In The Beginning

Reading Assignment: Genesis 1-3

Welcome to our class on Genesis 1-25:11. The Book of Genesis begins approximately 6-7,000 years ago with God's creation of the world.

The bulk of the Creation Story is found in Genesis 1:1-28. God creates the world over the course of six days. The process began when God said, "Let there be light." and "there was light" Genesis 1:1-3.

God's process of creation continued throughout the next five days. The Bible records the process of creation as follows:

  • 1st Day: Light
  • 2nd Day: Firmament (i.e. the region of the air)
  • 3rd Day: Land and Vegetation
  • 4th Day: Heavenly Bodies
  • 5th Day: Birds and Fish
  • 6th Day: Man and other land animals

    Your Bible will have more details on what happened on each day and we'll discuss your questions on the forum.

    Genesis 1:29 tells us that after creation God originally ordained both man and beast to be vegetarians. In verse 31, the Creation story closes by God declaring that his creation is "good".

    Genesis 2 begins with God creating the seventh day of the week. After creating the Earth in the first six days, God rested the seventh day. In verse 3, the Bible says that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. This is one of the reasons given in scripture for a seventh day Sabbath, incidentally.

    The rest of Chapter 2 goes into more detail on what life in the Garden of Eden was like. We are told that in the beginning, that God had not caused it to rain and that rather that "a mist" came up from the ground and watered the garden.

    In verse 7, God forms man from dust. Scripture in this instance, as in most other cases, doesn't explain exactly how God did this. It simply says:

    "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."-Genesis 2:7

    Verses 8-14 describe the Garden of Eden. The Bible gives very specific information as to the Garden's location in this passage. Based on the location of the rivers mentioned in this lesson, many scholars have tried to pinpoint the original location of the Garden of Eden. These scholars do not take into account the fact that because of several geological events, particularly Noah's flood, the earth's geography has been drastically altered since the time of creation.

    Verses 15-20 explain man's role in the garden. Adam, the first man was the caretaker of this paradise. In addition, to tending the Garden (v.15), God also charged Adam with the task of naming of all the land animals and birds. (v.19). God also gave Adam one rule that he had to follow. He was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because on the day that he did, he would surely die. (v. 17)

    The only problem Adam faced in the midst of Eden was the fact that he was alone (v.20). God declared that it was not good for man to be alone. (v. 18) For this reason, God decided to provide Adam with a companion, a helper.

    "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof."

    -Gen. 2:21

    From this rib, God created woman. (v. 22) Adam accepted Eve as his helpmate. The author of Genesis (traditionally believed to be Moses) steps away from the story in verse 24 to tell us the importance of this, the first marriage:

    Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

    -Gen. 2:24

    This verse is quoted four times in the New Testament and is still a basis for modern marriage customs. Indeed, entire books have been written on this verse alone.

    Verse 25 briefly paints a picture of the innocence of Adam and Eve by telling us that they were naked "but not ashamed".

    Chapter 3 begins by introducing us to the Serpent who engages Eve in a dialogue. He caught her attention by misstating God's commandment, asking her whether God had said that they couldn't eat of any of the trees in the garden.

    Eve informed the serpent that they were allowed to eat of the fruit of the trees, but that God had forbidden them from eating of the tree in the midst of the garden (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). She added to God's commandment stating that they were not even allowed to touch of it. (v. 3 compare to Genesis 2:17)

    The Serpent denied what God had said was true and claimed that God was merely trying to stop her from eating of the tree because He knew that if she ate of the tree, she would become like God, because she would know good from evil.

    And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

    -Genesis 3:6

    There is a point in this verse that must be accentuated, which too many ministers miss in their rush to defend the virtue and goodness of men. Many a minister has claimed that Adam was on the other side of the garden when Eve ate of the tree. The problem with this is that the Bible says Adam was with her. (If you don't see this, please take a careful look at the above verse.) I heard one minister proclaim that Adam was not present because "if he had been any kind of a man he would have stopped the serpent from deceiving Eve". Well, apparently Adam wasn't any kind of man because the Bible records him being there with her and Jewish tradition concurs. Please also note that the Bible does not specify what type of fruit the forbidden tree bore. Traditionally, we picture the fruit as an apple but there's no biblical evidence for that.

    After they ate the fruit, they realized that they were naked and they make themselves clothes out of fig leaves.

    Adam and Eve hid when they heard God walking in the garden.

    And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

    -Genesis 3:9

    God knew exactly where Adam and Eve were. Why did he call him then? I believe that God was giving Adam a chance to answer. Indeed in verses 11-13, God asked Adam and Eve questions, in order to give them a chance to repent and take personal responsibility. No one can say for sure what would have happened had they done this.

    Adam chose to blame Eve for his problems, and acted as if Eve had jumped on top of him and shoved the fruit down his throat. Adam also tried to blame God, in addition to Eve, when he says, "The woman thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." As for Eve's excuse, it could be paraphrased as, "The Devil made me do it."

    Mankind, having chosen the path of excuse-making and finger-pointing received God's curse instead of His blessing.

    God's first curse was directed towards the serpent. The serpent's told, "upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." This verse makes one wonder what the serpent did before the fall, as we always picture snakes slithering on their bellies.

    Verse 15 is considered by Christians to be the first messianic prophecy in the Bible. Writing of this verse, the King James Study Bible says, "...the represenative of the woman (i.e. a human being: Christ would deliver the deathblow to Satan, but in so doing would be bruised himself. It [or "He"] shall bruise thy head, but thou shalt bruise his heel refers to Christ's bruising on the cross, which led to the eventual crushing of Satan and his kingdom."

    The woman was given the following curses: 1) greatly increased pain in child labor, 2) her desire will be towards her husband and he will rule over her.

    God cursed the earth because of Adam, so that he would have to work hard for his livelihood, rather than having the ideal life he'd enjoyed in the garden.

    Both Adam and Eve were cursed with death, although the curse was only spoken to Adam. Although they didn't immediately die, they began to die the day they ate of the tree in the Garden of Eden. Indeed, the life of every human being is a slow process of dying that begins at birth. Though, we don't like to think about it, we're all dying.

    In Verse 20, Adam named Eve, who throughout the chapter had simply been referred to as "the woman".

    In Verse 21, God covered Adam and Eve with animal skins. Many Christians view this verse as a sign of Christ, as an innocent animal died in order to cover their sins.

    Since Adam and Eve were no longer innocent, God could not allow them to remain in the Garden. God could not allow a corrupt and fallen man to live forever, "for the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23)

    After expelling man, God placed Cherubim (an order of angels) with a flaming sword to guard the tree of life, which is not the same as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

    This is the end of the sample. If you want more, sign up today . The class is only $15 and will improve your biblical knowledge. Please help support this class.

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