i

Genesis Chapter One and Lesson One
by Lane Rogers
        


"When God began to create the heaven and earth-the earth beingii unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water–God said, “let there be light” and there was light” (Genesis 1:1-3, Tanakh).

I. The Modern Jewish Interpretation

A. One can see from a reading of the Tanakh is that the Jewish Bible reads differently from most standard English versions.

B. This also allows for different interpretations.

1. Matter was here before God created the heavens and earth according to common Jewish teachings (Borrowed from the Greeks or Plato).

2. “The earth begins as a mass of preexistent matter, with four or five words listed in verse 2" (unformed, void, darkness, deep). 1

3. The above words (unformed, void, darkness, deep) are merely symbols for ‘evil’ according to Dr. Rendsburg.

4. Thus, The Christian doctrine of ex nihilo not only is not true but is a product of later teachings (According to them).

II. The Doctrine of ex nihilo

1. The term meaning "out of nothing." It is often used in conjunction with the term creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing.” Due to the nature of this term, it is often used in philosophical or creationistic arguments, as many Christians, Muslims and Jews believe that God created the universe from nothing. This contrasts with "creatio ex materia," which is creation out of eternally preexistent matter, and "creatio ex deo," which is creation out of the being of God.

A number of philosophers in ancient times attained a highly-developed concept of God as the supreme ruler of the world, but did not develop a concept of God as the absolute cause of all finite existence. Before the biblical idea of creation, myths envisioned the world as preexisting matter acted upon by a god or gods that reworked this material into the present world (Greek Philosophy). Only in the Bible and the religious thought that developed out of its world-view do we see the
formulation of ex nihilo creation.


 "Son, look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them: and consider that God made them out of nothing” (2 Maccabees 7:28, 100 BC).

2. Arguments in favor, Judeo-Christian views
Some verses from the Judeo-Christian Bible often cited in support of ex nihilo creation by God are the following:

 (a) 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 (Gen. 1:2-3).

 (b) The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old, was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water (Proverbs 8:22-24).

 (c) By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth (Psalm 33:6).

 (d) All things were made by him; and without him was nothing made that was made (John 1:3).

(e) Even God, who quickens the dead, and calls those things which are not as though they were (Romans 4:17).

(f) And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are (I Corinthians 1:28).

 (g) Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear (Hebrew’s 11:3).

 (h) My son, have pity on me; I carried you nine months in the womb and suckled you three years.... I implore you, my child, observe heaven and earth, consider all that is in them, and acknowledge that God made them out of what did not exist, and that mankind comes into being in the same way. Do not fear this executioner, but prove yourself worthy of your brothers, and make death welcome, so that in the day of mercy I may receive you back in your brothers' company.

(2 Maccabees 7:27-29 The New Jerusalem Bible)2

III. But, “In the beginning God” is Elohim

A. Make no mistake -Elohim- is the supreme ruler of the heavens and earth.

B. There is a conscious effort here to exalt Elohim - above all other gods.

C. This can be easily seen on day 4. The words sun (shemesh) and moon (yareah) are consciously avoided so as not to infer a pagan deity.

D. Even the singular form sea (yam) which was also the word for a sea god in ancient Canaan is avoided and instead the plural form (yamim) is used.

E. The author of this book does not want us to think for one moment that Elohim has any relationship at all with other pagan deities.


IV. The Doctrine of the “Trinity” Reinforced.

A. In verse 1, we have “God (Elohim)

B. In verse 2, we have the “Spirit” of God

C. In verse 3, we have Jesus Christ "let there be light”


V. Separation of Light from Darkness (3-5) RSV


Psalm 27: 1

'The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?'


[V. 3 is above] 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God

divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.



John 8:12

  12Again, therefore, Jesus spake to them, saying, `I am the light of the world; he who is following me shall not walk in the darkness, but he shall have the light of the life.'

(See Dr. Willis on End notes)

  1. Firmament, Separation of lower and upper water. (6-8) RSViii

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.7 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. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.



  1. Dry Land, Separation of water and dry land (9-10) RSV


9 And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.


  1. Vegetation (11-13) RSV

11 And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so.12 And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after their kind: and God saw that it was good.13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.


IX. Sun, moon, stars, Separation of Day and Night (14-19) RSV


14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so16 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. 17 And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth,18 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.19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day


    X. Water and Air creatures (20-23) RSV

20 And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.21 And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day

The First and seventh ordinance in the unusual list of creation mandates extending from Genesis 1:28 to 2:23-24 are closely related and bear directly on the family. God ordained the union of male and female in marriage to meet their personal need for companionship and to multiply the human race. The human family then is God's norm for meaningful existence as the pattern set forth in Genesis 2:4-51. (Continued in next chapter i.e. 2:24 FF).

Created in Relationship. Genesis 1 sets human male-female complementation closely alongside the image of God. The implication about this tight parallelism seems to be that there is something complementarity about the mutual relationship that reflects the nature of God.

In Genesis 1 and 2 God charges human beings with the great task of ruling over the rest of creation through keeping and serving the earth in which he has placed them (Gen.1:28-2:15). And again in Genesis 9 after the flood God renewed his original creation mandate to Noah and his sons.

God did not tell the nations in the heavenly bodies to worship the stars of heaven.





1Professor Gary A. Rendsburg, Rutgers University. This is a very common teaching for nearly all of those not of the Christian community.

2Material taken from the World Wide Web.

iYHWY exercises his sovereignty through his word. The power of the Word of God was already established in Israel's faith.

iiTheological Emphases in the Book of Genesis (John Willis).

A. Following generally the present form of the book.

1.God created all that is---Gen. 1-2

a. His creatures reveal his power---(1) Note the verbs used for creation with God as subject---'create' (1:1, 21, 27): "make" (1:16, 25, 26), "form" (2:7, 19), "build" (2:22). (2) Note the "effortlessness" of God's creative activity reflected in the use of the expression, "And God said....and it was so" (1:3), 6-7, 9, 11), and in the statement, "God breathed into his (man's) nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being" (2:7) (3) Note God's incredible ability to "separate" the waters above the firmament from the waters below (1:7), and the light from darkness (1:18).

b. The way the author of Genesis presents "the six days of creation" brings out God's wisdom. The "habitats" created on each of the first three days (light, sky and water, dry land and vegetation in that order) correspond the the "inhabitants" created on the last three days (light bearers [sun, moon, and stars] birds and fish [all water life], and land animals and man (1:3-31), pointing to a great "mind" who "thought of every need of every creature" and provided it adequately.

c. God's obvious concern to provide for all the needs of his creatures underlines his love. This is especially clear in his provisions for human beings: as dry land and vegetation (1:29), life and oxygen (2:7), companionship (2: 18-24), the ability to reproduce after his kind (1:28; 2:24), dominion of the rest of creation (1:28), and the like.

2. God created human beings to establish and maintain certain relationships which are indispensable for survival, existence, and well-being of the human race in general and of individual human beings in particular--Gen. 1-2.

a. He created men and women in his image - (1:26-27; 5:1-3; 9:5-6), so human beings have a special relationship with God.

b. He created male and female for monogamous marriage, to help and sustain each other as long as they each shall live. 1:26-27 and 2:18-24.


iiiAll of these things that were created cannot be objects of worship. It is extremely interesting to compare Deut.4:15-21 with Genesis the 1st Chapter. We notice that the objects of worship are in exactly the opposite order.