Bible Study Genesis Part 25-For You

Genesis 2 repeats a phrase that’s easy to skim past: “the LORD God.” Why not just say “He”? That small choice opens a much bigger door, and we walk through it together as we study Jehovah Elohim in Genesis 2:4–9. We’re convinced the Creation account is doing more than telling you what God made. It’s revealing why He made it and why He wants you to know it, down to the name He insists on using.

We talk through the idea that God is self-existent and needs nothing, which forces an honest question: if God doesn’t need light, land, trees, or even a garden, what’s the point of Creation? Our takeaway is both weighty and personal. The repeated use of Jehovah Elohim points to a Creator who is not distant, but intentional, declaring that what He does, He does with mankind in view. We connect that to the earth as our home, the heavens as part of what sustains it, and God’s direct act of forming man and giving life.

Then we slow down at the Garden of Eden. We frame it as a contained place of provision and protection, designed so that humanity can flourish. Along the way we even touch the question people love to throw at Genesis: “What about dinosaurs?” and why Scripture always leaves out what isn’t central to God’s purpose. We close by pointing to the heart behind the name Jehovah and the Gospel truth that God’s love, mercy, and Grace are for you.

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Transcript

Why Study Scripture So Seriously

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Welcome to the program Study in the Chapel. God's Word is supreme at Chapel Ministries. We consider it absolutely essential to a proper relationship with God. We study it, we love it, we rely on it every minute of every day. The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold. And we decided to share these with you in the hope that you too will be able to find inspiration, encouragement, and ultimately salvation through discovering Christ in Scripture. Our intention is to travel all the way through the Bible. It will be a challenging journey, but one that will undoubtedly bring you to a decision. Through this study, you will be faced with either believing or rejecting what God has said to us. It is our intention to provide you with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about God and his word. We strongly encourage you to listen intently and diligently, because though at the moment you may not realize it, these things are truly a matter of life and death. In fact, these are matters of eternal life and eternal death. Never treat what God has said lightly. There's truly nothing more important to you. Now join us as we seek God's will through his inspired word.

New Year Encouragement And Hope

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Well, it's the last Wednesday in 2022. God is with us. It's been a rough few years. Everyone knows that. Right around this time, everyone's looking forward to the new year and something new coming. I say every year that comes by, we're a year closer to Jesus coming back and swooping us up and bringing us to paradise. And I really look forward to that myself. So I do want to say, have a happy new year. I hope 2023 is a blessing for you. I hope you find an opportunity to glorify our God and our Savior. Find every chance you can to do that. Please continue to come back to our Bible study. We're going to keep on doing it until 2073 if we're still around that long. It's probably going to take us that long to get to Deuteronomy, but anyways.

The Hidden Question In Creation

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So we are still in the book of Genesis. We are still working our way through the early parts of chapter two and throughout our coverage of the story of creation, the story found in Genesis. We've been saying all along that there just seems to be something more here than meets the eye. We've seen that God is reporting to us what he's been doing, but what may not be as clear is why he's doing what he's doing. I mean, it's just not explicitly spelled out for us. I believe that sometimes that's intentional on God's part. God wants to know how interested you are in what he has to say. And Genesis, the creation story, the entire Bible, there are things where God is not going to explicitly tell us stuff. He has told us what he has done to create things. That's clear. But the why is not so clear. And on top of that, there's something else I'd like to know. In fact, it's the same question I've been asking all along. Why is God telling us this stuff? Why is he telling us all about this? Why not just create and then leave it at that? Why does he feel like he needs to report things to us? I mean, who are we that God feels the need to give us this level of information detail? He's not given us all the details, but he's certainly given a lot to us. That alone is interesting. Well, as we've been drawing closer and closer, I think we're actually starting to see the answer to both of these questions. Which questions are those, John? Why is he doing this? And why does he tell us about it?

Jehovah Elohim And Repeated Naming

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Well, there can really be only one answer. The only possible resolution is that the answers to these questions are the same. This portion of Genesis is describing what, listen to me, what God is doing for us. That's the answer. It has to be. All the evidence points to this one conclusion that creation is for mankind, therefore, and because of that, we need to know about it. He has wrought creation for us, and since he's done that, we need to know that. And that's why, in my opinion, this Jehovah name is introduced here. And yes, we're still talking about Jehovah. We're still on Genesis 2.4 because this is where he introduces himself to us as Jehovah. In fact, not only are we introduced to the name here, but we're inundated with it. Let's read the next few verses so you can see what I mean. I'll actually start with verse 4 again. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God, what is that? Jehovah Elohim, in the day that the Lord God made the heavens, the earth, and the heavens, verse five. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. Verse 6. But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. Oh, there's one verse we didn't say it. But he picks it in verse 7, and the Lord God, there it is again, formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Verse 8, and the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. Why didn't he just say he? Why doesn't it just say, and he planted the garden, and he breathed into the nostrils, and he created, why not? We would know what he means. We would know what the author was saying, but instead, God insisted that Moses, who wrote this, use the Jehovah Elohim name, the Lord God. And he did it every single verse here in the early on. Verse 9, and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Listen, God doesn't need any of these things. Before creation, he was just fine. The theologians say he was self-existent and self-satisfied. In other words, he had everything. He has never known lack. Let me say it again. He didn't need anything that we now have record of him creating. He didn't need the heavens and the earth, he didn't need light, he didn't need the sun, moon, and stars, he didn't need the seas and all that he placed in them, and certainly he didn't need us nor the mess we've made. You get it. He didn't need anything. To this day, he doesn't need anything. So if he didn't need any of this, we have to come to the conclusion that he didn't create it for himself. Let's extend this out so I can make my point. If God didn't need it, then Jesus doesn't need it. If the Father and the Son don't need it, certainly the Holy Spirit doesn't need it. The angels don't need it. In fact, they're almost never here that we know of. They're never here to enjoy the benefits of the things that God created. They're somewhere else. So he didn't create it for the angels. He, the Lord God, the Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God created all of this for us. He is the creator God for us. That's in the Jehovah Elohim name. Remember, we said that last week. Whatever he is, using that Jehovah name, that means he is that for you. And in my opinion, the extensive, repeated use of the Jehovah name in this recap, this summary of creation is proof that he did this for us. He could have just gone over the things like some kind of dead cold list, but instead he said, I made it for you, I did this for you, I did that for you. That's what the first few verses of chapter two are talking about. He wants you to know that he did it for you. I dare say he's putting this in our mind, this very concept that creation was for us. He's flooding us with this Jehovah name here in the beginning to solidly establish this point before he moves on with the rest of the story.

Creation As Provision For Humanity

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All other religions that have creation stories, creation is separate from man. Man is an afterthought. Man is just another step in the creation. That's not the way this story looks. The evidence in this story says he created it for us. We are an integral part of the creation. And one more thing. Remember the first chapter of Genesis, he tells us all that stuff, and then he introduces his name to us. He wants you to know that his Elohim name is perfectly suited for him. And that you can count on. Because I mean, look around you. All of this came from him. Don't let anyone take that from you. You need to know that God made all of this because you will need at some point in your life to lean on his Jehovah Elohim name. There are a few people I know that need to lean on that name right now, myself included. That's why he added the Jehovah part. This power, this might is available to you and me as his children to help us with the calling on our lives, even if that calling is nothing more than to live a life that glorifies him. An everyday life lifted up in service to his shining glory. Though that sounds simple, you're still going to need to lean on Jehovah Elohim. Let's read it again. The repetition of the Jehovah name is striking. It's so striking that it leads one to believe there's purpose behind it. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the day that he made. No, in the day the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew, for he had caused it. No, for the Lord God had caused not caused it to rain upon the earth. He's in charge. But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. 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, and the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed, and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He wants you to know, first of all, that he did it. And secondly, somehow you're related to it. There's a reason you're a part of it. The Jehovah name tells us that. Here in these few verses where God mentions something he created, he continuously uses. Over and over, he uses the name Jehovah Elohim. And as that name implies, listen to me. Everything he mentions that he created or performed, he did it for man. The Lord God made the earth and the heavens. That's verse four. Well, the earth is the place man will live, it will be our resources. The heavens are a part of that mechanism that's going to sustain our home. That's why he told us Jehovah Elohim made the earth and the heavens. The rain comes from the heavens, it sustains the earth for us. The Lord God, Jehovah Elohim, states in verse 7 that he formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed life into him. Obviously, he formed us and gave us life. Yes, he chose to. Yes, he wanted to. But this is God creating man for man, for the benefit of man. Now I really hope I'm making my point here. God, please help me. In verse

Eden As Protection And Flourishing

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8, the Lord God, Jehovah Elohim, tells us, or rather reminds us, that he planted a garden he called Eden. This is important. We'll come to the garden later, but it's important for you to know that God is the one who created that garden. A garden is a place that's contained. It's a place of provision, it's a place of protection. What's inside the garden is protected from what's outside the garden. And God made that and put us in there. Do you think God needs a garden to walk in? Do you think God is prone to depression, likes to look at the pretty flowers to make himself feel better? Does God need those fruit trees to sustain himself? Of course not. He needs none of that. Then why did he plant the Garden of Eden? What's right there in the Jehovah name? He created the Garden of Eden so that man could be protected, provided for, and flourish within it. Jehovah, I am the God that created this garden for you.

Dinosaurs Omitted And A House-Building Analogy

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Did he, Jehovah Elohim, make the dinosaurs at this time? Don't know. He doesn't talk about the dinosaurs here. Aha. Then this story must be fake. How can I trust a creation story that doesn't tell me how the dinosaurs got here? Well, if you ask me, that's encouraging. He left the dinosaurs out because they're not important. You are. Ever watch this old house? I know I bring that up on this program a lot. Well, that Tommy Sylvie, you remember Tommy Silva, Tommy. He used to make what he would call a miter box so that he can make perfect angles with crown molding. Take him a lot of time. He made those miter boxes to make perfect angles for the crown moldings. Do you think he did it for the crown molding? Did he make all that because he wanted to worship the crown molding? No, because he was building a house and he needed crown molding, so he did something to facilitate the building of the house. He's the Jehovah Lohim of crown molding. Anything God does, he does for himself. That too, by the way, is the gospel. He didn't save us for us, he saved us, and we happen to benefit from that salvation. But salvation is ultimately for himself.

Jehovah For You Plus Closing And Giving

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Now I know we spent a long time on the Jehovah name, but believe me, we left a lot out. As I've been saying, we're going to have plenty of opportunities to further expand on this beautiful topic. As we go through God's word, it's going to come up and come up and come up, especially in the Old Testament. But just know this part. When God calls himself Jehovah, he's stating something about his character, his power, his will. And by using that name, he's declaring that he is that name for you. Jehovah is Jehovah for you. Though sometimes our walk with him is fraught with correction and admonition. Never forget that God loves you. He loves you so much that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jehovah's name demonstrates that his love, mercy, and grace are infinite and infinite for you. I know I've heard a few thank gods out there, nonetheless, short lesson tonight. Next week, more Genesis chapter 2. See you then.

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We hope this study has blessed you. God's word is a great treasure, and it's our belief that a thorough, purposeful study of it will bring all of God's children to an understanding of his eternal plan of redemption. It is our prayer that this will be so for all of our listeners. Please join us again soon. New content is being added all the time, so make sure you check back often. For more information on Chapel Ministries, including our YouTube channel and podcasts, please visit www.chapelontheweb.com. And if God has laid it upon your heart to share materially with us, we encourage you to follow the links to our secure giving page. Please note, Chapel Ministries is not an IRS registered nonprofit organization, and your donations to this program are not tax deductible. It's our hope that you do not rely on taxing authorities to decide for you who is worthy of your generosity.