And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.   Genesis 2:15 [JPS]

God gives good gifts. He gives us friends, companions, brothers and sisters to share intimacy in relationship with us. He gives natural family, community, church family and social environments for us to enjoy. Good gifts, every one. He also gives us spouses/lovers with whom to enjoy romance, intimacy, companionship, friendship and children to help bring fulfillment to our lives. All good stuff!

He gave Adam (mankind, humankind), Iysh and Ishshah, these good things, too, and then placed them in the garden of Eden where they could relish and enjoy all of it with each other and with God. (You will remember that before the fall, Adam was the term for both of them. It wasn’t until after the fall that they became Adam and Eve.)  From that story we extract many concepts, some good, some not so good.

I think many people believe (from what I can gather) that living in the Garden required little of Adam but to relax and enjoy each other.

The story tells us that the Lord “put him into the garden.” The original word is nûach meaning “caused him to rest,” or “dwell” in the garden (as an abode of peace and recreation.) It could easily be translated, “settle down.” Unfortunately, most people seem to stop there in their understanding of what the Lord intended.

The story continues, “to dress it (the garden)” and “to keep it (the garden.)” The original words are `ābad meaning “work, till, serve” and shāmar meaning “keep, guard.”

You see, the garden was a wonderful place, an exceptional gift. But, it had requirements which came with it. It required tilling, work, labor in order to increase and continue its fruitfulness and productivity. Granted, before the fall the labor would have been easier than after the fall, but it required labor and tilling nonetheless. The garden would not maintain itself. Regardless of the magnificence of the gift, it would not retain its splendor and bounty without daily labor.

The garden also required “keeping” and “guarding.” Without due diligence and vigilance the garden would be infiltrated and taken over by wildlife and vegetation making it no longer the blissful and restful place it was when it was given to Adam.

The lessons are obvious. The Lord does not want us merely to sit on our afterburners and relax while we coast in our delusions that the gift will tend itself. He intends for us to work at it, with it, and for it so it will continue to be the gentle, peaceful and bountiful place it was when we received it.

The garden will not continue without our labor to prune, till, weed, cultivate it. Also, unless we guard it and keep it, we will lose it eventually to the encroaching world.

Does this teach us anything about our marriages, friendships, church families, etc.?

This entry was posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 4:25 pm and is filed under From the Pastor's Desk, Instruction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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