02-Genesis 1-9
Jan. 3, 2009 The title of the first book of the Bible is Genesis. This word means origins or beginnings. Genesis is a book of origins or beginnings. The following list is of some of those firsts.
1. The origin of the universe and time.
2. The origin of man.
3. The origin of marriage.
4. The origin of sin.
4. The origin of nations.
5. The origin of Israel.
“In the beginning God”. This was not the beginning of God because He is eternal. God has no beginning or ending; He is, was and always will be. This was “our” beginning. God made all that we see in six, twenty four hour periods of time that He called days. He also made it all from nothing. This is a summary of the seven days of creation. Day 1 - Heaven and earth. Day 2 - Separation of waters. Day 3 - Land, sea, and plants. Day 4 - Sun, Moon, and the stars. Day 5 - Birds and fish. Day 6 - Land animals and man. Day 7 - God rested.
God set aside the seventh day as a day of rest and reflection. God Himself did not need the physical rest, but He sanctified the last day of the week for His people later.
The Book of Genesis then narrows down its focus several times on the people of God’s creation. First God speaks of the whole creation, then in Gen. 2:4 God focuses down to Day 6 and the making of man. Chapter 6 speaks of Noah, then by Chapter 12 to Abraham and his descendants, Israel. The Bible has gone from the whole of creation down to a single man and his family. Before we continue let’s look back at Chapter 1:26. This is the first shadow of the existence of the Trinity in the English Bible. In the Hebrew Bible the Trinity is foreshadowed in the first sentence. The Hebrew name that we translate as God in verse one is Elohim, a plural form of the word used to describe a singular God. God made man to cultivate the Earth. He was different than all the rest of creation. God spoke all of creation into existence, but with man, God formed him in His image, with His own hands, from the materials of His creation (the dust of the Earth). He also brought man to life with His own breath. Only man in all creation was made in the image of God. God also made a helper suitable for the man He had made. Out of the flesh of the man, Adam and one of his ribs, God made the woman, Eve. God then started the institution of marriage. In the beginning of Chapter 3 we are introduced to Satan, our adversary. Satan is an angel of God who fell from grace due to the sin of pride and was expelled from Gods heaven. Satan entered into the serpent and tempted Eve by subtly changing God’s words. Eve gave in to Satan’s advice and ate from the only tree of the garden God had forbidden man to eat, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam also ate from the tree. This act caused man to fall and allowed sin to enter God’s perfect creation. God then cursed the serpent, cursed the ground, and made the lives of man difficult. Eve was also told that women would suffer during the birth of a child. But, in Chapter 3:15 God spoke a prophecy on His plan of redemption for man. It foretold of the defeat of Satan at the cross of His son Jesus Christ. God further foreshadowed the future sacrifice of His Son at Calvary by providing the skins of animals to the man and woman to clothe themselves with. This act required the shedding of blood. Chapter 4 is the beginning of civilization. Eve had a son, Cain, a tiller of the ground, and then, Abel, a keeper of sheep. The boys in the course of time both presented offerings to the Lord out of what they had produced. Abel’s offering was accepted, but Cain’s, because of his unbelief, was rejected. In his anger and jealousy he murdered his brother. This was the beginning of murder. God, in His mercy, did not kill Cain for his transgression, but banished him from the land to be a wanderer. God also protected Cain with a mark. Cain continued his sinful ways. Adam was then given another son, Seth, to replace Abel who Cain murdered. Chapter 5 is a genealogy on the family line from Adam to Noah. The key thing in this chapter is how long people lived in those days. Man lived an average of 900 years before the flood. Enoch is an exception. He did not die, but walked with God and was taken to heaven. Enoch was a foreshadowing of the future rapture of the church. Chapter 6 talks of Noah. Sin had become so bad on Earth that God regretted His creation and planned to destroy it by flood. But, as verse 8 says, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. God instructed Noah to build a large vessel, an ark, in order to save a remnant of life from the coming flood. Noah was 500 years old when God told him to build the ark. He built and preached for 100 years to all who would listen, but no one did. Noah loaded the ark with seven males, and seven females of all the clean animals, then a male and a female breeding pair of every other living creature, two by two. God shut up the ark and water rained from the sky for 40 days and nights and sprang up from the ground until the whole Earth was covered, even over the highest mountains. In all it took 150 days. Every living thing that God had created died, except those that were on the ark. Noah, his family and cargo of animals occupied the ark for a total of 371 days. After leaving the ark Noah built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed some of the clean animals he had brought. When God smelled the soothing aroma of the sacrifice He promised never again to destroy man and every living thing. He set a rainbow in the sky as a sign of this covenant. God also made a change in man’s diet after the flood. From this time on animals were to fear man. Man was now allowed to use them as food to eat along with the vegetation they ate before the flood. The flood also caused great changes in the Earth’s climate, and geography. I do not believe that Noah or his family could recognize this new world they now lived in.The last thing for this week is the story of what was left of Noah’s life. God speaks of an incident when Noah had become a vineyard owner and had become drunk on his own wine. His nakedness caused Canaan, his son to dishonor his father. This act would cause great problems for God’s future chosen people that are even felt today. Next week we will continue in the Book of Genesis and look at the lives of the Patriarchs.