The King, The Garden, and The Command Text: Genesis 2:4-17
Introduction: From Wide Angle to Close Up
The first chapter of Genesis gives us the grand, cosmic account of creation. It is the wide angle lens, showing us the majestic power of God speaking the universe into existence over six days. But Scripture is not content to leave us with the view from orbit. In the second chapter, the Holy Spirit zooms in. The camera comes down to earth, and the narrative focuses on the centerpiece of God's creation, the high point of the entire week, which is man. If Genesis 1 is the establishing shot, Genesis 2 is the beginning of the story for which the stage was set.
We are moving from God the Creator, Elohim, to the LORD God, Yahweh Elohim. We are moving from the transcendent God who makes everything to the immanent God who walks with man in a garden. This is not a contradiction, as the liberals and scoffers would have it. This is a covenantal progression. God first reveals Himself in His raw power as the maker of all things, and then He reveals His personal, covenant name, Yahweh, as He stoops to enter into a relationship with the creature He has made in His own image. He is not just the God of the cosmos; He is the God of Adam.
This chapter lays the foundation for everything that follows in the biblical story. Here we find the basis for work and culture, the nature of man as both dust and spirit, the sacramental nature of the world, the institution of marriage, and the first great covenant. This is the world as it was meant to be, a world of glorious potential, a world of probation. Adam is placed in this world as a son, a priest, and a king, with a task to accomplish and a simple, straightforward command to obey. Understanding this chapter is essential to understanding why the world is the way it is now, and what Christ came to undo and to remake.
We must see that this is not a quaint myth. This is history, as real as the Punic Wars or the American Revolution, but infinitely more significant. Adam was a real man, Eden was a real place, and the command was a real test. If we treat this as allegory, we turn the gospel into an allegory as well. For if the first Adam's fall was not a real, historical event, then the second Adam's resurrection is emptied of its power to save us from that very fall.
The Text
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven.
Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet grown, for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
But a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.
Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being.
And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, toward the east; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
And out of the ground Yahweh God caused to grow every tree that is desirable in appearance 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 went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.
The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that went around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Now the gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
And the name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that went around the whole land of Cush.
And the name of the third river is Tigris; it is the one that went east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Then Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may surely eat;
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
(Genesis 2:4-17 LSB)
The Covenant Lord and His Unfinished World (v. 4-6)
The narrative refocuses with a formal heading, and a description of the world waiting for its king.
"These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and heaven." (Genesis 2:4)
This phrase, "these are the generations of," is a structural marker, a toledoth, that Moses uses throughout Genesis to introduce the next major section of the history. It means something like "this is what became of" or "this is the history that followed from." So, after the grand creation account, we are now being told the story of what happened with that creation. And notice the immediate shift in the divine name. In chapter one, it is Elohim, God the transcendent Creator. Now, it is Yahweh Elohim, the LORD God. Yahweh is God's personal, covenant name. He is not a distant force; He is a person who relates to His people. As soon as man, His covenant partner, is about to take center stage, God introduces Himself by His covenant name. This is the God who makes promises and keeps them.
Next, we are shown the state of the earth just before man's placement in it.
"Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet grown, for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground." (Genesis 2:5-6)
This is not a contradiction of chapter one. Chapter one says God created vegetation on day three. This passage is telling us something more specific. The kinds of plants that require cultivation were not yet growing because two things were missing: rain and a farmer. God had set up a provisional watering system, a mist or stream from underground, but the world was waiting for man. This is a profound statement about our purpose. The world was created good, but it was not created finished. It was created as a glorious project, and God created man to be His junior partner in that project. The earth was full of potential, waiting for the intelligent hand of a cultivator to bring it to full fruitfulness. This is the foundation of the cultural mandate. We were not made to be passive consumers in a static museum; we were made to be active sub-creators in a dynamic world.
The Creation of the King (v. 7)
Now we come to the formation of man himself, the designated cultivator and king.
"Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and so the man became a living being." (Genesis 2:7)
Here we see the two-fold nature of man. First, God formed him "of dust from the ground." This is the basis of our humility. We are creatures of earth. We are not angels. We have bodies, and those bodies are made from the same elements as the dirt we walk on. This is why our bodies return to the dust when we die. To forget our dusty origins is the height of pride. But we are not just dust. Yahweh God Himself "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." This is an act of stunning intimacy. The life of man is not a mere biological accident; it is a direct gift from the mouth of God. This divine in-breathing is what makes us living beings in the image of God. We are dust, yes, but we are enchanted dust. We are animated by the very breath of God. This is the basis of our dignity. We are a union of the earthly and the heavenly, a creature made to stand with his feet in the soil and his face turned toward God.
The King's Palace and Provision (v. 8-14)
God does not create man and leave him in a barren field. He prepares a home for him, a headquarters for the project of subduing the earth.
"And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, toward the east; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground Yahweh God caused to grow every tree that is desirable in appearance 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." (Genesis 2:8-9)
God plants a garden. This garden, Eden, is the original sanctuary, the first temple. It is a place of concentrated beauty and goodness. Notice the trees are both "desirable in appearance" and "good for food." God is not a grim utilitarian. He makes things beautiful as well as functional. He is an artist, and He wants us to delight in His creation. In the center of this garden, God places two special, sacramental trees. The Tree of Life was a sign and seal of eternal life, a confirmation of fellowship with God. Adam and Eve were free to eat from it. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the single instrument of their probation, the one test of their loyalty.
"Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers... Pishon... Gihon... Tigris... and the... Euphrates." (Genesis 2:10-14)
Moses is not writing fairy tales. He grounds this garden in real-world geography. The Tigris and Euphrates are known to us still. Eden was a real place on the real earth. But there is a profound theological point here. The river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and then divides into four heads to go out into the world. This is a picture of the cultural mandate. The life and blessing of God's presence in the garden-sanctuary were not meant to be contained there. They were meant to flow out, through the agency of man, until the whole earth became the garden of God. The mention of the land of Havilah, with its good gold and precious stones, is not incidental. These are the raw materials of glory. Adam's task was to take the raw materials of the world and, in obedience to God, cultivate them into a glorious civilization, a holy city, to the glory of God. The gold of Havilah was meant to become the gold of the temple and the New Jerusalem.
The King's Commission and Covenant (v. 15-17)
Finally, God formally installs Adam in his office and lays out the terms of his service.
"Then Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it." (Genesis 2:15)
Here is Adam's vocation. The two Hebrew verbs are crucial. He is to "cultivate" it, abad, which means to work, to serve, to bring to fruitfulness. This is his kingly task. He is to "keep" it, shamar, which means to guard, to protect, to watch over. This is his priestly task. The garden is a holy place, a sanctuary, and Adam is its priest-king. He is to work to extend its borders and he is to guard it from any defilement or intrusion. This is the task he will spectacularly fail at in the next chapter, when he passively stands by while the serpent intrudes upon the holy ground and catechizes his wife.
With the commission comes the covenant command, the terms of the probation.
"And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may surely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”" (Genesis 2:16-17)
This is what theologians call the Covenant of Works, or the Covenant of Life. It is a probationary arrangement. If Adam obeys, he will be confirmed in righteousness and enter into eternal life. If he disobeys, he will bring death upon himself and all his posterity. Notice first the lavish generosity of God. "From any tree of the garden you may surely eat." The whole garden is a feast. God is not stingy. The prohibition is singular and clear. It is not an arbitrary rule. It is a test of loyalty. Will Adam live by God's word, or will he seek to define good and evil for himself? The "knowledge of good and evil" was not simple moral awareness; Adam already knew it was wrong to disobey God. It was the knowledge of a judge, the right to be autonomous, to decide for oneself what is right and wrong. It was a grasp for a promotion that was not yet his.
The penalty is stark and absolute: "in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." This is not just physical death, though that is included. It is primarily spiritual death, which is separation from God, the fountain of life. The moment Adam ate, he died. He was cut off from fellowship with God. His relationship was severed. Physical death would follow later as a consequence, a visible sign of the spiritual reality. This was the test. All of creation hung on the obedience of this one man.
Adam's Failure, Christ's Success
We know how the story goes. Adam, the priest-king, failed to guard the sanctuary. He failed to obey the simple command. He abdicated his throne, listened to the serpent, and plunged the world into sin and death. He was a faithless federal head, and in him, we all fell.
But the story does not end there. Where the first Adam failed in a garden of delights, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, succeeded in a wilderness of temptation. Where Adam failed to guard the garden, Christ guarded His people. Where Adam disobeyed at a tree, Christ obeyed on a tree. He took the curse that Adam earned, the "you will surely die," upon Himself. He died the death we deserved, the separation from the Father, so that we could receive the life Adam forfeited.
Through faith in Him, we are not just restored to a neutral position. We are brought into the family of God as mature sons. The promotion Adam grasped for and lost is freely given to us in Christ. The cultural mandate that Adam failed to carry out is now being carried out by the Church, in the power of the Spirit. We are now the priest-kings, tasked with cultivating and guarding. We are to take the gospel, the water of life that flows from the true Eden, and see that it goes out to the four corners of the world, transforming the wilderness of sin into the garden-city of God.
The probation is over for those who are in Christ. He passed the test for us. Our task now is not to work for life, but to work from life. Because Christ obeyed, because He died and was raised, we are now free to joyfully take up our tools and get to the glorious work of filling and subduing the earth for the glory of our King.