By Lin Li
The Bible records, “And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: and whatever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field …” (Genesis 2:18-20). When I read these verses which say that Adam gave names to all living creatures, I thought: How did Adam give names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field? Might have Jehovah God told Adam these names beforehand? I thought it over and over, but couldn’t figure it out.
It was not until I read a passage of God’s words that I knew there are mysteries hidden behind Jehovah God letting Adam give names to all living creatures.
God said: “This phrase tells mankind a fact: God gave man intelligence when He created him. That is to say, man’s intelligence came from God. This is a certainty. But why? After God created Adam, did Adam go to school? Did he know how to read? After God made various living creatures, did Adam recognize all these animals? Did God tell him what their names were? Of course, God also did not teach him how to come up with the names of these creatures. That’s the truth! Then how did he know how to give these living creatures their names and what kind of names to give them? This is related to the question of what God added to Adam when He created him. The facts prove that when God created man He had added His intelligence to him. …
“God created man, breathed life into him, and also gave him some of His intelligence, His abilities, and what He has and is. After God gave man all of these things, man was able to do some things independently and think on his own. If what man comes up with and does is good in the eyes of God, then God accepts it and does not interfere. If what man does is right, then God will just let it be that way for good. So what does the phrase ‘whatever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof’ indicate? It suggests that God did not make any amendments to the names of the various living creatures. Whatever name Adam called it, God would say ‘Yes’ and register the name as is. Did God express any opinions? No, that’s for sure. So what do you see here? God gave man intelligence and man used his God-given intelligence to do things. If what man does is positive in the eyes of God, then it is affirmed, acknowledged, and accepted by God without any evaluation or criticism. This is something no person or evil spirit, or Satan, can do. Do you see a revelation of God’s disposition here? Would a human being, a corrupted human being, or Satan accept others to represent them in doing things right under their nose? Of course not! Would they fight for position with that other person or other force that is different to them? Of course they would! At that moment, if it were a corrupted person or Satan who was with Adam, they would have certainly rejected what Adam was doing. To prove that they have the ability to think independently and have their own unique insights, they would have absolutely denied everything Adam did: ‘You want to call it this? Well, I’m not going to call it this, I’m going to call it that; you called it Tom but I’m going to call it Harry. I have to show off my brilliance.’ What kind of nature is this? Is it not wildly arrogant? But does God have such a disposition? Did God have any unusual objections to this thing Adam did? The answer is unequivocally no! Of the disposition God reveals, there is not the slightest ounce of argumentativeness, arrogance, or self-rightness. That is abundantly clear here. This is just a very small thing, but if you don’t understand God’s essence, if your heart doesn’t try to figure out how God acts and what God’s attitude is, then you won’t know God’s disposition or see the expression and revelation of God’s disposition. Is that not so? Do you agree with what I just explained to you? In response to Adam’s actions, God did not loudly proclaim, ‘You did well. You did right. I concur.’ In His heart, however, God approved, appreciated, and applauded what Adam did. This was the first thing since creation that man had done for God at His instruction. It was something man did in God’s stead and on God’s behalf. In God’s eyes, this arose out of the intelligence He bestowed upon man. God saw it as a good thing, a positive thing. What Adam did at that time was the first manifestation of God’s intelligence on man. It was a fine manifestation from God’s point of view. What I want to tell you here is that God’s aim in adding a portion of what He has and is and His intelligence to man was so mankind could be the living creature that manifests Him. For such a living creature to do things on His behalf was precisely what God had been longing to see.”
From God’s words, I saw that the reason why Adam was capable of giving names to those living creatures was not that God had told him beforehand what names he should give them, but that God had added to Adam His intelligence when He created him. So it was by his God-given intelligence that Adam gave so many living creatures their different and delightful names. I saw that when God created man in the beginning, He not only breathed life into man, but also gave man some of His intelligence and what He has and is, so that man was capable of thinking and doing things independently, which was an expression and manifestation of God’s intelligence and work through Adam. Moreover, I saw God’s substance of beauty and goodness: As long as what Adam did was positive, God accepted and approved of it, He did not express any opinions or ever interfere, and He affirmed it and would just let it be that way for good.
Such a disposition of God and its revelation, we can never see in any corrupted person, because we are adept at denying others’ opinions to prove that we have our own unique insights, thus showing ourselves off, which is the satanic arrogant disposition within us. There is not the slightest ounce of arrogance or argumentativeness in God’s disposition. From the expression and revelation of God’s disposition in this very small thing God did, we can see God’s humility and loveliness and God’s will embodied in it. God bestowed His intelligence upon us and added some of what He has and is to us because He hoped that we would listen to Him and do His will, would do some things in His stead like Adam, and would do things according to His will and requirements. Only the things we do in this way are meaningful and valuable and are approved of by God, and only such human beings are most blessed by God, for God’s intention in creating man was for man to live Him out, manifest Him, and bear testimony to Him. This is why man was created.
I finally understood that outwardly it was a very small thing that God let Adam give names to all living creatures, but within it is hidden God’s disposition and what God has and is, and moreover, contained God’s will for us. Thank God for His guidance in solving the puzzle in my heart!
