The Discovery of Genesis (25 page)

After God had placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, imagine how delighted the man must have been to discover himself in such beautiful surroundings—all about him were fragrant flowers of every hue, luxurious plants, ferns, and stately trees! No doubt there was also a placid, clear lake, fed by a river, to mirror the idyllic scene. Again the venerable inventor of the written language chose a meaningful ideogram for
happiness
or
blessing
. One can recognize every part of this character:
God
;
one, or first —; mouth
, representing a
person
; and
garden
. “God —first—person—garden” translated, indicated what “happiness is”
⁹
for Adam, the first man, a gift from God of this lovely garden home.

The busy creation week had nearly ended, except for possibly the most meaningful act of all in the greatest drama of the ages!

Chapter 5: They Shall Be One Flesh

How could the creation of the woman be even more spectacular than that of the man! The Biblical story relates that at first Adam was pleasantly occupied naming all the beasts, cattle, and birds which God had created, and in doing so doubtlessly noticed that all the animals were in pairs, male and female. He realized that he himself had no mate with whom to communicate and share his joys of discovery. “The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:20).

It was now late in the afternoon of this first eventful sixth day, as the sun was beginning to slip down into the western sky. The word
west
pictures Adam, the
first
man
, in the Garden of Eden,
an enclosure
, still alone.