Genesis 2:4-7 - “4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."

Introduction

Many consider Genesis 2:4 to be the abrupt beginning of a second Creation account. This invites the common criticism that Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 appear to describe the creation of the world in completely different orders. These criticisms are easily dealt with however, if Genesis 2:1-3 is a summary of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2:4 is viewed as a bridge between the creation account of Genesis 1 and the account of Adam and Eve, which happened later.

 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth

when they were created,

when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

"This is the account"

Genesis 2:4 constitutes a summary of creation that lasts through the middle of v. 7, where the real topic of Genesis 2 begins: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

As a summary for Genesis 1, verses 4 though 6 describe the initial conditions of the earth (from 4.5 billion years ago) suprisingly well. It describes the conditions determined by mainstream science, as well as the scriptural description of a formless void covered in water. By effectively going back to the time when the earth was made primarily of space dust and water, Genesis 2:7 can summarize the next 4 billion years as follows...

7a Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground

This verse may have been clearer to modern readers if it had said "from the dust of space". However, there was no conception of outer space when Moses wrote the verse. As far as Moses was concerned when he wrote this, the dust began as the substance of a newly created earth. The process for creating Adam from that dust is what scientists call Evolution. Genesis 1:7a is therefore a summary of the 6 days of creation.

As contradictory as this may seem -- intentionally creating through random events -- Genesis 1's own wording clears this up: every command starts with "Let". "Let there be..." light, a firmament, etc. God set up the dominoes, day by day, then let the them fall where they may. He LET them. More to the point, He allowed them.

Whether verse 7a is referring to Adam or mankind, scripture desribes the process that God allowed, and we see that this process was Evolution: Genesis 1, God allowed light. God allowed a sky to form and clear. God allowed the land to produce plants, the seas to teem with sealife, and the skies to be filled with birds. He allowed the land to produce cattle, creeping things, and beasts, including primates. Finally, God allowed mankind to develop a capacity to hear Him, believe Him, and obey Him. But then, one man in particular was born. It was Adam, and being in God's image, God did something He had done with no other man...

7b [He] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,

and the man became a living being.

Until now, mankind had been apart from God. Scientifically, we see the capacity for believing in God through ancient altars dating back 10s of 1,000s of years. However, they did not know God personally. Adam was the first, the first to be given "new life", as many Christians call it today. Adam was born again and became mankind's connection to God. Later, he would become mankind's separation from God; new life would give way to new death.

Adam Becomes a living living being

At the end of verse 7, the Hebrew word for “being” is something alive and breathing… but the word for “living” also means alive.  So Adam became a living-living being. Why the redundancy? Because Adam was already physically alive (born 4336 BC?); he was now spiritually alive, too. A closer look at the Hebrew word for "breathed" will help to understand this better.

God Breathed the Breath of Life

God "breathed" into Adam the "breath" of life.  The Hebrew word for "breathed" is similar to blowing up a balloon, or blowing on a fire to start it, or blowing a fire out to end it. It can result in making the subject either more or less than what it was: blowing up a balloon also leads to its deflation, but the balloon remains stretched out; blowing into fire can increase it or extinguish it, but the fuel remains charred. God was making Adam both more and less than what he was, and Adam was profoundly changed. Mankind was already imagining the divine1, but Adam knew God.

Conclusion

As a member of mankind, Adam was born capable of believing and obeying God, if only he could know God was there. Then, God breathed spiritual life into Adam; God introduced Himself and Adam now knew God. He believed God and he obeyed God. As with a balloon or a fire, this initially made Adam more than what he was. However, this would also set Adam up for his fatal choice to sin. Adam's balloon would then deflate; the fire in his belly would go out. Adam, and by extension all of man henceforth, was separated from God. But, like a balloon, Adam would remain stretched; like a snuffed out fire, he would continue on as charred yet fertile ashes. The imprint of God upon his life would be permenant, and he would pass that imprint on to us... condemned sinful beings, separated from God, but yearning and ready for redemption.

1. "The Humanity of Fossil Man" - by Glenn Morton (search on altar)

1/26/2012 - Added reference, clarified points