Lesson 2: God Made Adam and Eve

Before you do this lesson, read these verses from the Taurat:

Genesis 1:26-31 -- ²⁶God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." ²⁷God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; he made them male and female. ²⁸God blessed them. God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." ²⁹God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. ³⁰To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food." And it was so. ³¹God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 2:9 -- ⁹Out of the ground the Lord God made every tree to grow 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 the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:15-25 -- ¹⁵The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ¹⁶The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die." ¹⁸The Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." ¹⁹Out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. ²¹The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept; and God took one of the man's ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²²He made the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man. ²³The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." ²⁴For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. ²⁵They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Now read the lesson and do the test at the end. The lesson explains what you have read from the Taurat.

The Taurat says that God made man out of soil from the ground (Genesis 2:7). Then he breathed into the man the breath of life. And the man became a living person (Genesis 2:7). God also made a wife for the man. He put the man to sleep and took a bone out of his side. He made a wife out of the bone (Genesis 2:21-23). The wife was called Eve. The man was called Adam (Genesis 3:20-21).

Adam loved Eve because she was part of his body. This story shows us God's plan for marriage. The man should love his wife. The woman should love her husband. Marriage makes them one in a special way.

What is mankind? Why did God make us? What is life for? These are the biggest questions anyone can ask.

We Were Formed from the Dust

Remember that God created mankind on the sixth day when he created the animals. God formed mankind from the dust (Genesis 1:26-31).

This shows that we are part of the world which God created. That is the reason we act like animals in some ways. We can hear, smell, and make noises. We like to rest under the trees when the sun is hot. We fight like lions.

Yet in some other important ways, we are different than animals. In fact, we are much better than animals.

We Have God's Breath of Life

"The Lord God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils* the breath of life; and Adam became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7). The Taurat from God also says: "So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female" (Genesis 1:27).

These verses show that we are very special and important. The Taurat says that we are created like himself (God) and we have God's life-giving breath. This is truly surprising! In God's eyes people are certainly very special indeed!

We Are Special

Here are four ways in which we are special and important.

1.     We are special and important because we can think and work.

God told Adam and Eve to care for the earth (Genesis 1:28-30). This means that the earth and everything on it were put into our care. We are to be caretakers* (caliph) of the earth.

We should use the earth for the good of people. We build roads and tall buildings. We use camels and goats. We make and use radios and telephones. We can do all this because we can think and plan and work. We must work to control and use the world for good. If we do not, we are not obeying God.

2.     We are special and important because we can talk with God.

God talked with Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28-30).

When we talk with God, we say that we are praying. Prayer is both listening to God and talking to him. God hears us when we talk with him through prayers. The fact is, God has also chosen to talk with us.

3.     We are special and important because we know the difference between right and wrong.

God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden. It was called the Garden of Eden.

God told Adam to eat all the fruit he wanted. But there was one fruit that he should not eat. That fruit came from a special tree. It was called "the tree that give knowledge of what is good and what is bad".

God said to Adam: "You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day" (Genesis 2:17).

Adam had to decide whether to obey or not to obey God.

The story of the "tree of the knowledge of good and bad" is important. It shows two truths:
        First, we know the difference between right and wrong. God himself shows us what is right.
        Second, God does not force us to obey him. We ourselves must decide whether we will do the right.

4.     We are special and important because God has a special plan for us.

God put the breath of life into Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:7). In fact, God breathed his own breath into Adam. This means that God has given us some of his own special kind of life.

Because we have this special kind of life, we are more than caretakers of the earth. God even calls us his children. We are created in God's likeness. For this reason God wants us to live with him forever in heaven.

Why God Made Us

Why did God make mankind? God made us so that we can care for his world. God wants us to care for the world in a good way. He wants us to be good caretakers (caliph).

God's special blessing is on those who care for the world in a good way. We obey God by being good caretakers of all that he has given us.

Here is a list of difficult words in this lesson.
nostrils            -           the openings in the nose of a person
caretaker          -           one who takes care of something for another person.

Learn this verse. Genesis 1:27: "God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; he made them male and female."

Test 2: The Beginning of People

Here is the test for Lesson 2. Write the letter of the correct answer on the line on the right side of the page.
1.            God made Adam
            a)            from another animal.
            b)            out of the soil of the ground.
            c)            out of the plants.                                                            ___
2.            God made Eve
            a)            out of the soil of the ground.
            b)            from the bone of a cow.
            c)            from a bone which he took out of Adam.                        ___
3.            The Taurat shows that we
            a)            have the breath of life.
            b)            cannot pray to God.
            c)            are the same as animals.                                                ___
4.            Which were created "to be like himself (God)"?
            a)            animals
            b)            people
            c)            both animals and people                                                ___
5.            God told Adam and Eve to eat
            a)            every bird except one special bird.
            b)            every fish except one special fish.
            c)            every fruit except one special fruit.                                    ___
Write "True" or "False" after each of the following sentences.
6.            Adam was created out of light.                                                ______
7.            God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden.            ______
8.            We should use the earth for the good of people.                        ______
9.            God forces us to obey him.                                                ______
10.            God wants us to live with him forever.                                    ______