God’s First Commands in the Bible

Reflection Questions

• In Genesis 1, God speaks ten times to bring creation into being, which is the same number as the commandments etched on Moses’ tablets. What can this tell us about the meaning of God’s commands (or “words”) in Exodus?

• God’s first command in Genesis 1 is actually a blessing. Why might this be significant?

• What can we gather about God’s character from the three-part command about the trees in Genesis 2?

• Though all the trees in Eden look good, only one is deadly. What does this riddle tell us about the reliability of human desire versus the trustworthiness of God’s wisdom?

Chapter 1: God’s Very First Command Is a Blessing

The 10 Commandments are not the first time God commands a human to do something; rather, we find God’s first command on page one of the Bible. In Genesis 1:26-28, God’s first command to the humans is actually a blessing. The word for “bless” in Hebrew is barakh, which refers to God sharing his own life-producing power with humans. He blesses them to image (or represent) his divine life and abundance by multiplying and ruling the land. So God’s first command sets a pattern of divine instruction focused on abundance, not restriction.

Chapter 2: The Three-Part Command About the Trees

In Genesis 2:15-17, God gives a three-part command to the human. First, eat from every tree in the garden (which sounds like a blessing). Second, do not eat from the tree of knowing good and bad. And third, the day you eat of the tree of knowing good and bad, you will die (implying “do not die”). This is the first time when the Hebrew verb tsavah (“command”) appears, showing that divine instruction is both prescriptive and about covenant partnership. The verbs ‘avad (“work” or “serve”) and shamar (“keep” or “guard”) describe humanity’s calling to serve and guard creation, and these same words are relevant to the first and fourth commandments—don’t serve other gods and keep the Sabbath holy (Ex. 20:3, 8-11).

Chapter 3: The Human Folly in Eden

In the garden of Eden, there is one tree that looks as good as all the others, but it’s actually not good. And the only way you can tell the difference is by listening to Yahweh’s simple command, rather than human sight. The humans show their folly by seizing wisdom on their own terms instead of receiving it from Yahweh (Gen. 3:1-7).