(last edited 11/3/07)Jan's Bible Notes
GENESIS
INTRODUCTION
The word “genesis” means “beginnings.” In this book we will find the first mention of important concepts as creation, sin, marriage and family, murder, sacrifice, and the beginning of civilization, languages, and culture. As in any good book, the main characters are introduced--God, man, and Satan—as well as the conflict between God and Satan and between God and man. We will follow this conflict throughout the Bible and see how it is resolved. We will find the first promise of the Messiah to come, Jesus Christ.
The first 11 chapters cover about 2,000 years or so and are a short history of the earth. The rest of the book covers only about 350 years and follows one particular family in depth for several generations.
Genesis was written by Moses and is the first of a section of five books called the books of Moses. Obviously Moses wasn’t there to see these things, but even in those early days, oral and written information was handed down and preserved. And the Bible tells us that God inspired the various Bible writers to write what He wanted them to write. Archaeological evidence and fulfilled Bible prophecy have proven the Bible to be reliable, and point to the fact that it could not have been written by mere man.
BEFORE WE DO A VERSE STUDY, LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME ISSUES:
Did the six days of creation literally happen that way? Or is it allegory, poetry? (Christians disagree here.) Does it really matter if it happened this way? Might the Bible not really mean six 24-hour days? No. See what the Bible teaches about the Sabbath: Read Ex. 20:8-11. The Sabbath was the most important thing the Jews observed; if the days were not regular days, this weekly reminder would be meaningless.
There are several theories that try to explain the Bible in terms of long ages.
DAY-AGE THEORY: Each “day” was millions of years long, even though they are in the wrong order for evolution, and each has a morning and an evening. What day was the sun created? Plants? Which came first, plants or animals? Evolution says sun before earth, animals before plants. Many animals lived and died before man came along.
GAP THEORY: There is a gap of millions/billions of years between verses 1-2, even though it is not stated. There was an earlier creation that all died, leaving their remains as fossils in strata.
THEISTIC OR PROGRESSIVE EVOLUTION: Maybe God used evolution, even though it says six days, each with a morning and evening. Some believe there were pre-humans before Adam and Eve, but when God breathed the breath of life into them, they became the first humans.
PROBLEMS WITH THESE THEORIES:
These theories are trying to accommodate the geological evidence for long ages. However, if you choose to believe any of these theories, then you say the Bible isn’t literally true; it doesn’t mean what it says. If words can be interpreted loosely here, then they can be in other places too. Miracles might not have REALLY happened, and Jesus might not have REALLY been born of a virgin, and He might not REALLY have risen from the dead, and there might not REALLY be such a place as hell… Anything hard to believe can be rationalized away. If the Bible doesn’t mean what it says, you might as well not read it or say you believe it.
Strata contain fossils—dead animals. So if long periods of time occurred before Adam and Eve, death was in the world before Adam and Eve. Which does the Bible say came first, death or sin? If death is not the result of sin, then Jesus did not need to die to save us from the eternal death that results from sin. Rom. 5:12, I Cor. 15:21. This is the most basic truth of the Bible; if any form of evolution is true, you might as well throw out the Bible.
Could Adam and Eve be the result of ages of evolution? Read what Jesus said in Matt. 19:4. Might Jesus be lying or confused? The Bible says God is truth and cannot lie.
Evidence at Mt. St. Helens proves that strata CAN form rapidly; strata do NOT need thousands or millions of years to form. Because of Mt. St. Helens (and much other evidence), we can be confident that we do not have to compromise the truth to accommodate geologic evidence and radioactive dating. The effects of the worldwide flood described later in this book can account for the strata and the fossils; the evidence found in strata and fossils do not support the theory of evolution, but rather rapid catastrophic burial of animals. Species appear suddenly in the fossil record, showing no change over time. Evolutionary scientists are stumped by this fact and find many ways to try to explain it away. Much evidence that refutes evolution and supports the biblical account of recent creation has been compiled by many creationist scientists.
For information on Mount St. Helens, click here and scroll down to #9, Earth Age.
NOW LET’S LOOK THROUGH BY VERSE:
CHAPTER 1
1 How does the Bible introduce God? Does it start with a big explanation about Him? Does it argue for the existence of God? The best proof of His existence is the creation, which is described for us. The Hebrew word for "God" is "Elohim," a plural word used as a singular. So we already are introduced to the concept of the Trinity, three persons in one. What do we learn about God here that is not stated? His existence, He is eternal, He is powerful. How did He create the world? The Hebrew word “create” means something from nothing. He spoke, it happened. We see the origin of time ("in the beginning"), space ("heaven") and matter ("earth"), the elements of the universe. According to Rom. 1:19-20, what can be learned about God by observing what He has made? Is this knowledge hidden, so you have to be really smart to figure it out? Who will be held accountable for this knowledge? Everyone; it’s there for all to see.
The Bible speaks of three heavens: the first heaven, where the birds fly; the second heaven, where the sun, moon and stars reside; and the third heaven, where God's throne is, II Cor. 12:2. This is the second heaven, with the heavenly bodies.
Information about God is scattered all through the Bible. For an accurate picture of who God is and what He is like, read the WHOLE Bible. For starters, try Job 38:1-42:6, Ps. 8, 18:1-3, 30, Ps. 19, 23, 103, 145, Is. 40-66, esp. 53, Acts 17:16-31. Today it is popular to think that God is whatever you want Him to be; He is not a Person, an objective truth, but a subjective figment of one’s imagination and belief. It is popular to think that we are all worshipping the same God, but the Bible says there is only one true and living God, the God of creation, the God of the Trinity, the God who has a Son named Jesus Christ who died for our sins and was raised from the dead to prove He is God, the God who says there is no other God but Him.
Just knowing these facts about God, how should we think about Him? How should we approach Him? How should we see ourselves in comparison to Him? (Puny.) How do we know He is even interested in us? (The Bible says so--WOW!) Thank Him.
Application to prayer: Should we worry about whether God is really able to do something about our problems? Try starting your prayer by recognizing that He is the Creator of heaven and earth, and thanking Him for that. That will put your requests in their proper perspective. Examples: II Kings 19:15, I Chron. 29:10-13. We tend to start our prayers with “gimme, help me!” Notice the order in the Lord’s Prayer; focus first on God, then on self, Matt. 6:8-13.
2 Is a date given? The only time frame we have for dating the creation is the lists of genealogies in the Bible; this is where many conservative Bible scholars come up with the rough estimate that the earth was created 10,000 years ago or even less. Here we have the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew word translated here as "was moving" ("moved," KJV) is only used in two other places and is translated there as "shake" (Jer. 23:9) and "flutter" (Deut. 32:11). Here we have the divine origin of the force we call energy. Now we have time, space, matter, and energy. None of these things could have come into existence by themselves. Contrary to what evolutionists teach, matter could not just happen nor could it have always existed. Those possibilities contradict all known science.
Those who believe the gap theory say the earth "became" formless and void, although the text says "was." They say that God would not have made the earth formless and void on purpose; this was the result of Satan's fall. They think the earth was populated by Satan's fallen angels, in some sort of pre-Adamic human-like creatures. But who are we to say that God would not make the earth formless and void at first? When He first made it, it was empty and uninhabitable. The Bible tells us how He made it into a habitable place. The Bible shows us that God operates through processes. He could have made everything in the creation week in one moment, but He didn't; He used the process of time and a series of events. Likewise, when Satan is defeated at the cross, we see that his final defeat does not take place. God allows a further series of events to take place over time until the end of the millenial kingdom before Satan's actual destruction.
3-5 God's first recorded words are about what? Compare John 8:12 and II Cor. 4:6. God spoke; that is His Word. What does John 1:1 say? What does that tell us about Jesus? What role in creation does He play according to Col. 1:16? He was at creation; He was not a created being, as some religions teach. So we already have the Trinity. God the Father (1), the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit (2), and Christ, the Son, the Word (3).
Was the sun created before there was light? What, or who, was the source of light? Read Rev. 22:5. Yet it mentions evening and morning all the way through. An indication that regular 24-hour days are referred to, as we know them, and that the author intended them to be understood as such. Day is defined as light.
How does evolution claim it happened? The Big Bang (a theory which is now falling into disrepute). There are other theories, but none offer an explanation of the origin of the original matter or forces. None can explain how the Second Law of Thermodynamics was overcome, which says that all things decay over time; things DO NOT naturally become more organized and complex, as evolution says.
6-8 Some think this is a vapor canopy. This would explain the long lifespans which then decrease after the flood, when the canopy would have collapsed. The invisible vapor canopy would protect the earth from ultraviolet rays which speed the aging process; it would create a greenhouse effect over the whole earth. Scientists know that there is lush vegetation buried under the ice at both poles, but they have no explanation for this phenomena. It explains why there was no need for rain (2:5). It explains where much of the water came from at the flood (7:11). It would cause a change in air pressure which would explain how the large winged dinosaurs could fly (they couldn’t now).
9-10 Were there continents then as we know them now? It sounds like one land area. This would allow Adam to rule the earth as commanded, and would explain how various animals got to the different continents. When might they have separated and moved? Possibly during or just after the Flood, or possibly 10:25. Continental drift, tectonic upheaval.
11-13 God made plant life, but it was not created out of nothing. The earth brought forth plant life; it was fashioned from what had already been created. Evolution claims the first simple cell (animal life) formed in the ocean. What does the Bible say? Plant life came first. Even the most simple cell is far from simple. It is irreducibly complex; none of the parts could have evolved before the others. All are interdependent. There is no such thing as “simple life forms.” No experiments have shown that life can form spontaneously, only with human help. Did God make cells and seeds? No, He made mature life, ready to reproduce. Evolutionists ridicule that idea, saying that creating life with the “appearance” of age would be a lie on God’s part. Not so; it is the most efficient way to start life.
14-19 Evolutionists believe that life could form spontaneously, and that therefore it is unlikely that Earth is the only place it happened. That is why there is a big push for space exploration. The Bible does not say there are no other places with life, but it does say that the earth was unique, central in His plan. Evolutionists say that if stars or the moon were created at this time, it would take a long time for their light to travel to earth to be seen. God created mature trees, animals, and humans; it would be no problem for Him to create “mature” stars with their light already visible.
20-25 Again God created something from nothing--life, 21. Contrary to what evolutionists teach, life only comes from life. Life cannot come from non-life. Unlike plant life, the life that is in living creatures was created from nothing. It is a different kind of life than plant life. God created creatures that live in the water and in the air. But in 25, God "made" beasts, cattle and creeping things. Animal life had already been created; now God was making another kind of animal, but it is the same kind of life. “After their kind.” During that week, did God make every species of animal that ever lived? Some say there would not be time enough in one day for Adam to name them all. (Nor could that many species fit on the ark, which is true.) No, God made basic kinds, and allowed for variation within species. (He made a basic dog; we now have many breeds.) Adaptation is micro-evolution, which creationists DO believe in. Macro-evolution is evolution from one kind to another kind; the Bible says this did NOT happen, and there is no scientific evidence that it has ever happened. All the examples that evolutionists give are of micro-evolution. Evolutionists often confuse the issue by only using the term “evolution,” rather then clarifying with the terms “macro” or “micro.”
26 Key words: LET US, OUR IMAGE, OUR LIKENESS. Plural, more than one. Who are they? God is three persons in one. Read Deut. 6:4. Can the Bible contradict itself? Those who say “yes” do not believe in the Trinity. Is the word “Trinity” found in the Bible? No, but it does teach that the Father is God, that Jesus Christ is God, that they Holy Spirit is God, and that there is only one God. There are numerous verses that can’t be explained apart from the Trinity. God/Jesus/Holy Spirit are used interchangeably in many places.
27 For the third time, God creates something out of nothing. Human life is a different kind of life than animal life, and is created, not made, as were the beasts in 25. Again we see that life only comes from life, never from non-life. Man is not just a higher animal; animals were not created in the image of God. How many times is the word “created” used here? How about “in His image”? God wants us to be VERY clear on this. The language and the repetition emphasize that Man is a unique creation.
Now instead of “Us” and “Our,” we have “His” and “He.” God is both singular and plural. He possesses all the characteristics of both male and female humans. Man, in the generic sense, or mankind, is created in God's image. Man is composed of both males and females. Although God is consistently referred to as "He," we see from this verse that that does not mean He only resembles males and not females. He presents Himself as the Father and as the King; He has ordained a patriarchal arrangement where males are to be in authority. They are to be the head, but not the "boss." They are given certain responsibilities. This is clarified in Eph. 5:22-33. In Gen. 3 we will see why that is. In Mark 10:6, Jesus confirms the Genesis account, stating that God made them male and female from the beginning. Adam and Eve did not descend or evolve from anything else.
28 What is the very first thing that God commands Man? To what and what? What is the modern vernacular of that command? Have sex! Sex is not only God's plan and design--it is commanded by God! God wove sexual desire right into our physical makeup and our instinct. He created it perfect; since the Fall, sex has become tainted by sin in many ways. It can be used for evil, but it was created for our good. Also note that God commanded and blessed sexual relations between a man and a woman--heterosexual sex. Homosexual relations are outside of God's will, although like any other sin, God permits them. The Bible records many sexual sins. Some people say that because something is in the Bible, it must be OK. But God doesn't force anyone to keep His commandments; He gave us free will, and He permits us to sin. That does not mean He condones it.
What is God's next command to man? Are men to bunch up in one place and stay together? We will find in the next few chapters that man disobeys this also.
What is the next command? Work is God’s plan for man. As with the first two commands, man spends much effort trying to twist God's plan. Today many put much effort into decreasing their work and increasing their leisure.
Does the Bible have anything to say about such current issues as animal rights and environmentalism? Environmentalists point to these verses and say Christians think they have been given a mandate to use and abuse nature. How would you answer that charge? We are to be responsible stewards. The environment is to be tended, not left in an untouched condition. Also compare Ps. 8:6-8, 115:16, II Pet. 2:12. If evolution is true, then the earth was not made for Man, and Man is a johnny-come-lately, even an intruder in the minds of some radicals. This section of the Bible refutes that thinking. Man was to be a rancher and farmer from the beginning!
29-31 Why were both Man and animals vegetarians at the beginning? (Before sin, there was no death, no killing of animals.) Everything God created is described as good, and here, as very good. Sin had not yet entered the world. It would seem that Satan's rebellion could not have yet happened at this time, for God to say this.
For further reading on the creation/evolution debate, read my online book: Evolution: Fact or Philosophy? This is a non-religious critique of evolution geared toward the junior high/high school level.
Here are some other good books:
Austin, Steven A., ed. Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe. Santee, Calif.: Institute for Creation Science, 1994.
Coffin, Harold. Origin by Design. Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and Herald Publishing Assoc., 1983.
Denton, Michael. Evolution: A Theory in Crisis. Bethesda, Maryland: Adler & Adler, 1985.
Johnson, Phillip E. Darwin on Trial. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1991.
Johnson, Phillip E. Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1997.
Johnson, Phillip E. Reason in the Balance: The Case Against Naturalism in Science, Law & Education. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1995.
Morris, Henry M. and Gary E. Parker. What is Creation Science? El Cajon, Calif.: Master Books, 1982.
Whitcomb, John C., Jr. and Henry M. Morris. The Genesis Flood. Philadelphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publ. Co., 1961.
Copyright 2003 Jan Young