Continued from "Designed for Work, Destined for War, 2"
The Lord not only told Adam & Eve to subdue the earth, He also told Adam to guard the Garden of Eden. Presumably, since Eve was Adam's helper, she was to assist him in this task.
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Gen 2:15)
The word translated dress means, literally, to work. Adam was to work the garden (involving agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, entomology, etc.)
The word translated keep carries the idea of protection. J. Strong explains it thus:
A primitive root; properly to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attend to, etc.
This role from their Creator involves a security function in that the garden was their home and workplace, but it also involves a priestly function, because it was also the sanctuary where they met with God. One function of the priest is to keep the profane out of the holy place.
This leads naturally to the question, "From what or whom did God expect Adam to protect the garden?" Well, who first trespassed and challenged God's lordship over the garden?
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Gen 3:1)
Adam should have protected the place that served as the center for his home, work and worship by ejecting (or slaying!) the dragon (Rev. 12:9; 20:12). In this he utterly failed, but that was clearly his duty in that circumstance.
Continued in "Designed for Work, Destined for War, 4"
Have you ordered your COMBAT PREP PACK yet? What better way to celebrate Independence Day? BTW, have a great one & be careful around the fireworks (I can't afford to lose any readers)
;-)
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3 comments:
Ooh...very good. I remember not so long ago when I used to look on work as the curse. Now I have learned that there is a "good" kind of work....
And security, that is very good, I would have missed that! As to slaying, merely a silly query here but what weapon do you think Adam might have had?
Spencer
P.S. And I'm sorry I've been so absent lately--remind me to talk to you about the prep pack.
The weapon question isn't silly -- it's interesting.
We don't see metals being forged until Gen 4:22, so he obviously did not have a sword.
I believe the Fall took place very soon after their creation, so I'm not sure Adam would have had time to fashion any actual tools, let alone something so specialized as a weapon.
That leaves him with improvised weaponry (picking up a rock, breaking a branch from a tree.)
Other than that, he's left with his "natural" weapons (e.g., hands, feet, elbows, knees), including the most dangerous of all.
To paraphrase Robert Heinlein, "Your most dangerous weapon lies under your hair and between your ears."
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