why did god create man according to genesis

Xidorn · Post by **Xidorn** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:20 am

god created man according to genesis 2.5 to till the ground. Why? man did not need to till the ground whilst he was in the garden all he had to do was to dress and maintain the garden?

fewwillfindit · Post by **fewwillfindit** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:09 am

Genesis 2:5 doesn't offer a reason for why man was created, it gives the time frame for when man was created.

Genesis 2:4-7 ESV wrote:These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up"for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground" then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Verse 5 is in bold print. There is nothing here that suggests that man was created for the reason of working the ground, it merely implies that man is able to work the ground.

Xidorn · Post by **Xidorn** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:17 am

i disagree, from my understanding it says that after god created everything that the plants and man was still not on the face of the earth. the plants was not yet on the earth because 1.it had not rained yet. and 2.there was not a man to till the ground yet. there is a relationship between the man and the ground. but let's asume i'm wrong because to be honest it really confuses me, why would man need to be able to work the ground if he never had to do it in the garden of eden? all he had to do in he garden was to dress and maintain it which does not mean the same as tilling the ground.

JehovahsWitness · Post by **JehovahsWitness** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:53 am

I have to agree with fewwilfindit here, Gen 2:5 makes a statement of fact, any link between purpose/intent of man's creation and this statement is pure supposition on your part.

To illustrate: If I said that the old violin my grandfather left me hadn't been played because there was no one in my family to play it. It would be pure supposition to conclude that if I later married and had children, I did so, so there would be someone to play the violin. Regardless of whether that evenutuality occured, there is nothing in the two facts that supposes motives for the initial action. This is not to say it couldn't have been a motive, its to say one cannot infer that it was from the information given.

Xidorn wrote:i disagree, from my understanding it says that after god created everything that the plants and man was still not on the face of the earth. the plants was not yet on the earth because 1.it had not rained yet.

While it is correct that the bible indicates that plant life existed before human or animal life, this verse is NOT refering to a time "after God created everything"

GENESIS 2:4 A RECAP

The Genesis account of creation is not written in a strictly chronological order and the conclusion of the seventh day (Gen 2:1) marks a change in focus from the strict, chronological account of creation given in Genesis 1:1 - Genesis 2:3, to the non-chronological overview of the first humans, starting at 2:4. Thus what we have is the writer backing up on himself and effectively starting the account again from day 3 (see Gen 1:9,10) with the creation of the land masses; and subsequently the creation of the first plants.

So the bible writer, setting the scene for mans eventual creation, explains that on the third creative day there was "neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the LORD God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil." (New Living Translation (2007)

Xidorn wrote: there is a relationship between the man and the ground.

This is most certainly true, however the question under discussion is not: "Is there are relationship between man [humans] and the ground?" but is cultivation the REASON for man's creation?

Xidorn wrote: ..to be honest it really confuses me, why would man need to be able to work the ground if he never had to do it in the garden of eden? all he had to do in he garden was to dress and maintain it which does not mean the same as tilling the ground.

You are right that Adam only had to maintain the area he was created in because it was God himself that planted the Garden of Eden. However there is nothing in the bible that indicates man would NEVER need to cultivate the ground. Again you are infering meaning to Genesis 2:5 that is simply not there. All it says is that the earth was uncultivated and a certain point because there were no humans to do this. No more, no less.

Whether God originally intended to continue to plant gardens and allow humans to "maintain" them or wanted them to learn to cultivate* from his example and spread the bounderies of their garden as they grew in number we cannot know for sure, what we do know is that humans take immense pleasure in planting and growing things and if Adam was destined to plant, cultivate and reap it would hardly have been a curse had he mainted his good relationship with His creator and the earth he came from.

The story, as we all know, took a turn for the worse but at this point in the account there is nothing puzzling in the narrative.

*Since God clearly was capable of cultivation himself, as demonstated by His planting the Garden of Eden, it is ilogical to say he created man because he "needed" someone to do this.

fewwillfindit · Post by **fewwillfindit** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:29 am

Xidorn wrote:i disagree, from my understanding it says that after god created everything that the plants and man was still not on the face of the earth. the plants was not yet on the earth because 1.it had not rained yet. and 2.there was not a man to till the ground yet. there is a relationship between the man and the ground. but let's asume i'm wrong because to be honest it really confuses me, why would man need to be able to work the ground if he never had to do it in the garden of eden? all he had to do in he garden was to dress and maintain it which does not mean the same as tilling the ground.

First, the text simply does not offer that as a reason as why man was created. Second, Genesis was written by Moses, between 1445 to 1405 BC, and was thus written from a postlapsarian perspective. Paraphrased, Moses is simply saying that Man was created prior to the time that the Earth needed to be tilled. There is no dilemma here. Think about it. Moses, who lived and died long after the Fall of man, could then look back, and from his perspective make mention that man was created before the ground was cursed.

Xidorn · Post by **Xidorn** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:05 am

I see your point, it is wrong to conclude that man was created to till the ground just because he was created before tilling took place. so if man was not created to till the ground why was he then created?

JehovahsWitness · Post by **JehovahsWitness** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:55 am

Xidorn wrote:I see your point, it is wrong to conclude that man was created to till the ground just because he was created before tilling took place. so if man was not created to till the ground why was he then created?

That Sir is a big question and the answer depends on where you look.

If you look to the bible you will need to look outside of the small passage in Genesis 2:5 to other passages.

Xidorn · Post by **Xidorn** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:27 am

JehovahsWitness wrote:
Xidorn wrote:I see your point, it is wrong to conclude that man was created to till the ground just because he was created before tilling took place. so if man was not created to till the ground why was he then created?
That Sir is a big question and the answer depends on where you look.

If you look to the bible you will need to look outside of the small passage in Genesis 2:5 to other passages.

where should i look then?

JehovahsWitness · Post by **JehovahsWitness** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:01 am

Xidorn wrote:
JehovahsWitness wrote:
Xidorn wrote:I see your point, it is wrong to conclude that man was created to till the ground just because he was created before tilling took place. so if man was not created to till the ground why was he then created?
That Sir is a big question and the answer depends on where you look.

If you look to the bible you will need to look outside of the small passage in Genesis 2:5 to other passages.

where should i look then?

Why did God create humans?

Since God is omnipotent and only does what He wants to do, the answer must logically be "God created man because he wanted to create man".

What is OUR purpose? What did he want us to do?

From the Genesis account it seems clear he wanted us to live. He warned Adam and Eve what would endager their continued life and indicated that indicated if they obeyed him, they could live forever. (see Genesis 3:3). Further God seemed to want humans to be happy. He gave them all they would need to be happy, with companionship, perfect health, plenty of food, interesting work and a perfect home - Genesis 2:9, 19-23).

So, taking the account as a whole God created man to be happy and live forever (see Math 5: 3, 5)

Further reading - Video Slideshow
Why are we here?

Kuan · Post by **Kuan** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:30 pm

Xidorn wrote:
JehovahsWitness wrote:
Xidorn wrote:I see your point, it is wrong to conclude that man was created to till the ground just because he was created before tilling took place. so if man was not created to till the ground why was he then created?
That Sir is a big question and the answer depends on where you look.

If you look to the bible you will need to look outside of the small passage in Genesis 2:5 to other passages.

where should i look then?

Find a religion that suits you. The one that speaks truth to your soul. I love being a mormon, but its not for everyone. I kinda like to view it as, god created me to be mormon. What has he created you to be?

Debating Christianity and Religion