Genesis 2:15-17, Labor in the Bible
Categories: Bible Study LessonsFrom the beginning it was never God’s intention that man be idle. Likely this extends from the nature of God himself. The creator works, so must the creation. The garden of Eden provided, not only provision for man, but an area of responsibility and labor. Today idleness has brought untold ruin on those who have sought it or to those upon whom it has been inflicted. Parents who have concluded that children should be left to play and have no responsibility should learn from God’s design before they learn with sorrow in the home. Idleness has afflicted retirees so they die sooner than they should, the wealthy so that they seek after more and more depraved entertainment, and the poor that believe it better to be on the public dole and never earn a living, wasting their lives without ever learning to be of use.
In vv. 15-17 we see that God had a law for man even from the very beginning. God certainly expected man to understand the law as well as to be able to obey it. In the coming tragedy in chapter 3 we will have an example from the earliest history of mankind what it means to break the law of God and suffer the consequences. God said, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” We know that Adam and Eve did not die physically on the day they sinned. However, they were alienated from God. The text paints us a picture using the physical reality of Adam and Eve to show us what happens spiritually when we break God’s law. Centuries and centuries later Ezekiel would declare, “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). Isaiah declared to Israel, ” but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). When we sin against God that which happened to Adam happens to us.
Paul said, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 3:23). Thanks be to God for that gift.