Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Genesis Chapter 2
Metaphysically Interpreting Genesis 2:5-9
2:5And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was not a man to till the ground; 2:6but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 2:7And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 2:8And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 2:9And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree 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.
May 6, 1917: Gen. 2:7-9
2:7And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Jehovah God, the I Am, formed out of the universal substance (the dust) the man imaged by Divine Mind. “Nostrils” mean perception or acuteness. “Breath” is a mental movement. Through a mental movement the soul is vitalized with the life of God.
2:8And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Eden is a productive state of consciousness, having all possibilities, and represents the consciousness of the Divine natural man.
2:9And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree 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. A “tree” is the connecting link between the heaven and the earth—the formless and the formed. It is pleasant to perceive the Truth, so all the trees in the consciousness are “pleasant to the sight.”
May 4, 1919: Gen 2:7-9
What is a “living soul”? A living soul is self-identity of consciousness having as its directive center the “I am”.
Explain “Eden”. “Eden” is man’s individual consciousness of the realm of Divine Ideas, which he finds within (eastward).
Metaphysically Interpreting Genesis 2:15-24
2:15And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 2:16And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 2:17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
2:18And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. 2:19And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 2:20And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him. 2:21And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: 2:22and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 2:23And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 2:24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 2:25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
April 10, 1932: Gen. 2:15-17
Who is Jehovah God? Jehovah God is the name of the universal God mind (Elohim) identified as the perfect, ideal man, I AM.
Who is the “man” that is put into the garden? The man is Adam, meaning “red earth,” or the manifestation of Jehovah God’s idea of man.
What is the Garden of Eden? The Garden of Eden is universal life and substance in its elemental form—man’s body is his “garden.”
What is man’s work in this universal realm of elemental forces, the “Garden of Eden”? Man’s work is to evolve things from thoughts by expressing substance and life in accordance with divine law.
What is represented by the trees in the garden? A tree is a manifestation, or form, of life and substance, and it is represented in the body by the motor and sympathetic nervous systems.
What is fruit of the tree? The fruit of the tree is the fluid that flows in and through the nerves and expresses itself in nervous energy.
What is the serpent? The serpent is the sensation of pleasure that man receives from the union and interaction of life and substance flowing in and through the “trees” or the nerve substances of the body.
What is the meaning of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil mentioned in verse 17? Sensation is so attractive or so subtle that the man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, who represent the head and the heart, indulge in it, unrestrainedly, and count its pleasure good. But unrestrained sensation is always followed by a reaction, which man pronounces evil.
May 6, 1917: Genesis 2:15-24
2:15And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Man was given access to the ideas of Divine Mind, with power to bring them into expression in his body.
2:16And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 2:17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. The “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” is the consciousness of sensation connecting the formed substance (body) and the formless Spirit (mind). Man was warned against establishing an idea of separation between the within and the without.
2:18And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him. Man must have avenues of expressing the ideas of Divine Mind. These are his “helps”.
2:19And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. The “beasts of the field” typify the vital forces of man, and the “birds of the heaven” typify the higher ideals. Mind is constantly brining to our attention the ideas originally created.
2:20And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him. Man must receive into his consciousness, through the I Am, the original ideas. He “names” every creation, that is, he gives them character.
2:21And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: 2:22and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. The soul is in a state of development and is unmanifest. Love, the woman, is in a state of unfoldment.
2:23And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Man recognizes woman, or Soul recognizes Love to be a part of itself.
2:24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Through love man “cleaves unto” that which his soul loves. Love and Wisdom are unified in Divine Mind.
2:25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
November 1, 1942: Gen. 2:18-24
What help is “meet” for a man? The one who understands a man’s thoughts, feelings, and desires, who is sufficiently in sympathy with him to share his inner life, and who in both the inner and the outer is the complement of all in a man that needs this help to produce a balanced, well-rounded life.
What was “the man’s” first work, and what is represented by it? The naming of all the animals and other creations of Jehovah God. As he listed all other forms of life, the man fixed or determined their relationship to himself. The action represents free will in him deciding what other forms of life shall mean to him.
Why is it not good that the man should be alone? Because no one is complete in himself. He needs a companion and someone in exchange thoughts with before he can realize and fully express his inner life. In the midst of the animals that he had named, the man was still alone until Eve was created.
Why is the man represented as having been in a deep sleep at the time that Eve was created? Because the origin of the soul (represented by the woman) is shrouded in mystery. It perhaps developed out of the reaction of the physical forces on the intellect (man). Genesis represents it as being the product of the subconsciousness, that part of man’s mind which is deep below the surface of thought (in a deep sleep).
What is ideal marriage? It is the complete union of a man and a woman, the mind, soul, and body of each being in complete harmony with its counterpart in the other.
Why are husband and wife said to be “one flesh” only, and not o ne flesh, one mind and one soul? The law makes them one flesh at the time that the marriage is consummated, but they make themselves of one mind and soul as they, two individual beings, learn to live a common life.
Why should marriage be permanent? Because its purpose is the perfecting of the life of mankind through the union of the masculine and feminine element of being, and wherever perfection is involved, eternal values are at stake, and should be conserved.
Why is divorce “for every case” unjustifiable? Divorce that is made easy enough to gratify the whim of personality makes for instability of the family and of society in general.
Transcribed by LuAnn Stevens on 9-17-2013
