Meeting Adam and Eve

"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
23 And Adam 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.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." Genesis 2:16-25

Here at the end of chapter 2 we finally get to meet the first man. We meet Adam, who was created in God's image. At the moment Adam was created, he was flawless- without sin and without knowledge of evil. Think of a young child who does not know the difference between right and wrong- a child who only wants to please their parents. I imagine that is what Adam was like. He obviously was an intelligent man, naming all the animals and recognizing that none of them were his equal. Adam wanted a companion, so God made him one.

At first I was wondering about this. Adam wanted a companion that was his equal. I mean, Adam could have as many conversations as he wanted with God- why would he need a companion on top of that? But then I thought about going for a walk...going for a peaceful walk down a country road or path. It's always nice to get away alone for some peace and quiet- but it's even better with a companion to share it with. Here Adam was in a beautiful garden, taking careful care of his Lord God's creation. And he wanted someone to share this beauty with. That's not difficult to comprehend.

So God put Adam to sleep and removed a rib bone, which he used to form woman. That is where the name woman comes from- meaning "of man". Then we get to the last verse, which causes snickers in every Sunday School classroom- they were both naked, and were not ashamed. This means so much more than simply without clothing. Yes, they did not have clothing, but being naked in this instance also means that they were completely unprotected and vulnerable-they were exposed in every way. They were sinless. They had no idea there was such a thing as evil, or even that anything they did could be considered wrong. They were completely honest with each other, and completely honest with their God. Seems to me that we could all stand to be a little more naked. (Not literally, of course) :-)

Tomorrow I'll be looking at chapter 3, and the consequences of sin.