Bible Study Notes on Genesis 1 – 20160921

Bible Study Notes

Genesis 1:1  “In the beginning…”
Beginning of time.  God is outside of time.  He created the space/time continuum for His physical creation.  He does not have a beginning, so this beginning must be for the physical universe in which we exist.  We also exist within the non-temporal realm, but more on that later.

1  “…the heavens and the earth”
This planet and the space in which it is suspended.  From our perspective, earth and up.

3  “…’Let there be light’; and there was light”
Not the light of the sun or any other celestial body.  Darkness was on the face of the deep.  Now it is not.  Not sure where this light comes from except from God Himself.

5  “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night”
Probably from the beginning of the rotation of the earth.  No sun as of yet.

5  “…evening and the morning were the first day”
How God designated counting day and night.  Not from midnight to midnight, but from sundown to sundown.  Night comes first and then daytime.  The new day begins around six o’clock in the evening.  The Israelis still count time in this fashion.  This concludes the first day.

7-8  “…God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament…And God called the firmament Heaven.”
The earth was covered by water, a good bit of it apparently.  God has now created a firmament or space between some of the water.  Vertical space.  There is now water on the face of the planet, a section of space, and then another section of water providing a water canopy surrounding the earth.  This Heaven refers to the space we see which is the lower atmosphere.  Scripture will later refer to it as the first Heaven to distinguish it from outer space, the second Heaven, and the realm in which God dwells, the third Heaven.  This water canopy would probably have provided better protection from outside radiation than the thinner mist/atmosphere we have now.  This concludes the second day.

9-10  “…’waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear’…God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas”
He pooled the water on the surface into one place and allowed dry land to appear.  Says one place, but then refers to it as Seas.  Also uses the plural to refer to the water although it was all one.  I still go with the one place statement.  That’s pretty specific.  So originally there was only one great continent and one great body of water.  That’s not to say there wasn’t water coming from the land as we have fresh water and salty seawater.  Some rivers will be mentioned later.

He created plant life.  Grass, other plants, and trees.  This concludes the third day.

14-16  “…’Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth’…God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also”
Creation of the sun, moon, and the stars.  Commentary is fuzzy with its timeline.  It suggests it doesn’t know when sun, moon, and earth were created in relation to each other.  It describes the appearance of each body as appearing to someone who would be standing on the earth.  As the sky clears, the sun is now visible or “made.”  It uses the fact of two different words for created and made, bara and asah.  I don’t feel comfortable with that explanation.  I get the feeling of the difference between bara and asah as being created from nothing and making something from what He has already created.  He created the light and now has coalesced it into sun, moon, and stars.  This may also be when He created the planets.  Interesting thought there, considering the idea of coalescence.  One may argue that the rotation of the earth wouldn’t have caused a distinction between light and darkness unless the light had a specific source.  First, it says greater and lesser light.  Apparently there was some light all the time, not total darkness as we think of it.  The coalesced sun, or greater light would now shine during daytime and the moon, or lesser light, would now shine during nighttime.  Second, I firmly believe what God created six thousand years ago is not exactly what we have here today due to sin entering into creation and degrading everything.  Therefore, we can’t make a point by point comparison between what we see now and what was created then.  We must take what God says in His word to know what happened.
Also mentions the lights will be for signs as well as seasons.  The observance of heavenly signs has been corrupted today through the nonsense of astrology, but I think this shows that God did intend and still uses signs in the heavens for His purposes.  We just have to study to see what they are from His perspective.
This concludes the fourth day.

Creation of sea creatures and birds.  Noticed the phrase according to their kind.  God created each original creature specific to itself.  Does away with the idea of one type of creature evolving into another type.  This concludes the fifth day.

25  “…God made the beast of the earth according to its kind…”
Creation of the land animals, also according to their kind.  That would include great lizards, what we commonly call dinosaurs.

Creation of man.  Made in God’s image, different from the other creatures He has created.  And has dominion over the rest of creation.

27  “…in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them”
Created two distinct persons and genders.  Male and female.  All of mankind descends from these two persons.

29-30  “…’I have given you every herb that yields seed’…’every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food’…’to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food’…”
God provided the plant life as food for the other living creatures, including man.  So, originally, all land animals ate plants and not meat, regardless of the type of teeth they had.  I’ve heard types of teeth used as an argument for carnivores.  Sharp, pointed teeth come in handy for eating certain fruits and vegetables as well as meat.  Man gets really ridiculous when he leaves God’s explanations and tries to create his own.  This concludes the sixth day.

Recap of creation:
First day – heavens and earth and light
Second day – waters divided between the surface and the upper atmosphere creating the sky
Third day – water separated from land, plant life
Fourth day – sun, moon, and stars
Fifth day – sea creatures and birds
Sixth day – land animals including man



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