Genesis Introduction

1. Genesis Introduction Genesis Chapter 1 Union Church Bible Study

2. Genesis 1:1 רֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃b In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

3. Genesis 1:1 רֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃b e’artz u’ath e’shmim Elohiym bara’ b’rashith theearth and the heavens Gods created in beginning In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

4. Genesis 1:1 God The Bible begins with God, not with philosophic arguments for His existence.

5. Genesis 1:1 רֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃b e’artz u’ath e’shmim Elohiym bara’ b’rashith theearth and the heavens Gods created in beginning

6. Genesis 1:1 God: 'elohiym, H 430, el-o-heem'; plural of H 433 ('elowahh); gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative :- angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.

7. Genesis 1:1 רֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃b In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

8. Genesis 1:1 רֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ׃b e’artz u’ath e’shmim Elohiym bara’ b’rashith theearth and the heavens Gods created in beginning In the beginning God אֵתcreated the heaven and the earth. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Revelation 1:8

9. Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

10. Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

11. Genesis 1:2 And = vav it is a conjunction In the Septuagint (LXX) it is translated as the adversative de,, “but” (as in 2:17; 17:21; Zeph 1:13; Ps 44:17). The word "And” should use the translation "but". The structure implies adversative contrast or adversative connective.

12. Genesis 1:2 [was] hayah, (H1961), haw-yaw'; a primitive root [compare Hebrew 1933 (hava')]; to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, Transitive verb requires a action. In Genesis it is Translated • “became” or “becamest”, 67 times, • “came” and “came to pass” 505 times, • “become” 66 times, “come to pass” 131 times,

13. Genesis 1:2 Use of “vav” and “hayah” in verse with same grammatical construction. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26

14. Genesis 1:2 But the earth becamewithout form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

15. Genesis 1:2 without form – tohuw to lie waste; a desolation; worthless thing; confusion, empty, nought, vain. void – bohuw to be empty; an undistinguishable ruin, emptiness tohuwabohuw– waste and empty; without form and void

16. Jeremiah 4:23-28 23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 26I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

17. Jeremiah 4:23-28 27For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. 28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

18. Jeremiah 4:23-28 27For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. 28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

19. Job 9:5-9 5Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger. 6Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. 7Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. 8Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. 9Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.

20. Isaiah 45:18 Tor thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

21. Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

22. Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

23. Genesis 1:2 [darkness] choshek, (H2822), kho-shek'; from H 2821 (chashak); the dark; hence (literal) darkness; figurative misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness :- dark (-ness), night, obscurity. Darkness is not just the absence of light, God created it. This is another darkness, called by Sages black fire, [deep] tehown: This is the abussos or abyss; home of the demons and evil spirits.

24. Exodus 10:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.

25. Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

26. Genesis 1:2 [And the earth ... and darkness ... upon the face of the waters.] This verse reveals earth, darkness, and waters before day one in Genesis 1:3.

27. Genesis 1:2 • Basic Issues • When were the Angels created? • When did Satan fall? • Is there a time gap between vs. 1 and vs. 2?

28. Gap Theory • Originally suggested by Thomas Chalmers, • 1814 • Supported by G.H. Pember, D.G. Barnhouse, • G. Campbell Morgan, A. Custance, et al • Highly speculative and controversial, yet seems to link with other passages. • Provocative, but often misapplied. • Angels witnessed “the foundation of the earth”.

29. The Age of the Earth • Classic Dates: • - Archbishop James Ussher and Dr. John Lightfoot in the 17 century from Genealogies at 6,000 years Similar Studies: • - William Henry Green and B.B. Warfield • Princeton 19th Century research at 6,000 years • - E.W. Faulstich, computer analysis 1979 at 6,000 years • - Walter T. Brown 1995 research at 6,000 years

30. Seven Abodes of Satan: • Was the guardian of God’s thrown, Ez 28:14 • On earth in mineral garden, Ez 28:13 • Lives in the atmosphere, the air, Eph 2:2; 6:12 • On earth cast down during tribulation, Rev 12:7-9 • The Abyss, Rev 20:1-3 • On earth “loosed a little season”Rev 20:3 • The Lake of Fire, Rev 20:7-10

31. Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

32. Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

33. Genesis 1:1-3 If you read carefully, you will see that the creation of the heaven and the earth did not occur on the first day; it occurred at “the beginning”. The first day was not the beginning…..the 1st day was sometime later. The thing that occurred on the first day was the creation of light, and its separation from darkness. The heaven and earth were created sometime before the first day of what we call “Creation”. How long the heavens and earth sat there, lifeless, dark, chaotic, we aren’t told.

34. Genesis 1:1-3 We have seen the construction of the universe in verse 1, the convulsion of the earth in verse 2, and now we come to the construction of the earth in six days (vv. 3–31). It looks as though what we have here is the development of the earth.

35. Ex. 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

36. Genesis 1:3 [And God Said] First Quote from God in the Bible “Let there be light”. "God said," ten times: at the beginning of each day; third day twice; sixth day four times (Genesis 1:3,6,9,11,14, 20,24,26,28,29). Using this phrase “and God Said” Nachmonides in the 13th Century said that we must live in 10 dimensions, only 4 are “knowable” (Commentary on Genesis, 1263).

37. Dimensions of “Reality” Nachmonides(13th Century) - 10 dimensions only four are knowable Commentary on Genesis 1263 Particle Physicists(20th Century) - 10 dimensions 4 are directly measurable (3 space 1 time) 6 are curled into less than 10 to the 33 power and thus inferable only by indirect means.

38. Ephesians 3: 17-19 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

39. Ephesians 3: 17-19 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Four Dimensions

40. Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. [let] is used 14 times in this chapter, 1,497 times elsewhere, and in no case is an original creative act implied. The sense is "made appear" or "made visible," expressing permission and purpose in connection with already existing things.

41. Genesis 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. [light] Not the sun (which was created on the fourth day, v. 16), but some fixed light source outside the earth. In reference to light, the rotating earth passed through a day-night cycle. These words express a principal theme of the Bible: God bringing light into the darkness (see Isa. 9:1, 2). The New Testament records God sending His Son to be the light of the world (John 8:12). In the end, there will no longer be any darkness at all (Rev. 21:23). God said it, and it was done: there was light. His command caused reality.

42. Light Created on 1st Day But light emitting objects were created on the 4th day Vs. 3 & 4 word used for light = owr Owr means illumination enlightenment Vs. 14 word used for lights = meotor Meotor means objects that emit light

43. Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

44. Genesis 1:4 [God saw] "God saw," 7 times (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).  [good] towb, (H2896), good, fine, beautiful. Used 7 times (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). Having examined the light, God declared it to be good—a powerful term of God’s blessing. One thing was "not good" (Genesis 2:18).  [divided] God divided or separated. The first of three separations. Here, light from darkness; then sky from water (v. 7); and finally, the land from the seas (v. 9). Only when this spatial separation was complete did God pronounce everything good (v. 10).

45. Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

46. Genesis 1:5 [the first day] The first day was Sunday. Day One

47. Genesis 1:5 [evening] `ereb, (H6153), dusk :- + day, even (-ing, tide), night. Ereb means “obscuration, mixture”; when encroaching darkness began to deny the ability to discern forms, shapes, and identities; disorder (increasing entropy) Sunset; marking the duration of impurity: when a ceremonially unclean person became clean again (Lev 15); the beginning of the Hebrew day

48. Genesis 1:5 [morning] boqer, (H1242), bo'-ker; properly dawn (as the break of day); generally morning Boker means “becoming discernable, distinguishable, visible”; perception of order; relief of obscurity; attendant ability to begin to discern forms, shapes, and distinct identities; breaking forth of light; revealing; hence: dawn; morning (Gen 19:27; Kgs 19:9). (decreasing entropy); It is significant that on the 7th day, when the creation is complete, there is no more “erev” or “boker.”

49. Genesis 1:5 Ramban: The beginning of the night is called evev, which also means “mingling” because shapes of things appear confused in it, and the beginning of the day is called boker which also means “examining” because then a man can distinguish between various forms. This coincides with the explanation of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra.

50. Genesis 1:5 [day] These days were reckoned without the sun and the moon, which were made on day four. We usually define our days using the sun and moon and it is interesting to consider what was used to measure these days. How was there evening and morning with no sun?