Genesis 2 – Responsibilities
Dear Study Partners, our discussion in Genesis Chapter 2 may feel a little like what’s going on in America. How can we distinguish the Truth from a lie? How do God-fearing, responsible, honest people sort through all this mustard slinging? We want what’s best for our world. We care!! Yet, we are obstructed by powerful forces that regularly sow division, discord, and confusion. They attempt to confuse and divide us.
Our world is changing quickly. How do we stay in touch with all that’s happening, let alone understand it? How do we sort through the deception, lies, and deceit? Where do we find the time among all this upheaval? New political groups pop up. Each has their agenda. Strong influential countries use underhanded methods to thwart us. It seems like each claim to know the Truth and have all the answers than research can provide us. Evil spirits, wicked politicians, corrupt government employees, corporate boards, billionaires, lobbyists, et cetera, exert tremendous pressure to achieve their individual goals by any means available to them. They make exciting, enthusiastic, compelling, and forceful claims. Their dishonesty is enormous! Can we see and smell the mustard dripping out from their ears?
Some of us feel hesitant to rely upon the once wise, steady hand of our spiritual leaders who used to guide us because they had our best interests at heart. In Genesis Chapter Six, Noah faces upheaval and evil. In Exodus and Numbers, Moses faces rebellion. The list goes on. What has changed? How did we get here? How do these questions relate to our discussion in Genesis Two?
Genesis 2 discusses Adam and Chavah’s responsibilities and purpose? In Genesis 2.16, The Lord God established The Seven Universal Laws, which were already in existence. They reveal and explain God’s will or humankind.
Genesis 2.16
וַיְצַו יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהִים עַל־הָאָדָם לֵאמֹר מִכֹּל עֵץ־הַגָּן אָכֹל תֹּאכֵל: ס
Genesis 2.16 – 17
And The Lord God וַיְצַו COMMANDED הָאָדָם the Man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’
Genesis 1.28
And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’
Genesis 2.15
וַיִּקַּח יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם וַיַּנִּחֵהוּ בְגַן־עֵדֶן לְעָבְדָהּ וּלְשָׁמְרָהּ: ס
Genesis 2.15
And The Lord God took אֶת־הָאָדָם everything from Aleph to Tav of the Man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it וּלְשָׁמְרָהּ and to guard it.
The Man, i.e., Adam and Chavah, were instructed to be fruitful, multiply, replenish and subdue the earth; take dominion over every living and moving thing upon the earth; to cultivate and guard The Garden of Eden and to name all the beings of earth. They were prohibited from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These few Scriptures establish that the Lord God was active in guiding and constructing our first parents.
The Israeli Prophet Micah wrote about The Lord God’s instruction to Adam and all of humanity.
Micah 6.8
הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם מַה־טּוֹב וּמָה־יְהֹוָה דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ כִּי אִם־עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶיךָ: ט
Micah 6.8
אָדָם Adam, He taught you what is good, and The Lord expounded to your people how you are to make just decisions, and love Loving-Kindness and walk humbly with your God. Micah 6.8
Psalms 119.151 – 154
קָרוֹב אַתָּה יְהֹוָה וְכָל־מִצְוֹתֶיךָ אֱמֶת: קנב
Psalm 119.151
You are near, Ooh Lord, and all Your Commandments are True.
Dear ones, the foundation for living a wholesome life, being happy, successful, giving, and receiving loving-kindness is established by realizing all of The Commandments of The Lord God are true and following them. Wickedness in America results from us NOT abiding by The Commands of The Lord God! Dear ones, The Torah’s message is a lively message that all peoples should obey. Micah reminds us of that specific message.
Next week in Genesis Chapter Three, we discover how Adam and Chavah jumped the tracks. We learn how they got off the path.
Americans have jumped the tracks that so carefully and faithfully guided us down through the years. We ate the forbidden fruit! That resulted in humankind being expelled from The Garden of Eden.
Our up-close relationship with The Lord God deteriorated. In Noah’s age, humankind stopped obeying The Commandments. The Lord God judged and destroyed them.
Noah was a prophet and a preacher of righteousness that warned the world about the coming destruction to no avail. The world was judged because they violated The Seven Universal Laws.
Nineveh was a city in peril. They were an evil nation! Jonah warned the people, and they repented and returned to God and observed The Seven Universal Laws. In Genesis Chapter Nineteen, Two Angels went to the cities of the plain. Their mission was to destroy it if ten righteous people could not found. The wicked cities were destroyed!
Micah beckons us to be responsible by seeking forgiveness of our sins and returning to The Path of Observance. We can alter our pending destruction. We can save our country and our world!
May each of us enjoy an excellent pleasant happy Sabbath.
Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk
