We are about to start our study in the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings. The first few chapters of this book bring up many questions. We will look at these questions and give you the best possible answers that we can. This portion of Scripture is faith oriented. If you have been traveling along this path with us you know that we have defined faith as a positive response to the Word of God. Faith says that we accept the fact, as recorded that God did it all.

If you've been traveling along with us on the path we've chosen you will recognize, from the gospel John, that God had to provide a savior for all of mankind because of sin. This book that we are now beginning to study ,very thoroughly and honestly shows the sin nature of man. In both Genesis and the next book that we are to study which will be Exodus we will find that no human being has been able to measure up to the standard that God has established. If you have ever failed in your attempt to do right and found that you were weak, you'll find someone in these two books who has failed in a similar fashion.

In verse 1 the first question that comes up when we begin a study of Genesis 1 is, "When was the beginning?" My answer to that is, I don't know. Anyone who attempts to set a date or to tell you when that happened is definitely in error. This verse does say that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, without giving a clue as to when the beginning actually was.

(chpt:  1 Vs: 001)  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

Verse 2:

(chpt:  1 Vs: 002)  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. 

Verse 3

(chpt:  1 Vs: 003)  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 004)  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 005)  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 006)  And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 007)  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 008)  And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 009)  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 010)  And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 011)  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 012)  And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 013)  And the evening and the morning were the third day. 

Verse 14, and the fourth day God puts lights in the heavens to be used by mankind to keep track of time. Before we go much further we suggest pausing here and looking into the door labeled time and eternity. This verse is the beginning of time as far as man is concerned.

(chpt:  1 Vs: 014)  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 015)  And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 016)  And 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. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 017)  And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 018)  And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 019)  And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 020)  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 021)  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 022)  And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 023)  And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 024)  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 025)  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 

Verse 26.

(chpt:  1 Vs: 026)  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 027)  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 

Verse 28.

(chpt:  1 Vs: 028)  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

Verses 29 -- 31. These verses seem to indicate a totally vegetarian diet for man and beast.

(chpt:  1 Vs: 029)  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 030)  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 

(chpt:  1 Vs: 031)  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 

When God finished he said it was a very good creation.

Genesis chapter 2.

In this chapter we have the end of God's creation and his rest upon the 7th day, which brings up again a question of time. How long did it take God to do this enormous task of creating all that we can see and understand? Again I will answer I don't know. It could've been seven 24-hour days very easily, and that seems to be what the Word is saying. Others take a position, " that with God 1000 years is but a day", and therefore it may have taken as long as 7000 years. The thing to note is that time is God's invention for mankind's use and he is not bound by it. See the small door labeled time and eternity

(chpt:  2 Vs: 001)  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 002)  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 003)  And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 004)  These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 005)  And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 006)  But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 007)  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. 

Beginning with verse 8 we have the story of the garden of Eden. Most of it is quite self-explanatory, but it's important to note a few things in verses 16 and 17, God gave Adam one specific command. Adam was told that he could eat of all garden trees except for the one that God called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This tree was not an apple tree or probably not any other kind of tree that you and I would know. It was given the title or name the " Tree of the knowledge of good and evil." We'll see more of this in the next chapter.

(chpt:  2 Vs: 008)  And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 009)  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 010)  And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 011)  The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 012)  And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 013)  And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 014)  And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 015)  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 016)  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 017)  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 018)  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 

(chpt:  2 Vs: 019)  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 

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