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. —Genesis 2: 19 & 20, NIV
After He was done, He breathed his life upon man and lived. This was His crown: so free! So glorious! So unafraid and inquisitive! The mystery of life was complete—and now the time has come to rejoice in His creation! Now, man was free to sleep with the lions and dance with the ravens. No sin, no pollution, no envy, and no pain. Man could breathe freedom day and night.
Two things man was commanded: to be fruitful and multiply, and to name every living thing, from the birds to the mammals to the trees and the forces of nature. As a breath, he took his time and observed how every living thing moved feathers and wagged tails. They would wave their praises and graze the garden. He named fruits like apples and oranges because he tasted them. Man tasted the milk that came from a cow and touched the wings of a bumblebee. His Maker already knew what would man name his surroundings. But He gave man the freedom to explore on his own.
Names help expose the darkness and foster a sense of identity. Names identify the rights and wrongs in life. Man needs names to feel himself safer and saner. Without them, there would never be effective ways for man to feel safely welcome. Names cover the truth and hungers man to explore and, within him, creates a new future embedded with God's hope.