Lesson 8

background notes

doctrinal points

1. Adam and Eve are a picture of Christ and the church.

2. Adam and Eve are a model for husbands and wives.

practical application
1. Let God bring the right person to you.

questions
1. Critics of the Bible like to point out what they think are three problems with this section of Scripture. List these “problems.”

2. Critics of the Bible say that Adam would not have had enough time to name all the animals. How would you answer these critics?

3. Some people believe you can harmonize evolution with the Bible. This is particularly difficult with the Genesis account of the formation of Eve. Why?

4. Why didn’t God form Eve the same way He formed Adam?

5. Marriage begins a new social unit. What does this mean?

 answers
1. a) Critics say that Genesis 1 contradicts this part of Genesis 2. Namely, Genesis 1 says that God created animals before man, but Genesis 2 sounds like man was created before the animals; b) Adam would not have had enough time to name all the animals; and c) men and women still have the same number of ribs.

2. a) The Bible does not say that Adam had to name all the fish and insects, but only the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Remember that in the beginning there were only kinds, not every variety that we have today; b) Adam did not have to run all over creation to find the animals and catch the birds. God brought them to him; and c) Adam was in his unfallen state. Think of the mental ability and acuity he had, unaffected by any genetic disorder, decline or deterioration at that point.

3. If Adam was only an advanced male ape in which God put a spirit, then suddenly there would have to have been an advanced female ape around for God to make into Eve. But Genesis 2:20 says, “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.”

4. Because God wanted to convey a spiritual message of Adam and Eve as a picture of Christ and the church.

5. The married man and woman are to leave their parents and be joined together. The chain of command between children and parents has ended, but not the chain of counsel.

 

discuss / consider
1. Adam and Eve are a picture of Christ and the church. Explain.

2. Marriage was instituted by God for man, and it is good (Genesis 2:18, 21-24). Describe marriage as God designed it. 

 

challenge
1. Let God bring the right person to you. Don’t you trust that He can do this for you as He did for Adam? If God wants you to be married, He will bring it about.

memorize

• “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Genesis 2:18

• “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam...whatever he called them, that was its name.” Genesis 2:19

• “The rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man...they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:22-24