THE THEOLOGY OF AN OLD TESTAMENT PATRIARCH/KNIGHT

From the very beginning there a was an intimacy between God and man. There was a keen awareness in Adam that he was a created being, and that his Creator was God. Genesis 2:7 “ And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” 1 Adam was also keenly aware that he was the first “living soul” in God's Creation. Adam was couchant of the fact that he was made superior to all the animals, reptiles and birds that God had made. The animals were not naming each other, but were being named by Adam. The animals were not communicating with God, but God and Adam were communicating with each other. Adam knew that his Creator had done an awesome thing creating a “living soul” that could communicate and have fellowship with his Creator. “Man is a little world, consisting of heaven and earth, soul and body. Now that we have an account of the origin of both and the putting of both together: let us seriously consider it, and say, to our Creator's praise:” 2 The psalmist, David was aware of his being created by God. The account of human history had begun, and this account had begun to be pasted down from generation to generation. God's preservation of the account of human history had begun as well. Psalm 139:14 “ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. ” 3 Job 33:6 “ Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead: I also am formed out of the clay.” 4 Though Adam knew he was a superior being to the animals, fish and birds, he also knew that God made him from next to nothing.

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1 Cf. Genesis 2:7ff . 2 Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible (Peabody: Hendrickson Press, 1994), p. 11. 3. Cf. Psalm 139:14ff. 4. Cf. Job 33:6ff. “The matter was despicable. He was made of the dust of the ground, a very unlikely thing to make a man of; but the same infinite power that made the world of nothing made man, its master-piece, of next to nothing.” 5 Adam had no misguided view of himself. He understood that he was not “his own man.” He had a very humble beginning, and a humble substance. Both birth and death are humbling experiences. Both Adam knew pointed to the Creator. He was from the Creator, and would return to the Creator. Psalm 139:15 “ My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.” 6 Job 1:21 “ And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” 7 Job 4:19 “How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?” 8 Job 10:9 “Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?” 9 Adam from his very creation was given freedom with parameters. He was able to go where he wanted, eat what he wanted, almost, and the greatest freedom of all was the freedom from any interference to commune with his Creator. Genesis 2:16 “ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:” 10 Adam was given the freedom to make choices. That means that he had different desires that he could pursue. He had the ability to decide based on reason and preference.

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5. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible (Peabody: Hendrickson Press, 1994, p. 11. 6. Cf. Psalm 139ff . 7. Cf. Job 1:21 ff. 8. Cf. Job 4:19 ff. 9. Cf. Job 10:9 ff. 10. Cf. Genesis 2:16 ff. Next Adam is seen as one that has a real sense of innocence. Adam at this point only knew even a glimpse that there was a thing called evil. He probably did not personally know anything about evil, yet. God was out to protect the Human Race from knowing about evil. But Adam had to have the will to chose right, if he would. Genesis 2:17 “ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” 11 God did not want Adam to be uninformed, He just did not want Mankind to suffer the penalty of sin. He wanted man to be holy and pure, as He is holy. God gives this command by simply declaring it. “The command here is given in words brings into activity the intellectual nature of man. First, the power of understanding language is called forth… But this command addressed to man in words must be understood in order be obeyed. The capacity for understanding language, then was originally lodged in the constitution of man, and only required to be called out by the Articulate voice of God.” 12 Adam here again is separated from the animals. Adam had intellect and a moral character. Again, Adam had an intellectual capacity to communicate. He had the ability to understand the language of God, and to respond back to God. “Next, the moral part of man's nature is here called into play. Mark God's mode of teaching. He issues a command…A command implies A superior, whose right it is to command, and an inferior, whose duty it is to obey. The only ultimate and absolute ground of supremacy is creating, and of inferiority, being created.” 13 Everything Adam knew about morality come directly from God. Adam was under the authority of God, and God had and has every right to issue His commands to Adam.

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11cf. Genesis 2:17ff. 12 James G. Murphy, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1873), pp. 94, 95. 13 James G. Murphy, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1873), pp. 96. Adam actually had a divine job prepared for him before God created him. In the Creation everything that was made was made with age built into it already. Adam was created as a man, not a baby or infant. The garden of Eden was created with mature trees and shrubs and plant. Apparently the garden of Eden needed a grounds keeper, and Adam was God's man for the job. God put Adam to work from the beginning of his life. He always had something to do in the way of work. Adam was the keeper of the garden. Genesis 2:15 “ And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” 14 After a short stint as the grounds keeper Adam became a white collar worker. His new assignment was to give names to all the creatures that God had made. So Adam's work went from being physical labor to mental labor. This work of naming all God's creatures shows the high level of intelligence Adam had, to include a vast vocabulary. Genesis 2:19 “ And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. V.20a And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field;” 15 Interestingly both beast, fowl and man came from the ground, yet it was Adam that named the animals and birds, not the other way around. Furthermore God did not commune or have fellowship with the creatures, only with Adam. God gave this job to Adam to name the creatures, then He watched His “masterpiece”, man do his work. God did not micro manage Adam, but He allowed Adam's creative ability to be used.

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14 cf. Genesis 2:15 ff. 15 cf. Genesis 2:19, 20 ff. Of course God said a lot to Adam in the book of Genesis, but Adam said a few things himself. Adam not only named all the creators that God had made, but also named Woman. As Adam named Woman he reasoned why he would name Woman what he did. Genesis 2:23 “ 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.” 16 Again showing the high intellect of not only Adam, but all mankind before the fall. The next time Adam is recorded as speaking he is not showing his intellect but the raw emotion of fear. As a result of fear Adam did something that he had never none before, he felt shame. Without the curse of sin the emotions of fear and shame did not have a place in the human heart. Genesis 3:10 “And he said , I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 17 God wanted fellowship with Adam. God was holy before and after the fall. God's requirement for holiness had not changed, with Himself or for Adam. “Here is the dawn of a new era in the history of humanity. The eye of a guilty conscience is now opened for the first time, and God and The universe appeared in new and terrible forms.” 18 Next Adam progresses downward even further. Instead of Adam confessing his error to the Lord, he does what many do and blame someone else. So Adam blamed Eve for him eating the forbidden fruit. Genesis 3:12 “And the man said , The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” 19

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16 cf. Genesis 2:23 ff. 17. Cf. Genesis 3:10 ff. 18. Joseph S. Exell, The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), p. 63. 19. Cf. Genesis 3:12 ff. “Adam, we find, was not content to be in the image of God. He and his wife wanted to be as gods, knowing good and evil. He (Adam) wanted to be independent, and show that he knew what was good for him: 20 This was the deception from the Devil anyhow, it was better to be wise like Satan then to be uniformed as God wanted them to be. Well, that is what Adam and Eve thought they would get, but what they really got was misery and hardship and separation from God. “He sends us out into the world, as He sent Adam, to learn experience by hard lessons, to eat our bread in the sweat of our brow till we have found out our weakness and ignorance, and have learned that we cannot stand alone, that pride and self-dependence will only lead to guilt and misery and shame and meanness; 21 Adam understood, and most certainly passed on that he was “fearfully and wonderfully made.” He understood his place of beginning, and his place in the world. Though the Bible seems to be silent on this point, Adam seemed to be content while carrying out the tasks God gave him to do. Doing the work of God brought contentment to Adam and will do so to any that work for God. Adam's speaking began very noble while naming all the creatures. And, here too Adam seemed to be content doing God's assignments. Then later, after the fall, Adam's speech becomes less admirable and less noble. But taking the good and the bad into account, this is the beginning of the human race.

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20. W. Robertson Nicoll, The Sermon Online Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1972), p. 29. 21. W. Robertson Nicoll, The Sermon Online Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1972), p. 29.