But this is why reading Genesis 1 and 2 is so critical. It establishes first that we are loved. If you first trust that you are loved dearly by a good God, the rest of the story begins to make more sense.
But WE are given God’s name in Genesis 2:4, right before the Tree of Life is described:
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
Genesis 2:4 (NKJV)
God’s name and the Burning Bush seem linked, both in Exodus and in Genesis.
I wonder if Moses was given a vision of the Tree of Life, barely obscured by flaming swords (Gen 3:24).
So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:24 (NKJV)
Perhaps the imagery is that the Tree of Life can only be accessed by Fire. This could point to following the Pillar of Fire, or being refined by Fire, or perhaps being “burned in the Fire” as a Living Sacrifice.
It could be many things, but it seems to be linked… to dying.
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV)
Perhaps the man wondered, “what is death?” And shortly after, God causes him to fall into a slumber. A sleep so unnatural that the man must have wondered, “what’s happening? Is this death?”
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.
Genesis 2:21 (NIV)
And after death, there is a new life. Eve’s name means… life.
Perhaps Adam’s waking revelation of another life made from him tells us that in waking from death, we will be joined with another. Complete.
And perhaps the waking tells us another thing: If Adam is like God, his own sleep/death tells us that God will die and rise to be united with his bride, too.
Genesis 1 ends in the daylight. It ends VERY GOOD. It ends in flourishing.
Genesis tells us the beginning and the end.