job 1:21, 3:11, 10:19) In all these verses, the preposition “from” (“min” in Hebrew) is used with the noun “womb” (“beten” in Hebrew). The phrase “from the womb” is “mibeten” in Hebrew, a combination of our two words. This is important to note because the primary meaning of “min” is separation. Therefore, “mibeten” literally means separated from or away from the womb.

In Isaiah 44:2, 24 we have “Thus says the Lord who made you and created (yatsar) you from the womb (mibeten)…..” “Yatsar” means to create life from existing material (biological life) away from the womb. (Isaiah 49:1, 5)

The angels rejoiced at the birth of Christ, not at His conception, which should be enough to convince us that human life begins at birth outside the womb. (Luke 2:7-14) However, we will examine other passages to show that human life begins at birth, not at conception nor during pregnancy nor as a result of procreation. 

If these scriptures are not enough to convince us, certainly Jesus fully understood when human life begins. In John 3 we have a story about Nicodemus, a Pharisee that came to Jesus at night to inquire about salvation. In the process of explaining salvation using the “birth” analogy to Nicodemus, Jesus teaches that human life begins after birth (outside of the womb). Notice that Jesus did not say, “you must be conceived again.” Just as physical birth is the beginning of human life, spiritual birth is the beginning of spiritual life.

God’s Word always teaches that birth, not conception, is the beginning of life. Conception can only produce biological life, but only God can create human life. He does this by imputing soul life to biological life at physical birth. At the second birth (salvation) God imputes His righteousness to human life producing spiritual life. God’s grace is continually operational in the life of the believer from birth to eternity.

Now let’s consider similar words in the Greek of the New Testament, which confirm the fact that human life begins after birth, outside of the womb. When the Scriptures were translated from Hebrew into the Greek Septuagint, the translators used “ek koilia” and “ek gastros” for “out from the womb” and “separated from the womb” in Isaiah 42:2,24, 49:1,5. (The Greek Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament). The Greek word “ek” is used to represent the Hebrew word “min” and are both prepositions denoting separation. What we have is either “ek koilia” or “ek gastros” that mean the same as “mibeten” – separated from the womb. God is the creator of our original parents, Adam and Eve. In their cases, God created biological life and soul life simultaneously, creating human life. God still creates human life, by creating the soul of mankind and imparting it to biological life at birth. Man is not a product of some evolutionary chain that began with an amoeba. Man did not evolve from monkeys. God created the first human beings and continues to do so.

The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man 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. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. Precedence for marriage was established in the Garden of Eden when Jesus Christ brought the woman He had built (Hebrew: “banah”) from Adam’s rib and gave her to him. The first marriage was composed of a perfect husband and a perfect wife in perfect environment. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (representing spiritual death, Satan and his cosmic system) and the Tree of Life (representing eternal life, God and His Protocol Plan) were the only test of free will in perfection because in perfection knowledge of what is good and what is evil was not necessary. They were created perfect, did not need to have a conscience, but did have a free will. They did not need to understand the difference between right and wrong. All they needed was one test. This test duplicated the circumstances of the prehistorical Angelic Conflict with regard to volition. After the original sin of our first parents, the principle of the divine institution of marriage between a man and a woman continue. That principle has never changed.

A Christian marriage is a union between a Christian man and a Christian woman. Successful Christian marriage is a union between a believing husband and a believing wife, who are executing God’s plan, purpose and will. It actually takes three to make a successful Christian marriage – a believing husband, a believing wife and Jesus Christ. When God is removed from a marriage, the marriage fails to present to the world a testimony for Christ. (Ephesians 5:22-33)