In the flow of the narrative in Genesis 2 we end with a naked couple- probably doing what naked couples do. Then the man calls this fabulous creation “woman” and they are just there- “naked and unashamed.”

I can’t prove what I’m about to suggest. It’s an idea. Ponder it and do with it what you will.

There is no chapter break in the original manuscripts. God did not say, “K, Moses. That’s verse 25. New chapter. Verse 1.” (The chapters & verses were literally added by a French guy on horseback in the Medieval period.) There is no “evening and morning were the 6th day” here. If you just keep reading, the next thing is the serpent tempting the woman and the man “who is with her.” Then you have them eating fruit, realizing they are naked, sewing leaves together and here’s what the Greek Septuagint says, “Then they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden that afternoon…” (Gen. 3:8, emphasis mine).

Gonna rabbit tail here for a sec but I promise, this is an important bunny.

First off, how do you hear a voice walking? Do voices walk? I kind of just imagined God was kicking at leaves, maybe muttering to Himself or maybe humming? Then I encountered Dr. Michael H. Heiser’s material on the “Two Powers” theology. YHWH is both “invisible” (no man has seen God at any time, John 1:18), AND interactive (pick any OT reference to God interacting with people: lunch with Abraham, burning bush, Samson’s mom, etc.).

This is the Word (the Voice) of God walking in the Garden. It’s Jesus, friends. “That afternoon.” What afternoon? I submit for your consideration that it is the afternoon of the 6th day. The reckoning of the days of creation is like this: “evening and morning.” Not morning and evening. They begin at sunset and start with night, then morning in the middle and end in the afternoon.

What does the deceiving Serpent gain by allowing the man & woman to fellowship with their Creator for untold ages before attempting to entice them into rebellion? The answer; nothing. Zip. Nada. Why not move while the humans are still wet behind the ears?

If this theory is correct, then it does something extraordinary to our millennial outline which I introduced in the previous post on Genesis 1-2. Because look what happened as the sun was going down that afternoon when the Word showed up.

Shoot- y’all. Did you get that? The. Word. Showed. Up. At. The. End. Of. The. 6th. Day.

🤨

The Voice puts humanity on trial. “Where are you?” “Who said you were naked?” “Did you eat from the tree I told you not to eat from?” “What have you done?”

The Voice curses the serpent and prophesies its head being crushed by “the Seed of the Woman” as the serpent strikes the Seed’s heel. (Remember this. You’re gonna need it.)

The Voice next places judgment on the humans and a curse on the earth. Then a little detail- Adam gives his wife a new name. Instead of woman (out of man) he calls her Eve/Chava (life).

The Lord God makes “coats of skins” for the leaf-clad couple. The implication is that some innocent animal, probably a lamb or goat, has been killed. God makes the coverings Himself. Perhaps their nakedness is now smeared with blood.

Then He sends the sinners out of His Paradise Garden Kingdom.

And, if I’m right… then He rests. From all His work. Day 7. It’s holy. God has just finished (in model form) the architectural plan of redemption. He has set in motion His hidden plan to redeem the couple He just made. I can practically hear the sacrificed Lamb saying from the bloodied altar, “It is finished.” 🥹

So… about the end of that 6th day. We are here. Look around. Humanity is pigging out at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Heck, we even call it the “Information Age.” People are “running to a fro” and knowledge is increasing so fast that your new tech is old in a couple of minutes.

The serpent is still promising that humanity can be “like God.” And there’s a whole transhuman movement to “guide evolution” and upgrade humanity into a 2.0 enhanced, genetically engineered version. This fruit looks good but we are simply replaying (in macro form) the fall of man.

The next thing on the sequence of day 6 events is the arrival of the Word to confront the sin of the world, bring judgment on the serpent and toss sin out of His Kingdom. And at this point I’m referencing not Genesis 3, but Revelation 19.

But that’s not all that happens. The 2nd Adam will give his wife a new name; His new name (Rev. 3:12). And redemption will be finished. And the restful reign of Christ for a whole, thousand-year day will begin.

This… this whole big picture from creation week.., if you can keep these 7 days in mind, you will have an outline for making sense of every event in the Bible. When all the “begets and begottens” make you cross eyed, and the imagery of weird visions leaves you scratching your head, just remember that everything fits in one of these 7 days.

Because I’ve spent so much time on chapter 3, I will add only a footnote few thoughts for chapter 4:

When Cain & Abel brought their offerings “to the Lord,” where do you suppose they brought them? No tabernacle. No temple. But somehow it’s “to” the Lord. Where was the Lord? The little human family’s last contact with the Lord was the entrance of Eden. That’s as close as they could get. Cherubim and a flaming sword and all that. Maybe that’s where they brought their offerings. Let’s not overlook that the Voice is again speaking to mankind.

Hebrews 11:4 offers the commentary that the difference between Cain & Abel’s offerings was faith. Abel brings “the firstborn of the flock and the fat thereof.” He brings the best. And there is blood. Perhaps also coats of skins like his parents wore. His offering shows faith in God’s solution for sin. It’s also a picture of Jesus Himself. In the NT, Christ is the firstborn of creation and the firstborn from the dead. And Jesus is the “choicest” – the best that the flock of humanity has to offer. And God “respects” this offering. The Hebrew says literally that God gazes at it.

Fresh produce? Not so much. The text says that Cain brought “fruit of the ground.” Ground or earth is the Hebrew word Adamah. It’s where Adam got his name. Cain brought the fruit of man; what man can produce. It’s as if Cain says, “I’ve proved God wrong. He said the ground would yield thorns & thistles, but look what I did.” It is Cain conquering the curse of sin on his terms. God doesn’t respect that.

And, as the blood red pages of history show, those who insist on approaching life and God on their own terms rise up and slay the obedient and faithful. Destroy the evidence. Control the narrative.

Last note: love the Septuagint rendering of Genesis 4:26. “As for Seth, to him also a son was born. He named him Enosh, and he hoped in the Lord and called upon His name.”