BBC: Genesis 2:18-20

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. - Genesis 2:18-20

Once again there are two outstanding truths within this text. The first is that the command of man cannot be fulfilled alone. Adam's requirement to keep the land and work it is not to be done in isolation. In creation God made male and female and only together could they be "fruitful and multiple" (Gen 1:27-28). The relationship on male and female is one bent on the satisfaction of God's commandments. Today, the church as the bride of Christ need not seek for satisfaction with the human institution of marriage but our union with Christ and His fulfillment to redeem the world (Gen 1:27; 1 Cor 15:24-27).

The second essential truth is the establishment of Adam's dominion over creation (Gen 1:27). Many see this as lost in the fall but it is confirmed here in everlasting imagery when Adam names the animals. The importance of names in the Hebrew Scriptures cannot be discussed fully here. But the examples provided in the early patriarchal stories demonstrate the importance of God's establishment of covenants and changing of names (Gen 17:5; 32:28). Adam here is given the dominion to name the established created order.

Those some might refuse the inference, this naming is everlasting. And it speaks to the authority and dictate of God to hand these things to men. These things point to Christ who also has been renamed (Php 2:9) with the name by which we are saved (Acts 4:12; Rom 10:13). Christ now reigns over the named things of creation fulfilling the first Adam.

*The Bible Blogging Commentary is a slow and simple treading of the Scriptures. No quotes from other theologians and no explicit Greek/Hebrew lessons.*