THE CREATION OF THE WORLD. Coming from the ancient world, this account of creation must be seen as quite remarkable. Yet it must not be considered as an attempt at primitive science. Its purpose is wholly theological. The ancients, apart from a few ‘learned men' of a type unknown to Israel, were no... [ Continue Reading ]
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' GOD CREATES THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM (GENESIS 1:1; GENESIS 2:1 A). “In the beginning”. This phrase is signifying the beginning of existence as we know it, the beginning of our universe. The writer is considering the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the earth was without form and empty. And darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters.' “AND THE EARTH” - the connecting ‘' (‘ _waw_ ') really excludes the suggestion of a gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. The writer could not have made th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light.' This is God's first ‘action'. Here was a ‘big bang' indeed. The writer is brief and to the point. God speaks and light is. That which was without form and empty now experiences that which makes it spring into positive existence. That which... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God saw the light, that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkness, and God called the light day and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning one day.' “THE LIGHT, THAT IT WAS GOOD”. It is not that God was in any doubt about the outcome of His w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God said “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.' Up to this time there has been no atmosphere, for creation is seen as being one blanket of ‘primeval water'. All is ‘liquid'; all is primeval, unshaped, formless matter, but now given... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so. And God called the firmament Sky (or Heaven). And there was evening and there was morning the second day.' So by His word the waters were separated to p... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God said, “Let the waters that are under the heaven be gathered together in one place and let the dry land appear”, and it was so. And God called the dry land ‘eretz' and the waters that were gathered together he called seas. And God saw that it was good.' As with the word ‘yom' the word ‘eret... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation, herb yielding seed, and fruit tree bearing fruit in which is its seed, each according to its kind upon the earth.” And it was so. And the earth brought forth vegetation, herb yielding seed according to its kind, and tree bearing fruit in which is i... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons, for days and years, and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth”. And it was so.' From now on periods of ligh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the world, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God said, “Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and let birds fly above the earth on the face of the expanse of the heaven”. And God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly according to th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures, according to their kinds, cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds”, and it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle according to their kinds, and everything that c... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then 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 birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth”.' “LET US MAKE MAN.” The thought is intimate... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.' Now man's privilege is stressed. He is created in God's own image. Notice the stress on the fact that he is ‘created', deliberately repeated three times in the verse. Three represents complet... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the face of the earth”.' Like the living creatures man is ‘blessed'. They ar... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God said, “Behold I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that ha... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning a sixth day.' The world has been prepared for man and man can be satisfied because God is satisfied with it from start to finish. His final day of work is over. He has now completed His... [ Continue Reading ]