Cheryl Schatz

gengwall,

Below is the relevant verses from Genesis 2 with my comments in brackets.

Gen 2:5 Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

(What is the point of this verse if this was the condition of the earth millions of years ago but not also the condition of the earth just before the creation of man? How would the barrenness of the world then have anything to do with man if this “barren stage” was finished millions of years ago?)

Gen 2:6 But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.

(This verse is a contrast to the barren and waterless state of the previous verse. But there would be no contrast if the earth was not barren at the time of Adam’s creation and instead the earth had been watered for millions of years)

Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

(“Formed” is once again a suffixed sequential verb. What would be the point of a sequential account following millions of years that weren’t really barren nor dry?)

Gen 2:8 The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

(This is also sequential. If we can import millions of years before Adam, then can we also important millions of years after Adam and before the garden of Eden was planted? Can we see Adam wandering around the earth for millions of years after his creation without a garden home and without a mate or is it reasonable to see one sequential event happening after another sequential event?)

If anyone can show how the sequential events of chapter 2 can make sense within the context of millions of years before or after the creation of Adam, I invite you to lay out your case from these verses.

Genesis is a fascinating book and a fascinating set of events that we can trace through one event after another with the particular Hebrew grammar. I really do encourage Christians to have another look at Genesis and follow the events and the grammar through. I think you will find it eye-opening and it will cause you to see the creative Majesty of God in a new way.