- Each book of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament, called the Torah [instruction] by the Jews) originally received its title in the Hebrew Bible from the first word or words in the book.
- (There are three divisions in the Hebrew Bible: The Law (Torah), the Prophets, and the Writings.
- The Torah was originally one book, but the Septuagint divided it into the five books that we have.
- The Jews regarded the stories in the Torah as divine instruction for them as well as the commandments and sermons since they too teach theology and ethics.)
- The Hebrew word translated "in the beginning" is beresit.
- The English title "Genesis," however, has come to us from the Latin Vulgate translation of Jerome (Liber Genesis). The Latin title came from the Septuagint translation (the Greek translation of the Old Testament made about 300 years before Christ). "Genesis" is a transliteration of the Greek word geneseos, the Greek word that translates the Hebrew toledot. This Hebrew word is the key word in identifying the structure of Genesis, and the translators have usually rendered it "account" or "generations" (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2).
- Author: Moses 1525-1405BC
- When does everything start?
- It does not say, but sometime after creation of the heavens
- It does say the earth "was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep …"
- Certainly it is a physical description
- Possibly a spiritual description prior to the beginning of creation and representing of some previous activity (angels revolt)
- Do you see the hints of the "trinity" in the first three verses?
- V1- God created ...
- V2- The Spirit of God was hovering ...
- V3- And God said ...
- John 1:1, 14 (ESV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- What is the problem with "light" appearing on the first day?
- Ross' solution is given in the text -- the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters
- From the Spirit's perspective, the thinning of the atmosphere would show light until it was clear enough in the 4th "day" or age to see the sun and the moon
- Great debate on the meaning of "day" or Hebrew "yowm"
- It can refer to 12 hours, 24 hours, or an age
- Gen 2:4 (ESV) These are the generations // of the heavens and the earth when they were created, // in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
- Also, evening and morning can also be an idiom for "a specific beginning and end"
- "Evening and morning" is an idiomatic expression in Semitic languages. Like all idioms, its meaning is nonliteral but clearly understood by native speakers. The phrase "evening and morning" can, like yom, denote a long and indefinite period. The Old Testament itself unambiguously uses the "evening and morning" phrase in just such a way. In Daniel 8 we read the account of Daniel's ram and goat vision and the interpretation given by Gabriel. The vision covers many years; some commentators believe the time has not yet been completed. Daniel 8:26 says, "The vision of the evenings and the mornings that have been given to you is true, but seal up the vision for it concerns the distant future" (RSV). In Hebrew manuscripts, "the evenings and mornings," is not in the plural but in the singular, identical to the expression we find in Genesis 1. Translated literally, the verse would red, "And the vision of the evening and the morning that has been given you" Here we have a clear indication from scriptural usage that this phrase does not demand a 24-hour-day interpretation and can refer to an indefinite epoch. (Dr Otto J Helwig) From <http://www.leaderu.com/offices/o_helweg/eve-morn.html>
- Reason No. 1 — The “… And was Evening and Was Morning” Phrase Was Not Used to Mark a 24-Hour Day: Hugh Ross (a proponent of the Day-Age View more>>) asserts “[a]ncient Hebrew most often marked 24-hour days with ‘evening to evening’ and occasionally with ‘morning to morning’.” The “… and was evening, and was morning” phrase in Genesis 1 is unique thereby alerting “the reader that these days may have been periods other than 24-hour days.” [Hugh Ross, A Matter of Days, pg. 76 (2004)] From <http://factsandfaith.com/do-the-and-was-evening-and-was-morning-x-day-phrases-in-genesis-1-compel-a-yec-view/>
- The Words “Boqer” and “Ereb‘” Appear Together in Several Verses that Do Not Refer to a 24-Hour Period:Robert C. Newman and Perry Phillips (proponents of the more>>) point to several verses in which the words “morning (boqer)” and “evening (ereb)” appear and clearly do not refer to a 24-hour period: 1) Psalm 90:6 compares the short life cycle of men to grass that “though in the morning (boqer) it springs up new, by evening (ereb) it is dry and withered”; 2) Psalm 30:5 says: “Sing to the Lord …. For [God’s] anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night (ereb), but rejoicing comes in the morning (boqer).” [Robert C. Newman & Perry Phillips, Genesis One and the Origin of Earth, 2nd Ed., pgs 58 (2007)] From <http://factsandfaith.com/do-the-and-was-evening-and-was-morning-x-day-phrases-in-genesis-1-compel-a-yec-view/>
- Personally, I am not convinced that it has to be a 24 hour period nor am I convinced that the "day" has to refer to millions of years (although the latter is my leaning)
- I do agree that the text says "God created"
- The sixth day is retold in more detail in chapter two
- This is very common Jewish technique, to retell the story but with a different emphasis
- What happens on the sixth day?
- God creates the animals
- God creates Adam
- God blesses them
- God commands them to be fruitful and multiply
- God commands them to subdue the earth (meaning to conquer, to command, and to cultivate)
- God gives Adam dominion over living creatures
- God gives him vegetation to eat
- God gives the animals vegetation to eat as well
- (not seen here) God gives Adam the responsibility to care for the garden
- (not seen here) Adam names the animals
- (not seen here) Adam recognizes that he is alone
- (not seen here) God creates Eve
- What is God's view of the entire creation (possible verses 3 through 31)?
- Good
- What does this imply?
- No sin yet
- What does it mean to be made in God's image and likeness?
- We resemble God but we are not the same as God
- Capacity to choose, to love (tied to freedom), to express emotions, to make moral choices (tied to freedom)
- Note that he clarifies image, with the words "male and female"
- I can't prove it, but I've always felt that certain aspects of God's image are better expressed in a single gender
- Example: Men can appreciate beauty, but woman seem to have God's understanding of beauty
- What is different about the seventh day?
- Note that it does have a number in front (this is an argument people will use to prove that when a day has a number in front, it is always a 24-hour period)
- It does not have a beginning and an end
- Hebrews 4:4 seems to suggest that it is ongoing
- A Scene 1 (narrative): God is the sole actor, and man is passive (2:4-17).
- B Scene 2 (narrative): God is the main actor, man plays a minor role, the woman and animals are passive (2:18-25).
- C Scene 3 (dialogue): The snake and the woman converse (3:1-5).
- D Scene 4 (narrative): The man and the woman are primary (3:6-8).
- C' Scene 5 (dialogue): God converses with the man and the woman (3:9-13).
- B' Scene 6 (narrative): God is the main actor, man plays a minor role, the woman and the serpent are passive (3:14-21).
- A' Scene 7 (narrative): God is the sole actor, and man is passive (3:22-24).
- The first verse here is where we get our Greek title
- Observations:
- No rain, mist watered the earth
- God planted the garden in Eden (in the east)
- And God made to spring up every tree (it doesn't say whether they were instantaneous or over time, but it does not say, they were created full grown)
- Two purposes of trees
- Pleasant to the sight (God appreciates beauty)
- Good for food (God appreciates good food)
- Two other trees
- Tree of life (in the midst of the garden)
- Tree of the knowledge of good and evil
- Four rivers flow out of Eden
- This is pre-flood description of the earth
- Some of the rivers are known (some believe the Nile is one as well)
- What does God command to man imply concerning the creation?
- (already discussed) To subdue and have dominion (to rule in a positive sense, i.e., a good ruler takes cares of his responsibilities)
- (already discussed) To fill (word could mean to replenish)
- Vs 2:15 work it (God created man to work)
- Vs 2:15 keep it -- guard, protect, and take care of it (Hebrew shamar) (God created man to protect)
- There is something unusual in verse 18 at this point in the book?
- God calls something "not good"
- Note that it is not sin, just not good
- Who's idea is it for man to have a partner?
- It is God's
- It is a result of "not goodness" of aloneness or isolation (man is made for community)
- When does God act on His statement?
- Not until Adam recognizes his own need
- God typically has a reason for delay or inaction. Usually, it is so we would see what God already knows
- Interesting to note, that when you give a man a job to do, he continues doing it even when it might be inappropriate. Adam's job was to name things so he names Eve, woman
- Adam was actually classifying things as opposed to giving things personal names
- Marriage is a good thing
- Singleness is not wrong but not necessarily good either
- Aloneness is not good
- Marriage should bring about separation from one family and the beginning of a new family
- Community is a good thing
- Similar to aloneness, but also because we are made in the image of God
- The Trinity is a community
- Work is a good thing
- As long as you also know when to stop
- It is part of our creation and design. When you avoid it, you actually injure yourself (in some way, possibly your spirit)
- We have a responsibility to the earth to manage and care for it
- That does not mean to worship it. Only God is to be worshipped
- It does mean to protect it. We were given a beautiful planet and we should act to keep it that way. Example: I find it fascinating that so many young people are for protecting the environment but they do not even hesitate to litter in most situations
- However long or short God took to create, the bible says he created
- It does not specify how he created either
- We believe that God created it out of nothing. The scripture is not specific on a lot of the details
Background:
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Genesis
1:14–19 (ESV) — 14 And God said, “Let
there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the
night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light
upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the
two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to
rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the
expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light
from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Genesis 1:26–31 (ESV) —
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be
fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over
the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living
thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said,
“Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all
the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for
food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird
of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has
the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very
good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 2:1–3 (ESV) —
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of
them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that
he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had
done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
This story has
seven scenes that a change in actors, situations or activities
identifies. Moses constructed this
section of Genesis in a chiastic (palistrophic, crossing) structure to focus
attention on the central scene, the Fall. The preceding scenes lead up to the
Fall, and the following scenes describe its consequences.
Genesis 2:4–14 (ESV) —
4 These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the
heavens.
5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and
no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused
it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face
of the ground— 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a
living creature. 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the
east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that
is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst
of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided
and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one
that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.
13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is
the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of
Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Genesis 2:15–17 (ESV) —
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work
it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You
may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat of it you shall surely die.”
"This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man."
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
APPLICATION:
(working backwards)
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