The "Red Button" Tree

I can relate to Duke's question ... why even have a tree of knowledge of good and evil? And even then ... why put it in the garden ... why not outside the garden? It is like the red button scenario ... "you can push all the buttons, but that big red button ... whatever you do don't push that one ... right there ... that red one ... you know the one that is flashing 'push me' ... but don't push it."

Why would God do this? Certainly he had his reasons. I don't think it was unintentional, nor do I think he was doing a sick joke. I wonder if after making this tree he "saw that it was good" ... or good and evil?

Chapter 2
The day God "rests" is the day that the world ceases to exist. So God's 'rest' is still active ... no longer in the realm of creating but in sustaining. I find it intreguing as well that this is the first thing that God makes holy ... not an object but a span of time ... the seventh day.

God spoke creation into existence ... but he "formed" man from the dust and "breathed into" man. We are but dust and divine breath ... body and spirit ... it is facinating that we are sustained by eating 'dust' and by breathing. To cease from eating or to quit breathing would kill us ...

Everytime we inhale ... it is as though God is breathing into our nostrils and sustaining our life. With every inhale we acknowledge his divine exhale

"you shall surely die" ... did Adam know what this was? What was death to him when all that surrounded him was life. Was there any models for him to comprehend what 'death' was? Or did he simply understand because God granted it to him? This is the first time that 'death' is spoken of in the Bible ... death comes by disobedience. The only thing that Adam had was God's Word ... he had no written law, nothing was codified or systematized ... it was purely based on 'what God said.' This is important to note ... anticipating the next chapter.

Eldridge brings out an intersting point ... man was made not in the garden but in the wilderness ... while Eve was made in the garden. Man is by nature 'wild at heart' ... I can see this both in the text and in life. Not only that, but man was made to work ... in fact, one of the first jobs Adam has is naming the animals. Think about it ... whatever you called it is what it would be ... how did he do that? Did he randomly fuse sounds together? And to think that he remembered all there names (I am assuming he was not deficient in this capacity).

"it is not good that man should be alone" ... yet the next verses are not God making Eve!!!! Instead he puts Adam to work naming the animals. Why the insertion of zoology? Why not go straight to the formation of woman? Notice that Adam never noticed his lonliness ... it was God who made this observation. In the midst of his work though he noticed something ... the other animals had pairs, but there was no suitable helper for Adam. It was in his obedience and work that Adam became aware of "something not quite right." I find this passage encouraging to me ... that my focus should be on obeying God and not chasing after a wife to "complete" me ... in time, I believe the Lord will bring us together as He brough Adam and Eve together. Meanwhile I've got work to do ... no literally, I have to go to work now. Much more to say, but work is calling me ... maybe I'll meet my future wife today? Doubtful since I work in a junkyard!